Frequently Asked Questions and Answers Check out these frequently asked questions (FAQ).  Click on the question to jump down the page or just scroll down the page to browse. Use ‘Control’ + ‘Home’ keys together to get back to the top of the page. I don’t know anything about computers and the internet! Aren’t all the dot coms losing money or going bust? How do I know if people will want to buy my products? I already have a Merchant Account, do I need another account with my new on-line shop? I don’t sell through mail order at the moment, what should I do? I need to know how much my financial commitment is How successful is my on-line shop likely to be? How much time am I likely to spend running my on-line shop   I don’t know anything about computers and the internet! >> Don’t despair, you can still be successful, it just might take a little longer to feel comfortable with what you are doing. After all, do you know how the engine in your car works - but you can still drive it.  Or how a refrigerator works through compressing a gas? You don’t have to use all the bells and whistles on your computer or on the internet. Just keep it basic and simple and you can have a roaring success. It’s all to do with familiarity. Just follow the basic guidelines, but really focus on your products, customers and your business. back to top Aren’t all the dot coms losing money or going bust? >> That’s true, but you’re not going to be one of those! Most of the big news failures were internet start-ups with huge injections of venture capital. They just burnt money. They tried to carve out a brand for themselves and spent millions on a flashy web site with the latest servers.  Their business models, in general, were totally unrealistic and never likely to actually make any money. But you are different! You are NOT going to spend fortunes on creating a brand name.  You are NOT going to have a flashy (or slow) web site.  You already have (I hope!) a sound business plan that is working for you - you are getting in real revenue and balancing your expenses within your income.  What you are going to do is to make a SMALL investment in a web presence as an add-on to your existing commercial ventures.  You are then going to make SMALL outlays of time and money to get existing traffic to come to your site and buy your stuff.  At no time should you risk more than you could afford to lose (but in fact if you give it the attention it needs, you are very unlikely to fail! it will be one of the best investments you have ever made!) back to top How do I know if people will want to buy my products? >> The secret here is to see if people are already buying similar things.  Trying to create a market is difficult - remember the dot.coms?  We (you) are going to check out on-line competitors, on-line auctions, on-line ads and search engines.  Find the people who are looking for the things you have and then offer it to them.  Remember, also, that ordinary things in the UK may be highly desirable things in the USA! back to top  I already have a Merchant Account, do I need another account with my new on-line shop? >> No - not usually. back to top I don’t sell through mail order at the moment, what should I do? >> Well there are fulfilment services available so you can provide bulk stock to them and they receive & fulfil the orders for you. You may find, however, that you have enough slack time that you could pack and ship the orders yourself, at least initially.  When volumes exceed your capability - then you have been successful and can look for another solution. back to top I need to know how much my financial commitment is >> An eShopHost solution is typically fixed price to get you up with a fixed price maintenance fee. So you can plan your expense and check out your business case. Of course, you will have a further expense for your ongoing eMarketing, although initially you can swing this heavily towards expenditure of your time and later transition towards buying eMarketing services once it becomes self-financing through your success. back to top How successful is my on-line shop likely to be? >> It’s all up to you. It could have no success whatsoever, but if you work at the eMarketing it is difficult to see what the limit might be. If you just work on free search engines you may become only moderately successful, but there are ways to be really successful.  Remember, we (you) are not going on-line just to have a pretty web site (brochure-ware), we are going for eCommerce - getting people to your site and buying your stuff on-line. back to top How much time am I likely to spend running my on-line shop? >> The idea initially is for you to spend quite a lot of time working on eMarketing and eCustomer Relationship Management. But this time investment will pay off handsomely over time with increased sales. You can then afford to get others involved in servicing your successful business!  Really, the more time you put in, the more successful the whole thing will be back to top