Launch your e-commerce website in five steps

IBF Entrepreneur Online

It might’ve always been a dream of yours. Or, the chance to expand and make a go of your longtime side-hustle. Whatever your motivation, going from no-commerce to e-commerce isn’t nearly as scary and daunting as you might think.

In this guide, we’ll show you five steps for starting and successfully scaling your first e-commerce website!

First, what do we mean by e-commerce?

Well, at its core—e-commerce is any business that mainly sells online, through a website. E-commerce businesses can come in a few flavours, such as:

• Retail businesses that sell physical products
• Service-based businesses where you offer specific services like dog-walking, web-design, marketing consulting and more
• Digital product businesses that involve selling downloadable goods like e-books, digital music albums and software

Step one: create your business plan

Okay—don’t order the fancy schmantzy tumblers and toques quite yet.

You need to create all the foundational bits and pieces upon which your e-commerce business will be built!

A good place to start is with deciding what you’re going to sell. Is it your lineup of artisanal, goose-shaped soaps, or perhaps you’re a music producer for hire. Sometimes, making your idea a viable thing can be the hardest part of the whole e-commerce process.

Next, you’ll need to draft up a business plan. This can be something as simple as a document that outlines:

• What your business is and why it exists
• Who your key market and customers are
• What you’re planning to sell and how it makes your customers’ lives better
• How you plan to market and sell your products and/or services
• Any logistics and tools that you’ll need: e.g. payment processing, shipping partners, etc.
• Financial goals and targets—because, let’s face it, you’re not doing this because you need a hobby, right?

Step two: register your .CA domain

Once your basic business plan is in place, it’s time to register your .CA domain name.

Why should you choose .CA? Because it signals to everyone that you’re a proudly Canadian business that sells (and ships) in Canadian dollars. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

A memorable domain name is one of the most essential parts of your brand and is often how people will recognize and find you on the internet.

How do you create a great domain name for the ages? For starters: keep your domain name simple, brief and typable. Aim for a sweet spot of five to 14 characters and avoid things like repeated letters, numbers and deliberate misspellings.

Need a few more pointers? Dive into our detailed domain naming guide!

Once you’ve arrived at a name you like, registering your .CA domain is as simple as doing a quick search to see if it’s available, then clicking on one of our CIRA-approved registrars to get set up.

Source: CIRA