A guide to third sector trading - WCVA

It’s an idea, but is it business? A guide to third sector trading
1: Getting
started
2: First steps 3: Business
planning
4: Legal and
governance
5: Funding
and
resourcing
6: Financial
controls
7: Managing
growth
8: Management
and
governance
9: Social
enterprise
10: Sources
of support
• funding your site with advertising: Internet service providers
and other internet traders give you the opportunity to generate
a modest income, or at least to offset costs in a small way, by
advertising other businesses on your site, This won’t suit everyone,
but it can be worth considering if you generate a lot of traffic.
• 3to3: Being part of a club can be helpful and reassuring for
organisations starting out on new activities. 3to3 (at 3to3.org.
uk) is a kind of marketing co-operative for the third sector,
which might suit your business.
• setting up your own online shop: If you have access to the
software and the IT skills you can design, set up and run your
own website for your online shop. If you don’t want to pay for
an expensive programmes, it is not hard to find open source
software on the net, and set up your site for nothing – provided
the task is taken on by someone who knows what they are
doing and can live with the constraints.
• web-hosting: Alternatively you can contract with an
independent provider to run your site for you. This may be
cheaper and it is said to be extremely simple to set up an online
shop this way, which makes its highly attractive to newcomers.
The bigger hosts tend to offer the option of a preconfigured
“web shop” that you can set up interactively. The downside is
that you have less control and the results may be rather bland.
Business planning: As explained elsewhere in this guide, effective
business planning and preparation for trading is always necessary.
There is nothing about online shops which makes careful and
accurate pricing and thoughtful marketing less important than
they are in any other trading context.
An effective online shop: Modern software can deliver high
quality sites, but the quality of the end result may depend on
the designer and the way the site is run. Careful risk assessment,
technical checks and staff training will be necessary. You will need
to ensure that the site:
• is well presented, and is up to the standards of site run by your
competition
• provides the kind of features you and your customers might
need, perhaps including opportunities for customer interaction
• has an internet connection which is fast enough to be usable by
customers
• is reliable and accessible – you will lose business if the site is
constantly going offline
• is secure enough to guarantee both effective two-way
communication and confidentiality for your customers and your
own systems.
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