Exploring the Web for other business models

As you begin to form a picture in your mind of what your online business is going to look like, it is important that you explore the Web for models that are similar to yours. Today on the Internet, there are probably many other businesses and Web sites that exhibit at least some of the characteristics of your proposed online venture. Your job is to find them.

Some of the best places to begin your research, include the portals like Yahoo!, AltaVista, Excite, and Netscape Netcenter. Not only can you do keyword searches, by product and business type, at these portal sites, but they also include hyperlinked directories of many online businesses. Let's say for example, that you were thinking of selling a wide variety of "air filters" through your online business. Below are some of the things that you could do to locate other Web sites that also sell or contain information about air filters.

• Do a keyword search on the large portals, like Yahoo!, AltaVista, Excite, and Netcenter. You should not only search for the keywords "air filters," but also for manufacturers, like 3M, and for other keyword combinations, like "furnace air filters," and "lawnmower air filters."
• Next, look under the directory headings on these portals to see if you can locate any other businesses or information about air filters.
• Finally, you should check other online directories and publications that might have more information about "air filters." A good starting place would be the National Directory of Magazines, that provides a catalog of over 100,000 publications.

By the time you've spent a few hours going through the portals, and other online publications, you should have a good idea about the types of businesses that sell "air filters" online. One thing that you should do right from the beginning of your search is to "mark," or record, the different domain names (www.theirbiz.com) of the sites that you found most applicable to your online business. You can do this using the "Favorites" menu option with Microsoft Internet Explorer, "Bookmarks" with Netscape, or you personal directory with AOL.

Finding the most popular Web sites

There are many surveys that you can access online to locate the most popular Web sites on the Internet. Sites are usually ranked according to the most page views, or the most unique visitors, during a specific time period, like a month or a quarter. Some good places to learn about the most popular sites are shown in the following table.

After you have found Web sites that are most similar to your proposed online business, study them for their features and functionality. For example, if you are going to be selling a product online (a transaction Web site), then locate and study other transaction sites to see how they operate. Determine what are their terms and conditions? What is their return policy? What types of credit cards do they accept? Call you talk to someone on the phone? What delivery options to they offer? Do they offer any guarantees?

The Inc. Technology Best of The Small Business Web

Inc. Magazine, in its November 15, 1999 Technology issue, published an article called "The Best of the Small Business Web. You don't have to be a 'dot-com' to thrive online." The article identifies 20 companies, out of 400 entries, that have succeeded online and ranked them according to Return on Investment (ROI), Utility, Innovation, Design and Local Sites. The 20 winners are shown in the following table.

Many of the sites on the Inc. Technology list were started for less than $10,000, and some now have revenues in excess of $2.0 million a year.