Online Electronics Business Plan: Setup, Tools & Growth Strategies
A business is an enterprise set by a person to make a profit. Making profits is the main aim of a business and this is achieved through customer satisfaction. Starting a business can be a task and requires a lot of skills to create and establish one. An entrepreneur must be a risk taker, strong willed and customer oriented. Financial planning is also an essential skill that any business owner or a person looking forward to start a business should have. It is important to know the amount you require loses and profits that you likely to get when you start the business. The type of a business I would like to start an electronic shop that sells televisions, sound machines, phones, chargers, pods among others. Being a young person who has interacted with different kind of age groups, people of all kind are interested with good electronics. There are those who want to listen to music with good sound machines or earphones, those who want to watch television like in theater and those who want to use electronic as part of their decoration or just to make their houses look nice. Every business has start which is well planned and requires implementation when the time is right.
Need expert help with your business plan or business studies homework? Get personalized, no-AI academic support from real human experts today — click here to connect with the Business Studies Homework Helpline
In every business operational activities are essential. Some the operational activities that would be engaged in my electronic business include cash receipts from goods sold, taxes and payments to the supplier (Jaller, & Pahwa, 2020). Receipts are very important as they allow both the seller and the buyer to have proof of exchange just in case of any inconveniences between the parties involved. For example, a buyer might have complains about a product they purchased and for the seller to ensure they bought the product from their shop, the complainant must produce a receipt a proof of purchase. A receipt must have the name of the shop for identity purposes. The seller is also able to account on the number of items sold and the amount they sell the item. A business must pay tax to its government to contribute to the growth of the economy which will positively affect the business. For example, if the government is able to create more opportunities for the people that means they will make more purchases and as a business sales will increase. Suppliers are major contributors of a business and they should be paid on time to ensure they do not cut their supplies to the business which allows a business to operate effectively
I would prefer the operation of this business to be online. Beginning operating your shop online can be challenging but the same time it allows you to reach as many customers as possible and people who always feel they have to deliver for their products (Santos, 2020). In an online platform, anyone from anywhere can access your services which increase sales. It also gives one an opportunity to focus on other things and reduces cost like house rent which is a threat to most physical shops.
Accounting software are tools that offers features for tracking business revenue and expenses. They are important especially for small and growing businesses. They provide a wide range report that allows a business owner to analyze the financial health and an overview on key financial aspects in a business. Some of these financial aspects include accounts receivables, accounts payable and historical sales. The two accounting software selection that are suitable for my electronic business are xero and QuickBooks. Xero financial software is commonly known for payments.it offers various services which include automatic bank reconciliation. Bank reconciliation is more important to a business that is dealing with high volume of online transaction. It helps in matching the bank transactions with entries in the system reducing manual work. This software also helps in expense tracking and claims (Maruschak, 2021). This helps to boost inventory management in a business, therefore, allows the business to track and manage physical and digital products that allows accurate inventory levels and timely order fulfillments. Xero software also helps in collaborations and user permission that allows every member to have access of their roles hence promoting integrity in the work.
QuickBooks is also important software to run an online electronic sop. It helps in cloud-based accessibility that allows users to access financial data with any internet connection. This feature allows online businesses to collaborate and monitor financial activities at the same time. It provides E-commerce integration with various e-commerce platforms such as Amazon. It records sales transactions, inventory updates and customer information. This ensures tracking of sales and inventory management (Maruschak, 2021). QuickBooks allows automated bank feed for those customers who use banks and credit cards to make their payments online. This helps to reconcile financial data and reduce the risk of errors. Human error is one of the most threatening cases in finances and business. Human errors can be corrected and prevented by the help of technology. It is obvious for a human to get tired but a machine can function all day and all night without a rest. It is an essential for a human to take rest especially if they are engaged in activities that require their minds to be more active for their psychological health. This requires a software to come in handy to help reduce errors especially in the finance .Operating online is very sensitive and requires one to be keen when it comes to tractions and finances. It also allows multi-currency support since online business deals with clients from different countries. This helps to accurately track and record international transactions. This gives a business the capability to efficiently transact with international customers and maintain the business name. Financial tracking is very essential for a business because they are able to tell if the business is making loses or profits.
Information technology (IT) and accounting information system (AIS) contribute toward the achievement of goals in a business. There are various ways in which these technologies impact a business especially in online platforms. These ways include sales and revenue growth in a business. This is achieved by integrating information technology with electronic business e-commerce which helps streamline the sales process and customer experience (Monteiro & Cepêda, 2021). For example, having a customer relationship management, you can be able to track customer interactions, purchase history and preferences (Maruschak, 2021). The information can be used to strategize on sales technique which leads to increased sales.
A business is kept moving by the customers and the only thing that keeps a customer is satisfaction. If a business is able to know its customers experience and preferences, the management is able to adjust to those preferences for customer satisfaction. For example in my business, it is important to know which brands customers are interested in and why. With this I can be able to have more of the brands to ensure my sales are always up. If Samsung is the most loved brand that means the shop should be stocked with more of Samsung brands which keeps and attracts more customers. Also, to increase on sales, information technology and AIS enhance data analytics and business intelligence. For example, implementing a data analytic tool helps a business to be vast on the amount of data generated by online transactions. The tool helps identify trends and predict customer behaviours. This helps a shop including electronic shop to make data driven decision to maximize on profits and revenue generated.
Another way that new IT and IAS would help the electronic business is cost efficiency and process optimization. This is achieved by cloud computing and scalability in the business which is enhanced by the new IT solution. Cloud computing allows a business to access goods that are on demand which reduces the need of adding infrastructure. Capital expenditure reduces in this case but allows a business to increase its returns based on demand. When the demand of a certain product is high that means a business has to bring more of the products to satisfy the customer. It allows automation of accounting process through accounting information system. The advanced AIS can significantly increase the efficiency in financial and accounting processes. on the hand automated invoice generation and other activities reduce human error that are more likely to cause loss and later the downfall.
In conclusion, it is important to note before starting any business, a plan should be created which includes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and finances. An electronic business is just like any other and competitions together with black markets are a big threat to it. Black markets create idols of the products whereby they later disappoint the buyer. If a buyer gets disappointed they tend to avoid making purchases and hence reducing sales in electronic businesses. New information technology and accounting information systems are crucial technology requirement to a business especially the online businesses. They allow a business to grow efficiently by reducing human error. Customer dissatisfaction is one step for a downfall hence it is important for a business to collect customer’s feedback and get their shortcomings and try to work on them.
References
Jaller, M., & Pahwa, A. (2020). Evaluating the environmental impacts of online shopping: A behavioral and transportation approach. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 80, 102223.
Maruschak, L. (2021). Accounting software in modern business. Advances in Science, Technology and Engineering Systems, 6(1), 863.
Monteiro, A., & Cepêda, C. (2021). Accounting information systems: scientific production and trends in research. Systems, 9(3), 67.
Santos, K. E. S. (2020). Online marketing: Benefits and difficulties to online business sellers. International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Science, 7(3).