Making the move from an offline to an online business isn’t always as easy at it seems. While most consider it an advantage to start of with the backing and infrastructure of an existing business before launching an online venture it really depends on the case at hand. An existing business can help in terms of inventory purchasing power, financing and logistics. Obviously if you had any type of remote fulfillment service where you send out products from your location, you have an immediate advantage and stepping stone to launch you business since the foundation is already there.
But in many cases people try to move from a regular retail store to an online shop. This requires some adaptation and it should be checked on a case by case basis to see whether the added business is worth the changes you will have to make to your existing and probably already successful business. For one thing, handling inventory is usually different for an offline and online store. Typically an offline or brick and mortar store will sell products they carry on hand while possibly limiting their selection to enable proper stocking. This can be quite different with an online store in which you may prefer selection over inventory size and opt not to carry all items and order only what you need to fulfill your online orders. Another option is using a drop ship service to fulfill for your.
Selling online when you already have an online business can create some havoc with your accounting and it’s best to be prepared and have a proper bookkeeping system set up. Some credit card processing companies such as First Data Independent Sales (cardservicesales.com) offer the option of using the same account for both online and offline sales. This can simplify things greatly and is a good thing to consider when operation a multi channel business.
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13 August 2007 
