Think of developing your Internet presence as a project. Projects share these common tasks:

Define clear start and end points: The project starts when you decide to evaluate your readiness to take your business to the Web. It ends when your site is on the Internet and functioning as you have planned.

Identify necessary resources: Someone will need to devote effort to developing your site, either a dedicated person, a group, or someone who fits it in among other priorities. Who will develop your site - yourself? A partner or employee in your small business? Someone you hire?

Make a timeline: A timeline is a plan with milestones attached to specific dates. The Internet is a rapidly changing environment, with sites coming up and going down every month. This highly competitive environment may determine the speed you need to travel to get online. Set a target date for when your small business web presence will be up and running.

Determine a budget: eCommerce web sites run the gamut from simple and cost-effective, to complex and expensive. To create a budget, evaluate your site purpose and operation needs. Identify which of the following categories you belong to:

Small business sites with straightforward, low volume online buying and selling, small inventory size and low navigation complexity, using rented commercial server provider space will cost less. Cost range: $1,000 - $5,000.

Sites with larger volume of transactions, sizeable online catalogues and databases that are integrated to other systems in your business, and you own your server. Cost range:  $5,000 - $20,000.

Highest volume selling sites, complex design and navigation, integration requirements to other internal data systems, intranet/extranet functionality, the highest levels of security for purchases and communication. Cost range: $20,000 - $100,000.

Click here to download an eBusiness Project Planning Chart