Comtemplating on having your own dot com. Hear it from the Guru himself how to start your own website and get the strategy right.

Q. I am a software professional and wish to start a dot com venture. Can you please tell me what are the basic principles or thoughts and requirements that I need to keep in mind to have a successful business model?
Naveen, Hyderabad

Great to know that you're planning on starting a venture, dotcom or otherwise. Some of the critical issues you need to keep in mind are the following:

• What is purpose of my dotcom, ie, what problems will be solved or which new opportunities will be enabled by my dotcom?
  
  
• Who will be the customers of this dotcom? Is it a B2B or a B2C venture? If it is a B2B venture, then the relevant industry dynamics need to be studied in detail. If it is a B2C venture, then you need to know what customer segment is being targeted and for what purpose, for example, entertainment, social networking, dating, e-commerce etc. What are the competing sites?
  
  
• How will I make my dotcom standout from the other players? How will I get customers? How will I gain visibility? How will I ensure that they keep returning?
  
  
• How will I make money? Transaction fees, fixed fees, advertising revenues?
  
  
• What kind of technology do I need to deploy? What should the user interface be? What kind of customer support should I have (email/phone etc)?
  
  
• How much money will I need to start this venture and get customers?
  
  
• What kind of team will I need around me and how will I attract them?
  

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