running the physical side of a web business?

[mlsalters77]

Hi,

I in the beginning phases of my e-biz, a job search/referral network. I'm trying to learn as much as I can. I've been finding plenty of material on web sites and starting web businesses but nothing that covers the specifics of what is needed to run a successful web business from the office side like the type of personnel needed, equipment (say if I want to have my own servers) the technical details of the business. (Please excuse me for the example I am about to give, lol) I was watching the social network...(pause for laughter...) and I noticed that once they had there site up they didn't just stop there they hired interns to constantly work new coding to improve the site. Yes, I know it was a movie however it makes perfect sense and it dawned on me, with all the research and preparation I've been doing on making a great site for users and marketing I have totally over looked researching the requirements for the physical aspect of the business. Ok so getting to my point, I'm looking for references material that explains the physical running of a web site instead of the usual "building websites for dummies" that only go into selecting domain names and hosting and SEO... not that these things are any less important its just that I have stacks of books covering this.

... Also, I know that I'm in the beginning phases and what I am asking may not come into play until sometime in the future if at all, I know that the social network is a movie (stop laughing, I was just trying to make my point! lol) and I also know there will be plenty of replies listing the things that I should be concerned with at this stage.... and I'll take that info with a smile but I am having a hard time finding study material that covers this information

Thanks everybody!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[stlsmoore]

I think it depends on the website's business model that you have. My website platform www.stlouisforme.com that's still in the very beginning stages (but is live) was built by a hosting company. I outsourced the logo creation and outsourced SEO which is my main marketing strategy for the time being. I could have done the SEO myself but I just don't have the time or manpower to get it ranked for certain keywords within a reasonable time frame.

The back end stuff is manual for now by me, such as the blog postings and approving/editing business listings, event, or ad listings. The nice thing about the way my website is build is that it shouldn't require any more work on my end besides what I mentioned. The business listings, member accounts, etc. are all created by the customer themselves.

Now my other website www.configurethenetwork.com was created last year and requires virtually no work on my end anymore. Granted this was a website to test the internet waters, it's great generating income (although small) from something that doesn't require you to constantly upkeep and keep manicured.

 

[Icy]

There really is no concrete question in there. Like, it's the equivalent of asking someone to explain Chemistry to you. Where do you start? Where do you end?

The type of office personnel is sooooo based on what type of business it is (yes, even for a website). PlentyOfFish had only 3 employees and was making much more than a mil a year. Just one coder, and if I remember right the other the other 2 were more of a secretary type deal. There are plenty of website examples with lots of people, and lots with few people.

If you want to have your own servers. Really, to get started you might as well just grab a computer, WAMP, or if you install a Linux distro like Ubuntu it'd be LAMP. Now, as problems arise on this, you learn. Then as your website groups, learn about computer clusters, and all the problems that arise AS they arise. If you wait to understand everything to avoid problems you'll never get started.

 

[mlsalters77]

There really is no concrete question in there. Like, it's the equivalent of asking someone to explain Chemistry to you. Where do you start? Where do you end?

If you wait to understand everything to avoid problems you'll never get started.

.... I dunno, If some one came to me and said " hey, I'm doing pretty solid with organic chemistry but I'm lacking on atmospheric chem have you read anything helpful on the subject?" I would recommend what I could (provided I new jack about atmospheric chemistry. lol) or say "nope" if I hadn't.

Its possible I wasn't clear in stating my question, I'm sorry if that is the case. My question is, "does any one know of any good reading material that explores the inner working of an online company?" No matter large or small, no matter ebay, google, or indeed. I'm doing a lot of reading to fortify my knowledge base (while ACTIVELY in the process of getting my business up and running) and I was hoping some may have read something on the topic and wouldn't mind recommending it.

Thanks

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[biophase]

.... I dunno, If some one came to me and said " hey, I'm doing pretty solid with organic chemistry but I'm lacking on atmospheric chem have you read anything helpful on the subject?" I would recommend what I could (provided I new jack about atmospheric chemistry. lol) or say "nope" if I hadn't.

Its possible I wasn't clear in stating my question, I'm sorry if that is the case. My question is, "does any one know of any good reading material that explores the inner working of an online company?" No matter large or small, no matter ebay, google, or indeed. I'm doing a lot of reading to fortify my knowledge base (while ACTIVELY in the process of getting my business up and running) and I was hoping some may have read something on the topic and wouldn't mind recommending it.

Thanks

You are still too general. Running Facebook vs. Ebay vs. Google vs. Amazon is totally different. You need to be more specific about your business.

For instance in atmosphere chemisty, someone could explain to you how clouds are forms and different types of clouds. But maybe you only wanted to know what air is comprised of.

 

[mlsalters77]

.... Books guys, I just wanted to know had any one read any good books on running an e business that talked about more than SEO, marketing and design??? A book, an article, blog post... just study material. I wasn't specific on my business model because I was specifically looking for comments on that (even though I did say what type of site I was building) the logistical side of running an e-business is what I was having a hard time finding material on.

I really was trying to avoid a debate which is another reason why I was general in my request but with the chemistry analogy we have obviously crossed in to "tick for tack" territory and maybe I should be the bigger person and just let the chemistry hypothetic ride, but what fun would that be? Having said that, if the hypothetical party specifically wanted information on the composition of air or clouds then that would be the line of questioning which it was not. The request posed was for any books on organic chemistry that one may have read and found useful. The request is general at its core but specific to the needs of the person because all they wanted was to be pointed in a general direction, they can assess for them selves wether the book is what they need.

I'm not trying to be a jerk (I do have a habit of being an a**hole sometimes though) I've learned a lot on this site actually a good bit of which has ben in posts by biophase and Icy but c'mon, .... I was just looking for reading material.

Ok, so I have found some titles that explore the E-business from an alternative approach. Reviews where pretty interesting so I'm going to check them out and I have posted the titles below for any one with similar interests. These where all found on amazon.

1. Logistics & Fulfillment for E-Business : A Practical Guide to Mastering Back Office Functions for Online Commerce

2. Model Web Site: A Knowledge Management Approach to E-Business

(The book I am most interested in reading
3. "Web Business Engineering: Using Offline Activities to Drive Internet Strategies"

I'm not trying to argue guys (ok, may be a little. lol) Thanks for all the input. hmmm, If there is a need to continue the debate on the clarity of my question lets at least leave the chemistry analogies out. It's getting more attention than my original request. lol

Thanks

 

[LightHouse]

The reason it isnt computing is because a back office is different for different types of e-buisness. An e-commerce store office is likely to be mostly warehouse with a little bit of an office. An online news/blog company is likely to have open floors in a full service building with hired writers and a few programmers. A programming contract company is likely to have low level cube and tasking areas where the programmers can get together and collaborate in the middle of the office space but have open modern offices.

This is why your question isnt getting anywhere. Furthermore, outside of physical e-commerce, there arent many books for "web business backends" because they are run like standard business. Hire the folks you need, give them a place to work. When you get into e-commerce you focus on fulfillment and packing areas, plus shelving, storage etc etc.

Really, there is no reason to read about any of this before you get there. When you get there I'll write a 5 page paper on what you need and who to call to get you started, it'll cost you $200. and yes it is really that simple.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Icy]

I'm not trying to be a jerk (I do have a habit of being an a**hole sometimes though) I've learned a lot on this site actually a good bit of which has ben in posts by biophase and Icy but c'mon, .... I was just looking for reading material.

Neither were we. To suggest books on what we understand (or atleast certainly for me) would have been like finding a needle a haystack, and just getting a better understanding helps suggest better books.

No specific books, but look up books for Sys Admins since you're curious about dealing with servers in house. Also, any idea what server-side language you'll be using? If you're not using one dependent on the .Net framework (C#.Net\VB.Net\Asp.Net) I'd also look into books on Unix Administration, and creating computer clusters. I'm sure there are a lot on it. Networking (internet) books are great also.

 

[Icy]

Really, there is no reason to read about any of this before you get there. When you get there I'll write a 5 page paper on what you need and who to call to get you started, it'll cost you $200. and yes it is really that simple.

Can't say I have much experience with this in the business realm (yet!), but with other things I think I've done well, just doing SOMETHING was more important than reading more. It's very easy to get caught up in trying to understand all problems with reading, so you don't make them, but you always find more you want to avoid. It's an endless cycle of trying to avoid the inevitable.

 

[mlsalters77]

It's very easy to get caught up in trying to understand all problems with reading, so you don't make them, but you always find more you want to avoid. It's an endless cycle of trying to avoid the inevitable.

This is very true! I know plenty of people who spend so much time preparing that they never actually get around to taking action. I do think it is a matter of balance. In the army we were trained to "shoot, move, and communicate." To this day I am constantly in a mode of "train for success" with everything directed to accomplishing the mission. your right Icy, its impossible to avoid every problem but its imperative to be prepared so that you can better navigate them. the benefit of being here in Afghanistan is that I have time to soak up as much as I can with out distractions... we'll mortars, IED's, and bullets are a little distracting. lol

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[biophase]

1. Logistics & Fulfillment for E-Business : A Practical Guide to Mastering Back Office Functions for Online Commerce

2. Model Web Site: A Knowledge Management Approach to E-Business

(The book I am most interested in reading
3. "Web Business Engineering: Using Offline Activities to Drive Internet Strategies"

Those 3 books don't answer your question. The first book seems like it's made for an ecommerce store with physical product. The 2nd book based on the title doesn't seem like it talks about the back office. The 3rd book seems like a marketing book.

I think these are the questions you want answered.
How many servers do I need? Do I need load balanced servers, clustered databases?
What kind of people do I hire? Programmers, DBA, sales people, accountant, attorney, engineers??
Should I get an office? How big should my office be? Should it be a warehouse or commercial office space?

Nobody can answer those questions but you.

 

[mlsalters77]

I think your right Biophase, ultimately those are questions that I will have to answer sometime in the future. But the books I listed each offer interesting perspectives on running an e business. After reading the book overviews and reviews I felt there was definitely something to learn from each that could be applied to my business.

 

[max momo]

Hi,

Most tech books regarding internet business, have quite a short shelf life, IMO. I actually read a few from the early 2000's. Those are only 7 or 8 years old and may as well have been written in latin.

The CLASSIC books on starting a business never go out of style.
Same for the classics on marketing, sales, hiring, motivation, positioning, etc.

That is what business is, anyway - eh?

Learn YOUR niche, farm out all the computer stuff which would take you a long time to learn (unless you already know how to code, run a server farm, etc).

The book you REALLY need?
Your business plan. And YOU have to write that!
Post it here, and then you'll get more constructive answers...

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Icy]

Hi,

Most tech books regarding internet business, have quite a short shelf life, IMO. I actually read a few from the early 2000's. Those are only 7 or 8 years old and may as well have been written in latin.

'Internet time' or ever 'computer time' runs at a MUCH faster pace than 'normal time'. Honestly, if you rely on books you're going to be behind in what technology allows. It's mind boggling how quickly it changes.

I've spent 15 minutes trying to put into words how ridiculous it is on how it's evolved, but I can't.. I've been using it since I was 8(ish), so since about '98, and my mom tells me I've atleast fooled around on computers from about 3. lol


I remember...

-being fascinated that I could create something and put it in a place anyone could see it.

-at 9 I taught the teacher for an after school technology class how to create websites. We ended up making one for my towns museum. Yes, around '99 pretty much anyone could make a 'good' website..

-then browser games in which the people participating had to email each other in order to participate. The delay between emails made that not as much fun.

-around the same time I found out about MUDs which you could talk to people online in real time, and play a game. Using something other than the browser to connect to Telnet

-Next came textbased games that you could play in your browser! Games like Mafia Wars. Time based games.

-Around the same time Yahoo had multiplayer games like Yahoo Towers (I loved that game). You could play against people with graphics, and also talk to them with text in real time! Seriously, imagine that, going from the closest thing being a stand along application with Telnet, and then being able to do all this, in your browser, with graphics!

-Then games like RuneScape, EverQuest, WoW (even though this wasn't until '04!) coming out, and we started to see present day things.

-You can now, with a device about the size of a mouse, video chat, with people around the world. Almost anywhere. Think about that. This is literally a decade on this time line.

There was obviously MUCH more in between these, but that gives you an idea how quickly a decade has changed everything involving the internet.

So, to think a book, even a few years old giving business advice would be relevant to today's technology is a no. The idea's can be applied, but take the ideas, and then research on technology blogs to understand what is happening now.

 

[mtnman]

A what?

Some of these questions/proposed scenarios, I don't even know where to look to answer.

I run hundreds of sites and don't need to know all that. Granted I don't serve millions of users, but the point is get started.

Run a small site and learn what it takes to support 10k users/day. Scale and move up a notch. (facebook didn't start with millions of users)