Small biz help pls

tom.senex

I want to set up an internet business letting holiday homes in a specific part of Italy. I already have a number of contacts and have let homes in the past earning sweet commissions.
Where can I find more info?
I need to find out the following:

1. How to set up a company
2. Creating websites etc.

I am a total beginner at this game so any suggestion is much welcomed.

By the way could this be done on eBay?

windswept

I would think that ebay is a perfect starting point, you could test the waters, decide if there's a living to be made and you have 3 months in which to register with hmrc. Try asking on the ebay business board in ebay community, we are a (mostly) friendly bunch, with a lot of experience between us.
Anyone can set up a website, making it a good site is a whole different matter.
I would say, look at other websites offering similar services, the Dibb, catering for orlando holidays has a good section, if you could find a similar one for italy you could become a sponsor-a good way of advertising to an already interested audience, I know there is a site for menorca, I'm sure there must be one for italy. There is also holiday-truths.
I have no idea whether you should register as a ltd.company or a sole trader, it depends very much on what your element of financial risk would be should things go wrong.
If you already have experience then you are half way there . Setting up in business is not half as scary as it first seems, we only stared in October last year - on ebay, we now have a website too, be aware that websites need a minimum of 6-12 months to get on the radar, unless you fancy paying through the nose for google adwords etc.
You also need to consider how you will take payments, of course with ebay comes paypal, but I would advise only taking deposits this way, with direct bank transfer for the balance, safer and a whole lot cheaper for you.

dukesy_2

windswept wrote:

be aware that websites need a minimum of 6-12 months to get on the radar, unless you fancy paying through the nose for google adwords etc.

This is not the case. A well written, well optimised site should start acheiving rankings in a matter of weeks. Avoid Free (ad served) hosting as this will only have a negative effect.

Like all things in business, what you get out will usually directly mirror what you put in. Dont scrimp at day one (well, not TOO much :-) )

You basically have two choices.

A "home made" site (true MSE method) which will not generate teh level of income you may wish for

OR

A Professionally built site which should turn a profit.
(This should include a degree of remote content management to allow villa owners to upload their own details.)

Think about the business model carefully. Are you taking just "comission" or are you charging Villa owners a membership fee ? Are you able to fund the overheads required until money starts rolling in ?

If you are looking at the internet for the majority of your traffic, have you researched markets, demographics, keywords etc ?

All i am getting at *(not withstanding that this IS MSE! ) is DONT try to do it on the cheap. You will find youself in 6 months with NO traffic or income AT ALL.

Better to spend a little to get a +ve roi than spend less but in vain.

tom.senex

thanks to you both, very helpful.
I work part time so will look into this in more details in my spare time

mkeeley

Use SEO (search engine optimisation) software if you're creating your own site, or to check out how well a site has been created for you. The software will anayse your site and suggest ways to improve your ranking, so instead of being down on, say, page 20 where not many people will look you'll be nearer the top. A good free one is WebCEO which you can download from www.webceo.com

Also do some googling on SEO, there are plenty of sites out there with tips on the subject.

richt71

Hi Tom,
I'd call businesslink for business advice and also ring a few accountants locally. Most will give you a free 1 hour consultation on setting your business up.

In terms of a website. I re-iterate not to scrimp on this. However you can get decent designs done for you on elance.com - like ebat but for web stuff. Vasically you post free what you want and what you're willing to pay..web designers from around the world bid...you can see ratings from past customers and also ask for samples before accepting any bid. You usually pay 50% upfront and 50% upon completion via paypal.
Once you have your website...traffic is the key...SEO elite is the number one rated Search engine optizimer (SP?). Many millionaire online marketers swear by it.
Hope that helps?