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Want to open an online store on WordPress? A new online business idea is a good opportunity to analyze your financial performance.
In addition, you invest part of your savings to generate additional income, which, why not, can turn into a profitable business.
But to start a home business you need accurate investment planning. Of course, risk analysis is also recommended. And, for all this, you need a necessary cost, which you have to assume.
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Learn more about what to prepare for when you want to start a home-based business.
And when it comes to creating a sales site on WordPress, it’s easy to predict the level of investment you have to make. Remember, financial security is very important when you want to make new investments.
Well, as far as we are concerned, the steps you have to follow are also intuitive and, most importantly, you can go through them yourself. Thus, you limit your expenses, and you can hope for an ROI (return on investment) indicator as high as possible.
So, below I will describe the steps you have to follow to create the online store on WordPress. In addition, I will specify the prices for each stage, so that, in the end, you have an approximate total of the investment you have to make.
Also, find out if WordPress is right for your online store.
Creating an online store on WordPress: steps and costs
An online store on WordPress brings results when orders come. It is a simple and pragmatic calculation when it comes to home business: you need well-calculated investments and promising results.
The goal is to keep optimism high and have enough reasons to continue to develop the business idea.
Certainly, not everything will happen overnight. However, you must have a starting point. And, using the information below, you will be able to keep your vision clear throughout your online project.
Let’s see what this is about.
Domain acquisition for online store
The first step you need to take is to acquire a domain name. This is the address where the online store will be found by your customers. This is what you enter the search engine address to access a particular site.
So, choose a suggestive name for your WordPress shop. Check availability and then complete the purchase.
The cost for the desired domain starts from 10$ for one year.
This cost may be higher if the domain name is more specific, or if it makes more sense. If you choose an abstract name, or usual then the base price is the one specified above.
Purchasing the hosting service
An online store cannot exist without a server to host it. Basically, the domain name must physically exist on a computer, in a database. So, the domain will be associated with a physical location, namely the server we already mentioned.
Hosting offers differ depending on certain features. Storage space and database options often determine these rates. But for starters, the basic packages should be enough for your needs – the traffic on the site will not be extremely numerous and, most likely, you will not list more than 100 products for starters.
Installing WordPress
After purchasing the hosting service, it’s time to install WordPress. You can do it easily and quickly, from the cPanel account – it is the account with which you access the profile created on the server where your website is hosted.
This stage is free. WordPress is an open-source platform and does not involve costs. Basic functionality is unrestricted, but it is somewhat limited. If you want more complex functions you will need the acquisitions that I will talk about next.
Purchase the WordPress theme
As I told you, using WordPress is free. So, you can install a free theme for your online store. But, most of the time, the free themes do not offer too many possibilities for personalization. In short, you may not be satisfied with the look of your online store.
Read more about choosing a WordPress theme.
And that’s how we get to the paid homework. They provide support from developers and various ways to optimize/customize basic functionality.
And there are many topics dedicated to e-commerce.
Prices start at 40$ and vary depending on the complexity of the chosen theme.
You can check and purchase WordPress themes from the existing control panel in the already mentioned platform, or directly from themeforest.net.
Don’t forget, choose the theme according to your needs – basically, think carefully about how you want your WordPress online shop to look and work.
Theme configuration is done from the control panel, using intuitive options. No, you don’t need to know programming.
Installing the right plugins
Any WordPress functionality can be extended quickly and easily with the help of plugins. These are pieces of source code that modify the source code of the theme. The outcome? Obtaining new functionalities effortlessly.
There are many plugins for any type of problem. All you have to do is choose the right one.
Most modules are free. However, low-cost versions are often functionally limited. Thus, to use a plugin to its true potential you will have to buy it.
Usually, the license is annual, with prices starting from a few dollars and which can reach several hundred, depending on the specifics of the plug-in we are talking about.
See which are the most used and recommended 9 WordPress plugins that you can try too.
Setting up WooCommerce on the online store
Most e-commerce themes come with the WooCommerce module pre-installed. If not, you can do it as you did with the other plugins.
WooCommerce is free, but its functionality can be extended with other specially developed modules. And, as you can already see, these modules follow the recipe of the plugins we already talked about in the lines above.
Basically, at this stage, your investment varies depending on the budget you have at your disposal and the results you want to achieve in the end.
Additional charges
An online store will need all your support. Therefore, the following costs are added to the above costs:
- Payments required to open a new company – you can not sell without having an open company in this regard.
- Accounting and management payments.
- Purchase the products you want to sell.
- Pay a copywriting and/or online marketing company if you can’t handle things like SEO, site content, and monitoring Google Analytics and Search Console reports.
- Dedicated budget for paid campaigns. An online shop will need paid ads to bring traffic and potential customers to the site.
- Fees to banks when implementing specific payment methods, such as interest-free installments through a shopping card.
Conclusion
As you can see, starting a new home business does not require major investments. If we are talking about opening a WordPress online store, the obligatory costs you have to make are the acquisition of the domain and the hosting package. The rest are optional, and you can do them as you have new opportunities to invest.
My advice is to familiarize yourself with everything presented, especially if you are using WordPress and WooCommerce for the first time. Test, try and see where you need help.
Make a list of everything that means expenses and don’t forget a realistic calculation of revenues and future development prospects. Of course, at this point you need to analyze the time you can allocate daily to your new business.
