ecommerce business Intelligence, Assignments of Business

Download ecommerce business Intelligence and more Assignments Business in PDF only on Docsity! 1 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Acknowledgement I hope that I have done perfect assignment for given scenario, it’s not possible without the kind Support and help of many persons, I take this as a good opportunity for express my sincere Thanks to all of them. I am greatly thankful to my Business Skills for E Commerce lecturer: Mr. Muhilan Sir And also I take great pleasure to thank my college Esoft. And also my special thanks to My Parents and My Siblings and my friends for inspiring me to do this project successfully. Finally, I take this opportunity to acknowledge the services of the total team of my batch mates and everyone who collaborated with me. Thank you, L.Andrew Sheyam 2 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Table of Content Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................. 01 Table of Content ..................................................................................................................... 02 Task 1....................................................................................................................................... 03 1.1 Assess an organization’s core business functions .......................................................... 03 1.2 evaluate an organization’s business aims and show how they relate to stakeholders..... 06 Task 2....................................................................................................................................... 15 2.1 Analyze the impact, including the risks, of introducing an e-Commerce system to an Organization ......................................................................................................................... 15 2.2 Discuss the global impact of e-Commerce on Society ................................................... 20 Task 3........................................................................................................................................ 26 3.1 Investigate market potential for an e-Commerce opportunity..........................................28 3.2 Evaluate current e-Commerce systems in use by organizations ......................................29 Task 4........................................................................................................................................ 33 4.1 Design an e-Commerce solution ..................................................................................... 33 4.2 Discuss the financial implications of an e- Commerce solution ... ……………………..34 4.3 Evaluate the suitability of an e-Commerce solution. ....................................................... 38 Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 40 Reference................................................................................................................................... 41 Gantt chart................................................................................................................................ 44 5 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Marketing: The marketing function of an organization is responsible for the sales and distribution of the products to different regions. This function deals with all aspects of selling to customers while it also carries out marketing research and organizes advertising and product promotion. According to the case study, the main problem of “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd.” is about creating a positive different experience among customers as there is a heavy competition among supermarkets. So they have to maintain a standard marketing function in order to advertise and promote their products. Accordingly, they can step forward in marketing functioning by implementing an online system to upgrade their shopping and delivery of goods to the customers. However it can be proved that their marketing is still in a good position as they have an idea to collaborate the Sri Lankan. Finance: Finance is critical to any business of any organization. All other business areas of an organization need to have up-to-date information about its financial health in order to ensure the better functioning of the organization. To such an extent, finance is a major role. According to the case study, “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd.” is financially very stable and has a strong brand name. This shows that “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd.” has been very strong in its financial activities of its business. Thereby they have been successful in their economic activities by gaining a strong name and position. Human resource (HR): The role of Human resource function is fully applied to the staffs and employees of an organization. It is in charge of recruiting, training, and the dismissal of employees of the organization. In case of “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd.”, the case study does not discuss more points regarding this. However it displays a line that “Food Chain” has a great reputation for their efficient staff and services offered at their supermarkets. In “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd.” there is danger of experienced and skilled staffs 6 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce leaving the company. So the case study inexplicitly points out a result that their HR functioning needs further recruitments and trainings. Due to this they have to adapt new store formats and online shopping. Information & communication technology (ICT): The impact and role of ICT within organizations has developed over years towards a major strategic issue. ICT encompasses all forms of computing systems, telecommunication and networks. Large numbers of organizations rely on ICT as it enables organization not only to do things efficiently, but also to do things in a completely different way. Many organizations link their branches and workers via network systems. Also, modern machineries that are used in the production sites are controlled and enhanced by computers and other ICT tools. According to the scenario, there already exists an ICT functional area in “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd.”. Because it is referred in the case study that “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd.” has a website to give prices of all their products. Also it has a network that links all their branches through the Internet to handle their internal financial matters. The case study further reports that there is no opportunity for online shopping in “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd.”. This shows that though it has all these ICT functions there is a must of improvement in terms of online shopping or e-business system. Customer services: Customer service is a function of an organization that responds to inquiries or complaints from customers of that organization. Customer service encompasses a variety of techniques used by businesses to ensure the satisfaction of customers. Generally, customer service is an important part of the fulfillment function, ensuring that customers will purchase again and continue to be good customers. It can be easily identified from the case study that “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd.” already has a customer service function which is stable to a little extent. Because the case study says that their prices have been aimed at middle-income society group and they have a set of semi-loyal customers. However they need to improve their customer service function further in order to make all their customers to be loyal to them and impressed towards them. 7 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce 1.2 Evaluate an organization’s business aims and show how they relate to stakeholders A business aim is the goal a business wants to achieve. A primary aim for all business organizations is to add value and in the private sector this involves making a profit. More strategic aims include expansion, market leadership and brand building. Public sector organizations like the Inland Revenue set objectives for service, such as processing customers' tax returns within a given time period. Private sector organization’s like Kellogg’s might set objectives for customer satisfaction, and effectiveness in handling customer orders within a given time period. Objectives within an organization are established at a number of levels from top level corporate objectives, down to team objectives and individual objectives that create a framework for operational activities. These are often translated into targets which help to motivate staff in reaching short-term goals. Objectives therefore provide a clear structure for all of the various activities that an organization carries out. By measuring how well an objective has or has not been achieved, managers can make necessary changes to their activities to ensure progress and achievement of the stated objectives are made within the timescale allocated. When someone first sets up in business, he/she may have some unstated aims or objectives - for example to survive for the first year. Other businesses may wish to state exactly what they are aiming to do, such as Amazon, the Internet CD and bookseller, who wants to "make history and have fun". An aim is where the business wants to go in the future, its goals. It is a statement of purpose, e.g. we want to grow the business into Europe. 10 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Short-term versus long-term: for example, a business may decide to accept lower cash flows in the short-term whilst it invests heavily in new products or plant and equipment. Large investors in the Stock Exchange are often accused of looking too much at short-term objectives and company performance rather than investing in a business for the long-term. PESTEL analysis is a framework or tool used to analyze and monitor the external factors that have an impact on an organization. PESTEL stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal. PESTEL analysis is applied here for “Food Chain” explaining the every external influence it has and how it shapes its business behaviors according to the environmental forces. Fig 1.3 Political factors: The first element of PESTEL analysis is a study of political factor. This is about how government intervenes in the economy of an organization’s business. This can include government policy, foreign trade policy, and tax policy and so on. 11 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce The case study reveals zero direct points regarding the political influence on “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd”. Though, some indirect factors which influence on the business environment of “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” are able to be identified during this analysis. One of them is that increasing of supermarkets. Implementing many numbers of branches in Sri lanka will lead “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” to pay certain taxes to government such as income taxes. They also have to follow the employee acts and rules of government as they are employing staffs. Moreover if they supply goods to other countries as said in case study, they will have to pay export taxes and other related taxes too. Economic factors: The economic factors are direct influences on all businesses which have significant impacts how an organization does businesses and also how profitable they are. The case study mentions that “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” has a position which is financially stable. This statement of the case study is a clear portrayal that “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” has been very effective in accommodating proper changes according to the economic impacts. In present days, globalization is forming new different marketing strategies for a business to be successive. So it is important for “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” too to make it fit to the globalized changes. As a way to this, they are making themselves with an idea to supply goods to other countries. Surely, this is an effective alteration that “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” is trying to make in its usual business shape. 12 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Social factors: These factors are the areas that involve the shared belief and attitudes of the population, media and others. Social forces affect the attitudes, interests and opinions of a business organization. In case of “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd”, social factors encapsulate the demands and taste of customers which vary with quality and prices of products. Middle-income society has the main impact in the business target of “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd”. Accordingly, “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” has been providing better services to them in ways of supplying goods in competitive prices and introducing cost cutting venture. However this cost cutting venture became failure with no positive results for “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd”. So, new different business alterations are needed here. In future, the local wholesalers from whom “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” will purchase vegetables will also be a type of social impact. Technological factors: This factor takes into consideration the technology issues that impact how an organization brings its product or service to the marketplace. Depending on the technology available, it can make it easier or harder to increase production. In case of “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd”, it has already technologically advanced to a little extent as it has been maintaining a national network within the branches through internet in order to share prices and financial matters. Though they have such a technological advancement, they need further developments in their production supply to customers in terms of technology. So, they have to shape their business behavior to online environment. That is, implementation of an e-business system is vital for “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd”. Legal factors: Legal factors include health and safety, equal opportunities, advertising standards, consumer rights and laws, product labeling and product safety. It is clear that organizations need to know what is and what is not legal in order to trade successfully. 15 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce External Stakeholders External Stakeholders are those interested parties, who are not a part of the management, but they indirectly affected by the work of the company. They are the outside parties which form part of the business environment. They are also known as Secondary Stakeholders. They are the users of financial information of the company, in order to know about it’s performance, profitability and liquidity. External Stakeholders, do not participate in the day to day activities of the entity, but the actions of the company influence them. They deal with the company externally. They have no idea about the internal matters of the company. Given below is the list of external stakeholders: • Suppliers: They provide inputs to the organization like raw material, equipment etc. • Customers: They are considered the king of business because they are the one who are going to consume the product. • Creditors: They are the individual, bank or financial institution who provides funds to the organization. • Clients: They are the parties, to whom the company deals and provides its services. • Intermediaries: They are the marketing channels that create a link between company and customers like wholesaler, distributors, retailer etc. • Competitors: They are the rivals who compete with the organization for resources and market as well. • Society: A firm has its responsibility towards society as well because the enterprise uses its valuable resources • Government: A firm is guided and controlled by government rules and regulations like it has to pay taxes and duties that are levied on the business. 16 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce TASK 02 2.1 Analyze the impact, including the risks, of introducing an e-Commerce system to an Organization Introducing RPC wallet that finally opens up vast opportunities for implementing Byte coin into third party applications and services. In other words, Byte coin finally penetrates e-business. Such fact made me glance back at e-commerce establishment and its technological milestones. Suddenly, I’ve got surprised and excited with the conclusion of my own glance. Now looking at such imperfect timeline, there’s still a certain sequence that can be determined. The gaps between the breaking technologies that affect electronic commerce have been inexorably cutting down. It took 29 years to move from EDI to teleshopping, and only 5 years to go from Payment Card Security Standard to Bitcoin. The theory of innovation waves seems to be incredibly valid when applied to the sphere of digital consumption. The present trend of emerging crypto currencies is not a crucial break-through, but the first implementation of a technological miracle called “the block chain”. Such technology that will one day finally become a decentralized global public ledger is theoretically able of much more. For example, it may automate intermediary activities, providing consumers with products, customized and delivered directly from the manufacturers. The block chain can also be a great base for smart contracts that will reduce transaction costs and eliminate bribery by implementing automated escrows, and much more. Search Engine Optimization Almost all ecommerce merchants will be aware of the importance of SEO in enhancing their business. SEO is all about content. Google search algorithm, though had suffered some negative impacts last year, has however found an instant solution to fix those problems. But the reality is there is no quick fix. Merchants need to focus on their content and on building relationships with authority sites that will link back to it. 17 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Just give a try by writing a content on your website without any real SEO strategy and you’ll see the impact it suffers. The content will not be visible for relevant searches. But instead, research with keywords, check whether the page structure includes H1 and H2 tags, put in optimized titles and descriptions, and link the related content throughout the site. Selecting New Products Attaining success with new products and right audience includes factors like trends, price and quality. Most of the ecommerce businesses invest in new products without aligning them to their customers. While purchasing a product online, make sure that your customers will buy it. If your customers are wholly value focused, think whether it is a good strategy to add a high end product. The concept might really work but not at all times. You’ll just end up selling the product on clearance. Most of the small ecommerce store set up a stand. Even if you are not putting up your store as a niche, it is likely that you sell products on a relatively similar demographic. Check with your customers what they buy from you and how they want it to be. Checkout what else products they would want to you to sell. Study a lot about their requirements and try selling them all. If you really understand your customers and ready to roll on their track, then sure your business would make some turnovers. Merchandise Your New Products So, you have invested on new products and are sure your customers will purchase them. Now, is the time to sell them? Writing good product descriptions and impressive photos are two of the best ways to sell your products. Show-off your new products on your website, so that customer can visualize their wants. You can also try promoting new items in your newsletter, on your home page, Facebook or Pinterest pages. Reviewing your sales history is also a better way to help you search for customers who have purchased similar items. You can alert them by sending an email stating that you have a new product that might interest them. 20 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce 2.2 Global Impact of e-Commerce on society E-Commerce has become a very popular method of trading amongst businesses and organizations. Most companies today have an online presence at the very least to hold information about themselves, raising their company awareness if they are not using it to trade. Being rather IT literate myself, I would much rather go shopping for what I am looking for online due to the time it saves when compared to going out to find the product physically, the cheaper prices and I am more than comfortable ordering online as some people can become quite intimidated and unsure about it especially when entering personal and credential information. What is e-Commerce? E-Commerce is simply the buying and selling of various products and services over the internet. Anyone with access to the internet can engage with e-commerce trading. E-commerce has two types of trading and that is business-to-customer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B). A bricks and clicks organizations, both on the high street and online, tend to make customers feel more confident when buying online as the product can be returned in-store while giving the customer both options of where they want to purchase their product from, online or in-store. Bricks - physical store Clicks - online trader Bricks & Clicks - physical & online store Multiple social implications have been created due to the popularity that has come to online shopping over the years. 21 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Positive Effects of E-Commerce on Society Convenience Shopping online can be a lot more convenient than heading out to a shopping Centre to find what you want. Instead, you can simply sit at home with access to the internet and order away. Time Saving Ordering an item online through an e-commerce site takes a lot less time when compared to travelling to your nearest store. Information Availability & Price Comparison The internet is filled with information and with the use of search engines like Google almost anything can be found out rather quickly. When you involve online shopping with these abilities you can easily find the best price for the product you are searching for without having to travel from retailer to retailer. Google Shopping is an example of a product search engine that finds the best price at the selling stores. New Businesses When starting off a new business it can be mega-expensive to get it all up and running if you are planning on being a brick organization. The start-up and running costs for having your business start with an online presence is much cheaper than getting a shop and a place for product storage. Greater Choice When going out shopping you usually only have the availability of the products that are there. This differs when compared to shopping online. Firstly, it is highly likely that you can find the product you want to from multiple different sites. Also, when purchasing from a bricks and clicks organization it is possible that the product you are after isn't available at your nearest store but instead it can be delivered from a store based elsewhere. 22 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Global Marketplace The internet spreads across the world and anyone with access to it can see what is up there. Therefore if you have a website up and running anyone around the world can get access to your website. This gives you a global marketplace but it also brings a much greater competition as you are competing with everyone else who has the same purpose as you with an online presence. Pre-orders Most high demanded products online today tend to have the option to be pre-ordered. This is a process that involves you paying for the product before it is released but in return having it delivered to your door on the release day. This is a very popular process with most entertainment products such as computer games. New Marketing Models Due to how online shopping has taken off in the recent years additional features have been developed alongside them. These include things like review forums where users can read up on what other people thought about a particular product. Advertising has also become a big part online as popular websites tend to display advert banners or sometimes the annoying pop-ups in order to attract in customers. PPC adverts have become a popular way of advertising and this works on a pay-per-click basis where the company hosting the advert will receive payment by the amount of clicks on that ad. Mailshots and customer loyalty schemes have also moved along with the introduction of e-commerce websites. Advertising Online The internet today is a very popular place and this makes it ideal for advertising. Businesses who run their own e-commerce site often advertise for other non-competitors while generating additional revenue and building a partnership with that business which could do both companies a great of good. 25 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce TASK 03 3.1. Investigate market potential for an e-Commerce opportunity SWOT analysis is an extremely useful tool for understanding and decision making in business and organization. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A SWOT analysis measures a business unit while a PESTEL analysis measures market. SWOT analysis is applied here for “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” using the information provided in the case study. Strengths: The identified strengths from the case study regarding “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” are listed below. • “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” is financially strong. They also have a strong brand name. • “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” covers middle-income customers. • “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” idea to supply goods to Sri Lankan shops is one of the strength ideas. • “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” looks to textiles, cosmetics, accessories, computer accessories, baby items, stationery items and a variety of toy products in Srilanka and other branches • They have got great reputation for efficient staffs that are well experienced and in-house trained. Weaknesses: The identified weaknesses from the case study regarding “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” are listed below. • “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” has to face the danger of leaving of well experienced and trained staffs. • Their customer services are still to be improved in many ways. • Unavailability of an online shopping system is a real weakness for “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” 26 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Opportunities: The case study, directly as well as indirectly, reveals some points on business opportunities that “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” has in running its business. They are identified and listed as follows. • “Food Chain” “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” has the opportunity to widen their business activities overseas. • Availability of opportunity for “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” to increase their supermarkets. • They also have lots of chances to purchase vegetables and fruits within the country from local traders. • As they are already maintaining an internal network within its supermarkets, they have a great opportunity to implement an ecommerce system. Threats: The case study, directly as well as indirectly, reveals some points on business threats that “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” has in running its business. They are identified and listed as follows. • Increase of competitors in the market. • “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” has the danger of losing experience staff. • Due to the above reason, there is a must for “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” to adapt new store formats and online shopping. • Top management has to set prices that are fit for customers and better than their competitors. So, this is a major threat they have to face. • Paying of government taxes. E-business (electronic business) is the term used to define the commercial activities and operations that are performed over computer networks such as internet, intranet, and extranets and so on. Ebusiness can be broken into four main categories; B2B, B2C, C2B, and C2C. 27 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce B2B (Business-to-Business): These types of business activities involve two or more business firms and organizations but not the customers. Selling of products by manufacturing companies to distributors and wholesalers is a good example B2B. B2C (Business-to-Consumer): This is a most familiar type of e-business in which a company provides its products for the customer to be purchased via online. This includes electronic shopping, information searching, etc. C2B (Consumer-to- Business): These types of business activities are formed when a consumer sells a product or service to a business (firm). C2C (Consumer-to- Consumer): This involves the online dealing of goods or services among people. There are many sites offering free classifieds, auctions, and forums where individual can buy and sell goods. Out of the above said four e-business types, B2B and B2C are the businesses that can be mainly seen in “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd”. Other two types have been given no importance in the information provided in the scenario. In this section, the Business-to-Business (B2B) opportunities and the Business-to Consumer (B2C) markets of “MyToys (Pvt) Ltd” are identified. Fig 1.5 30 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce • The card brand - for example, visa or MasterCard. Fig 1.5 Debit Card Debit card, like credit card is a small plastic card with a unique number mapped with the bank account number. It is required to have a bank account before getting a debit card from the bank. The major difference between debit card and credit card is that in case of payment through debit card, amount gets deducted from card's bank account immediately and there should be sufficient balance in bank account for the transaction to get completed. Whereas in case of credit card there is no such compulsion. Debit cards free customer to carry cash, cheques and even merchants accepts debit card more readily. Having restriction on amount being in bank account also helps customer to keep a check on his/her spending’s. Smart Card Smart card is again similar to credit card and debit card in appearance but it has a small microprocessor chip embedded in it. It has the capacity to store customer work related/personal information. Smart card is also used to store money which is reduced as per usage. Smart card can be accessed only using a PIN of customer. Smart cards are secure as they stores information in encrypted format and are less expensive/provides faster processing.Mondex and Visa Cash cards are examples of smart cards. 31 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce E-Money E-Money transactions refers to situation where payment is done over the network and amount gets transferred from one financial body to another financial body without any involvement of a middleman. E-money transactions are faster, convenient and saves a lot of time. Online payments done via credit card, debit card or smart card are examples of e-money transactions. Another popular example is e-cash. In case of e-cash, both customer and merchant both have to sign up with the bank or company issuing e-cash. Electronic Fund Transfer It is a very popular electronic payment method to transfer money from one bank account to another bank account. Accounts can be in same bank or different bank. Fund transfer can be done using ATM (Automated Teller Machine) or using computer. Now a day, internet based EFT is getting popularity. In this case, customer uses website provided by the bank. Customer logins to the bank's website and registers another bank account. He/she then places a request to transfer certain amount to that account. Customer's bank transfers amount to other account if it is in same bank otherwise transfer request is forwarded to ACH (Automated Clearing House) to transfer amount to other account and amount is deducted from customer's account. Once amount is transferred to other account, customer is notified of the fund transfer by the bank. Mobile Payments Mobile phones are currently used for a limited number of electronic transactions. However, the percentage seems likely to increase as mobile phone manufacturers enable the chip and software in the phone for easier electronic commerce. 32 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Consumers can use their mobile phone to pay for transactions in several ways. Consumers may send an SMS message, transmit a PIN number, use WAP to make online payments, or perform other segments of their transaction with the phone. As phones develop further, consumers are likely to be able to use infrared, Bluetooth and other means more frequently to transmit full account data in order to make payments securely and easily from their phone. PayPal PayPal is the world’s most widely used payment acquirer, processing over $4 billion in payments in 2011. PayPal payments are made using a user’s existing account or with a credit card. Money can be sent directly to an email address, thus prompting the users to sign up for a new PayPal account. In addition to taking payments, PayPal also allows its users to send money through the service, which is a feature that only a few payment solutions provide. 35 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Banks It has been reported that the most important factor in getting a small loan is the credit history of the borrower. If you don’t have a good credit history, clear up all your credit problems before you go to a bank for a loan. Nowadays, this is usually expressed as your credit score. If you don’t know what your credit score is, find it out before you go to the bank. There are two basic types of loans you might want to consider Business Loans Most small business loans are secured with company or personal assets. Lenders will usually ask for personal guarantees, as well as collateral from anyone who owns more than 20 percent of the company. The bank's reason for requiring collateral is, in part, to gauge whether you think your company is worth the risk you are asking them to take. Business loans have more strict requirements than consumer loans. For example, if your business is in tough financial times, your bank may ask you to immediately pay off the full amount of the loan, something that is unlikely to happen with a consumer loan. Consumer Loans Many small businesses are funded through personal loans or other loans based on personal assets. Consumer loans, home equity loans, second mortgages, mortgage refinancing, and personal loans - are easier to obtain than business loans if you have a good credit history. Some banks don't mind if you take a consumer loan and use the funds for business purposes, others will refuse to lend to you if you tell them you need the money for business purposes. Keep in mind that if you tell a banker a loan is for personal use and you use it for business, that lie constitutes an act of fraud. Consumer loans require less paperwork than commercial loans, and the approval process is much quicker. It is also unlikely that you would be asked to pay the loan back in full if your business falls on hard times, something that can and does happen with a business loan. 36 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Internally Generated Funds One of the most advantageous ways to finance growth is through earnings your business is creating and that you retain. The only cost to using retained earnings is the interest you would receive if you kept the earnings in a bank account. Since this amount is likely to be much less than you will earn by successfully investing the funds in growing your business, plowing retained earnings back into your business is usually a smart move. One risk to financing with internally generated funds is that you will divert too much of your current profits into expanding the business. This can starve your business and create more trouble than if you financed with a more costly source or never tried to grow at all. Make sure you aren't robbing Peter to pay Paul when you finance with retained earnings, and that your investments in inventories, marketing efforts, production staff and other outlays required for the existing business are maintained. Government Programs Federal, state, and local governments have programs designed to assist the financing of new ventures and small businesses. The assistance is often in the form of a government guarantee of the repayment of a loan from a conventional lender. The guarantee provides the lender repayment assurance for a loan to a business that may have limited assets available for collateral. The best known sources are the Small Business Administration and the USDA Rural Development programs. 37 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce 4.3. Evaluate the suitability of an e-Commerce solution. Server software PHP versions 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, or 5.6 (5.6 is recommended for Mytoys 4.3.x) MySQL version 4.1 or higher (MySQLi or pdo_mysql should be supported) This makes Mytoys with almost every server that supports PHP and MySQL. However, we recommend Apache or Nginx as the most robust and stable servers for your web store. With respect to the server operating systems, better security capabilities, and higher performance level. Software requirement PHP scripting language MySQL databases Smarty template engine AJAX-based web interface Hardware requirement • Monitor • Keyboard • Mouse • CPU(tower) • Modem • Network card 40 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Task 03 3.1 E-Commerce Business Models. 2015. E-Commerce Business Models. 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[online] Available at: http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/130004/file-49166146-gif/images/smart-goals.gif [Accessed 14 Jun. 2017]. 41 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Fig 1.3 Focus-on-training.co.uk. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. [online] Available at: http://www.focus-on-training.co.uk/media/uploads/pestle.png [Accessed 17 Jun. 2017]. Fig 1.4 Professionalacademy.com. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. [online] Available at: http://www.professionalacademy.com/media/images/Segemented-Stakeholder-Map.jpeg [Accessed 25 Jun. 2017]. Fig 1.5 Anon, (2017). [online] Available at: http://news.bizzclick.com/wp-content/uploads/b2c_b2b.png [Accessed 28 Jun. 2017]. Fig 1.6 Psdgraphics.com. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. [online] Available at: http://www.psdgraphics.com/file/credit-card.jpg [Accessed 2 Jul. 2017]. 42 L.Andrew Sheyam Edexcel No JH55561 E-Commerce Gantt chart ID Task Name Start Finish Duration Dec 2017 Jan 2018 12/10 12/17 12/24 12/31 1/7 1/14 1 1w12/15/201712/11/2017Task 1 2 1w12/22/201712/18/2017Task 2 3 2w1/5/201812/25/2017Task 3 4 2w1/19/20181/8/2018Task 4