Another obvious aspect of this difference that is almost always a secondary consideration is that the customer is not present to pick up the merchandise and carry it home. How you plan to deliver the merchandise should be one of your first considerations. Do you have a shipping partner that is rock-solid reliable? Do you have an automated fulfillment system?
More fundamentally, are you selling a product that lends itself to the Web? The now-closed Furntiure.com sold home furnishings. You might buy a $20 book or $15 CD online without ever setting eyes on either one of them. But would you buy a $2,000 sofa, sight unseen? Not likely -- and not unless the Web site has a virtually hassle-free return policy.
But several businesses have succeeded in areas where physical inspection was once deemed essential -- florists, for example. You just may have to take a different approach from the one you are used to.
For businesses selling items that can be delivered over the Web, such as reports or software, you also have to consider how the product will be delivered. How are you going to protect your copyright online?
Finally, does your product need support and training? If you put up a Web site, anyone in the world can access it. How much handholding is required to purchase and use your product and how are you going to provide that in Mongolia? For that matter, how are going to provide that in the next town?
That doesn't mean a locally focused Web site isn't viable -- in fact, it is probably a good idea in many cases -- but it does mean that you need to position your site carefully. For example, if you can't accept international orders, warn your international users so they don't go to the trouble of filling out a very lengthy online form only to discover that, without a U.S. ZIP code, processing won't proceed.
 Write a business plan, translating your existing business into one that works on the Web. Be sure to describe, as carefully as you can, the customer for your products or services and where the profits will come from.
Examine your logistics and decide whether they are robust enough to handle a largely mail-order business. Also look at support and call-center resources and decide how you will provide for this.
Decide on the scope of the business. Is it worldwide or local?
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