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Company: The Aurora Project
Project: The Aurora Project Online Shop

http://www.theauroraproject.org.uk

Dates: Nov 2006 to May 2007

How did the project start?

The project began when Aurora Project Manager Brian Reid wanted to allocate funds to develop an eCommerce site for members of the Aurora Project.

The project relies on funding so the idea was to create a 100% self managed site that would continue to operate regardless of whether funding is allocated in the future or not, in effect being completely sustainable.

What options did you consider?

The big question was whether to provide each member with their own login and control over their own shop and content, or whether to control this centrally from appointed Aurora administrators taken from volunteers within the project.

Allowing each member to access their own site content was technically far more challenging, but ultimately more sensible in the long run.

We also considered whether to have a central Aurora Project Bank Account or whether the funds go direct to the artist. We decided on the latter, so there is no commission payable by the artist to the site, and any funds received go direct to their account minus a small handling commission by the payment bureau.

What help and expertise did you receive?

Very little! As a one man band the responsibility lay with me, although throwing ideas around with members and other people in the web design industry helped with the decision making process.

Did you face any challenges or learn any lessons?

Plenty of challenges were faced and overcome - the main one being the building of a complex content management system where each member can register an account, and on approval from Brian Reid be automatically sent a user name and password which gives them full control over what appears on their site.

The only condition is that online shops must be authorised before they go live to check that they follow legal requirements and that the banking imformation supplied by the artists is correct. After a successful test the shops are authorised by an administrator (either Brian Reid or myself) ticking a box in the Content Management System.

What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?

The outcome is that we have a self managed site with over 170 artists and craftpersons present, all of whom have the facility (should they wish to) to sell online and manage their shops and site pages with absolutely no technical expertise required.

As the artists add the content themselves there is no charge to be involved. As payments go direct to their bank account there is no commission or monthly fee, with the exception of the standard payment bureau fees of a few percent.

The site pays for the limited assistance of myself for technical queries by selling advertising space on the homepage. I sponsor the hosting, so the site actually costs £0.00 to run on an annual basis.

For me personally, I have developed enormously both as a businessman and as a web developer. This is by far the most adventurous project I've taken on to date, and it does everything and more that we wanted it to do.

What are your plans for the future?

To carry on doing what I do, and to do it well!

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