If you are serious about opening up an online cigar shop do these things.
1) Figure out your initial investment.
2) Create a business plan of how you are going to provide cigars to customers. Ex, dropship, in-house. Create a shipping policy/procedures
3) Figure out what you need and budget your investment money. Keep some money in the bank to handle large orders and other costs (working capital). Figure break-even
4) Create a good looking website. Since there are so many retailers out there, a good-looking website is essential to compete.
5) Customer service, beat the competition with good customer service.
6) Marketing!
7) Bookkeeping and records- Make sure these are top-notch, that way you can make informed decisions on how to improve.
Hope this helped.
-Mike
Founder and CEO
http://www.italiansmokes.com