In the past, starting a business usually meant acquiring a brick-and-mortar property, and offering products or services to their community. Thanks to internet technology, however, owning your own business can take many different forms.
by Eleanor Wyatt
Image via Pixabay
With the rise of ecommerce, younger entrepreneurs can run companies right from their homes, serving a broad customer base far beyond their immediate geographical region.
Ecommerce also allows for a lot of flexibility, and not just in terms of setting your own schedule: your company can be anything from a side hustle to a highly lucrative full-time venture, and you can decide to grow it at a pace that suits your needs. If this sounds appealing, here are some resources from SmartBizOpps.com to help you get started.
Getting your ecommerce product right
The first step towards success as an ecommerce store owner is to be sure your product is something that your customers want.
● Do your market research: you can’t predict with absolute certainty what will sell well, but you can assess what is in demand, what the competition looks like, and which niches need to be filled.
● Be open to the possibility that you may need to tweak your product and make changes to meet market demand.
● Be aware of what kinds of products tend to sell well in ecommerce stores
● You probably don’t want to be competing with ecommerce giants like Amazon or Walmart, so steer clear of generic mass-produced items already available there.
● Make sure the cost of producing or acquiring your product isn’t so great as to render potential profits null.
Setting up your store
Good site design is important for any company, but in ecommerce, your site may be the only face of your business your customers will ever see — so make it count!
● The easiest stores to get up and running are for dropshipped products.
● There are several services online that offer turnkey dropshipping ecommerce stores.
● You can easily set up an appealing store on an existing ecommerce platform like Shopify or Wix, which will provide you with easy-to-use templates.
● Make sure you give your store a name that isn’t hard to remember, and which conveys useful information about your business or product.
● Before you launch your site, do a test run. Ask a friend or family member to order something from your online store, so you can be sure everything works smoothly.
Marketing your ecommerce store
Once you have your product and your site, the next step is to come up with a marketing strategy that produces measurable results.
● Figure out what marketing channel is likely to be best for your product and focus on that.
● You also should have a recognizable logo, which conveys something about your business and brand. You can make a free custom logo yourself with the help of online tools.
● Start by using free or low-cost marketing platforms, like social media.
● You can also find excellent, and free, marketing software tools.
● Once your marketing begins to correlate with profit, expand and invest in larger, paid marketing campaigns.
● Keep an eye on what successful ecommerce marketers are doing on social media sites and decide if their strategies might work for you.
How to stay successful
Whether you intend to keep your ecommerce business on the small side or hope to grow it over time, sustainable profit is key: your store should continue to bring in more in sales than you are spending in investment or marketing.
● Just as with any other business, organization is paramount. This means an organized space, organized records, and an organized schedule. An easy to implement invoicing system can keep your accounts receivable from becoming unmanageable.
● Never slack on customer service. Keep your customers happy and coming back for more.
● Protect yourself and your business from accidents or legal trouble by forming your company as an LLC.
● Closely monitor and track your cash flow (and understand that cash flow is not the same thing as profit!).
Where you decide to go with your ecommerce business is up to you, if you are willing to do the work and start with the right information. So, spending time developing a product that meets existing needs. Then create a great store and follow up with a stellar marketing campaign and exemplary customer service.
Suggested eCommerce Business Opportunity: My Business Venture
