So you are mentally ready to start your own business based on online sales? Welcome to the world of online sales with your own e-commerce business! You've researched the legal side and you're ready for the exciting part. Where do you start? Well, luckily for you, we also have some experience in that area and we also started for the first time ourselves.
Here are eight business tips to help you start your own online ecommerce store:
Determine which industry, niche and products you will focus on
Finding a niche that you can specialize in and have a certain passion or experience with is one of the most important things you can do when building your ecommerce business. The main thing is that the product also has your own interest and attention and that you are prepared to fully immerse yourself in it. Because if you start working with a product that you have absolutely nothing to do with, it becomes a very difficult story to continuously energy, focus and drive to make your e-commerce business a great success.
Find suppliers for the products you want to sell
Preferably you will start with a product that is not yet sold extensively on the marketplaces such as Amazon or Bol. Because you focus on a niche market, you make it a bit easier to be found better on Google (think of search engine optimization, SEO) and you also have less competition. Make sure that you always provide multiple suppliers (or own production) for your products, so that you are not dependent on just one supplier.
Set aside plenty of time to work on your new e-commerce business
Be prepared to spend many hours learning and building your new ecommerce website. Many who start out assume that creating an online business quickly gives them the freedom to travel and work less, but unfortunately it is often different.
Stay on top of current trends, keep an eye on the competition every now and then and look for positive changes in the market that could work well for you.
Work step by step, on continuous improvement. Look at competition, but above all listen to your customers to determine what can be improved or how you ensure that a product or customer experience is taken to the highest level.
To ask? Use your favorite search engine Google and ask any question you have. You'll be amazed at how much you can learn online (and often for free) from searches, informational results, videos, and much more interesting content.
Choose an ecommerce platform with a good name, customer service & apps
Only when you already have enough fat on your bones and have built up a buffer with doing business, you can go crazy and have a fully customized webshop built from the ground up.
If you're like most small business owners, you're probably trying to figure out how to build an online store from scratch late at night.
The solution that will work for you will probably be somewhere in the middle. Of course you can do yourself a favor and get started with the great e-commerce solution Shopify yourself, but when you are really faced with challenges, it is a good idea to bring in an expert in the end.
It is important if you have questions to ask them to the customer service of Shopify, the theme developer, a Facebook (soon to be Metaverse) group with experts, via a Google search or the hiring of a good developer. You then gain more and more expertise and know-how, so that in the future you can carry out any desired adjustment yourself.
For extensions of functionality, you can of course get started with the enormous availability in the Shopify apps marketplace. Be sure to read the reviews, experiment with multiple apps before fully rolling them out in your shop, and A/B testing for the results never hurts either.
It works very well for many niches and products: give your product to influencers, let them wear your product (in a nuanced way), try it out, show it to their followers and it could be an exceptionally good marketing strategy for your new e-commerce company and product range. to be.
Put everything in writing and cover yourself legally enough
This should go without saying, but sometimes things slip by or you make an exception for whatever reason. Whether it's with suppliers, influencers or employees, you should really make sure that your expectations and agreements with them are clear and laid down in advance.
In addition, it is of course important that you ensure that your affairs are properly arranged. That is why you should mainly be informed in the legal field, which business obligations and rights you have, and how you can properly arrange your affairs financially and administratively.
Finally
You'll find that in the e-commerce world, your to-do list is never quite finished, but that's totally okay. The more you learn, the more you grow and the better you become at doing business online with your new ecommerce company!
Sources including Forbes (AND), Inc (AND), SmallBusinessConnections (AND), TheTechBizz (AND)
