Loading ...How you can start an eBusiness
With the online retail sales steadily growing, Forrester Research predicts that e-commerce sales in the US will continue to grow at a 10% compound annual growth rate through 2014. For those of you interested in another statistical tidbit : Forrester is also forecasting that online retail sales will hit $250 billion this year, that’s up from $155 billion in 2009. As a budding online entrepreneur, even capturing a small piece of that pie, would be a huge success.
So how do you break into this market? What steps should you take to build an eBusiness and start selling online? And most importantly, how do you do so in a manner that sets you up for success.
1. Plan your dream
Before you start thinking about all the tactical stuff you’re going to need to accomplish over the next little while (getting a website, finding products, getting your name out there etc.). Slow down and think strategy for a moment or two. What do you want to sell – you literally have millions of options, and you can’t sell all of them, so narrow your field and look for your own little niche. A good starting point: think about your interests and brainstorm if there’s a target market that can spin out of that.
2. Create a Business Plan
Next, sit down a write a serious business plan for yourself. Set a few realistic goals and take a good hard look at what you’re trying to accomplish. Is it feasible and is it a viable money-making opportunity? Consider your target market – is it too much for a small start up to tackle? If so, focus your efforts on a smaller and more manageable niche and then work on growing it out once you’ve reached profitability. Is it too small to reach and sustain adequate levels of profitability over time? If the answer is yes, look to expand your product offering so it meets the needs of a larger market. Or look to sell something else. Then create a road map of all the tasks you need to accomplish and the due dates and milestones you’re going to attach to each one.
3. Find Suppliers
Most online sellers, don’t create their own products from scratch, they locate a wholesale dropshipper and resell those products for a profit. A significant advantage to selling on line? You can locate a wholesale supplier who rather than shipping inventory to you, will ship straight to your end customer once an order is placed. This is called a dropshipper or dropship supplier.
The right dropship supplier is a huge asset to your business, so do your research and make sure you build a business relationship with a reputable company.
4. Look for an online storefront provider
As an entrepreneur, you have many skills, you’re resourceful, you’re creative, you’ve got a good business sense, and a whole lot of other strengths and abilities that will help you succeed. Website design however, might not make this list, and frankly, it doesn’t need to. There are a number of reputable online storebuilder solutions out there. Depending on your particular needs, you can use do anything from using their simple tools to set up your own website to hiring one of their professional designers to build a custom site for you. A good professionally designed premium template can cost as little as $1000.
Often these services also offer integrated shopping carts and order management systems so you’re not just getting a website, you’re getting a full business solution, which is a huge time and money saver (especially if you don’t have a lot of spare start-up capital). A select number of online storefronts will have even built relationships with a host of dropshippers so you can use them to source products too.
5. Market your New Store
Once you’ve got your inventory built out and have your eCommerce website up and running, you’ll need to spread the word, and get your name out there. This can include submitting your site to search engines, sending out press releases, pay-per-click advertising campaigns, and a number of other options.
Whatever strategies you tackle ensure you can track the performance of each one. This allows you to assess which strategies resonate with your target market and which are a drain on your precious capital.
6. Provide Amazing Customer Service
I acknowledge that this step isn’t technically a part of getting your eBusiness set up, however, its still mission critical if you want your fledgling business to survive, so it’s worth mentioning. Providing great customer support will set you apart from the competition and encourage repeat business, which in turn will make you money and keep you in business. Enough Said.
7. Keep it Fresh
Last but not least, you’ve gone to all this trouble to create a plan, find dropshippers, build an online storefront, market your new ecommerce store, provide fantastic customer service, so what’s next? Don’t let all your hard work fall down the wayside by walking away from your business and letting it manage itself. Keep updating your product lines, your website, stay in contact with your customer base so they keep coming back and you keep making sales.
References:
Melissa Campanelli , Entrepreneur, How to Set Up an E-Commerce Site
Erick Schonfeld, Tech Crunch, Forrester Forecast: Online Retail Sales Will Grow To $250 Billion By 2014
My Own Business, Internet Business & Search Engine Marketing
Armando Roggio, Practical ECommerce, Ecommerce Know-How: Seven Steps to Starting Your eBusiness in a Recession