Let's Start an e-Commerce Business

Back in the day when you thought about starting a business, it felt like climbing a mountain or even a seemly impossible feat. There were all sorts of things that came to mind about registering your business, the cost of that, the ideal location for a shop, the capital outlay you’d need to put down for it, staff, security inventory, etc. Now I’m not saying that all of those aren’t an issue anymore, but certainly the barriers to starting a business have, (if I dare say it) somewhat almost all disappeared.

In fact, thanks to the internet, you could start an e-commerce business in less than a week if you really wanted to. Crazy isn’t it?! The wonders of modern technology. There’s not much stopping you. Here are a few things to consider to get you going if this is perhaps an option you’ve been thinking about:

1. So of course, you need a product to start. You’ll need to identify a product with high potential. What are the gaps in the market that you could fill? Consider something that has a large global demand, high margins and you can easily store and distribute. So do your research. This is by far the most important aspect of your research. A few sources to consider - Google Trends & Amazon Best Sellers. Now, yes, we’re in it to make some money but remember that saying, do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. The same applies here. Pick something you’re actually interested in- it’ll make you even more successful if you’re passionate about your product.

2. Next you’ll need to ensure that your supply meets your demand. Nothing frustrates customers more than constant back orders or outages of products. Find a manufacturer you’re comfortable with and that can deliver. One you have good relations with and that’s been tried and tested. Pick a manufacturer through a reliable source like Alibaba.com. This is about a long-term partnership and at the core of any partnership - communications, so be sure they are the right one not just the cheapest one.

3. Now give your new baby a name! A brand name is one of the most principal elements of a brand ID. It helps you establish and keep a unique presence in the minds of your consumers. The name not only needs to be memorable but appealing to your target consumer - it also helps if the domain name and social media handles are available. I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve had that have had to reverse engineer their domain name after having launched with a beautifully catchy name only to find out that oops- someone else had it registered. The more you make it difficult to find you for consumers. The less likely they are to try. Customers don’t like to work to find you! As soon as you have this. Register your domain, and get your handles secured on all of your social media platforms! There are a few sites that have business name generator tools that you can use like wix.com, Shopify and businessnamegenerator.com. You can find a few others via the source of all knowledge too.... a.k.a. Google.

4. Of course, the next step is to develop your website. Now as you can see, I have a website - this is something I put together myself (as I dust off my shoulder) and if I can do it, trust me, so can you! There are so many options that will literally walk you through how to do it. I used wix.com, but mine isn’t a commercial site. There are options though. You could use other options like Wordpress and WooCommerce (if you can’t code- I’d stay away from this or get an expert involved) Most people I work with have Shopify sites. These are great - not only on the budget but also if you’re like me and aren’t a technical wiz.

5. Fulfilment and shipping. It’s all good and dandy to have your site & manufacturer sorted but if you can’t store and deliver products, you’re not likely going to be counting the big bucks anytime soon. First decide who’s doing the order processing and fulfilment. A few things come into play when deciding this. One of which is what type of product it is, another is size. If it’s a small product like say a phone charger them perhaps in-house fulfilment is an option - decide how you’re sending the orders, is it the post office or a courier service. If it’s something else say a wig line or car parts- you may want to consider a drop ship business model where you in effect are the order taker and the manufacturer ships directly to the customer.

6. Set some goals - you’re in this to make some moolah, so make sure you’re on top of your numbers. What are your cost of goods, marketing costs, fulfilment costs, merchant processing costs, etc? What are your profit goals? Set yourself some goals, oh, and if your product has an expiration date - set these right down to the day if you can so that you don’t end up with wasted inventory that’s gone past its sell by date.

7. The fun stuff - well for me anyway. What’s your marketing plan? You’ve got the essentials. A product and a site to sell it on. Now what’s your go to market strategy? How do you intend on letting the world know that you’re open for business and why you’re better than the next Joe Blog? If you want to start getting some return on your ad spend almost immediately-Facebook & Instagram ad campaigns are great. That coupled with a Google ad words/SEO campaign are a brilliant combination. SEO drives great qualified leads to your site (people with a higher intent to purchase), where Facebook can deliver wide brand recognition through prospecting ads. It also helps you lead consumers through a planned-out sales funnel all the way through to purchase. Facebook ads are great for testing and learning too. It’s an iterative process where you can see what copy/images/messaging give you the best results. My advice here, always test and tweak. BUT test 1 thing at a time. You need a control to know what’s working and what isn’t.

8. Now let that baby fly. Launch your online store and start that same process of testing to see what works here too. Advertising’s job is to drive people to your site. Your site’s job is to close that deal. I’ve seen really great click-through numbers on ads that fall flat on their face once they hit the site (I.e.: high drop-off rates). Yes, it’s never going to be perfect on the first round and that’s ok, but make sure you’re testing to see what converts these site visits into purchases. Test different landing pages, different calls to action. See what works and above all DON’T give up.

Someone once told me that the difference between people who succeed and those that don’t is Grit. It’s a superpower. It’s the power of passion and perseverance. Good luck 🤞🏾

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