If you work from home and you are looking to add to your income, e-commerce is an attractive option; minimal investment in terms of money and you can manage your business from any location.
If you are not a tech-minded girl, all is not lost, you can find a single provider to design, build, host and even manage your e-store.
Choosing products
Of course, you want products that are in demand; you might to sell cut out dress if you can strike up a deal with a designer, or perhaps find local artists and build a site that sells originals and prints.
Natural products are in vogue, while beauty products made from natural ingredients also sell well. If you make contact with a beauty product manufacturer, you might be able to represent them as an agent.
Sourcing a supplier
The best way to source a good product supplier is to send emails to certain manufacturers and request price lists. The cheapest products can be found in China and the Internet can help you make contact with suitable manufacturers.
Take your time choosing a line of products and if you have some background knowledge, so much the better.
IT needs
To set up an e-commerce website, you need the following services:
Domain name registration – Choose a URL (www.something.com) and register it.
- Website design
- Site construction
- Site administration
- Setting up digital payment gateways
You can find a single provider for all the above services, which makes it much easier.
Digital Marketing
Your chances of success are limited without some form of digital marketing; talk to a local digital marketing agency and they can put together a marketing plan that brings results.
The first thing to do is optimise the site for Google’s search engine, which will drive organic traffic to your landing page, while a social media marketing plan is also a good way to get your message out.
Logistics
Of course, when consumers place orders, they must be processed; most small e-store entrepreneurs outsource order fulfilment to a local 3rd party logistics company.
You simply deliver your products and packaging to their warehouse, forward all orders and they will handle order fulfilment.
Don’t expect overnight success
Setting up an e-commerce business takes time; don’t expect overnight success, rather be prepared for a long grind and if you apply yourself 100% to the task, you will slowly gain recognition and build a reputation.
There will be obstacles that you have to overcome and there will be times when you wonder why you ever thought about setting up an e-store, much like every small business.
Invest your time not money
The good thing about e-commerce is you don’t have to invest a lot of money to launch the business; start by writing a comprehensive business plan to be sure that you have a sound understanding of what is involved, then list the processes required to set up your store and when everything is in place, you can launch the e-store with a marketing campaign.
2 comments
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