Do you want to achieve financial independence? The internet offers a slew of opportunities that can help you.
You can build an authoritative niche blog, earn commissions through affiliate marketing, sell online courses, and more.
The chances of success? Probably not as high as you hope – unless you have your eyes set on eCommerce.
Here are a few reasons why:
- According to Statista, retail eCommerce sales will hit $4.5 trillion by 2021.
- Around 71% of consumers believe that online stores can give them better deals than brick-and-mortar establishments.
- 67% of millennials and 56% of Gen X now prefer shopping online.
- 57% of shoppers are now willing to make purchases from foreign sellers.
Impressed? You should be, but despite the growing optimisim around eCommerce, it’s understandable to have some doubts on whether or not it’s the right opportunity for you.
You may not have any idea on what to sell, lack any experience whatsoever in business, or are simply too scared of failures to take your first step.
Whatever your problems are, funding shouldn’t be one of them. And that’s why we’re here – to discuss the best ways an aspiring entrepreneur can build an eCommerce business on a shoestring budget.
A word about drop shipping
Before anything else, you need to learn about drop shipping and how it differs from traditional wholesale.
Unlike wholesale retailing, drop shipping is a business model wherein you don’t have to take physical possession of the goods as a seller. Rather, the manufacturer takes care of delivering orders once a sale has been made through your online outlet.
This means you don’t have to invest in a warehouse or purchase goods in advance. It may sound like a magic bullet for the cost-conscious, but you need to observe a few precautions when searching for dropship suppliers:
- Avoid Suppliers that Charge a Monthly Fee – Requesting for subscription fees is a red flag that may indicate that the supplier is in deep financial trouble. Of course, it’s also a huge inconvenience for eCommerce startups that are trying to save.
- Ask if They Consider First-Time Sellers – Some suppliers refuse to work with first-time business owners for various reasons. To improve your chances of approval, make sure you prepare the necessary business requirements, such as your EIN (Employer Identification Number), tax ID, and so forth.
- Ask About Their Processing Time – One of the risks in drop shipping is putting your brand’s image in the hands of an external entity. As a rule of thumb, make sure the supplier is capable of delivering orders in around 1-2 weeks or less.
- Learn Their Returns Policies – Even though you’re not directly involved with product shipment, your brand is still accountable for returns and refunds. Make sure you have a solid grasp on how these things are handled by your supplier.
- Look for a Contact Number – If the supplier can’t provide a contact number, then it’s already too much of a risk. Remember, a reputable drop shipper should be willing to answer all their sellers’ questions via phone call.
Now that we have got those out of the way, it’s time to focus on building your first-ever eCommerce store.
Validating your product’s profitability
A lot of new entrepreneurs make the mistake of investing too much money on an unprofitable product idea, but they’re not entirely to blame.
If you look at directories like Alibaba and SalesHoo, you can’t help but notice the vast selection of goods you can sell in your eCommerce store.
On the plus side, this means you’re certain to find products that fit your desired niche. However, it also means you could be looking at hours upon hours of research to find the perfect product to sell.
As a result, it’s easy to grow impatient and just settle for something that looks promising in terms of ROI and demand. Sure, some products may look good on paper, but you shouldn’t immediately assume they’ll sell well.
What you need to do is to validate your product idea by asking your target consumers directly. A simple solution is to use Survey Monkey and pick “Consumers in My Target Market” during your first login.
Upon creating a new survey, you can start from scratch by specifying your own questions or use a template pre-made for product research and testing purposes:
Don’t worry – you can still modify or increase the number of questions included in the template. Survey Monkey’s intuitive interface makes it easy to find everything you need from the left menu:
It may take weeks – if not months – before your survey generates enough insights to validate a product, but that’s still way better than spending days and hundreds of dollars on something that won’t sell.
Pick an eCommerce platform
Thanks to modern eCommerce platforms, it should be manageable for a single person to build an online store from scratch. But then again, nothing is a one-size-fits-all solution in business.
To help you decide which platform is best-suited for your needs, here’s an Infographic by Lodlois which has a side-by-side comparison of the top eCommerce platforms known today:
Image Source: Lodlois
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