How to Open Your Own eCommerce Shop - 5 Steps to Selling Online
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Most of us consider at some time running our own business, even if its just a fleeting thought - the idea of working for yourself is appealing from both a financial and work-life balance point of view.
But how can you turn your own ideas into reality?
Selling Online - How to Open Your Own eCommerce Shop
An increasingly popular way to create your own business is to start selling online by opening your own online shop.
With Internet retail expanding rapidly, it is no longer the preserve of the technically gifted or big money companies as more and more eCommerce service companies offer hosted eCommerce solutions at affordable prices.
But like any business idea, knowing how to get started is often the biggest hurdle to overcome.
5 Steps to Selling Online
There are of course many aspects to running your own business both on a personal level such as time management and the financial implications, and on a regulatory level such as the Distance Selling Regulations which govern selling online.
However, its not as scary as it might first appear! We've listed a simple 5 point plan of action on how to get started selling online with your own eCommerce shop.
1. Product is King!
The are two pieces of advice we offer to all of our first time shop owners, choose products to sell that you have a genuine interest in, and choose a niche within a larger market. Consider whether there is a demand for your products, if no one else is selling them online there is probably a good reason for that!
What does choosing a niche mean? A good example is the case of two shop owners both wanting to sell toys online.
The first shop owner decides to stock his shop with a wide range of toys for all age groups and interests. The second shop owner stocks her shop with educational toys for toddlers and young children.
By choosing a smaller niche set of customers within the larger toys market, the second shop owner not only made more sales through her own online shop but found it easier to advertise her shop more cost-effectively online.
The first shop owner put himself up against huge international brands and tried competing head to head with them. Unless you have a large budget for marketing we recommend that you find your own niche set of customers to appeal to.
2. Planning Your Time and Money
So you have decided on what you want to start selling online. The next step is to consider how much time and money you can realistically afford to invest in your new online shop idea.
Running your own shop is an ongoing process, it never really 'gets done' because there are always things you can spend your time on to help improve your business such as finding new trade suppliers and search engine marketing.
Small but regular blocks of time is the most effective approach, perhaps an hour each evening or depending on your other life commitments, an hour or two in the week and a bit more time at the weekend.
We know from experience that when you get your first online shop up and running the temptation is to throw every hour of the day into it, but you can't keep up that red-hot full-tilt pace all of the time!
Money is of course the potential show stopper. Real life financial commitments make funding a new business all that more difficult.
But in the same way that your time with your online shop is best served in small but regular chunks, you can take the same approach with money.
It is possible to get up and running with very little capital outlay, and the subsequent growth of your online baby is as much about how much time you can put aside for it as much as how much money you have to spend.
3. Opening Your own eCommerce Shop!
You've decided on your products, you have thought about how much time and money you can afford to invest in your new business, now its time to find out how to actually get your online shop created and out there on the Internet.
This is in fact the easiest part of the process... there are now so many different services and options to choose from, it would be easy to get scared off just by the sheer volume of choice!
There are a couple of approaches on how to create your own eShop that are worth investigating before deciding on how much you are happy to spend to get your new online shop visible to the Internet shopping public.
The most cost effective and low risk approach for anyone new to selling online is to use a hosted eCommerce solution. This is where a company will create, host and maintain your online shop for you and provide you with a way to manage the contents of your shop online, usually in return for a monthly subscription.
Some services such as our own will also help you set up trading accounts and help find suppliers for the products you would like to sell.
Whichever approach appeals to you most, it is important to keep a tight grip on your budget... an online shop can evolve over time so there is no need to go for the flashy big bucks design from day one if your budget is limited.
4. Where are my Customers?
You now have your own online eCommerce shop full of your products, and you are ready to start selling. But where are your customers?
You can liken a brand new online shop to building a department store in the middle of a desert... it might look fine and be filled with the finest products but if no-one knows about it then nothing will sell.
Please take a bit of time to read our articles on search engine marketing and converting eCommerce shop visitors into customers.
5. Processing Your First Order!
You've done it!! You have taken your own business idea, turned it into a reality and you have just got your first taste of success, congratulations!
We have an article on processing eCommerce shop orders which covers the basics of fulfilling your customers order.
Whatever your online ambitions, Internet Retailer's easy to use eCommerce shop service is designed to empower anyone wanting to sell online regardless of ability or experience, and guide you through the 5 steps of how to open your own eCommerce shop.