How to Breakthrough as an Ecommerce Entrepreneur
- Written by NewsCo
Around the world, there are 7.9 million eCommerce businesses.
If you're wondering how to build an eCommerce business, you'll definitely have a lot of competition.
That's why you should come up with the best strategies when starting an eCommerce business. To find out what strategies to use, make sure you keep reading!
Do Research and Find a Niche
The first step in any business plan is to do research and figure out what niche you'll fit your business into.
For example, if you were going to start a restaurant, you might start by looking at possible venues, themes, and food options. You'd also do some research on your competition to see if there is a niche that isn't being filled.
You'll do the same thing with your eCommerce business, except it will all be virtual!
You should ask yourself some questions, like:
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What do I want to sell?
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Do I want to offer services or products?
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Are these products digital or physical?
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Where will I source my products from?
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Where will I store them?
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Would enough people be interested in my niche?
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How many competitors do I have in that niche?
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What business model should I offer?
You should also come up with a broad outline of how you'll get products from your business to the customers who pay for them. How much are you going to need to start your business up?
All of these are great questions to start your brainstorming session. You'll need the answers to these questions to act as the foundation for your business to help it succeed.
Once you get more firm answers to these questions, you'll have a better idea of what your goals are and what steps you'll have to take to get there.
Find Products
Some people might think it's easy to start an eCommerce business, but they fail when they realize that they aren't even sure what they should be selling.
You shouldn't focus on just one item that is doing really well right now. Instead, you should try to offer something that can't be easily found on every other large eCommerce site, like Amazon.
For example, instead of just selling books, maybe you could sell books that are on a specific topic or are only exclusive to your website.
You should make a brainstorming list of all the potential products that you think people would be interested in buying. Then you can send that list out to your friends and family and ask them what they think!
You may also want to do a little bit of Google research to see if there are any other SEO trends for your products.
Figure Out Your Target Audience
Before you start coming up with specific product ideas for your new business, think about the types of people that are going to be most interested in your product.
In order to sell more products, you'll have to be able to market and target your product directly to them rather than just hoping some random people are interested in it.
To do that, you'll have to come up with your brand and product identity. For example, if you start selling makeup that tests on animals, but you promote yourself as a brand that loves animals, your company probably won't last very long.
Thanks to social media and Google, it's really easy to find out who your target audience is.
Facebook, for example, offers all kinds of data and metrics when you have a business profile.
Apply for an EIN
Even though you don't have a brick-and-mortar location, you'll still need to get an employer identification number (EIN).
This is a nine-digit number that will help you when you're filing your taxes. It will separate your business and personal finances, and you can apply for it for free!
Start a Website
Once you've got everything lined up legally, you can start building your website! This will be your main hub for your business, so if it doesn't work well, your business isn't likely to succeed.
This will be the first thing that customers see when they interact with you, so make sure you hire a good web designer who will leave a good impression. Even before you start a website, you need to have your plan ready. Running a successful e-commerce venture is no joke. Given how many different verticals there are, you need to ensure that you are working with a top online marketplace that is offering cutting-edge tech and software help.
To avoid that, make sure you have a good web developer and a team who can help you when it does break.
They should also help you choose a domain name. This name should match your business name as closely as possible so that people can find you.
There are many different platforms that you can build your site on, like Shopify or Magneto. With these, you'll be able to purchase a domain name, take orders, ship them, receive payments, and even track your inventory levels.
Learn More About How to Build an eCommerce Business
These are only a few ways to build an eCommerce business, but there are many more things to try!
We know that starting a business from scratch can be overwhelming, but we're here to help you through the process.
If you enjoyed this article, make sure that you explore our website to find more articles just like this one!
