The first thing to think about before diving into starting an E-commerce business is what you are trying to achieve with this business. Are you looking to market a product or service that you are already selling? Are you starting off in a whole new business? The answer to that will determine a lot of how fast you should proceed into things. A little forethought and planning can save you a lot of time and heartache down the road. Motivation to do this is important but don’t let your eagerness lead you into hasty decisions.
If you haven’t been in your chosen business before but are learning you will have double duty. One to learn how to run your site and interact with your customers. How will you have your customers pay? What will your policies be? But secondly you will have to learn the ins and outs of your business. Such as the nuances of your products such as their seasonal draw or maybe how much it will cost you to ship them to your clients. Which items will you lead with?
You are thinking about your business, but what about your competitors? How many competitors are there? I’m not one to say you should let numbers daunt you. Sure there are a lot of websites and brick & mortar stores to contend with. But there is always room for one more if you do it right. Look at them and think what could you do better? A unique product? A better way of doing business? The possibilities are endless but you should have an idea of how you’re going to roll. It should be something more than ‘I’ll be cheaper’. While can be a good feature being cheap alone won’t win you millions of customers overnight and sometimes people will wonder if you’re too good to be true. An idea maybe would be to build a community of sorts to talk about the type of things you offer. Building a community takes time but its worth the effort.
Chew on these ideas a little to think not so much about what your website will look like. But more what you intend to do with it. Selling services/products, tips about your products or maybe even your product line or services have hit the news as of late. How much time do have and how much time do you have to put into your site? Throwing yourself all into it will probably cause you to burn out and too little time will not show results. So like most things slow and steady wins the race.
If nothing else from this short article take away the idea that being in e-commerce is not a get rich quick thing. No matter how many cartoon mascots, sexy race car drivers or celebrities on tv tell you how easy it is. Its not you can over time do well but don’t believe all the “Uncle Frank” stories about how some uncle somewhere had a website and made million in a few months selling his website or domain. It is satisfying to build one enjoy your time and don’t be in hurry to cash out the big bucks.