What I’ve learned about running a small business online

When I started having the idea about selling stuff online, I first thought about how I would get started. I heard that Amazon was a great place to start building a website, so I went first to a seminar where an Amazon expert told his experience and how to get started with all of the details and how he got rich (5 figures per year or more). I went and created my Amazon store, started with putting Apple EarPods for sale. I bought these Earpods for a fraction of the price, best quality, in China and resold them for the normal price at which Apple sells them. I got most of them sold. Then I went over Amazon’s best selling items and saw SanDisk SD cards, so I bought them and sold some on Amazon. And I didn’t just stop there.

On Amazon, I was limited to what is sold on their website, so I went on and tried different website makers where it could include an online store for free. I started with Wix, moved on to GoDaddy Website Builder and then came back to Wix and continued there. Since I could not sell on Wix without paying about 20$/month, I found an alternative called Ecwid on which I could do business without paying anything but, with limited features.

I am always trying to find the cheapest and best way to start an online business, but I think that if you really want to make your website just as you like, learning HTML & CSS is the best way to do it the way you want it. That will bring some complications with it such as hosting your website on an https server which will cost you some money and time of course because learning HTML and CSS is a long process, except if you already know it. I think that learning a coding language is not just an opportunity for your own interest but also for a future job.

To take my website to the next level, I made a Facebook and an Instagram Account to reach more customers and potentially more sales. I think that people mostly go on social media and don’t search for a specific website directly but instead would prefer to go on the website through ads or actually communicating to them in person by giving them a like or a follow.

Since I only had two products already, I looked for more suppliers and eventually ended up looking for apparel/shoes suppliers. I didn’t have enough money to buy more products and store them so, I did my research and found out something called “drop shipping”. It basically consists of putting items that you don’t have with you on sale, but when customers order it, you order it directly from the supplier to the customer without having to even touch it or store it yourself. Drop shipping has a downside though: you can’t test the quality when first buying from a supplier which it is always best to do first to ensure that the customer will be satisfied.

To make the most out of your website and get the most sales, it is important to add more products/arrivals and sales because it is what makes customers buy more products. Make sure that your site stays updated. By adding more products, maybe your consumers were waiting for that special product, and you don’t want to lose your customer(s) because you didn’t have the right product at the right price for them.

Selling online can be a big hassle when you don’t know what to do. It can also be very easy when you have the resources to pay for people to make it for you or talents when you can make a website in HTML and CSS.

I hope that this e-commerce guide might help you if you are planning to sell goods online.