If you believe you have what it takes to succeed then you can choose the path that fits your situation.
Path #1: Invest time and learn how to build an e-commerce store and build one. (saves money) My recommendation is to have a 60-40% action & learning ratio.
Path #2: Invest money and let the professionals build it for you. (saves time) Invest your precious time in brainstorming your idea.
You can go either way depending upon your situation.
Remember, it's a journey, a new start to your adventure.
Before you put your first step into the e-commerce horizon.
Make sure you've everything you need to take the first few steps in the right direction.
JOURNEY STEP #1: Choose Your eCommerce Business Model or type
Before you decide which market to enter in your eCommerce journey.
You need to understand the different e-commerce models that are available.
Path #1. Dropshipping Ecommerce Business
Ask yourself, do you want to build an e-commerce store without touching a single product with less investment? If yes, then dropshipping or print-on-demand stores are your ideal choice.
If you want a simple, low-maintenance business, dropshipping might be the right option for you.
Dropshipping is a business model in which a third-party supplier fulfills and ships orders for you.
As a dropshipper, you don’t need to buy any inventory in advance.
When a customer places an order, you contact your supplier with the details of the order, and they ship the order directly to your customer.
A dropshipping business limits your responsibilities to marketing, customer service, and website maintenance. You don’t need to worry about inventory, shipping, or fulfillment. You won’t need a warehouse or storage space.
But, dropshipping has some drawbacks. A dropshipping business depends on its suppliers. If your supplier provides bad customer service, your business will suffer. If your supplier doesn’t ship a certain type of product, your business will suffer.
Path #2. Traditional e-commerce online store
If you want to start a business with a lower risk of failure, a warehouse full of products that you want to sell under your brand name? you should consider opening a traditional e-commerce online store also known as wholesaling or warehousing but it does require significant investment upfront to set up.
With a traditional ecommerce store, you handle everything yourself, from processing orders to shipping products.
Traditional online stores require more upfront work than dropshipping. You’ll need to buy inventory and ship orders. You’ll also need to handle customer support, bookkeeping, and other administrative tasks.
You can always hire people for that.
However, you’ll have full control over the business. If something goes wrong, your business will suffer.
But if things go well, you’ll reap the rewards.
Path #3. Niche Content Focused White Labeling eCommerce Model
Do you have a unique product idea and want to sell a single product first before expanding to more products and building a brand?
This is my favorite model. You can do proper content marketing and focus on developing a quality product first before expanding. I call this the LWEI model. "Learn, work, earn, invest" and repeat.
Take your time to learn each model and do thorough research before making a decision.
Path #4. Subscription Ecommerce Model
Subscription-based e-commerce model is called the model of the future for a reason.
We all know, that acquiring a new customer is harder than retaining an existing one.
So what is a Subscription-based Ecommerce model?
In simple words, it allows your customers to subscribe to the products they require on a regular basis.
It can be offered in exchange for regular payments from the customers weekly, monthly, or annually.
According to the research, the global subscription eCommerce market will reach US$ 478.2 billion by 2025.
Subscription is a way to go in the future as more and more people become aware of it.
We need to understand that consumers want a great end-to-end seamless experience and are willing to subscribe only where automated purchasing gives them real tangible benefits.
JOURNEY STEP #2: Choose Your eCommerce Niche or Market
I get tons of questions from aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners regarding which niche is the best for them.
FOCUS is the key.
Flipkart was first a book store before it expanded to a multi-vendor store.
Choose your niche with a focus in mind, it's the most important step in starting the eCommerce store in the right direction.
Don't pick a niche with tons of competitors or a niche where there are no competitors at all, it means there is no demand.
I usually recommend my clients choose a niche that they can stick with for the next 5-10 years and enjoy talking about it with anyone. If you don't enjoy your work, very soon you'll be burnt out and want to quit everything.
Here is the proven way that can help you select your niche.
Ask yourself the following questions and write them down.
- Write down a list of the things you are interested in or know a lot about.
- What were the most recent YouTube videos you watched, podcasts you listened to, books you've read, jobs you've had, magazines you've subscribed to, etc?
- Write down a list of everything you own. Plug those into Ahrefs/Semrush/Google trends to see if you can find an under-served niche.
- Pick a product category of that under-served niche and find 2000 keywords and focus on that niche 1000%.
If you're stuck here, I understand. I was stuck too.
I get many business owners who question their choice of niche when they're not selling well.
Do not waste time here. Just select the one and go. You can always expand later.
JOURNEY STEP #3: Validate Your eCommerce market and product Idea
After you select your path. You need to explore the market to do market research to understand your market's needs, pain, and struggles. Make sure there is a healthy demand.
Ask the right questions and write them down in a docs file (or a piece of paper).
- Is there a need for that product? how are you so sure it's gonna sell?
- Look into your competitors selling to your dream customers. Find out what they're doing that you can do even better. (write it down)
- Build a Customer Avatar aka Buyer's Persona.
- Build an eCommerce Store brand Image.
Imagine a detergent company starts selling office chairs? Build an image of your brand from the very start. Have a crystal clear idea of what categories of products you want to sell and build the brand image around that. - Come up with ONE PRODUCT IDEA that you want to sell at first, you can always expand more.
For example, you can start selling office desks with top-quality wood material first before expanding to other office products such as diaries, chairs, computer desks, standing desks, etc. - Before you start investing in that product, do thorough research on that product and make sure you've got a backup supplier, talk to them about pricing and create a plan at which price you're willing to sell, why would anyone choose your product instead of your competitors?
Answering these questions and building a plan will help you give an edge over your competitors.
You'll have a clear idea of why your product is better than the others and why would anyone choose your brand over others. If you've clarity, you can use that with the branding of your business as well as your products.
Once you've successfully validated your idea and you're sure that your products are better than your competitors. You can proceed to the next step.
Journey Tip: Make a few minimum viable products (MVP) and give them away to your friends and family for feedback. You can create a list of questions very easily on "Google form" to get a better understanding of how good is your product. Have a good conversation with them to find your dream customer and ask them to be very honest with their responses.
JOURNEY STEP #4: Get Your ecommerce business name
Once you've successfully validated your market and product idea. It's time to choose a business name.
Your name is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your business, it's a long-term investment.
A name can convey your values and personality. A name can convey trustworthiness and expertise. A name can make or break your business.
When choosing a business name, it’s important to choose something specific.
It should be simple, short, easy to understand, and rememberable but don't be afraid to play with words.
Don’t rush into this, Keep the domain as short as possible. Be sure it matches your brand and resonates with your customers.
I'll share one great way to generate a cool name for your business.
#1. Write down any words that come into your mind on a piece of paper. You can add your favorite words too.
#2. Write down what words resonates with your target audience.
#3. Now think about the combination of #1 and #2 and write down all the creative names that come into mind. Make at least 10 names.
#4. Ask your friends and family to give you honest feedback about the selected name.
#5. Shortlist the ones that you like and search domain names for those names.
JOURNEY STEP #5: Get Your Ecommerce Domain name ASAP
Having a custom domain name for your store is invaluable.
Search for the shortlisted business name on Namecheap or Godaddy to buy a domain name for your business.
The domain is also called a URL. That's what your dream customers will type on the search box to visit your eCommerce store.
Simply open one of those websites and enter your shortlisted business name or the name you want.
It will tell you if the name is available.
My recommendation is still with the .com domain name. If it's not available you can always go for .net or a country-specific domain such as .us, .uk .in, etc.
Choose a domain name that suits your business.
JOURNEY STEP #6: Choose The Best eCommerce Platform For Small Business
There are tons of eCommerce platforms available in the market.
Choosing one for your business is not an easy task. This is the most common roadblock a lot of adventurous entrepreneurs face but only those who have strong willpower and decision-making ability can overcome this.
To overcome this analysis paralysis. You have to make a smart decision ASAP.
This is what I'd do. Just like most of the things in life. If there are tons of choices, choose the one that serves your needs perfectly regardless of what other uses based on your financial situation.
Here is a trick to make your task easier.
Use MoSCoW method of prioritization to understand and manage your priorities. It means...
- Must Have
- Should Have
- Could Have
- Won’t Have this time
But first write down all the things that you are looking for in an e-commerce platform that will turn people into your dream customer and divide that into the MosCow method of prioritization.
This way you'll be able to come to a customer centric conclusion.
I'll go into more detail on my website Alphayaan Digital Marketing Agency - Your Marketing Partner.
For example, Is it going to be a multi-seller e-commerce store or a single seller (you)?
Then search for the ones that tick mark all the boxes according to your needs.
And select an e-commerce platform that suits your needs.
You can always revamp to a different platform once your store once you get successful.
You can hire professionals to do that for you.
The most famous platforms in the market right now are Bigcommerce, Shopify, and WordPress with Woocommerce plugin.
If you're a beginner and want to have a single vendor store for now. Start with Shopify.
It’s the most user-friendly eCommerce platform available.
Keep it simple, here is a quick summary
1. Determine your ecommece needs on a piece of paper or use the MoScoW method.
2. Set a budget that you would like to have for your e-commerce needs.
3. Research various e-commerce solutions.
4. Select the platform that serves your needs.
A priceless tip: Do not skip any step. Setting up the foundation of the business is the most important thing you can do when you're starting out.
JOURNEY STEP #7: Register Your E-commerce Business
There are various benefits in registering your ecommerce store in your country. The most important ones are getting the tax benefit and having a real legal entity in the eyes of law.
JOURNEY STEP #8: Branding For Ecommerce Store
Again here you have two paths.
Path #1. Do it yourself. (cost time)
Path #2. Here a ecommerce marketing firm to do it for you. (cost money)
Path #1. How to brand ecommerce store (FREE WAY)
Shopify has inbuilt tools that can help you create brand assets easily.
You can use the free version of Canva to create a simple logo to get started ASAP.
Choose the fonts that resonates well with your audience.
Once you start making sales you can always hire a professional to build brand assets.
I'm saying this because of my personal experience.
Never Aim For Perfection. It is one of the most common methods of wasting time and money.
Just get started and you can make changes later on.
Path #2. How to brand ecommerce store (FAST WAY)
Just here an ecommerce marketing agency to do the branding for you according to your business vision and goals. Keep it consistent in terms of color, design, font. Keep it simple yet unique.
JOURNEY STEP #9: Build Your Store
Here you have two paths.
Path #1: You can learn how to build an e-commerce store on Shopify or any platform on Youtube or Google and build it yourself.
If you choose this path, you've to add legal pages, such as privacy policy, terms, etc. to your store, integrate it with top payment processors such as PayPal, Stripe, make your store mobile-friendly, and configure sales tax rates, depending upon your state, country, etc.
It will consume a lot of time and also will take a lot of trial and error to make a fully functioning store.
Once done, you still have to learn and implement store optimization strategies for maximum sales.
If you don't have money to invest in your business and do enjoy building a store by yourself, choose this path.
Path #2: You can hire an agency or a professional to do it for you. You just give them direction and share your goals. They'll make a store that suits your needs.
If you don't like something they make or want to make minor changes, you can always ask for revisions.
It will save you time so that you can focus on brainstorming, and taking calculative executive decisions to grow your business to the next level.
JOURNEY STEP #10: Bring people to your store aka eCommerce marketing
Here you have many options.
You can do SEO, paid ads, content marketing, influencer marketing, etc.
The biggest mistake a lot of people does here is the focus on marketing their products on all platforms available on mother earth.
They look at a very successful e-commerce store that focuses on all the available marketing means to reach its ideal audience and try to do the same.
But a startup with a limited budget can't afford to invest in all of these methods at the same time.
Instead, I recommend, believing in and implementing THE POWER OF ONE.
It was a game-changer for me. I use this strategy in almost everything.
In fact, I only have one tab open to write this and removed all the distractions such as putting my phone on Do Not Disturb and locking it in a drawer and giving the key to my assistant. I'm doing 90 minutes sprint FULL ON FOCUS ON ONE THING.
Do this for your business and you'll see wonders.
- Choose One Niche/Market.
- Choose One marketing method, for example, Google ads, Facebook ads, SEO, etc.
- Choose one platform.
- Target one Customer Avatar.
If your ideal customer spends most of their time on Facebook, you should run Facebook Ads.
If your ideal customer hangs out on Youtube, then create more videos and run YouTube ads.
Once you understand where your ideal customer is, just be in front of them. If they really want your product, they'll buy from you.
Here also you've two paths,
One path will save you money, the second will save you time.
Path #1: Invest time and learn how to run Facebook or Google Ads for your e-commerce store and do it that way.
Path #2: Invest money and let the professionals build ads and manage them for you. (saves time)
Build an e-commerce marketing strategy with strict deadlines and put it where you can see it every day.
