E-commerce Venture
Discussion
Thinking about starting an e-commerce business up with a friend of mine, selling modern living products from gifts to items for the home, all things a bit quirky and off the wall. At present we are just in the research stage. Just wanted to know peoples thoughts on starting this type of venture up in the present financial climate? Also any tips/advice much appreciated.
Many thanks
Many thanks
A few clients of mine are e-commerce businesses and there's huge amounts of money to be made if done right. Invest in a proper website, the business will live or die by traffic levels, so having a site that is search engine friendly is a must. You need to choose keywords carefully as this is a competitive game and going for generic terms like "furniture" would likely cost millions to appear on page one of Google. Use the Google keyword tool to find niche keywords that fit with your business and then optimise the site for these, create copy based on them and build links from other sites related to them.
If you want to discuss this in more detail or want a recommendation for a good e-commerce web developer then send me an email.
If you want to discuss this in more detail or want a recommendation for a good e-commerce web developer then send me an email.
Best of luck - but I really think that we are in for a humdinger of a recession/drepression. The full effects of it may not be obvious for another year or so.
I'm no expert on e-marketing or e-business but whatever you do, I would advise that you try and get up and running with as minimal initial costs as possible so that your "get out" position won't be too bad if it doesn't work out.
I'm no expert on e-marketing or e-business but whatever you do, I would advise that you try and get up and running with as minimal initial costs as possible so that your "get out" position won't be too bad if it doesn't work out.
My brother started www.alwaysriding.co.uk last year, been a fantastic year for them, he basically kept the website easy to use, great design and fantastic customer service which has seen sales increase day on day.
I know of (and host) several phenomenally successful online e-commerce ventures.. some new, some established..
If you have the right product, and the right website.. then you can make a killing taking business from the high street and mailorder alternatives.
Check my profile and drop me a mail via profile if you need any assistance with the online side of things.
J
If you have the right product, and the right website.. then you can make a killing taking business from the high street and mailorder alternatives.
Check my profile and drop me a mail via profile if you need any assistance with the online side of things.
J
guyh said:
My brother started www.alwaysriding.co.uk last year, been a fantastic year for them, he basically kept the website easy to use, great design and fantastic customer service which has seen sales increase day on day.
That website looks really great, he's done well. Pity he doesn't sell helmets on the site as I'm looking for oneguyh said:
My brother started www.alwaysriding.co.uk last year, been a fantastic year for them, he basically kept the website easy to use, great design and fantastic customer service which has seen sales increase day on day.
Out of interest what back end is this site running on?..If you’re going to start a business in this climate then an E-Commerce is a good place to start.
As everyone has said you need to have a good website with someone constantly working on the search engine optimisation. I have done a similar thing in the past, we paid a web designer to make the site then set up[ a direct debit for a fairly small fee each month to constantly work on the site making sure it was always optimised. It didn’t pay off immediately but over a period of about 4-6 months it started building nicely.
I’m not sure about everyone else but i used Google ad words and it was completely unsuccessful. It cost a lot and we didn’t get a bean back.
As someone else mentioned, keep your overheads to an absolute minimum so if s**t does hit the fan you can get out without loosing an arm and a leg. When purchasing from suppliers try to buy the minimum order quantity. Once you invest money into stock it is effectively almost worthless (in the eyes of any lender, bank etc), so keep your stock holding to a minimum.
Have you been to the interiors fair at the NEC? Suppliers there would be right up your street.
Good luck!
As everyone has said you need to have a good website with someone constantly working on the search engine optimisation. I have done a similar thing in the past, we paid a web designer to make the site then set up[ a direct debit for a fairly small fee each month to constantly work on the site making sure it was always optimised. It didn’t pay off immediately but over a period of about 4-6 months it started building nicely.
I’m not sure about everyone else but i used Google ad words and it was completely unsuccessful. It cost a lot and we didn’t get a bean back.
As someone else mentioned, keep your overheads to an absolute minimum so if s**t does hit the fan you can get out without loosing an arm and a leg. When purchasing from suppliers try to buy the minimum order quantity. Once you invest money into stock it is effectively almost worthless (in the eyes of any lender, bank etc), so keep your stock holding to a minimum.
Have you been to the interiors fair at the NEC? Suppliers there would be right up your street.
Good luck!
nekrum said:
guyh said:
My brother started www.alwaysriding.co.uk last year, been a fantastic year for them, he basically kept the website easy to use, great design and fantastic customer service which has seen sales increase day on day.
Out of interest what back end is this site running on?..Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff