New Business Ideas and Websites Questions
Discussion
Hi,
By current job has ceased and have some questions and I would appreciate some opinions on.
In slow periods I have self taught (to a basic level) Shopify and launched a couple of websites,. Can't use these websites, as they are still with a company I used to work for.
As web domains are relatively cheap, I was originally going to set different up websites, like hvacsupplies.co.uk or catering.supplies.uk but would people be put off by using for example xyxtrading.co.uk to put both ranges on one website.
Would potential customers be put off by using a Gmail account,
I would expect customers to be weary of a new website so hopefully the use of PayPal will help.
I was going to set up a few websites, and basically which ever takes off the best stick with long term.
As my pile of savings is diminishing each day, I'm looking for stuff I can do. Unfortunately I certainly can't afford to pay a company to sort it out.
Thanks for all of the replies and help.
By current job has ceased and have some questions and I would appreciate some opinions on.
In slow periods I have self taught (to a basic level) Shopify and launched a couple of websites,. Can't use these websites, as they are still with a company I used to work for.
As web domains are relatively cheap, I was originally going to set different up websites, like hvacsupplies.co.uk or catering.supplies.uk but would people be put off by using for example xyxtrading.co.uk to put both ranges on one website.
Would potential customers be put off by using a Gmail account,
I would expect customers to be weary of a new website so hopefully the use of PayPal will help.
I was going to set up a few websites, and basically which ever takes off the best stick with long term.
As my pile of savings is diminishing each day, I'm looking for stuff I can do. Unfortunately I certainly can't afford to pay a company to sort it out.
Thanks for all of the replies and help.
Edited by jbswagger on Monday 7th February 09:02
Edited by jbswagger on Monday 7th February 09:29
jbswagger said:
Hi,
By current job has ceased and have some questions and I would appreciate some opinions on.
In slow periods I have self taught (to a basic level) Shopify and launched a couple of websites,. Can't use these websites, as they are still with a company I used to work for.
As web domains are relatively cheap, I was originally going to set different up websites, like hvacsupplies.co.uk or catering.supplies.uk but would people be put off by using for example xyxtrading.co.uk to put both ranges on one website.
Would potential customers be put off by using a Gmail account,
I would expect customers to be weary of a new website so hopefully the use of PayPal will help.
I was going to set up a few websites, and basically which ever takes off the best stick with long term.
As my pile of savings is diminishing each day, I'm looking for stuff I can do. Unfortunately I certainly can't afford to pay a company to sort it out.
Thanks for all of the replies and help.
If you own a domain then use it for email - it always looks more professional.By current job has ceased and have some questions and I would appreciate some opinions on.
In slow periods I have self taught (to a basic level) Shopify and launched a couple of websites,. Can't use these websites, as they are still with a company I used to work for.
As web domains are relatively cheap, I was originally going to set different up websites, like hvacsupplies.co.uk or catering.supplies.uk but would people be put off by using for example xyxtrading.co.uk to put both ranges on one website.
Would potential customers be put off by using a Gmail account,
I would expect customers to be weary of a new website so hopefully the use of PayPal will help.
I was going to set up a few websites, and basically which ever takes off the best stick with long term.
As my pile of savings is diminishing each day, I'm looking for stuff I can do. Unfortunately I certainly can't afford to pay a company to sort it out.
Thanks for all of the replies and help.
Edited by jbswagger on Monday 7th February 09:02
Paypal does give confidence as the buyer feels they have a route for disputes if there are any issues, however it is not the cheapest option, and htey are renowned for freezing your money as a new business while you jump through hoops to prove various things... Stripe is probably a better option currently, and if you are looking at Shopify, simply use their checkout - it is the quickest and cheapest way to get a shopify site live...
As for business names - don't overthink it. The name is not going to be the difference between success and failure for most businesses, and having the 'right' domain won't suddenly bring lots of extra buyers to your website. Whatever you are called, you are going to have to do lots of work on advertising / marketing / communication to tell people about your website, explain why they should visit, explain why they should buy and then actually transact - setting up a shopify shop is easy, making it a viable business is not easy!
You can use a Gmail email account but have it appear as an email address from your domain, ie: andy@pistonheads.com but still have the mail go to gmail account.
https://themeisle.com/blog/use-gmail-with-your-own...
https://themeisle.com/blog/use-gmail-with-your-own...
What's your product? What are you selling?
Experience tells me to make sure there is a decent profit to be had in it? That means, your'e not competing in a "Race to the bottom" market, your'e not competing with Amazon or Ebay, which is almost impossible! Making a decent profit, also means returns. Returns can kill you.... Don't sell something that people will buy, try on themselves, their dog, their cat, their kids and anyone else and then decide it doesn't fit, doesn't look good etc etc and then send it back, for a refund or a different size.
Picking your products is the most important thing to do, in my opinion. Sell something that people will have done research into, and not a consumer item and has a good margin.
SEO is a load of b
ks and you will inundated with SEO experts emailing you saying they'll get you on the top page of google. Whilst making sure your site is well built and well documented and you follow all the rules of SEO, don't pay people to do it. They are all lying, you can do it just as well.
The only way you will get on the first page of Google is luck or because you've paid Google loads of advertising money to buy your way there, which is what most sites do.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the days of setting up a site, and making a killing, are long gone. It's basically a race to the bottom on margin.
Experience tells me to make sure there is a decent profit to be had in it? That means, your'e not competing in a "Race to the bottom" market, your'e not competing with Amazon or Ebay, which is almost impossible! Making a decent profit, also means returns. Returns can kill you.... Don't sell something that people will buy, try on themselves, their dog, their cat, their kids and anyone else and then decide it doesn't fit, doesn't look good etc etc and then send it back, for a refund or a different size.
Picking your products is the most important thing to do, in my opinion. Sell something that people will have done research into, and not a consumer item and has a good margin.
SEO is a load of b

The only way you will get on the first page of Google is luck or because you've paid Google loads of advertising money to buy your way there, which is what most sites do.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the days of setting up a site, and making a killing, are long gone. It's basically a race to the bottom on margin.
jbswagger said:
rustyuk said:
The problem with launching new sites is how you drive traffic to them. Maybe a better option would be to start on eBay or Amazon etc?
That's a valid point, but Ebay and Amazon charge a lot, I was hoping to make use of my Shopify skills. Perhaps using Google Ads?Building the website is really the easy part, finding customers and selling something at a profit is the hard part. I say this as a web developer too

super7 said:
What's your product? What are you selling?
Experience tells me to make sure there is a decent profit to be had in it? That means, your'e not competing in a "Race to the bottom" market, your'e not competing with Amazon or Ebay, which is almost impossible! Making a decent profit, also means returns. Returns can kill you.... Don't sell something that people will buy, try on themselves, their dog, their cat, their kids and anyone else and then decide it doesn't fit, doesn't look good etc etc and then send it back, for a refund or a different size.
Picking your products is the most important thing to do, in my opinion. Sell something that people will have done research into, and not a consumer item and has a good margin.
SEO is a load of b
ks and you will inundated with SEO experts emailing you saying they'll get you on the top page of google. Whilst making sure your site is well built and well documented and you follow all the rules of SEO, don't pay people to do it. They are all lying, you can do it just as well.
The only way you will get on the first page of Google is luck or because you've paid Google loads of advertising money to buy your way there, which is what most sites do.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the days of setting up a site, and making a killing, are long gone. It's basically a race to the bottom on margin.
Thanks the very helpful post. As most of my experience is in HVAC parts supplies, it would be mainly business to business products and customers.Experience tells me to make sure there is a decent profit to be had in it? That means, your'e not competing in a "Race to the bottom" market, your'e not competing with Amazon or Ebay, which is almost impossible! Making a decent profit, also means returns. Returns can kill you.... Don't sell something that people will buy, try on themselves, their dog, their cat, their kids and anyone else and then decide it doesn't fit, doesn't look good etc etc and then send it back, for a refund or a different size.
Picking your products is the most important thing to do, in my opinion. Sell something that people will have done research into, and not a consumer item and has a good margin.
SEO is a load of b

The only way you will get on the first page of Google is luck or because you've paid Google loads of advertising money to buy your way there, which is what most sites do.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the days of setting up a site, and making a killing, are long gone. It's basically a race to the bottom on margin.
JayRidesBikes said:
You can use a Gmail email account but have it appear as an email address from your domain, ie: andy@pistonheads.com but still have the mail go to gmail account.
https://themeisle.com/blog/use-gmail-with-your-own...
Thanks for that very helpful pointhttps://themeisle.com/blog/use-gmail-with-your-own...
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff