Whether being your own boss or adding an extra stream of income or trying what so many people are doing, almost everyone has at least once thought of launching an eCommerce. However, not every eCommerce business that is started meets the expectation in terms of revenue or even on the part of working flexibility.
So, if you are also thinking about starting an eCommerce business, I’d first want to ask a few questions, if I may…
- Are you already operating a brick-and-mortar store?
- How much time, effort, and other resources can you invest?
- What do you want to achieve from the new eCommerce site?
- Can you take care of the technical issues in eCommerce?
These are the questions that will help you to set your expectation and successfully meet them. Why do I say so? Let me explain.
In case you are already operating a brick-and-mortar store:
You have a business and you are looking forward to stepping up in the digital arena. What I get from this is, you either want to get more customers from distant locations. Or, you also want customers to be able to find your products and be able to order even when your physical store is closed.
With respect to time, effort, and other resources investment:
It is barely the case that the resources you have are unlimited. So, you definitely need to set a boundary for your investments and the expectations for your returns. If you are already operating a physical store then you need not worry much about the business operations like inventories but if not, it may not be a part-time gig. So, monetary investment in development of an eCommerce site can start from around $500(or less) to a higher range depending upon what features you want. Then again, you may want to start your eCommerce ads campaign to boost sales.
So, if you invest X amount of time and Y amount of money, you want f(x,y) return. This is what you need to define.
Regarding what you want to achieve from your eCommerce:
It is almost every time that any business owner will want to receive more orders, more customers, and more revenue. For that, you need to work on Conversion Rate Optimization but not just that you’ll also need to work on the different aspects of micro-conversions of your eCommerce business. Along with that, you should also set units of measurement or KPIs for your other expectations.
Ability to take care of the technical issues:
Technical aspects of eCommerce will bake the noodles of many not-so-tech-savvy entrepreneurs. If you are among them, either you should hire a development team who also provides a support contract or you should opt in for some SaaS eCommerce solution providers. Apart from that, the development of the eCommerce site is not just the technical aspect. You’ll also come face to face with the advertisement platforms for which you can learn gradually or seek the help of professionals. For both the development and advertisement aspects, it is better that you make the decision ahead.
For further information on the planning of your eCommerce business, please check my article on LinkedIn.
Signing out…
Peace!