How can I start an e-commerce business?

Good question, but in fact, no one can derive the ideal formula for how to start, continue and support your e-commerce business because each store is individual and has its characteristics, both at the initial stages and the development stage. But, I tried to collect here the most useful and practical tips which, I hope, can help you.

You must understand that building an ecommerce store takes more than picking a brand name, writing product listings, and starting to sell products online. I don’t want to scare you, but it's a little more complicated. So, let's figure it out.

How to begin an e-commerce business:

1. Research the basics of e-commerce business
2. E-commerce niche research
3. Personas and product selection
4. Establish your brand & e-commerce business
5. Create your online store
6. Attracting customers to your e-commerce Store and marketing your products online
7. 
   

Research the basics of e-commerce business

No matter how you would like to quickly switch to the process of selling and making a profit, the first critical step should still be researching. Given that this is your investment, I do not recommend working at random. Treat it seriously.

As I said, there is no single business structure that works for everyone. Before you can decide what and how to sell on the Internet, you need to understand the various available business models. If you are aiming at selling a specific type of goods, I do not advise filling all the rooms in the house with products or investing insanely large amounts of money.

Think better about this, how will you receive products and inventory management? What business model will provide you the highest profit? How will you promote the product in the e-commerce market? It is essential to understand everything in detail.

E-commerce niche research

How could I forget about one of the main questions you should ask yourself? Well, let's give him special attention. So, you need to decide what product to sell, but first you need to understand which electronic commerce niche is right for you. How? Start with a simple one, make sure the area is competitive - the lack of competition usually indicates that there is no market either. Everything is in place? Excellent, move on. If you are focused on selling over the Internet, then concentrate on a niche that works well on social networks.

Also, learn about successful companies already operating in this space. Try to understand what exactly led them to success, was it an investment or a well-thought-out business model or an effective promotion or advertising? Do not miss anything. Every detail is important. Initially, there will be a lot of information, and you will need to digest it, but believe me, this is really important.

Personas and product selection

Eventually you figured out everything superficial, and finally, you can move on to choosing the product that you will sell. No, no, not so fast. Slow down. Let's first decide who you are? What is your store like? Who are your ideal customers, and what are you going to offer them? Answered to these questions? Excellent. It's time to choose a product. Therefore, by that time you should have already formed a definite opinion about the market, niches, key retailers, so you should already have an image of the ideal product in your head. The product that will stand out, attract potential buyers, and bring you profit.

Establish brand & e-commerce business

To start a successful business, you need a brand, for the creation of which you need to take several basic steps:

Step 1: Register your business

Choose a company name and register your company. Keep in mind that there are legal remedies and tax breaks for registration, so do not miss out on opportunities.

Step 2: Pick your store’s name

The name of your site and the legal name of your business should be consistent, if not identical, as a rule, this helps to avoid confusion. The name should correspond to the niche sold by the product, think over everything carefully.

Step 3: Get your business licenses

Let the complete ignorance of this process not stop you, the Small Business Association has many resources that will help you get started, including a network of mentors and courses for small business.

Step 4: Get your Employer Identification Number

What is an EIN? In simple words, this is such a unique number that identifies your business and helps you file necessary documents. Besides, with its help, you will be able to open an account with a commercial bank and file tax returns.

Step 5: Apply for your business licenses and permits

Selling on the Internet does not relieve you of the need for business licenses and permits. Carefully study this question to avoid troubles in the future.

Step 6: Find the right vendors

Given the competitiveness in the market, you need to find suppliers with whom you plan to conduct long-term cooperation. This process may take a long time, but it is in your interests to find the best quality and the best prices for the goods that you sell, or the materials that you use to create your products.

Step 7: Create your logo

First, make sure that a similar logo isn't used by somebody who is already selling in your niche. And second, come up with something original, but don't overdo it. The logo should be memorable.

Step 8: Visual part

It's time to think about the visual presentation of your brand, about colors, fonts, content, and content. If you do not want to hire specialists, you are quite capable of doing it yourself, the main thing is to adhere to marketing tips, the purpose of which is to increase the recognition and uniqueness of your brand.

Create your online store

A large amount of work is already behind, so it's time to create your online store. How? There are many and many platforms for online stores. Choosing the right e-commerce software is not easy, so you can turn to specialists.

But if you intend to do everything yourself, then you should pay attention to such things as download speed, features, compatibility with various payment gateways, SEO-friendly features, compatibility with your business structure, your web developer skills, and much more. It sounds scary, I know, so I advise you first pay attention to the BigCommerce, Shopify and WooCommerce platforms. They are the most common and quite simple, both in construction and in use.

Attracting customers your store and marketing your products online

At this stage, Internet marketing comes into play - something without which it is impossible to imagine online sales. Currently, there are hundreds of books, blogs, and monographs on the development of an online store, based on various Internet marketing practices including segmentation, influencer marketing, online behavioral advertising, collaborative environment, data-driven advertising, remarketing, game advertising and more.

It is necessary to understand that the best ecommerce sites invest heavily in online marketing. If you do not have the means, then you should keep abreast of the digital marketing industry and get marketing tips from free platforms. Find answers to such critical questions for the future of your business, how will you use sponsored content, social networks, paid advertising? How will you keep track of which campaigns drive traffic to your store?

Internet marketing is an extremely powerful tool that should be taken more than seriously. It is not enough just to create a store, load the goods and wait. It doesn’t work like that. After all the previously completed stages, your focus should mainly be on developing awareness and building consumer confidence in the brand.



So, you know where to start. I hope this answer was helpful, and now what you need to do is just follow your dream and be amazing!