Creating an ecommerce site for your small business isn’t impossible as long as you plan accordingly and take the first step.
When the brick-and-mortar stores got shut down with the whole world during the pandemic lockdowns, the ecommerce business exploded. Shopping online no longer seemed like a question of choice but one of necessity, and many businesses had to choose between branching out or getting shut down for good. Now, while the pandemic seems to be entering its endgame, the ecommerce business isn’t slowing down in the least. So, if you ever wished to launch your online store, this might be a perfect time. However, creating an online store and setting it up for success isn’t child’s play. Many small and mid-sized business (SMB) owners put off building ecommerce sites for their businesses thinking they’re not tech-savvy enough, that they don’t have a big enough budget or enough time for such an endeavor. Well, with ever-evolving technology trends and new site-building tools coming out now more than ever before, almost anyone can create a fully-functional and good-looking online store with no web development skills, on a small budget, and in no time. So, whether you’re coming up with a strategy to create your first online store, or upgrade your current one, here are 10 crucial steps to get it started. The first step of starting an ecommerce business is opening your own investigation of the ecommerce sector you’re interested in and identifying whether there is a need for your specific business idea. For instance, you’ll want to know what kind of products or services your online store is going to offer and how they fit into the bigger picture. You’ll also want to know if you’re going to sell physical products, digital products, or perhaps both. Are you going to buy products from a supplier and resell them, or you’ll be creating your own products? What kind of business model do you wish to apply and will you be selling individual products, packs of products, or subscriptions? These are only a few among the many questions you’ll want to ask yourself before making the first move into the ecommerce market. Although the ecommerce market is now growing at an unparalleled pace, so does the number of ecommerce start-ups, which means more competition for your business. One way to make your business shine and stand out in a crowd is to choose a specialty that can’t be found anywhere else. Or, you can choose a more channel-oriented path and pick out a popular specialty and face your competition down by offering superior or cheaper products or services, or by adding a symbolic value to them. Just like any other ecommerce start-up, yours should start with an exhaustive business plan that’ll summarize all of its objectives and how you plan to reach them. So, before bringing your ideas into reality, come up with a game plan, and don’t forget to tackle the technical aspects of an ecommerce business as well. Also, before breaking the ice, you’ll want to set the budget for your ecommerce store. First of all, consider the entire cost of creating an online store such as domain name registration, a web hosting service, and choosing an ecommerce site-building solution or hiring a web designer to build the site for you. However, if you wish to go with the latter option, be prepared to part with quite a lot of cash. On the other hand, with most ecommerce website builders, you can get away with paying around $5.00 per month and you’ll even get a money-back guarantee if you happen to change your mind. Also, don’t overlook the cost of all additional applications you wish to use, stunning ready-made themes for sale, further features, plugins, and functionalities. If you do, the overall cost of running an online store can add up quickly. Now that you’ve found your place in the market and know how much it will cost you to start, you’ll also want to come up with a perfect name for your ecommerce business. This step also includes choosing a name for the domain you’re going to register and it’s no less important since the right name can strengthen the credibility of your site and help build up your brand identity. So, here’s a tip: pick out a business name that’s easy to remember and has some connection to the products or services you’re selling or the emotion they should evoke. With a good and SEO-friendly domain name (choose any of the top-level domains if you can), your potential customers will find your site more easily and you’ll be able to make a better first impression.
