STARTING AN E-COMMERCE BUSINESS IN MIDLIFE

0
1380
ecommerce

The internet economy is an increasingly growing phenomenon due to the development of new digital technology. One can create a medium- or small-sized initiative using a computer even without web development skills within a half a day. When starting a business in the  e-commerce sector, the basics of commerce still apply.

When starting out, you can purchase an existing online store or a site from third-party marketplaces. Brokers on these platforms can assist in finding the right websites since they are aware of the factors to consider when looking for a website. Most businesses for sale require an overhaul, and with the correct expertise and skills it can be transformed into a worthwhile business.

Also, before devoting significant resources to running a website in a particular niche, the waters should be tested to determine sales and availability of the market. Small, free sites such as Blogger.com and WordPress.com can be built, and if there are sales, then one can go ahead and purchase a website within this niche. It is important to know the investment before investing in any e-commerce store.

Furthermore, a micro niche should be considered rather than a wide variety of goods. This will help in reducing competition with the big websites and consequently help in Google rankings for niche keywords. Also, a store within a micro niche will provide savings to the customer since goods are sold in small packages at reduced prices.

In addition to that, a mentorship group or a mentor can be utilized to gain more skills. Mentors such as SCORE offer workshops, technical and professional resources and webinars. They can help in determining the best partners to buy from, figuring out logos and branding and sometimes just to vent about business frustrations. There are other business groups and communities that offer countless forums to learn, meet mentors and network.

Cloud-based, fully-hosted services should be created when you are ready to host an online shop or a site. An online store can be built with both login and picture upload functionality, and it can then be extended later into other networks on an as-needed basis. These two platforms can be connected to different channels such as eBay, Amazon, and Facebook to help your start-up  reach abroad market. It is not a necessity to have any technical ability or a lot of funds to set up the store.

Aside for this, an e-commerce business can be started simply by trying to solve a problem faced by the owner at the moment. Chances are there are other people experiencing the same problem. These will be the business’s customers. For example, a person with eczema can start a hand-crafted skin care product to alleviate the condition.

Finally, an e-commerce store can be started on an existing marketplace such as eBay and Amazon. These giants can offer listings at cheaper rates than other marketplaces. Furthermore, it does not necessitate a costly website to set up or marketing, shipping and payments. Hence one can test the viability of a young business. When you are using an existing marketplace, one does not need to distress himself or herself about traffic generation for a store because the marketplace handles this on its own. Also, a few useful skills and momentum can be gained by testing the waters using these marketplaces.