Starting an Online Business

Thinking about starting an online business but don't know were to start or how to go about it? Well i went through the hard part for you and I'm going to share what I've learned so far. First, you'll need to know the difference between e-commerce fulfillment and drop-shipping. Pretty much to water it down with e-commerce fulfillment your in charge of an inventory and drop-shipping your supplier is still in charge of inventory meaning they don't order their product until they get a sale.

At this point you should know what you want to sell or at least have an idea. If your thinking about getting a product in a bulk or at wholesale price and selling it for a higher price then drop-shipping is for you, or if your going to have customers visit your online shop, add an item to the shopping cart and buy a product and you or a fulfillment center pick, pack, and ship the order then e-commerce fulfillment is for you. Once you have all of that figured out you then have to figure out you then want to find the best platform for your online store, so you'll have to do your research because there are so many options when it comes to e-commerce platforms.

Now you've did your research and you've sat up your online store to your needs and now ready to accept orders you then have to figure out what payment gateway fits your store and your country. This is where I was lost and stuck, I thought every website would accept credit cards but i was WRONG! Going through this process can be frustrating depending on what your selling. For example, we sell extensions some payment gateways consider that as high risk oppose to if i was selling clothing that would be considered low risk. For me everything was going good until my online store could no longer accept orders because my payment gateway considered my store as high risk ,and that means any orders that you have in your store and your waiting for that money to clear you cant even touch the money until you figure out your payment gateway. Luckily i still had my payment gateway that i was using when i was with Big Cartel. Sadly that's not it, also depending on where you stay can affect things as well because some payment gateways are only in certain countries and that can make it difficult to figure out which is best for you.

Last but not least MARKETING! This is the most important part in running any business, when marketing that's going to determine how your sales are going to look. If your not that good at marketing but want to start an online business you better become the best marketer EVER because its not as easy as you may think. You have to really brainstorm on ideas and looking up the best marketing tips that fit  the industry that your in. Because you want to figure out how to get people to your website and how to keep them coming back. And some e-commerce websites actually you help you market , they will provide you with tips and apps that will get your online store to your desired audience some are pricey and some are free or cheap depending on what platform your on. A that's really it when it comes to starting your online store, but I'm still growing so as i go i will keep you guys updated.

I hope you guys found this helpful , if you have any further questions in starting your online business leave a comment and lets talk! :)