Having your own ecommerce website is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things that you can do in your life. Knowing that you have the potential for unlimited income and that it all rests on how hard you work is very liberating and motivating.
While having an online store is something that many people dream about, few actually follow through and build one, so you are in a unique class of individuals. Of course, creating a store has never been easier either, thanks to Shopify.
In fact, setting up and launching an ecommerce website is as simple as painless as creating a WordPress or Blogger blog these days thanks to ecommerce platforms like Shopify.
What You Need to Start Your Own Ecommerce Website
There are some initial things that you should be bringing to the table if you plan to start your own ecommerce website, before you start configuring your store or even deciding what sort of products you are going to sell.
You should ask yourself if you have or are willing to cultivate the items on the list below to give yourself the best chance possible of having success at selling online. Here are a few things to consider if you are thinking of getting into the business.
- Are you able to devote the time involved into making your store successful? That may include several hours per week that you spend setting up your ecommerce website while still having to work a full-time job or assume your regular responsibilities. Even if you are able to be successful and work your store full-time you will have to spend time each week on order fulfillment, shipping, updating your store, communicating with customers and following the industry of products that you are selling.
- Do you have the ability to invest in your store while still meeting your financial responsibilities and possibly compromising the lifestyle that you are used to in order to have money to spend on setting up your store? Even if you take out a loan to start your store you are still assuming financial risk and you need to make sure that you are prepared financially.
- Can you work on your store for a year or more without seeing any sort of profit? The Small Business Administration estimates that the average small business won’t see a profit until the second or third year in business.
- Will you be able to keep yourself motivated even if you feel as if you aren’t having any success at running your store? You may end up having to work for a long period of time before you see any sort of success and most people would give up before they reached the point where things turned around for them. Are you able to make yourself accomplish the work that needs to be done daily, as well as live your regular life, including working at another job, all with what seems like to reward at any time in the near future.
- Are you prepared to accept potential defeat? You might put in the work, live simply or take out a loan to have money to invest in your business, purchase a great deal of inventory and do countless other things to make your website a success only to realize that it is never going to work the way that you have it currently set up. The competition is fierce and it not only takes skill and perseverance to run a successful e-store, it also takes luck. It is possible that you’ll never be able to get your business off of the ground and you have to be willing to take that risk.