With the creation of the Internet came a huge change in the way many companies conduct business. Some companies have risen from an internet based business, to a more "flesh and bone" company, such as Dell (transitioned to opening up physical shops) , the reason they do this is well known to every businessman: it cuts costs, which means more money in your pocket! Starting a business is easier and cheaper than ever before! Before the internet, store owners would have to select a vacant location to set up shop, once they found an area that is filled with potential customers they decide to set up there. That would be perfectly fine, except for one thing: all the expenses that come with purchasing a vacant store.
There is rent, utilities, insurance, inventory, salaries, a chance for the store to be robbed! Almost all these expenses have been cut dramatically when business-owners switched from physical stores to an online store. Monthly overhead costs for a physical store average to about $16,000 were as online stores average $2500. Big difference right? So next time you consider starting a business look into setting up an online store before you find yourself spending a lot of money that can be kept in our pocket!
There are a few ways to go about starting your own business online. Here are some business strategies I've seen occur quite often:
- Make your own product and sell it yourself
- Make your own product and find a third party to sell it and take orders
- Make your own product, take orders yourself, and find a third party to sell it
- Buy someone else's product, then sell it to another customer for a higher price
Remember that when it comes to online business (and pretty much every business) there are a four key things that require effort on your part:
1) Making/Obtaining the Product
2) Selling It
3) Fulfilling The Order/ Customer Service
4) Collecting the Money
Depending on the product and how much effort you put into each one of these key concepts, you can make a substantial amount of money without even really having to leave your couch!
Imagine this scenario for me, your friend is looking to sell his car. You decide to strike a deal. You tell him that you will sell his car, but you will keep all the money above his/her asking price. They agree. You take a picture of the car, post it online, and sell it for an amount that is higher than your friends asking price.
Your friend is happy because they got the money they wanted, your happy because your profiting from the sale, and the customers happy because they got the car they wanted.
YOU CAN DO THIS WITH ANY PRODUCT, ANY SUPPLIER, OR ANY IMPORTER WHO HAVE INVENTORY THAT THEY WANT TO MOVE.
Here is a good exercise many of you can try at home:
1) Take some digital photos of say 20-50 different products that you think might sell well (Clothes, watches, jewellery, cars)
2) Note the costs and how much inventory the importer/ wholesaler has available (
VERY IMPORTANT)
3) Write ads on your site that inform possible buyers of your "new found inventory"
4) Post the items on Ebay, Craigslist, or any other online sales outlet
5) See which products sell and don't sell
6) Collect the money
7) Fulfill the sale
* Repeat these steps for all products that sell well
People dont care where the product comes from, as long as they recieve the product they paid for they are perfectly happy, so why not play the middle man and get your cut in on some of that cash?
So Remember: Manage the Site, Sell the Product, Take Orders, Handle Customer Service, Watch The Money Come In!
