Starting and running an online store is a great way to earn income and build a business from your own space. Many online stores start of home offices until the owners build up the business enough to move to a professional space. Regardless of whether you are starting an online store that operates on drop shipping or you are opening a store to sell your products, here are six things to consider when opening an online store.
1. Ensure you work with ethical and trustworthy suppliers
There are two primary reasons you need to make sure you are working with ethical and trustworthy suppliers. First, it is the right thing to do, and there are plenty of options throughout the world of ethical suppliers in all different industry categories that can provide the products you are looking to sell. Secondly, consumers care now more than ever about where their products are being made and who is making them. Consumers discovering you are using non-ethical suppliers could lead to the demise of your business.
2. Utilize OKRs to keep everyone on task
Objectives and Key Results or OKRs work to keep everyone on task, in communication, and aligned with the goals and strategic objectives of the company. OKRs are vital for new businesses to ensure everything is launched effectively on time and under budget. There are many different types of OKR resources and systems that you can choose from, depending on the specific needs and size of your online store. Regardless of needs, OKRs are beneficial for all companies that have multiple employees working on different projects towards the same goals simultaneously. WorkBoard offers all of your OKR solutions and has something to help all businesses operate more efficiently.
3. Hire an amazing web designer
While you might feel that designing your website is a great way to save money, it is time-consuming and will likely look unprofessional when you are done. Hiring a professional web designer will free up your time to work on other areas of your new business that require your attention, and will result in a fantastic, user-friendly site. Setting up an eCommerce store is more complicated than just a blog, so working with a professional web designer will also make sure the website is user-friendly and loads quickly.
4. Network with social media influencers
Once you launch your products, reach out to social media influencers that may be interested in what you are selling. If you can get them to mention your products or website to their audience, you can quickly go viral. Often, this will mean providing the influencer with free products or hiring them to endorse your products. Either way, it will be an investment in your business because it will provide you with great exposure.
5. Avoid branding mistakes
When you re new to owning a business, you may make decisions regarding your brand that you haven’t thoroughly thought through. When it comes to branding, every detail matters, so researching is vital. In addition to research, it is crucial to make sure your branding is consistent across your entire online store. Learning the top rebranding mistakes can help you with your branding by demonstrating some of the things you don’t want to do while building your brand.
6. Plan for the unrealistic
While you should not base a business plan on going viral, when it happens, you can experience a dramatic increase in business in a very short period. If that happens, you need to be prepared to scale your business quickly and efficiently to capture all that business and exposure. Plan for unrealistic success, so you can handle anything that happens once you launch your online store.
