If you have a few friends who have changed their lifestyle by creating their own e-commerce platform and you would like to join them, you have come to the right place. In this article, we will outline the various steps in setting up a shopping cart website to help you break free from the chains of salaried employment.
- Choosing your product line – The most crucial of all decisions is the line of products you’re going to sell, and you would do well to carry out extensive market research in order to determine that there is in fact a demand. If you get this one wrong, then it will be an uphill battle all the way, so do spend time considering every aspect of your product choice.
- Web Design – You will need some professional help with designing and building your e-commerce platform, and you should be able to source a company that will also host your site and register your chosen domain name. One of the most popular web-build applications is Magento, which has many features and now that you know how to start an online business, you can go ahead and create your product images and written description.
- Digital Marketing – This is not something you can afford to overlook, as you will have a lot of competition, regardless of what you’re selling, and with an aggressive digital marketing plan, you can carve out a share of the global market.
- Business Registration – Refer to the Australian government website about setting up a business and this will guide you through the process.
- Suppliers – Of course, you will need to find a reliable product supplier, preferably one with a track record in the industry, and they would likely offer you a line of credit, which will help keep your start-up costs down. It is important that your supplier can handle large volumes of orders, so choose an established wholesaler.
- Logistics – A critical aspect of your business, logistics include the picking, packing and delivery of products, and you should outsource your logistics to a third-party provider (3PL), as they are geared up for processing online orders. All you do is send the 3PL company your products and packaging, then you simply forward all orders to your logistics partner for processing.
There will be many obstacles, of that you can be sure, and with a large dose of optimism and a great deal of determination, you will gradually build up a great online reputation and your business will enjoy sustainable growth.