Starting a business has become easier when considering business hassles in the olden days. Online businesses have allowed everyone to start selling while sitting in their home. However, many people still need to know what it takes to be a virtual merchant.
We have set up a step-by-step guide for the aspirants who want to make a living by selling online from their couches. If you want to know what steps to follow to become, an online merchant must read this blog.
Step 1: Check On Your Investment
Every business, be it physical or online, demands an investment. However, the amount of investment varies from business to business. Thus before starting your business, you need to analyze how much you can invest. Some businesses require an investment of only a few hundred dollars, and some require millions. It all depends on personal capacity. However, if you’re new to the business, you must invest low amounts initially.
Also Read: Which eCommerce Solutions You Need For Online Business
Besides this, the investment may vary from business model to business model. Suppose you want to sell on your website. Then you manage inventory, stocks and shipping on your own and bear all the expenses. Or if you want to sell on a marketplace. Then you need to arrange the product in bulk to stock at the warehouse of the marketplace. In both models, you seek different amounts of investment.
Moreover, A considerable investment helps you maintain an undisrupted payment system to support vendors’ payments and pay for recurring payments.
Step 2: Choosing A Winning Product
Once you are sorted with investment, choosing your product or products is next. There are millions of products that one can sell. However, the real hustle is choosing a winning product that would bring sales and revenue.
There are some prerequisites before choosing a product. The first is choosing a product that can be easily sourced; its supply is smooth. And the vendor must be okay with your payment solutions. The second is to choose a product whose quality or quantity remains the same over time. I.e. products with an extensive shelf life. The next but most important prerequisite is choosing a product with a high-profit margin. I.e. the product that gives a profit margin of more than 50%.
Also Read: 5 Ways An Online Payment Gateway Can Boost Your Sales
After following all the prerequisites, you move to the last prerequisite of high demand and low competition. In this, the sellers seek products with an increasing demand but low competition to avoid market saturation.
Step 3: Opting for A Platform To Sell
The Internet is a vast place with billions of users worldwide. Therefore the sellers try to sell on marketplaces that have a reach to the maximum number of customers. Most sellers prefer to sell on eCommerce websites. Because e-commerce websites already have a greater audience, sellers can advertise their products without advertising them.
Ecommerce website
However, the sellers are bound to the website’s policies when selling on eCommerce websites, i.e. Amazon, eBay, Rakuten, etc. Sellers must follow the website’s community guidelines and pay a commission on every order. In return, the eCommerce website manages your inventory, processes your orders, and promotes your brand. For the sellers, it’s a virtual terminal, and the website takes care of everything against a fixed commission. Lastly, your payouts pass through a specific account payment process. I.e. Paypal, Payoneer or Stripe.
Personal Website
The sellers who don’t want to bind themselves to the rules and regulations of eCommerce websites opt for personal websites. Also, they don’t need to pay a commission on every order to the eCommerce website. However, selling on a personal website has its pros and cons.
Suppose you want to sell on your website. You do everything independently, including developing a website, advertising, providing a payment gateway, and shipping. Therefore you bear all the expenses of logistics on your own.
But having a personal website allows you to sell the products you want at your rates without paying any commission.
Step 4: Adding A Payment Gateway
The next step in setting up a website is integrating a payment gateway. A payment gateway enables customers to clear their payments online. It depends on the sellers which payment gateway they want to add to their websites. They can add debit and credit card terminals, mobile-authorized payments or even QR code payment methods.
Therefore when adding a payment gateway, a seller must ensure the payment gateway is 3dsecure. In addition, it must be of reputable credit card processing companies, facilitates customers and accepts payment in multiple ways.
Key Takeaways
Starting an online business is easy if you follow the basics and complete all the steps without skipping. The first step makes you understand your budget and let you spend accordingly. The next step educates you about what to sell. Then the third step guides you about the platforms where you can sell your product. And the last step lets your customers pay their bills like credit card processors at a physical shop.
Therefore following all these steps are important to run a successful online business. And this blog will help you understand how online selling works and what it demands from you as a seller.