10 Essentials of Starting and Operating a Successful Online retail Business - Part III

1) Accounting Keeping track of revenue and expenses is a must. You can hire the services of a professional but in the early stages of your online retail business you might not want to spend the money. There are several easy to use accounting / bookkeeping programs on the market today. It will be worth your money to purchase one and learn accounting basics.

2) Analyze the numbers When youre starting your business youve got to decide on an acceptable profit margin. Your profit margin will help you determine prices. Put simply, your profit margin is the difference between your revenue and expenses. This information is important for helping you determine how much money youre willing to work for, which items are profitable and which are not.

3) Dont spend it When starting out dont waste precious money on unnecessary items. Dont order a bunch of t-shirts with your business name on them. Only purchase items that are essential. For example, even today I refuse to purchase shipping labels. Using regular postal services, Ive determined its less expensive to print shipping labels on copy paper, cut them out and tape them on the packages. This may seem silly or cheap but these types of costs add up in the long run.

4) Learn some HTML Although I recommend hiring a professional to create your store in the beginning it will be worth your time to begin learning HTML the basic computer language used to make web pages. Often, youll want to make simple changes to the look and feel of your online store. You wont want to hire a professional for everything as it will be quite expensive over time.

5) Inventory Dont be one of these people who buys a ton of merchandise and gets stuck with it. Ive known people to get excited about an online retail venture purchase a truckload of merchandise only to end up storing it in their garage. Keep your inventory to a minimum while youre starting out. It will be a much better problem to need products due to good sales than have a bunch of junk nobody wants. Also, if you do end up with extra inventory thats not selling well sell it on Ebay for deeply discounted prices. Its better to take a loss on a product recouping precious cash flow than sit on a non-selling product.

6) Research Ebay is a great place for research and testing the water with various products. When youre exploring the internet for products to sell take a look at Ebay. Youll be able to tell which products are selling, how much theyre selling for, etc. Use this information to help you determine your pricing strategies, which products to sell and more. Also, dont be afraid to offer a product for sale simply because someone else is already selling it. You might be able to offer the public something extra (like great customer service).

7) Returns and Exchanges All online retail businesses will receive returns and exchanges. If you dont you must not be selling much. Ebay is a good place to auction off merchandise thats been returned or exchanged. However, dont get caught up spending too much time with this.

8) Business Policies Somewhere within the pages of your online store list your business policies. Youll want to list a privacy policy, shipping policy, returns and exchange policy, payment policy, and any other policy you might like to show.

9) Credibility When youre online retail business is new youll need credibility in order to entice customers to purchase your product. Perhaps the easiest way to get credibility is through the Better Business Bureaus online reliability program. Although it will cost some money it helps customers to be comfortable with your store. Also, make sure your online store is using secure checkout. Without it youll scare off potential customers.

10) Website Analysis Walk through the purchase process on your website. Check for little things that might keep someone from purchasing from you. Have other people do this as well. Youll be surprised at the number of little things causing you to say I wouldnt like that if I were purchasing from here.

To be continued

E Lawrence Welch

Mr. Welch is a student of business, life, love, marriage and relationships. Also, he owns and operates an online retail holster store - Pyle Mountain Holsters.

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