How to Start Online Shop As A Beginner
We know that one way to get side hustle is by owning an online shop. Selling products through online shop is common thing nowadays. People love to shop online due to its easiness and efficiency. You can literally place an order of anything through your smartphone and get it delivered on your house. As someone who wants to earn money online, having online shop is one way to do it. But how to start online shop especially when you are new to this field?
How to Start Online Shop
Most people know how online shop works. You place an order, make the payment and the items will get delivered to your address. But do you know how exactly to be the seller? So for you who interested to be an online shop seller, here, we recap steps to start your own online shop.
1. Decide Your Target Market
Before launching your shop, you have to know your target audience. A target audience is the group of people you are focused on to sell your products. This is critical so you can plan your marketing strategy later. If you already know your target, you will easily market and potentially gain higher revenue.
You can decide any audience, but there are critical points to consider such as :
- Demographics. It includes characteristics such as age, gender, occupation, education, and income.
- Location. Research about your surrounding area (preferably) so you can serve and know their demands better.
- Interests. It includes attitudes, personality, opinions, and the lifestyle of your audience.
If you already have a product you want to sell, you can start thinking the audience from there. You have to know who is going to buy the product and what you can know about them. Compile that information and include it in your business plan.
2. Choose the Product
This is for you who want to have online business but do not know what to sell. If you don’t have a product yet, try to think about the types of people you know best. Perhaps as example, you are in 20s and 30s and love fashions. You might understand fashion really well. Most likely you will know their preferences, so it will be easier for you to sell what you have been familiar with.
It can be challenging to come up with product ideas, but if you have a target market in mind, you’re already ahead of the game. Fortunately, whether you’re manufacturing, reselling, or dropshipping, there are lots of options to find goods to sell. You can decide what to sell based on your target market, the trending items, or even passionate on what you like.
3. Choose Your Platform
After knowing what product you are going to sell and the target audience, now you have to determine which platform you are going to choose to sell your products. You can choose to sell through e-commerce platforms or directly selling it through social media accounts. It is possible to sell your products through Instagram.
4. Plan Business Structure
Business plan is something important you have to do before starting it. With a marketing strategy in place, the work you put into your online store will be much greater. Good business plans should include an executive summary and sections on products and services, marketing strategy and analysis, financial planning, and a budget. With all the planning, you will be more organized to earn your profits.
5. Get Your Business Ready
If you have planned your business plan, remember to recheck all things you have prepared. It includes on how you will pack your product and what shipping courier you are going to use. You have to determine all of it before launching your business.
It is also good to prepare the marketing strategy on how you are going to launch your online store. Creating a brand awareness is important for long-term business, it will also affect on how you are going to earn profits
6. Launch Your Business
Now, after all those steps, you are good to go! You can start selling your products and earn profits from it.
Ready to Open Your Online Shop?
After reading all those steps above, now you can directly start your online shop. It is not easy to start new business but it is worth to try. So, what are you waiting for? Go start your online shop!
