Start An E-commerce | The Mistakes To Avoid

Welcome to Financial Empires, if you are here it is because you have finally decided to start an ecommerce or maybe you are thinking about it but you have some doubts about how to start, perfect, you are in the right place!

In fact, today we will reveal to you what are the mistakes not to make when starting an online store, the same mistakes that I myself made when I launched my first e-commerce and which then led to the failure of that business.

Calculate the budget before opening an online e-commerce

The first mistake that is often made when deciding to venture into this world is to underestimate the planning of the resources necessary to start the business, remember that an ecommerce even if very often does not even need a warehouse or a physical place it is still a business.

If you are thinking of starting an online business, the first thing you should do is draw up a business plan, possibly with the help of a good accountant.

For this type of activity, in principle, the SRLS is almost always chosen as the corporate formula, even if for some years now in Italy there has also been the simplified SRLS, which is a bit the same thing, with the only difference that as a share capital you can also put one euro unlike the traditional SRL whose minimum share capital is 10,000 euro.

If you can afford it, our advice is to open an ecommerce in the form of SRL this because in the eyes of banks or creditors you will certainly give a more professional impression, moreover the share capital in case of bankruptcy can be attacked by creditors and this by them. more confidence when you are in a position to apply for loans.

Do not open ecommerce as a sole proprietorship if you do not already have a fair number of potential customers, this is because in the event of bankruptcy you will have to pay the debts even out of your own pocket, and God forbid also through foreclosure of movable and immovable property in your possession.

Don’t try to do it all by yourself

Another mistake that is often made when deciding to open an ecommerce is to try to do everything by yourself.

Maybe like me you are a web developer too, so you create websites, you get by with graphics and do a little bit of this and a little bit of that, this can give you the illusion of being really competent and not needing anyone. in this path, nothing more wrong dear friends!

An ecommerce needs many figures and resources to be started, you will need someone who takes care of the graphic aspect in a professional way, you will need technicians who take care of payment processing and website speed, you need of an advertising agency that takes care of bringing your blog to the attention of potential customers so we are talking about offline and online channels.

In short, a whole series of figures that it is impossible to think of being able to do everything alone, I made this mistake with my wristwatch e-commerce site, and I could never have made a bigger mistake, the result was not disastrous but the sales did , because?

Simple, the competition is so great and ruthless that I could not afford to create an ecommerce for free or with little money, this is because a sufficient result is not good, today we need a result that is exceptional, everything must be taken care of to the minimum details for people to shop in your ecommerce.

Selling original products

Another piece of advice that we absolutely must give you concerns the products that you are going to sell in your ecommerce.

Especially if you are planning to launch your own brand, always try to differentiate yourself from your competitors with products that offer something more than those of the competition, be it design, functionality, something that can help satisfy a need of people.

Never make the mistake of copying someone, or trying to sell products that are very similar to those of your competitors or you can already close your shop, unless you have millions of euros in advertising to invest and plan to recover them after years.

If, on the other hand, you want to launch an online store with already known brands, the speech is a little different, in that case you will have to leverage other factors to defeat the competition, for example you can offer free shipping, or customized products, or even more competitive prices. etc.

Choosing the right niche to start a successful ecommerce

Another important factor before opening a successful e-commerce is choosing the right niche.

For example, if you make the same mistake as me at the beginning of wanting to open a watch brand, you will have already closed before opening, this is because the competition in the reference sector is too high and the resources you need to defeat it must be really important.

If you want to start an ecommerce with little money, you will have to choose the least competitive niche, but beware, less competitive does not mean where there are no competitors because this would mean that maybe there is no market.

So do a market analysis and find the right balance.

Starting an Amazon e-commerce

Very often when you are about to start an online store there are several sites to choose from that offer us the possibility of selling online through existing portals or online programs that allow us to create our entire site.

The biggest mistake you can make is thinking about selling your products on Amazon.

I’ll explain why.

In order to sell your products on Amazon you need to advertise on the site, in fact you will have noticed that products appear with the wording, “sponsored”, so the logical thing that I also thought when I decided to sell on Amazon was: ” People who enter Amazon are already interested in buying a product, they just need to advertise to sell it ”.

Nothing could be more wrong, in fact to sell on Amazon you will have to win the buy box, and to advertise your products you will have to have the buy box.

The buy box is that box where by clicking on a product on the side you will find buy now, Amazon does not give it to everyone, it is an algorithm that chooses who to give it to.

To have the buy box you will have to have reviews, you will have to sell your product at the lowest price, you will have to offer free shipping, essentially it is impossible to have the buy box with the result that you will not be able to advertise your products.

It doesn’t end there, your main competitor within the Amazon ecommerce is Amazon itself, so you can never offer the lowest price, if someone gives you a negative review you will never get the buy box so you will be forced to make a refund. to convince a customer not to leave it.

It is a price war between sellers in which everyone loses and only Amazon wins and clearly its customers who will have products at very discounted prices.

At this point you will think that being the owner of your brand no one can offer the lowest price of yours, and you are right but Amazon will not give you the buy box that easily, plus there are a lot of Chinese who could copy your products. if they go well.

Give up the idea while you are in time.

The only real alternative is WordPress associated with WooCommerce, only in this way will you be able to start a successful personalized e-commerce that is 100% adherent to your ideas.

Starting an ecommerce without VAT

I also happened to hear such idiocy, and there are those who are convinced that it may be possible to open an ecommerce without a VAT number, even here we repeat it to you, it is not possible, any online or offline commerce carried out with the character of continuity and exceeding the famous 5,000 euros requires the opening of a VAT number or in the form of a sole proprietorship or company.

So I’m sorry to disappoint everyone who thought it was possible to evade the taxman but that’s not exactly the way things are, thank you for reading this article on how to start an online store, let me know what you think by commenting below and share the article with your friends, see you soon and good continuation on Financial Empires.

Financial Empires, The Editorial Staff

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