Kim Elliott, one of the lead developers of Zen Cart says:
Well, lots of things – you need to have something to sell. Your product could be a new widget you invented, a line of products you purchase for resale, it could be information in the form of eBooks or pamphlets or you could be booking services – from plumbing to web building.
You need a plan. A roadmap of how you are going to sell the product, collect the payment and deliver the goods. You must plan your pricing structure, look at your costs and plan how to make a profit.
You need time. Time to develop a following of loyal customers. Time to build that inventory. Time for the advertising to work. Nobody opens the doors and gets rich on the first day. You need to be able to survive while you are building your business.
You need passion, perseverance and patience. If you are not passionate about your products and services, how are you going to sell someone else on the idea? You must persevere in the face of adversity and be patient while the seed grows into the tree that eventually bares fruit.
An online store is a business.
It seems many people forget this when it comes to starting in ecommerce. Too much focus on tweaking your store’s design can lead to big gaps in the rest of your business plan. Take some time to step back and look at your business as a whole. Try to think what you might be doing if you had a brick & mortar store and your lease payments were due every week. Would you be spending all your time on the colour of the walls? No, I’m sure you would be working on increasing your sales with marketing and promotions or sourcing new suppliers or negotiating better deals for increased profit margins, for example.
Of course, your store’s design is very important and small changes can lead to big results. As in most things in life, it’s all about balance.
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