11 Tips To Have A Business On The Internet Without Spending A Lot
Starting a business is not an easy task, either with a good or a bad economy overall. The first rule of order for those who want to undertake is to avoid large expenditures, which often translates into absorbing all sectors of a company into one person or at most its members. With ecommerces are no different and the order is not to spend too much, so that your sales can pay your costs quickly. That's why we brought 11 tips - or even business ideas - without spending a lot and saving your money for business growth. Also check out our guide with 30 ways to make your first online sale
This article will be divided into 2 parts. In the first part we will share business ideas to start your virtual store. In the second part, we'll show you everything you need in technical terms to assemble and advertise your store. Prepared?
Low cost ideas to start your online store:
1. Create your product
If you are skilled at creating some kind of product - such as shirts, mugs, or similar items - creating your own products may be a good idea for your ecommerce. Our recommendation for those who want to open a sales site to market their products is to evaluate what types of products they know how to do and choose which one requires the least creative resources.
In this way, it is possible to evaluate the reaction of the consumers to their type of merchandise without losing much investment. As sales grow, you can study the launch of higher-priced products. In addition to the price, it is also recommended that you see what types of products you can create are more popular in virtual stores.
2. Resell products already created
If your creativity is not very focused on creating products, it is also possible to start reselling products that already exist. For example, if you are a fan of fitness or make-up life, you can open a reseller of products from these areas. Among resale options, one of them is dropshipping , which is to connect products from your ecommerce to a wholesale or store. After the customer clicks the buy button, the partner store is responsible for sending the product, charging from your store the wholesale value for the product sent.
It is also possible to make resales in the classic way: searching for the items on their own, exploring large liquidations, buying used products to resell them with a profit margin. This model is one of those responsible for the great success of the GameStop store network, which allows video game fans to sell their used games by reselling them in their own stores. Another location that can find products with low prices are garage sales or auctions.
3. Real Estate For Sale
The services sector is one of the most stable on the market, with areas that, even during the worst crises, continue to thrive. That is why your ecommerce does not necessarily have to be materials. To differentiate yourself from the competition, remember to establish your own brand along with pages on social networks and on the web to advertise your skills. Having testimonials and positive customer feedback is an effective strategy in selling these services. Many of JivoChat's clients work in the services area.
4. Search for popular products before starting your business.
Regardless of any of the three options we have described above, it is valid to search for the most popular product types. To perform this search, go to great department store websites or buy-sell portals, such as eBay. These web sites usually have the most popular product sections or great deals. In some of them, it will be possible to see only the best-selling products according to the department, which also serves as research material.
After that, you can choose to sell some products similar to these. If these products are quite popular on Ebay, they will certainly have a very large market for you to explore with your site.
5. Sell products as affiliate
Working as an affiliate can be a pretty good option when it comes to making money online. An affiliate is someone who sells third party products, earning a commission for it. At JivoChat itself we have an affiliate program where anyone who recommends our work earns a commission for it. If you want to know more about this, [come here] (/partnership/).
Starting Your Business:
Once you have defined what you are going to sell, it is time to worry about some more technical parts. Here are some of them:
6. Create a domain and hire hosting
There is no way to create a domain and hosting: it is mandatory that you hire a service. Obviously we suggest that you try to use basic plans and low-cost services, even if that means less functionality at the beginning. Most hosting services come with several plans, allowing you to evolve your plan as your sales site grows. Be sure to check out our tips for creating your store to know all the steps of the process.
7. Create a WordPress blog for your store
One of the best ways to save for opening your online store is to set it up as a WordPress blog. Although it is also necessary to hire a domain and hosting, the creation of the blog itself is free, in addition to having a wide variety of themes and plugins that can be installed for free or at low cost. Check out WordPress plugin for Jivochat online chat !
If you prefer to open a website and not a WordPress blog, also know our list with 20 sites to start your ecommerce. Even if you prefer to create a website, we strongly recommend that you also build a WordPress blog and create a content marketing strategy to promote your business, as it can improve your social media outreach.
8. Be present on social networks
Registering a profile and creating a Facebook page is a free process, just like on other social networks like Instagram or [Twitter] (/blog/communication/ecommerce-customer-service-on-twitter.html). In addition to [Google] (/blog/ecommerce/ecommerce-first-place-google.html), social media is the biggest attractor of visitors and customers. Because of this, it is imperative that you create pages for your business in them.
Through them, you can promote your products and create a community around them. The use of social networks with the content of your blog is one of the best ways to make your online store known, helping you grow without the need to make big investments.
9. Evaluate what free and paid services you can use.
With the basics for setting up your shop decided, it's time to decide which complementary services - email marketing, [shopping carts] (/blog/ecommerce/install-your-shopping-cart.html) and CRM systems, for example - will use in your ecommerce. For this, it is necessary to know what services are available in each sector and the plans they offer, comparing them with the monthly budget available. Here, in the JivoChat blog, you will find several examples!
10. Use and abuse free trial periods
In addition to item 8, we also recommend that you try and take advantage of the free periods of the services mentioned in the previous item before making the decision. By performing this type of test, you can better know which features are most essential to your business in such a way that the investment pays off in the end. Most of these services have free trials ranging from 7 to 30 days, including [Jivochat] (/features/)
11. Include an online chat system
Although it is not a necessary item for the operation of your store, including an online chat service becomes necessary. Online chat responsiveness makes it easier for customers to get questions about their products, but using the system is one of the biggest allies when it comes to converting a visitor to a customer.
This happens because it is possible to guide this visitor through all the processes to make the purchase, in real time. One of the features of Jivochat, the proactive invitation, allows you to approach a visitor browsing your store, improving the chances of conversion to 73% over online chats without proactive invitations. Whereas [low monthly cost of Jivochat] (/pricing/), we strongly recommend that you register and use our free 14 day period to see how the system will make a difference in your ecommerce!
Sign up and try JivoChat for yourself!