In this episode of the Ecwid Ecommerce Show, meet Nicole Horowitz, Content Marketing Manager at Ecwid…and aspiring entrepreneur.
Nicole has been writing a new Ecwid blog series, "How to Sell Online If You’re a Beginner", where she shares her first-hand experience starting an online vintage clothing store, taking Ecwid out for a spin in the real world. The goal of the series is to help aspiring online sellers understand how to use Ecwid for their own businesses, and hopefully, to take some of the scariness out of getting started.
Nicole explains how to stay motivated when you start a business and how to overcome roadblocks you may encounter on your ecommerce journey.
Getting Started
You should start with an idea you feel genuinely excited about. Understand the seed of your concept. You don’t need a complete business plan to get started. You just need a starting point to inspire you to take action.
Use your dream as your motivation, as it can get you through times when things go wrong.
A business partner can be invaluable. They provide a support system and a sounding board to help vet ideas. If nothing else, do some research on the competition in your niche and use them to guide your own ideas.
Planning and Budgeting
How do you balance your dream business with your day job? Can you start your business as a hobby/part-time endeavor? Is it possible to start a business with baby steps? Test your plans and concepts in a small way and then ramp up where you find success.
Start-ups need to be cautious with their budget. Create a website and some social media profiles first to get started with minimal start-up costs.
Adapting on the Way
Nicole discusses how she is learning to adapt as the business grows to keep momentum.
Her business will try things and re-evaluate, work with A/B test concepts, and respond to feedback from the market.
Nicole’s store offers unique, one-off items. Other people may be more interested in standardized products. In either case, you need to create and push out content to create interest in your product and drive engagement.
Nicole emphasizes that you should embrace trial and error and be willing to adapt and change, rather than rigidly sticking to the first plan you thought of.
Lean on your strengths. For example, Nicole’s writing ability allows her to share advice and stories to build relationships with her target audience.
Do you have a question for Nicole about her online business? What would you like her to talk about in her next part of the "How to Sell Online If You’re a Beginner" series? Feel free to drop your questions in the comments below!
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