E-commerce is one of the world’s hottest niches, and if you were thinking of getting in, you’re choosing a good time to do so.
Making it in e-commerce is not as easy as many people think. Sure, anyone can sell a few knick-knacks through Amazon FBA or put up a five-product Shopify site, but that’s not the point. The competition is fiercer and getting more challenging by the day because of the low barrier of entry. Understand the realities of the industry before you get started. Here are some things you should know before getting into the e-commerce business.
It’s not passive income
We don’t know who came up with the idea that you could use e-commerce as a passive source of income, but it’s simply wrong. You can have an affiliate site and automate part or even most of its operations, but you’ll still need to look after your business and make adjustments.
For instance, you will need to work on SEO and website maintenance to ensure that your site is constantly updated. You will also have to add, remove, or tweak content on your site. You’ll also need to create content if you intend to have a newsletter and monitor your metrics constantly to see in which direction your business is heading. There will not only be continuous work involved but expenses as well.
Be ready to fail
To be exact, most e-Commerce businesses fail after the first year – 90% of them. This isn’t something you should be afraid of, however. Those in the 10% probably had to fail many times before they got there, and you have to be ready to do the same.
E-commerce is challenging, and finding a good niche initially is even more challenging than many people imagine. You could make mistakes in the way you execute or get undercut by the competition. So, try to start small and learn as much as you can. There’s a strong chance that you’ll eventually find something that works.
The most lucrative businesses are not necessarily the flashiest ones
Another thing you should know about e-commerce is that looks can be very deceiving. You might think that a well-stocked online furniture store would make more money than a squeeze page, but you could be wrong.
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs in e-commerce do it through mediums like email marketing or info-products. These are very low-maintenance businesses with low overhead. An extensive list of subscribers is one of the most valuable things you can have in this sector, and you could make a lot of money if you know how to gather subscribers and nurture them. So don’t stay stuck on specific business models because they look glamorous or conventional. Look at all the options and don’t dismiss models because of apprehensions.
These are all things you should be aware of before you get into the e-commerce business. It can be a great business to be in if you execute correctly, but it’s far from a sure shot, so learn as much as you can about it before getting started.
