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/biz/ - Business & Finance

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752601 No.752601 [Reply] [Original]

Hey, /biz/ I'm the guy from >>749612

I've got my niche discovered, though there are still key aspects to the process that I'd love some reading/research material on. I'm currently living at home for the summer and possibly returning to an out of state university; whether I go there or to a local university would really depend on how quickly I could establish the business.

As such, I had a few questions:
Should I seriously get to learning coding for building the website? I'm not sure how the current online marketplace building companies work if you already have the domain yourself (I bought one a while back with the intention of perhaps using it one day).

I'd also like to know if drop shipping is really that bad? I've inquired about it elsewhere, and it seems to be generally not the primary choice; the garage at home is actually not used for the vehicles, so I don't mind storing product in there/purchasing a good storage shed later? We also have a slightly older minivan that's about to be retired from family use for taking shipments off to UPS/FedEx/wherever.

I'd really appreciate help; I'd always had an on-and-off interest with this, but really think I can make it doing this; I'm currently working somewhere just for the summer, but it's only minimum wage (and I'm irritated that - as it is a tip job - I practically beg for people's spare change while those on Welfare in my area make more money than me for not even clocking in.)

>> No.752607

If you have at least 1 package under priority mail (2-5 day, USPS) you can get free pickup for the rest of the packages that day.

(I just saved you a bunch of gas)

If i were you, i'd start off with dead simple technology (something like shopify, squarespace).

Then focus on figuring out how to profitably acquire customers.

If you really need your own website tech, then you'll be able to afford it by selling some product.

----------

Unless you are literally selling technology (software, SaaS, hardware, etc.) You don't really need a fancy customized website. Just make sure you're using your own domain name, and not some whatever.shopify.com for a public facing name (so you can migrate later on, without any weird problems)

>> No.752623

>>752607
Gotcha. So storage at-home might be a good starting option? My only concern in that case is that it makes the initial cost to operate riskier until I move merchandise and get a pattern of what to keep on hand/what to purchase more of, in comparison to drop shipping.

>> No.752642

>>752623
Not sure where you're selling, but on ebay, amazon, etc. it's very important to have good reviews, especially early on.

You want your first handful of customers to have a very good experience so when you request reviews they're happy to oblige.

If everything goes perfect with drop shipping then yeah you're golden, but you don't want your first review to be a 1 star review because your drop shipper fucked something up.

Also, I recommend selling in person at least for the first batch of "widgets" or whatever it is you're selling.

You'll quickly get feedback and responses that are important for iterating your product/service early on.

>> No.752752

>>752642
I see. Well, my initial plan/niche was more a focused theme of store than a single item, though I did have the single-item structure as a backup.

>> No.752779

Bump; the question above is too important to just press past.

>> No.752818

>>752642
Also, it would've been a shopify store; I could ideally start with a single item and expand from there, but I don't see how my backup plan item leads into my primary plan's diversity, as they're two different niches.

>> No.752832

>>752601
>Should I seriously get to learning coding for building the website? I'm not sure how the current online marketplace building companies work if you already have the domain yourself (I bought one a while back with the intention of perhaps using it one day).

No. Hire someone. Its hours saved.

Also if you own a domain youll just reroute the dns to the new one

>> No.752834

>>752832
Okay, I'll look into hiring someone. Do you have any opinion on going for just one item, or opening a sort of theme shop? I think either would work, though as a first business venture, the single-item style store might make more sense.

>> No.752874

Halp.

>> No.752971

Bump.

>> No.753112

Bump

>> No.753154

Bump

>> No.753214

>>752971
>>753112
>>753154

what's your problem?

>> No.753583

>>753214
My fear of death being projected onto the board, perhaps.