Much has changed in the two years since the Covid pandemic began. Many individuals have lost their employment, but there is a ray of hope: the emergence of an opportunity which we call internet shopping.
Most countries like the US, UK, and other parts of Asia have advanced in terms of online shopping. This has been an integral part of any citizen's way of living to keep sane during the mind-numbing days of spending indoors.
The main reason why most people in the Philippines still want to go to the store is for the experience. Filipinos enjoy going to malls and supermarkets because it provides a change in scenery from being confined behind the four walls of an enclosed environment. Going out also means spending quality time with family and enjoying each other's company when dining out in restaurants or shopping, which is a favorite pastime.
However, when the pandemic happened, everything changed. Convenience is now the top priority of the Filipino people. More and more consumers want something fast and right now.
Hence, many entrepreneurs shifted their businesses to online stores: Facebook Marketplace, Lazada, Shopee, and for some, they built their own store.
But there is a lot of competition already in those platforms fighting for the same audience's attention. This is no place for a business just starting out. Do you know what it is? Stand out and make your own website for your start-up business. This would look fresh to the eyes and not just another Shopee or Lazada store. And the best part is, you get to have 100% of it individually yours.
This article will teach you how to start your own online business and have major control over it.
Everyone has a great idea, but it's always in the execution to set someone apart from the competition.
So why do you need to start now even if you're not 100% sure your product will succeed?
Because how will you gain experience if you don't start? There's no cheat sheet in creating a successful business but deciding to start now rather than later will make you more experienced and be ahead than those who just started out because they chose the latter.
Remember that it's always a good choice to start with something rather than settling with a whole list of what-ifs!
So, where should you begin?
1. Start with Planning. In this stage, you will have to identify what you want to sell, who your target market is and most importantly, what pain points/problems are you solving?
There are many free templates for you to create a business plan that you can search online — basically, a business plan will be your backbone. Your business plan does not have to be lengthy; some individuals develop a 1-page business plan, such as a 1-page document that you can present to anyone. They will immediately understand what you are offering and your vision for it.
2. Execution is key. As mentioned previously, execution will be your main differentiator against your competitors. How well you execute and how consistent you are with your work is what will make you succeed.
In the planning stage, you will have to build your product. Here are some ideas of products that you can create:
- Online Course
- Service, e.g. Grocery Delivery
- Physical product that you need to mass-produce
Each of these products has different ways on how to build them. If this is not your forte, there are many articles and YouTube tutorials to inspire you how to build your product.
3. Another component of planning is creating your online store.
There are a lot of website platforms that you can use. You always have to consider the following: Ease of Use and Pricing.
Many online shop builders will ask you to pay for a base fee + sales commission for every product sold + transaction fees + apps fee. However, you may want to allocate your budget to marketing and creating awareness for your brand.
Look for an online platform partner who will not bankrupt you at the onset. You will need enough funds to keep your business going.
To help jumpstart your business without excessive expense, Dr. Tech (https://hellodr.tech/en/) is one of the e-commerce platforms you can try. You can make your own website with an easy to use drag and drop capability for design building and get you started. They offer 200+ templates that you can use for free. This is great for beginners, for all apps are also integrated into the platform already — you will need this to provide your customers with a smooth customer journey, which includes everything from purchasing through payment and repeat transactions.
Discussed in item #2 is about building your product — In Dr. Tech, there are applications like CJ Dropshipping and DSERS, who will do the sourcing of the products for you.
Plus, it includes a free domain name, which is excellent for a start-up business. Want to know how much you will be paying if you use this site? USD 59 (around PHP 2,900) on a one-time payment only. There won't be any monthly subscription until you reach your first USD 500 (around PHP 25,000).
Dr. Tech plans
Dr. Tech features
Shopify plans
This is Shopify's pricing plan; their price ranges from USD 29 to USD 299 (roughly PHP 1,400 to PHP 15,000) and covers different features for each plan. They also have a free trial for 14 days.
4. Now you have your plan, product and store in place. You have to start marketing your product. There are two things that you can do:
A. Do marketing on your own - Do paid ads, influencer marketing, networking/ content marketing (Writing articles or Videos about your product)
B. Outsource your marketing
As previously mentioned, Dr. Tech also has readily available apps integrated into your account that will help you in your marketing initiatives, such as:
- Facebook Business Manager - This is where you can run your Facebook Ads
- Google Ads - This is where you can run your Google/Youtube ads
- Klaviyo Twilio, SendinBlue - to help you with your email marketing and SMS. Very important if you want to remind your customers (New, Regular, Lapse) of your new products and promotions.
5. When your customer chooses to buy a product, the next step is payment and shipping.
The ease of payment and fast shipping of your customer's product is significant. These two are essential steps for a customer to not proceed to payment if they are redirected to page after page after page before payment or if the shipping takes too long.
In apps such as CJ Dropshipping and DSERS, they will help you choose the product and ensure fulfillment of the product. They have warehouses in different countries to ensure that your products will be delivered to your customers fast.
6. The follow-through after shipping is called after-sales. What is this step? This is ensuring that they are satisfied with your product/service.
You can do this by giving them a follow-up email to ask them if they are satisfied with your product/service. You can provide them with an incentive if they reorder/re-purchase.
Good customer flow from buying to fulfillment will gain you good reviews either from your store or word of mouth, which is also a good, powerful, and organic way of marketing your product.
Always remember that a business will always have a curve. So in starting, you should be thrifty and wise in allocating your money for your business. Start today, and good luck on your business journey!
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