Hello, friend. Sorry, it is long since I posted here, I have been on a project that almost took me 3months to finish. In this post, I won’t be too specific about anything and show you 100% details of how you can do it but I’ll be nailing a perfect hit. This is going how about if you create a great eCommerce platform?
How to set up an e-commerce Business that’ll make you a billionaire in the future
an eCommerce platform is a platform that enables people to sell and buy or gives you access to sell to customers. There are thousands of businesses and products out there to sell but somehow not everybody knows how to sell their products. Since digital life is getting stronger and more strategic every day, why not do something that’ll bring your name out and also make you millions of dollars?
Let me explain what an eCommerce business is better. Jumia is an eCommerce platform, and Konga is an eCommerce website. These platforms are the biggest in Nigeria but to be frank with you they started one day and today they’re very big and well known all over the country with over 1,000 customers buying from them daily. Do you know you can set up something like that and be making it huge?
I know at this point your question will be how do I get products to sell? Well, this is not this hard anymore. You don’t have to be the one that has the product and you don’t need to go sort for products. all you need to do is sort for those that have the products and bring them into your platform. Then your platform helps them sell the products and your bag commission rate. Every seller is looking for customers so they’ll all dive into your idea of helping them make sales. Another question you might be asking is how you get the customers to buy the products.
Getting a customer is a major challenge in an eCommerce business. it’s very hard to get customers to buy the products but it’s also very easy to get these customers. I sound confusing right, hehe? Yes, the actual truth is that it’s hard and easy at the same time. This is where your head needs to work smart, I could’ve left this challenge to you but let me help make it a little easier. eCommerce Business is an online store where you sell things to customers before people will know and trust you, it’s hard work.
So tell me how would someone want to purchase from you when a platform like jumia that they already know still exists? This is one of the biggest disadvantages some people see but they’re wrong in their thoughts, thousands of people can still buy from you daily or weekly but first you’re going to go into deep research. What is the research? If you’re selling electronics, grocery, this and that and everything as jumia do you will have difficulties making sales. So here’s a quick solution, why not go into one niche and focus on it, and be known especially for it?
Electronics computers and mobile phones are over-saturated already, and it’ll be a very big challenge for you to compete with the big platform and makes sales so instead of these niches why not check for something not saturated and be known for it? E.g fresh Tomatoes and Fresh Pepper? Fresh Honey? Quality Package Garri? fresh and dried Snail? Pure red oil? Fresh Fruits Only.
These are what people needed and looking for but for hard for them to get them, even people abroad crave these things and want to order them from Nigeria and ship them abroad but they can’t even find them easily. If you’re known for any of these things you’ll be making millions every month but so many folks whom I have seen going into the eCommerce business are still making the mistake of going for saturated products already.
My advice will be, Don’t do all of this I mentioned, and don’t think you’re the only one reading this post, I believe before you someone else must have read it as well and is on his/her way to start, this isn’t the only things to sell faster and better, this is just an example list so make use of your head smartly and start something unique. It’s never too late to start.
Now that you have an idea of starting something unique that’ll make you a millionaire. Why not also look at what are the requirements to get started?
ALSO READ: How To Start A Cleaning Service Business In Nigeria and be Successful
Before you kickstart any business, first think about it for at least one week, use this period to strategize, plan on how to start, try to see some disadvantages that may affect you in the business then sort for loopholes to overcome. If you’re not having the finance, you can then work towards raising funds for the business.
Normally before I would say ask friends and family for support but with the current situation now, almost every Nigerian outside politics is seeing shege. Hehehe. But there’s a means of raising money faster for your business. I’ll share that in my next post.
So here are the things you need to kickstart an eCommerce business anywhere in the world.
eCommerce Website
Social Media Account
Marketing plan/strategy
Product sorting/partnership
Branding (optional)
Good management (Important)
At this point, you need to build your e-commerce website known as an online store. It depends on your financial stability or skills you could also consider having an app for your business, if you’re not a developer you’ll spend some reasonable amount of money setting up the platform. The mistake you shouldn’t do is turning Facebook or Instagram into your eCommerce platform, this is what others are doing and you won’t make any difference than to still complain like they’re complaining. Take this as a company, not a side hustle or just a shuttle you want to try out.
ALSO READ: Top 23 Best Business Ideas to Start in Nigeria and Make millions of Naira
Set-up an eCommerce platform may cost you about 200k if you want something advanced, but there is a small online store that can be done for as low as 50k which you can start with. To have this done you’ll need a domain and hosting then the developer uses cms to set up your store and that’s all.
A domain name is your company name e.g yourname.com. the hosting is where the files of the website will be hosted. CMS is like Woocommcerce, Shopify, etc. there’s always room to start small and grow big so don’t overdo it at the beginning.
Social Media Account
You need social media accounts such as Facebook and Instagram to update the followers of your recent products and also to run an advert. Creating social media accounts isn’t difficult, create a page for your business on Facebook. Note that a Facebook page is different from your normal Facebook account, with the Facebook page you can run an advert on Facebook which you can’t do with your Normal Facebook account, Facebook page creation is free. See how to create a Facebook page here.
Marketing Plan
This is the pillar of the business, there hasn’t been any business I the surface of the internet that has grown without marketing. Yes, that’s the truth, nobody knows what you have until you come in their face and show them what you have. In the eCommerce business, offline advertising has never done too well in its history.
Offline marketing won’t do too well as online marketing will do. Social Media and search engine promotion have always done the best. A good way to remain in the faces of your customers will be little offline marketing for anyone who patronizes you for the first and all time. Lol, don’t mind me I like playing sometimes, how can I say for the first and all time? Ah ah, hehe.
Here’s it, put a small quality flyer inside the package, so if the customer forgets the name of your website he/she can reach you with the flyer. With continued marketing, your company becomes used to people. Put in mind that marketing in any form is not cheap. You should at least budget 20k-50k for the first Marketing.
Business Management
A lack of business management destroys any business. When thinking of starting a business always put management in check.
Branding
It’s optional to brand your product, it depends on what you think. Take note that branding will draw Nafdac attention if you’re into food or cosmetics. Take your time to think and know what is good for your business.
If you can’t handle the business yourself may be due to funding or time. You can share your ideas with two or more of your friends for partnership.
There’s more I would love to say but after many hours of sitting and writing I’m feeling tired already, you can ask any question in the comment box below.
