Taking action in E-commerce after a shaky medical report

[tminch55]

Long story short, my dad died last April of liver Cirrhosis. He was 67, I was 27. I am well over the extreme grieving process, but he still weighs heavily on my mind.

Fast forward to last week... I took a routine blood test as a preventative health measure. Results came back pretty solid... except for my liver--- which is showing signs of liver damage. With the correct diet and exercise routines, the Doctor's feel I can keep this thing in check.

The bloodwork results scared the absolute hell out of me. It made me realize for the first time that my time on earth is limited. I have always known it was, but never FELT it like I do now. It's time to take action. I have a wife and children to provide for. Through this I hope to teach my children that providing value to the world results in financial health.

I am going to go the e-commerce route. Action taking begins immediately. Hopefully I can provide value to the forum through this thread by posting my successes a failures. Aside from Ebay, this is my first ever online business. I am an absolute beginner, so the only thing I have been able to contribute to this forum is encourargement to others.

Here are my action steps. I will assign a timeline to these later today. Please let me know if you have any advice on tweaking these action steps. ANY advice, help, or moral support is deeply appreciated by me. I need it greatly.

1. Find 20 possible Niches based upon filling consumer needs. (Choose this by INTERACTING WITH PEOPLE!-- A novel concept)
2. Choose a niche based upon research with keywords using Google Analytics
3. Research competition in chosen Niche and determine how I can differentiate my business
4. Buy a Domain/Get Hosting
5. Set up a storefront
6. Get a merchant account/payment processor
7. Research and choose reliable drop shippers/suppliers
8. Get initial traffic using SEO
9. Process and fulfill orders
10. When generating revenue, research and employ PPC and ads
11. Focus on building my BRAND. Be known for outstanding customer service, competitive pricing, and fast shipping. Spend time here developing fancy logo, neat looking packaging, etc.)

Thank you fastlaners... Thank you very, very much!

 

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[theag]

Good that you are taking action, but you might want to rethink the direction you are going in. E-commerce dropshipping isnt what it used to be. You are better off investing your time into creating or improving an existing product and selling it under your own brand. Check out the gold thread on the inside for more information..

 

[tminch55]

Thanks for your opinion! Im currently working 50 hours a week at a slowlane job. My expenses roughly equal our income, so quitting right now with a family isn't an option. E-commerce seemed to be the most compatible format for me to provide value at this time. Can work while everyone is in bed and it's relatively inexpensive out of the gate. Does my present situation cause you to change your opinion at all, or do you still feel e-commerce isn't the best route for me? Thanks theag. Anxiously awaiting your response.

Good that you are taking action, but you might want to rethink the direction you are going in. E-commerce dropshipping isnt what it used to be. You are better off investing your time into creating or improving an existing product and selling it under your own brand. Check out the gold thread on the inside for more information..

 

[theag]

It has nothing to do with your situation. E-commerce is fine, I'm doing it myself. Just dont sell or even dropship other peoples products. Its getting harder and harder. My day job is in a performance marketing agency and our clients that do this are all on the edge of going out of business.

You dont need to quit your job to create your own products. I work 60+ hours at my day job and still managed to take my own product from 0 to 5 figures monthly. And I even manufacture myself right now. All a matter of how bad you really want it.

I'm just saying, think again about selling other peoples stuff. Check some threads about this.

If you can sell cheaper and ship faster than Amazon or others, then sure, do it. But if not, forget it.

 

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[tminch55]

Fantastic advice my friend. It's greatly appreciated, man. So essentially it looks like I need to stay the course with my action steps, but instead of finding a product and supplier, you are suggesting that I need to become by my own supplier. I would most definitely need to manufacture the product myself at the moment because I'm on a shoestring budget.

I currently build custom tables as a side gig and it seems like a natural fit, but the major challenge would be finding a way to turn it into a fast lane approach due to the cost of shipping these things!

Wonder if it's possible or if I should research a new product completely.

 

[smithsta]

Fantastic advice my friend. It's greatly appreciated, man. So essentially it looks like I need to stay the course with my action steps, but instead of finding a product and supplier, you are suggesting that I need to become by my own supplier. I would most definitely need to manufacture the product myself at the moment because I'm on a shoestring budget.

I currently build custom tables as a side gig and it seems like a natural fit, but the major challenge would be finding a way to turn it into a fast lane approach due to the cost of shipping these things!

Wonder if it's possible or if I should research a new product completely.

I don't think @theag was saying to become a supplier (correct me if I'm wrong). I think he was just saying that dropshipping doesn't sound like the right path for you too take and neither does selling other people's products.

When I drop shipped I found it to be unreliable. The amount of times I sold a product and the drop shipper would tell me it's no longer in stock, despite their stock inventory list saying it was. This caused a huge hassle with refunds or finding alternative products. Selling your own products is a whole lot easier and more fun!

Perhaps have a read of biophase's gold thread and vigilante's. Long reads but you will learn a ton about finding a product and selling it under your own brand through amazon and your own website.

I saw a webinar the other day where the host was saying that he saw a BBQ grill brush on amazon that was selling well, but some reviews said that the plastic was prone to melting.

He went over to alibaba.com contacted manufacturers of these plastic grill brushes, similar to those sold on Amazon (in fact they were almost identical models) and asked if they had a more robust plastic or even metal type grill brushes.

He sampled them, tried them out and sold them through Amazon under his own brand. (Unsure if he does or if it was an example but you get the idea).

Hope this helps.

 

[tminch55]

I don't think @theag was saying to become a supplier (correct me if I'm wrong). I think he was just saying that dropshipping doesn't sound like the right path for you too take and neither does selling other people's products.

When I drop shipped I found it to be unreliable. The amount of times I sold a product and the drop shipper would tell me it's no longer in stock, despite their stock inventory list saying it was. This caused a huge hassle with refunds or finding alternative products. Selling your own products is a whole lot easier and more fun!

Perhaps have a read of biophase's gold thread and vigilante's. Long reads but you will learn a ton about finding a product and selling it under your own brand through amazon and your own website.

I saw a webinar the other day where the host was saying that he saw a BBQ grill brush on amazon that was selling well, but some reviews said that the plastic was prone to melting.

He went over to alibaba.com contacted manufacturers of these plastic grill brushes, similar to those sold on Amazon (in fact they were almost identical models) and asked if they had a more robust plastic or even metal type grill brushes.

He sampled them, tried them out and sold them through Amazon under his own brand. (Unsure if he does or if it was an example but you get the idea).

Hope this helps.

More solid advice! This seems like a solid approach. I prefer this over doing my own manufacturing. I will check out the threads you suggested. Thank you!

 

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[theag]

More solid advice! This seems like a solid approach. I prefer this over doing my own manufacturing. I will check out the threads you suggested. Thank you!

Yup, I meant what smithsta wrote. You dont need to manufacture yourself (although sometimes thats necessary depending on your product), it fine to have "premade" products. But the control, branding or even improvement part is what makes those ventures successful and better than dropshipping other peoples products. Apart from the thread that smithsta recommended there are also a few good AMA's on reddit about stuff like that.

www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/1ry69y/beardbrand_75k_november_updates_for_our_crazy/
http://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneu...inner_workings_of_a_subscription_box_company/

 

[smithsta]

@tminch55 you have definitely come to the right place for expanding your knowledge! Take a look at this video

Worth watching the first 2 hours, ignore the rest as they just go on about selling their product. Will give you some good examples of products and show you the basics of what to do to find your product, how to find a suitable manufacturer and how to go about contacting them and importing samples.

@theag I love a good progress thread/AMA I'll be looking into those reddit links myself. [emoji2]

 

[tminch55]

That video is pure gold @smithsta thank you!!!!!

@tminch55 you have definitely come to the right place for expanding your knowledge! Take a look at this video

Worth watching the first 2 hours, ignore the rest as they just go on about selling their product. Will give you some good examples of products and show you the basics of what to do to find your product, how to find a suitable manufacturer and how to go about contacting them and importing samples.

@theag I love a good progress thread/AMA I'll be looking into those reddit links myself. [emoji2]

 

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[tminch55]

Here's a question that I have. I currently own about a $1000.00 HD camcorder that I used to video weddings etc as a side hustle. Would you guys sell this and cash flow it into your e-commerce business or would you keep it as an asset to eventually use it for marketing or the occasional side gig?

My gut says to sell it but I wanted to get some veteran opinions.

 

[tminch55]

Been very hectic as we just had a new baby, but here is where I'm at to this point...
I've chosen a niche to focus on... decided to intially establish my brand on Ebay and Amazon. I will eventually get to a store front, but it doesn't seem necessary at this point to get my feet wet.

I've done all the research I need to start processeing orders... I have been corresponding with suppliers, crunching numbers, etc. I'm ready to order my first shipment of finished goods...

Now, I need to raise some capital... and FAST. At a bit of a stand still until I get to that point.

 

[Bananas]

Here's a question that I have. I currently own about a $1000.00 HD camcorder that I used to video weddings etc as a side hustle. Would you guys sell this and cash flow it into your e-commerce business or would you keep it as an asset to eventually use it for marketing or the occasional side gig?

My gut says to sell it but I wanted to get some veteran opinions.

I strongly recommend using the video camera to do a small job for enough cash to buy an subscription to INSIDERS. There is valuable information in there about selling your own branded product.

Look around your house for something to sell other than an income producing asset, which your camera is. There are tons of things to sell, you just haven't found them yet.

 

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[tminch55]

Thanks for the suggestion @Bananas . What do you think about this hustle for seed money? I thought about creating a community portal for local businesses where consumers can search the site for companies based on category. Each company would get a 60 second about us video (professionally produced) giving their sales pitch. They could also give contact information, upload some images, etc... for 200 bucks. They would be free to use the video elsewhere, but I would at least give them a platform. This would gain viewers because it allows consumers to compare companies prior to using their services. I also believe I could draw in viewers by posting exclusive coupons from local businesses. Thoughts?

 

[tminch55]

Quick update... Was in the middle of product research and our son was born prematurely. He has had some health issues and is still in NICU. At one point he developed a potentially fatal disease but I think we are over that. The only success I have had the last three weeks is developing gray hair.

Please keep my baby boy in your thoughts and prayers.

 

[KONIG]

Thanks for the suggestion @Bananas . What do you think about this hustle for seed money? I thought about creating a community portal for local businesses where consumers can search the site for companies based on category. Each company would get a 60 second about us video (professionally produced) giving their sales pitch. They could also give contact information, upload some images, etc... for 200 bucks. They would be free to use the video elsewhere, but I would at least give them a platform. This would gain viewers because it allows consumers to compare companies prior to using their services. I also believe I could draw in viewers by posting exclusive coupons from local businesses. Thoughts?

There is a business in my city that does this, except they have an actual card that people buy for 30 bucks which gives them access to exclusive discounts and 2 for 1 deals from local businesses/restaurants. Th local businesses must buy a membership to be included on the card for $500-$1000 a year. The website simply serves to list out the places and the discounts. If there is nothing like this in your city, I don't see why you would not be able to start up a business like it. It seems to be extremely successful in my city.

I wonder if there is potential/room in my city for another company like the one that exists. Perhaps a fully online company with no need for a card. Hmm...

 

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[tminch55]

Holy shit I've been gone awhile! Stopped spending all my time on this forum and took action. Not in e-commerce though, but I'll try to pop in every week and update this because it's the best forum on the net bar none.

I started a company in the winter that books live celebrity entertainment. We're on pace to do over a million in sales by this time next year.

Can't thank this forum enough for giving me the mindset shift I needed to succeed.

Next challenge is to take this business and fast lane it. Currently spending an ungodly amount of time grinding.