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A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

centje

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Jul 15, 2020
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I own a Shopify store online and I’ve contacted suppliers last week Friday and yesterday morning. Some were positive about the idea. I need to send them emails now. This is my first time starting a dropshipping business. I’m working with two other team-members on this dropshipping business and we’ve identified our market-segment and did all the marketing, etc. We want to sell Ergonomic chairs in the Netherlands and perhaps in Belgium.

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At the beginning, we weren't working structurally, so I decided to write a specific plan. It’s 35 pages and is basically a long checklist.

M4dLB0SRn0oTickDtIEEUsdNkt89hNjo1s1rLBWP0-0jP3Us53sBlgMNrTYSjJaYe2-UGsHXvEaI3QKgi770U6jPlGOree7j67Hq18sxVuL1ax7iZplhUYmiOsQds2iw5771duex


Now we can estimate how far we are setting up this business.

The cool thing about execution, is that you get to learn so much, especially if you’ve read good books about self-development, sales, etc. You can apply the knowledge in practical situations, and more importantly, learn faster using the right mindset and methods to deal with adversity. For example, I remember from a book I read that the customer’s favorioute radio station is WIIFM - What’s In It For Me?, and we use this statement before we engage with anyone, like suppliers. Companies want to sell their products and if you have a specific market segment, that raises chances of success. You can come up with solutions to overcome any obstacles you may think you’ll face or a customer faces.

Aside from the Shopify store, I’m also working on a REACT web-application for an eCommerce site I want to get up and running real soon. I’m really just focusing on a template here, so no specific products yet, but I do have them in mind.

The frontend is almost done. What I’ve finished - at least 90% - so far:
  • Home page
  • catalogue
  • Product page (I still need to add reviews)
  • Sign in page
  • Sign up page
  • Shopping-cart

I’ve also written a plan for this:
sOlMHMYfFei4jhmy0fiUUJXEJYqTs1YZMsHt-DkCL_IT6UY8EYpxWGQ_VeKYFh9yB-Wy1I9P8ltoytIVMSGvHv4Vtm0O2xvrKd_zPDfFkAF8_q3sOD42gXUn0ER42aDEfXjKlVpG


And the results:

tgOd0QheWIevo3CbXwyAKRSQ3MV69q2bWeRW62sEQIaaLMRorl2ijICw3KYyyfGdzTnCXyADlLbA7kbDfzsMnnVzqHUKEEt33sqp1pKnnMOd8nMVV4pB4LP1L1qLPGaSyBJbejEs


I’m currently working on the admin page, and after that, I’ll work on the search functions and category menu. Other things I need to consider is the reviews and checkout page, but I don’t think the checkout page is very hard.

My aim is to create a scalable and profitable online-store. I’ve studied other successful stores, such as: Zappos, Amazon, Wayfair, O’neil etc. and applied what I’ve learned about UX and persuasion to my site. I’ll eventually add some fancy styling to the site like I did with the Shopify store.

I’m planning to, at some point, make use of:
  • Google CDN,
  • Google sign in,
  • Google Analytics library (analytics.js and gtag.js),
  • Analytics measurement protocol,
  • Google search (for SEO),
  • AdSense Custom Search Ads
  • Adsense for Shopping,
  • Google’s hosting options,
  • Amazon DocumentDB,
  • Amazon ElastiCache

This is the first time I’ll be working with these products/services and my intention is not to implement them all at once.

I want to get the site up and running asap; preferably between august and september. I’m prepared to delegate tasks in any way I and work with others. Does anybody here have experience in this area? Or how I can speed things up? Feel free to provide feedback and to ask questions. I’m willing to work with other developers and open to anything. I also have big brass balls. Any place where I can find people to work with? A fastlaner on this forum already offered me help with UX. I think that's generous.
 
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Sandy Dives

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Jun 8, 2020
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Where are the suppliers located? and do you plan to private label / white label the products?

I figure long shipping ex > 2 weeks isn't too popular these days?
 

centje

New Contributor
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Jul 15, 2020
16
15
Netherlands
Where are the suppliers located? and do you plan to private label / white label the products?

I figure long shipping ex > 2 weeks isn't too popular these days?

The suppliers are located here in the Netherlands, but that reminds me, I need to reassess them after I called them. I don't plan on private labeling them, but that though did cross our minds. But at this stage, we are only checking to see which suppliers are willing to cooperate with us. Then we reassess the situation and come up with a strategy to move forward. I mean, we have a plan, but we also want to adept to our situation quickly.

Long shipping is not popular, no, but we're busy researching a company that offers, what I think, is a unqiue shipping service for companies.
 

xy2_

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I want to get the site up and running asap; preferably between august and september.

In your post you mention your Shopify site and the template site you're making. What's your estimate for? And what's your priority?
 
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centje

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Jul 15, 2020
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In your post you mention your Shopify site and the template site you're making. What's your estimate for? And what's your priority?

Estimate? Do you mean, how far I am with the site? I'm at about 57%, but the core of the Shopify business is almost complete; the tasks afterwards won't be as much. I my estimate for the Shopify business is 3-4 weeks. It really depends on the suppliers now.

My priority? What exactly do you mean? With the Shopify store or the react project, or just my life right now? Right now, my priority is to complete the react frontend since I'm waiting on the responses of the suppliers. I also need to reassess my situation. I estimate that the frontend is about 80% complete excluding the styling of the site (you know, like fancy GUI animations and stuff). Then I will focus on the backend!
 

centje

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Jul 15, 2020
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Netherlands
Hi Centje,

Any updates for this project? I am very curious.
Hi Centje,

Any updates for this project? I am very curious.

Hi Jappa,


No, I don’t have any updates yet. I got overwhelmed, so I’ve shifted my focus to trading instead. I’ve been trading for some time now, and I’m comfortable with how consistent I have become. I’ve had to learn a lot more than I anticipated though, but it is worth it.


Anyway, about the project… I’ve managed to implement all the pages I need. I need to add logic and data, but for all this, I need to create a well-structured software-design first. Also, I think it’s wise to take baby steps. First create a shopify site, do a bit of marketing, see how that goes, then improve the shop using the technology mentioned previously, see how that goes, etc.


I’ve also had to deal with a couple of issues concerning my team. They have been resolved now.
 
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biophase

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No, I don’t have any updates yet. I got overwhelmed, so I’ve shifted my focus to trading instead.

Lol, wtf? All that writing in July and then got overwhelmed so instead of working through it you just start trading?


I want to get the site up and running asap; preferably between august and september. I’m prepared to delegate tasks in any way I and work with others. Does anybody here have experience in this area? Or how I can speed things up?

What happened to getting the site up by September? You were asking to speed things up.
 

sparechange

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I also have big brass balls. Any place where I can find people to work with? A fastlaner on this forum already offered me help with UX. I think that's generous.

Great thread, really shows how unsuccessful people think. There is a magic to failure imo, atleast if you learn from it......right? :inpain:
 

centje

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Jul 15, 2020
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Great thread, really shows how unsuccessful people think. There is a magic to failure imo, atleast if you learn from it......right? :inpain:

Indeed! You have to learn from failure. I’ve had to deal with a team member whose work was not on par. I offered a solution for us to continue working together, but he did not agree. So he left. What I’ve learned from this, is that you need to carefully choose who you’re going to work with. I’ve read this in a book before, but it’s easier said than done.


Furthermore, I knew at some point that if I were to continue working on this eCommerce platform, I would not be able to finish it on time. So, I opted to hire programmers who could help me get the job done on time. I did not have enough money, so I decided to get a loan first. I wrote a business plan and had just enough money to get someone with some experience to improve the plan. Then, I applied for the loan, but got rejected. The advisor of the loan company said that he did not believe the business did not stand out (specifically referring to the product) from the competition and that I did not have the required capital that I am willing to invest myself.

The nature of this failure is similar to the one previously mentioned. I chose to work with a person who was not critical and experienced enough to do a good job. I suppose I’ll have to learn how to examine people. This is much more important than I anticipated.

Now, however, I don’t have any money. I was only able to make enough profit by trading to pay the bills for October. I checked what the government could do for me. They can offer financial assistance and I may even apply for a loan of which the interest rate is lower than the loan company. I need a (better) business plan to apply for the loan. This time, I prepared backup plans. What if they won’t offer me assistance? What If I don’t get the loan? What if my product doesn’t sell? Etc. I’ve set deadlines so I can strategically prepare for potential failures.

I do have good news though. I recently found a product I can easily sell online. The search volumes are high and continue to rise, competition is low, marketing the product is easy, and there are more than enough suppliers. The best part about the product, is that I can sell the product with a high profit margin! So, I am very excited to get the site up and running, though I’ll start with a simple Shopify site for now, use the profit to reinvest in the business and hire qualified people (after learning how to :smile:).

I’ll contact suppliers and buy the product so I can test it and make photos should the product meet my requirements. The deadline I set for myself is 17 October. I'll update my progress as often as possible.
 
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Last edited:

sparechange

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Indeed! You have to learn from failure. I’ve had to deal with a team member whose work was not on par. I offered a solution for us to continue working together, but he did not agree. So he left. What I’ve learned from this, is that you need to carefully choose who you’re going to work with. I’ve read this in a book before, but it’s easier said than done.


Furthermore, I knew at some point that if I were to continue working on this eCommerce platform, I would not be able to finish it on time. So, I opted to hire programmers who could help me get the job done on time. I did not have enough money, so I decided to get a loan first. I wrote a business plan and had just enough money to get someone with some experience to improve the plan. Then, I applied for the loan, but got rejected. The advisor of the loan company said that he did not believe the business did not stand out (specifically referring to the product) from the competition and that I did not have the required capital that I am willing to invest myself.

The nature of this failure is similar to the one previously mentioned. I chose to work with a person who was not critical and experienced enough to do a good job. I suppose I’ll have to learn how to examine people. This is much more important than I anticipated.

Now, however, I don’t have any money. I was only able to make enough profit by trading to pay the bills for October. I checked what the government could do for me. They can offer financial assistance and I may even apply for a loan of which the interest rate is lower than the loan company. I need a (better) business plan to apply for the loan. This time, I prepared backup plans. What if they won’t offer me assistance? What If I don’t get the loan? What if my product doesn’t sell? Etc. I’ve set deadlines so I can strategically prepare for potential failures.

I do have good news though. I recently found a product I can easily sell online. The search volumes are high and continue to rise, competition is low, marketing the product is easy, and there are more than enough suppliers. The best part about the product, is that I can sell the product with a high profit margin! So, I am very excited to get the site up and running, though I’ll start with a simple Shopify site for now, use the profit to reinvest in the business and hire qualified people (after learning how to :smile:).

I’ll contact suppliers and buy the product so I can test it and make photos should the product meet my requirements. The deadline I set for myself is 17 October. I'll update my progress as often as possible.

You don't need a business loan, get a job somewhere and save money..live like a monk for a few months and you'll have enough capital to launch almost anything
 

juresesko

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You don't need a business loan, get a job somewhere and save money..live like a monk for a few months and you'll have enough capital to launch almost anything

Where should you direct your money at the start.
Product should be your main focus right?
 

sparechange

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