Starting my first E-commerce venture.

[Strm]

What made you decide on the product you decided to choose? Is it in the fitness industry or otherwise related to your interests? Great that you’re seeing some success.

Thank you for the support, well appreciated!

To be honest, I am not 100% sure anymore because it was so long time ago (last summer) and at the same time I was starting my very first project as well (finished with that one). So this was just an idea that I played with many months before I took it seriously. Not really related to any of my interests, but I do have some boxes that the product should ideally tick and it has to be something that I can improve or make more exciting for people.

I decided to start after the samples that I ordered from the factory got a lot of positive feedback and interest. This was already at the beginning of this year.

 

[juresesko]

Hello Strm
Congratulations!
Do you know how much starting capital do you need to start making a product.
I am currently working part time and saving money to start.

 

[MysticFenix]

Incredible journey so far my friend. Really hope everything goes well!
Sorry if I missed but, your supplier is from China or Estonia?

 

[100k]

The same night when I wrote my last post, I realised that it is mostly an "upper limit problem" (ULP). If you're not familiar with the concept, it's from a book called "The Big Leap" by Gay Hendricks. I read it a couple of months ago. When things are going great and we are out of our comfort zones, we sometimes tend to self-sabotage ourselves. That is the ULP, in short. We all have these moments sometimes, I think. Especially rookies like me

When you realise that your ULP has kicked in, you can tackle it. I took a step back and I see that I don't need to worry so much. I also know now what I have to do to grow my business and become more secure financially. I've been feeling much better since. Time to put my big boy pants on.

Congratulation on your success so far, keep working hard & putting the customer first and I'm sure you'll reach all of your goals.

Kudos for dealing with the "upper limit problem" and all the other mental stuff that sometimes gets in the way.

What happened with the IG micro influencer did you track the results you got from giving her a freebie to promote to her followers?

 

[FBA-N-SEO]

I'm loving the thread and wish you the best. It seems like your head / thoughts are in the right place.

It's exciting to follow

 

[Keivo]

A bit more than half a year ago I came up with a simple product idea and have been working on it since. I got some samples about 4 months ago and they were quite popular, sold them pretty fast, so I decided to invest in it a bit and go for it. Last wednesday I got my bulk order here in Estonia and the same evening got the first sales as well. I'm happy that I sticked to it for all this time, not really knowing where it will lead me. I took a break from my construction job abroad (was so fed up with it too) and now I am finally back home and can work on my own project. Luckily my boss is a good friend so I will probably have work when I need it. This thread is long overdue but I didn't want to make it before something real was going on. My last execution thread died too quickly

From wednesday to sunday I sold 18 units, that's around 620€ in revenue (not profit). When I calculate all the expenses, including ad cost, the net profit per unit should be around 25€. I need to sell around 90-100 units to cover my first investment. I'm ignoring the crisis and I know that people have money just like they always do. My product is not an essential but still seem to press on some emotions and people are buying. Also I have found out that I am pretty good in customer service so that helps. When I got reviews for my last business, people always said how nice it was to communicate with me. I'm keeping it up this time too - no need to be an a**hole!

I'm taking orders only on FB right now, sending invoices manually, packing, shipping and doing all this stuff, so the next goal is to get a website up and running to automate it a bit. I will probably use Shopify. It's a bit scary but I know it will be next level for me! I also need to learn more about Instagram and other platforms to use.
I think I will have enough money in May to make a second order and slowly start to sell in Europe (maybe I will use my personal funds to make the process go faster) because the local market is pretty small. There's only 1.3 millions of us Estonians. But I see some potential in it. I was hoping for maybe around 30 sales per first month, but I think I will get there on wednesday - after just one week. To be honest, that's huge for me!

I have some personal savings for maybe about a year or so. So I have time to work on this and hopefully grow this business. But sales are so addictive and it's a bit challenging mentally, real emotional rollercoaster. Even now when there's some proof that people like my stuff, I still find myself doubting. I guess that's the part of it. No problem. I can handle it. I'm enjoying it actually.

So I'm writing this thread to keep you guys posted. Maybe weekly updates on sales numbers and also when I have something big to share. Thanks for all of you inspiring people who are here in the forum giving advice and helping so often. I hope this thread can inspire someone in the future as well.

Congratulations!

How are the payment gateways in shopify now? Last time I used Shopify It was a serious headache for me to get CC payments in shopify since I live in Estonia too.

But nevertheless, keep going!

 

[Strm]

Congratulations!

How are the payment gateways in shopify now? Last time I used Shopify It was a serious headache for me to get CC payments in shopify since I live in Estonia too.

But nevertheless, keep going!

Thanks! Still a long way to go but that's a start.

Sorry, forgot to mention earlier, I didn't go with Shopify as I focus on the local market for now and there are better options, Voog for example. Once I start selling abroad, I need to upgrade though. I think I will start working on it after Christmas.

 

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[Santi M]

Man what a thread!

Please keep pushing with this, looks very very good. Your posts are so inspiring.

Congratulations.

 

[Strm]

Man what a thread!

Please keep pushing with this, looks very very good. Your posts are so inspiring.

Congratulations.

Thank you, @Santi M !

I will! I know I've been playing it a bit safe due to the financial situation but it gets better each month so hopefully I have more to share in the future as well!

 

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[Strm]

Great! You're probably impatient How is your stock? Are you sold out or just stopped some advertising and trying to sell it slowly until the next units arrive?

A little bit, yes But I try to take it easy and enjoy my time. Yeah, I'm not advertising as much as usually so I don't run out entirely. So I get some sales daily but nothing crazy. I hope to beat my best month (July) in October though.

It's not seasonal but the factory said that august-april is busier months and summer not so much. But I guess that's normal in ecom, because of the holidays, warm weather, people hanging out more and buying less etc. Unless you sell some summer products.

 

[LArsv]

Hi, once again greath thread! How does your supply chain looks like and how did you came up with the idea of the product?

 

[LArsv]

Haha it's true just over the sea neighbors

Thanks for the answer by the way, how advanced would you advise one to go in product development and do you have anything to recommend to find manufacturers/suppliers?

 

[CONAN]

Congrats!
I have a question about the early stage when you were getting samples..was there any fear of someone that makes those samples steals your idea? Have you (and when) made a copyright or something?

 

[Strm]

I have a question about the early stage when you were getting samples..was there any fear of someone that makes those samples steals your idea? Have you (and when) made a copyright or something?

No, not really. When I started with the samples, I had no idea how's it going to go and neither did the factory. Starting out is scary enough - no point to put extra pressure on yourself with fears like that.
Haven't made a copyright or patents etc yet.

 

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[Dsant]

Awesome thread, really inspiring!!

Did you grab an already existing product and made it better or was did you start something from the ground?
I really like your approach to finding products that trigger people's emotions, never thought about it that way.

I'll keep following this thread!

 

[Strm]

Just had an amazing read through your whole thread. What a story! I was a part of an eCommerce so it was even more interesting to read.

So, below my opinion on your current situation: (Please note that's just my opinion and another path could obviously be better)

• So your current sales are good so around 12k for October if my math is any good? But they could be much higher I believe. You have to expand, it's lovely that you started in your own country but you have to get the whole of Europe. You get 12k from just your country can you imagine what you can get from the EU? You can raise prices easily if your customer base is bigger. (for example, companies which ship to Switzerland usually ask for 25-50% more on their products compared to other countries in the EU)
• Don't really know a lot about your product but it seems pretty interesting. But from my point of view, your progress is pretty great. I'd focus on getting it all in a Shopify store asap (if you didn't do already) it's much easier.
• Are you happy with the product atm? I read that you maybe want to sell the shop and want to try something new? I would put your product on Amazon just to get more customers, but would still try to get a lot of traffic on your own website.
• How is your traffic for your website generated if I may ask? Organic or through ads? That could have something to do with your conversion rate. Think about why that's the case. Usually have to do with the website or in some cases it's just normal for that kind of product.

Just some things I'd do. I personally couldn't run my now sold eCommerce store without my friends/business partners. I just find it much easier if you have somebody to discuss everything with and have a second opinion. Also, I find when building an online store and putting in the 100 hours workweek it's easier to motivate when you're not on your own. But I'm not you and maybe that's not the best thing for you.

I wish you the best and will definitely look into this thread more often. If you need anything feel free to pm me.

Hey, @Kasimir !

I think it will be around 10-11K in October.

I definitely need to expand indeed, and sell across EU for start. The thing is, I can't really sell the exact same products that I sell in Estonia. There's a feature why it's popular here and I have to change it a bit to sell in other countries. So I was only planning to sell the Estonian shop because thats a super small market here. I will definitely continue with it but that's just one option to sell the Estonian shop and get some extra funds to start selling on Amazon and on my own website.

Most of the traffic comes from FB/IG, from ads but some of it also organically.

Thank you so much for the reply and help!

 

[Kasimir]

Hey, @Kasimir !

I think it will be around 10-11K in October.

I definitely need to expand indeed, and sell across EU for start. The thing is, I can't really sell the exact same products that I sell in Estonia. There's a feature why it's popular here and I have to change it a bit to sell in other countries. So I was only planning to sell the Estonian shop because thats a super small market here. I will definitely continue with it but that's just one option to sell the Estonian shop and get some extra funds to start selling on Amazon and on my own website.

Most of the traffic comes from FB/IG, from ads but some of it also organically.

Thank you so much for the reply and help!

10-11k will be profits yeah? Because all your ads will be expensive, aren’t they?

What I don’t completely get you sell this one product. And you want to sell your shop. So if you’d do that you would sell another product or the same?

 

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[Strm]

Ah sorry, now I get it. And I also get it why you want to sell. Don't know if you find a great offer but if you find one I'd go for it. Because then I'd rather focus on building a brand than a normal eCommerce store. If I'm not wrong the shipping costs from Estonia to the rest of Europe are quite alright, aren't they?
If so I'd try to find a niche you like and where it's possible to generate an income from it. If you want to make it really big I'd make customized products. Like shirts with your logo on it, bags, mugs just branded. That usually works out quite well, maybe not the mugs but the rest.
Then get them from a local shirt producer, which there is quite a view in your area I think. And then you only have to mail them to everybody in the EU for example or maybe if it's not too expensive even the US.
What I personally see that works really well is that you put in 100% so if you focus for example on climate change that you maybe even have a blog about it. And if you want to take it even further that you look that your shirts are quite CO2 neutral made.
To distance yourself from your competition it's important to put in 110% in a store, brand, etc.

That's right!
I think the shipping costs are alright, yes. Not super expensive. I would still sell the same product (obviously not mugs). Maybe I would need to use a logistics/warehouse partner, they usually have even better rates. That would help me automate it a bit if the sales go well.

I will start working on the products for EU soon, it takes time so I won't get them before 2021. And after Christmas I can see if there's someone who would want to buy the local store. Because it's still very profitable and some people don't want to do it too big. I could have paid myself a decent salary every month since the start with only couple of hours of work a day.

But I won't rush with this, thats not the priority.

 

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[Gerrald]

I'm curious, how did November go?

 

[Art Vandelay]

Yesterday was first +1K day!

Rock on my friend!

 

[Santi M]

Hey, @Strm you are killing it!

What are your problems right now that you're trying to overcome?

 

[Strm]

Hey, @Strm you are killing it!

What are your problems right now that you're trying to overcome?

Hey man, thanks!

It's ok business-wise. But personal life is upside down right now so I try to concentrate on this a bit more.

But to be honest, I'm a bit bored too, so I'm thinking about some new products as well. It seems I'm a guy who needs some new projects sometimes to work on, along with the old ones. At least I feel this inside.

 

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[FBA-N-SEO]

Congratulations on the big $1K

 

[Strm]

January is going slower, as expected. Oct-Dec were all 10K+ months. I'm also not advertising as much, because I am low on stock atm and all the greatest versions are out of stock. New shipment should arrive in February.

Right now I'm learning how to start on Amazon, because it's a huge channel so I need to test there as well. Trying to get all the info I need from the forum and web. My manufacturer also has no previous experience with FBA, so I have to figure out what needs to be done before shipping to their warehouse. Seems complicated But I know it probably isn't as difficult as I am thinking it is.

I'm also planning to open a new shop to sell abroad with .com domain, but I'd also like to change my local shop to different platform.. But keep the estonian domain. How would be the best to do it? Maybe new .com store on wordpress and if you select Estonian language, that would then go to .ee store??? Makes sense? Is that possible?

 

[KushShah9492]

A bit more than half a year ago I came up with a simple product idea and have been working on it since. I got some samples about 4 months ago and they were quite popular, sold them pretty fast, so I decided to invest in it a bit and go for it. Last wednesday I got my bulk order here in Estonia and the same evening got the first sales as well. I'm happy that I sticked to it for all this time, not really knowing where it will lead me. I took a break from my construction job abroad (was so fed up with it too) and now I am finally back home and can work on my own project. Luckily my boss is a good friend so I will probably have work when I need it. This thread is long overdue but I didn't want to make it before something real was going on. My last execution thread died too quickly

From wednesday to sunday I sold 18 units, that's around 620€ in revenue (not profit). When I calculate all the expenses, including ad cost, the net profit per unit should be around 25€. I need to sell around 90-100 units to cover my first investment. I'm ignoring the crisis and I know that people have money just like they always do. My product is not an essential but still seem to press on some emotions and people are buying. Also I have found out that I am pretty good in customer service so that helps. When I got reviews for my last business, people always said how nice it was to communicate with me. I'm keeping it up this time too - no need to be an a**hole!

I'm taking orders only on FB right now, sending invoices manually, packing, shipping and doing all this stuff, so the next goal is to get a website up and running to automate it a bit. I will probably use Shopify. It's a bit scary but I know it will be next level for me! I also need to learn more about Instagram and other platforms to use.
I think I will have enough money in May to make a second order and slowly start to sell in Europe (maybe I will use my personal funds to make the process go faster) because the local market is pretty small. There's only 1.3 millions of us Estonians. But I see some potential in it. I was hoping for maybe around 30 sales per first month, but I think I will get there on wednesday - after just one week. To be honest, that's huge for me!

I have some personal savings for maybe about a year or so. So I have time to work on this and hopefully grow this business. But sales are so addictive and it's a bit challenging mentally, real emotional rollercoaster. Even now when there's some proof that people like my stuff, I still find myself doubting. I guess that's the part of it. No problem. I can handle it. I'm enjoying it actually.

So I'm writing this thread to keep you guys posted. Maybe weekly updates on sales numbers and also when I have something big to share. Thanks for all of you inspiring people who are here in the forum giving advice and helping so often. I hope this thread can inspire someone in the future as well.

That’s amazing! Almost like a fairy tale, lol. Good to know that your product is selling despite being a non essential. If you need help selling it in international markets, PM me. And also, keep us posted on this venture. Cheers

 

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[Kasimir]

New shipment arrived yesterday and I'm almost ready to start selling abroad. I will focus on a couple of EU countries first.

I will probably get a new store up and running in the next week or two. I have no idea how it will work out, but hopefully can get a couple of sales from outside my local market!

And first Amazon shipment is also in the works.

In other news, the last 3 months have been awful. I broke up with my girlfriend of 8 years. I'm slowly getting over it and finally I have new products in to work on and I will be alright soon. It has been extremely painful though.

Sorry to hear that. If you need anything let me know.

Otherwise, the new shipment is great news. I really wish you all the best and keep us updated.

 

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[Strm]

Sorry to hear that. If you need anything let me know.

Otherwise, the new shipment is great news. I really wish you all the best and keep us updated.

Thanks for the support, I really appreciate it!

 

[Kasimir]

Thanks for the support, I really appreciate it!

No problem my man. We are always here for you if you need anything!!

 

[Breo]

You're an inspiration man to write your Journey here. Thank you for this

 

[Kasimir]

Good to hear from you again @Strm!
But it's really sad that you have such problems with your marketing specialist. That should be like that. I always did most of my marketing myself, so if you need some advice I'm here.

Keep the grind going my friend!

 

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