Starting my first E-commerce venture.

[Strm]

I always did most of my marketing myself, so if you need some advice I'm here.

Hey!

I have done everything myself for the first year. But I am not interested in digital marketing as much as I should to bring it to the next level. I handle my accounts myself, but paid ads I try to outsource now. She is working now and getting results but it is early days. At least she is interested now Let's see what happens and how it goes.

 

[Kasimir]

Hey!

I have done everything myself for the first year. But I am not interested in digital marketing as much as I should to bring it to the next level. I handle my accounts myself, but paid ads I try to outsource now. She is working now and getting results but it is early days. At least she is interested now Let's see what happens and how it goes.

Okay in that case it's good. But really if she doesn't deliver, drop her. Yes it may sound stupid, but it's just the truth. We made the mistake that we hired somebody to do social media ads for us in my last business and I never checked her work because I wasn't the CMO and after like three months of working for us, I noticed that it was just a waste of money.

But otherwise everything alright?

 

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[CRS123]

I launched my website earlier today and got a first order through it as well. It felt good! This makes the whole process a bit easier and faster.
Other than that, this week has been quiet, as expected after I paused most of the ads. I will work on that during the weekend. But still around 3 sales a day, which is good! I hope to get this number back up to 7-8 per day next week, hopefully even more!

Have a great weekend everybody, stay safe!

Your journey is inspiring! Congrats!

 

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[Champion]

Thanks a lot, appreciated! I will!




Hey, Kid, thanks for taking the time! I'm enjoying it a lot and can't think about anything else anymore So I guess I'm celebrating as I go.



Hi, Champion! Thanks for offering your support!

My companies revenue is so small now and I don't pay VAT at the moment. There's a law in Estonia that when your yearly revenue is under 40K, you don't have to pay it. I'm not there yet

I'm planning to sell it for 39€. Right now I am selling for anywhere from 25 (to friends who pay cash - because I can use that money right away and put it to my personal savings) to 35€ while offering free shipping around the country. So it's a small discount period. I am not 100% sure about the ad costs, but at the moment it seems that 25€ net profit is the region. Even with VAT. But as I am just getting started, this can change a bit. I will get a better picture in the coming weeks.

It doesn't cost so much to make the product and I took a lot of time to find the right manufacturer. And my order was small. When I can make a bigger one next time, the price will go down a bit. I alllmoost chose another supplier who made me an offer that was 3x more expensive than the company I am using now. I thought it was good but luckily I kept on searching!

Monday is almost finished here and made 5 sales today.
EDIT: Make that 6!

What ads are you running on fb, im guessing just image ads?

 

[Jeannen]

UPDATE!

Another week has passed - my best so far. A bit over 2K in sales last week. And I f*cked up my ads one day (wanted to add some budget, and then it was in review for over a day). But still good progress. Best day so far was 497€ in revenue. My ad bugdet is around 30€ per day.

I've noticed a couple of things during the last weeks - when people give me reviews or write to me personally, they mostly praise my fast shipping and the customer support I give them. It seems like the product is secondary (although it get's some praise too). It has given me confidence to keep doing what I'm doing. My social media posts are getting better too and I'm getting more engagement than before. Also I was a bit anxious and doubting a lot during the first month or so but now I feel a lot better.

A lot of customers are coming back to make another order - which I never thought would happen, given the nature of my product. I think it's so cool!

I don't think I will get my second order from the factory before the end of June, at some point this is going to be a problem because I may run out of stock when I go on with this pace. But I will figure it out and make it work, no doubt! For example, I could raise the price. Or I could cancel my ads and test with great social media post and still get some traffic to my website. I may lose a bit in sales, but that's irrelevant.

And one more good news: THE GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED TO OPEN UP THE GYMS AGAIN!!! I got there 7am this morning and it was so F*cking goood!!!!!

Congrats, keep going !

Do you have automated email flows setup ?

 

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[Strm]

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

Thank you, @FBA-N-SEO !

Sometimes they are but sometimes they're not in the right place! But thats entrepreneurship, right!?

 

[Strm]

So what next?
My idea was to set up another online store to sell abroad, but now I'm thinking maybe I should also start with Amazon..? Maybe before the online store? If I'd use FBA, that would save time and maybe I could get some first customers and extra funds.. EU first and then US too?

 

[Strm]

There's also another idea in the back of my mind - to sell the Estonian store and all that's included. There are some factors why I can't sell the same product here and in other countries. So the local market is very small. Things to think about! To be honest I would love to concentrate only on selling abroad in the future. Or I could just find someone who would run things locally.

 

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[Kasimir]

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.

Ah okay. But why sell the same product. (or a similar one)
Or why put everything on that product. You say that you only put in a couple of hours every day. Then you have a lot of time left to build a second shop. With two shops the risk is even smaller and if you get competitors in one market and your sales go down you still have one shop which will take care of your salary.
Ecommerce is a great market but you have to expand in my mind. Can't just put everything on one product.

 

[Strm]

Ah okay. But why sell the same product. (or a similar one)
Or why put everything on that product. You say that you only put in a couple of hours every day. Then you have a lot of time left to build a second shop. With two shops the risk is even smaller and if you get competitors in one market and your sales go down you still have one shop which will take care of your salary.
Ecommerce is a great market but you have to expand in my mind. Can't just put everything on one product.

It’s more of a series of products in the same category. Right now I have around 20.

 

[Kasimir]

It’s more of a series of products in the same category. Right now I have around 20.

without getting too much into details is it something that can be copied easily?

 

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[Kasimir]

I wouldn't say "easily". There are some issues with it.

Update!

October was pretty successful as expected.

1. november was my record day so far. But still short of 1K. And with that, my 40K threshold is exceeded. So I registered for VAT number today (I also raised the prices on my website a bit, to test how it goes in the coming days). It takes away some profits, but it's inevitable and shows that things are moving in the right direction.

I'm making a new order for the factory in the coming days for new products to sell outside Estonia. It's going OK at the moment!

Great news. How high is the VAT in your country? And do you have a lot of expenses which you can deduct?
Otherwise, VAT can hurt pretty badly.

 

[Strm]

How high is the VAT in your country? And do you have a lot of expenses which you can deduct?
Otherwise, VAT can hurt pretty badly.

It's 20%.
There are some expenses, yes. Of course it will affect things, but I will adjust. There's no other way.

 

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[Jeannen]

[deleted]

 

[Strm]

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

Hey! Thanks! Great that you find it inspiring!

I am just getting started though

 

[Breo]

Hey! Thanks! Great that you find it inspiring!

I am just getting started though

Yes hope to read more Strm

 

[Strm]

Wooow, okay, haven't posted for a loong time. But not too much to share anyway. I kind of got stuck with this business at some point and didn't find a good way to expand it. So long story short, I recently sold the store. Now I have some funds and time to start something bigger and better.