E-commerce update; 25k to 50k

@deaconpete I started in ecom 10 years ago. Built up and sold that business 18 months ago, took the cash and started a SaaS business last year.

My biggest advice is become highly skilled in something. For me that was copywriting and Facebook ads. I used it to grow my store and then parlayed it into a SaaS helping others make better ads.

Without those two skills I wouldn't have been able to grow my first business, and certainly wouldn't have been able to build my second.

I believe the founders that "make it" are highly skilled at either sales or marketing (or you have a partner who is). Without it your odds reduce greatly. Everything else (capital, inventory etc) is relatively easy in comparison.
 
@littlelisama I am very charismatic and good at sales. I am not good with technical stuff or tracking money. I am a risk taker. I have one other guy that does that for me. When I go over board, he pulls me back.
 
@diane585 What industry was the store in? Everything is so over-saturated that it’s hard to even get off the ground as of now. I’m trying to get into the industry and am currently in the brainstorming phase of what’s (hopefully) a niche.
 
@avidreader1 Kitchen equipment. Yes, it's very tough these days. You really need a good niche that most of the population isn't interested in and has probably never heard of. How about acacia tables?

Also, find your own suppliers. If you use suppliers that everyone else also has access to, it will be almost impossible.
 
@avidreader1 Do you mean the acacia tables? I thought about it and found a supplier and it seemed viable. But, like you say, sales could be too slow. I think margins could make up for it. My plan was to order maybe 5 and see how quickly I could sell them.

From my last store, what I realized is that you can't predict what wll sell and what won't. Some produxts I thought would be flops sold well, and vice versa. The key is to test products and not make assumptions.

But the tables would be harder to ship and store. That could be bad, for obvious reason. But it could be good because competition would be low.
 
@skyybluegirl Thanks for sharing your story. Inspiring. I just checked your website. I think it needs some work. The navigation seems convoluted and not very user friendly from my perspective. It needs some refinement. And as you're trying to grow organically, you should try seo if you haven't yet.
 
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