Anyone with a webshop or HAD a webshop?

[Fiskevatten]

I'm launching my first webshop in a week or two, all is done except go through the prices a little.
However, I would love to hear if someone have any experiences to share? tips? advice? ball-tickle?

Everything I find online is "follow these 3 simple steps for 78294872xxxx USD"
OR "I wish I hadn't started a webshop" and then the entire video is about his Volvo breaking down...

It's (ofc) in the home and clothing niche with creative (lot's of flashy and/or vibrant colors) clothes from supplier.
It will also contain a blog since the foundation will be personal growth and creativity.
My own design is in the making, but I need a few more weeks before that.
I've put in around 400 products so far, so it's a big shop.

Thought about going facebook marketing, 6 products, test the water and then bring the money in to expand.
Plus a few contacts with their own Instagram channels.

Any thoughts?

[HoldMyBeer]

I don't know too much about the space. I am under the impression that almost every site and app (including Facebook) uses Google ads. It may be a better investment of your money because your ads will be seen by more people and better targeted.
Good luck w ur business

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

[Windex]

Get familiar with SEO or you will drown in the competition.

[Fiskevatten]

You might consider testing the waters by selling on eBay. It sounds like you have already done most of the legwork to get your own store up and going, though, so that might not be a realistic option. Or maybe a hybrid option is viable - your own site with blog, content etc including item search capability, but then link out to eBay for the actual selling portion. All that said, eBay does take a bit of each sale, so maybe the initial cost of your own dedicated space pays for itself pretty quickly. Though even the hosting sites like shopify have a cost, so maybe it ends up being a wash? It really comes down to where you want to spend your money and / or time.

Also, be real careful with the design. I'm a software engineer by trade but can not design an attractive user interface to save my life. Lots of readily available, proven themes out there already.

Good luck!

Thanks guys! Truly appreciate it!
I'm thinking about hiring someone for the SEO - might cost a bit but it seems worth it, Google is absolutely a way to go.
I remember when I was a writer for a dating company, I made the text and then a company put in SEO on and behind the document and posted
it on various forums to reach out, def worked.

eBay is an excellent choice, don't mind splitting the cake, but I can't use it from Sweden unfortunately. Don't know if I can go around that somehow, we do
have similar options here, not as large though.
I feel you with the design, I chose to go with Shopify and then tweak it myself countless of times until I got happy - looks great now according to me.
Only downside is that the "thought" of the site with name and style did not become exactly what I sell in the end.
I made it for famous quotes and the power of words, it ended up selling creative design :P

[Fiskevatten]

Nice, thank you young sir!
The goal planning you have is similar to the one I use. I've been a long fan of various personal development guys on the intranet - favourite is def. Tony Robbins!
My hopes are just building a platform that will generate enough passive income so I can jump on the next
Have so many ideas that will hopefully generate money, but most of all a sense of purpose in passion.

Do you have any recommendation on how many products I should try to promote at one time?
I see some go all in on one and others give a little to several. Just so I distribute my money smart in marketing

[Fiskevatten]

This one can be challenging. There are at least a couple of facets that need to be considered here, demand and profit.

For demand, the initial projections are frequently imperfect, especially for small businesses that don't have the capital to conduct thorough market research. That said, maybe just pick the top 10 products you think will be hits, and ask friends and family to rank the ones they are most interested in. Maybe even say something like 'if I gave you 5 dollars a piece and each item is 1 dollar, which ones would you buy?' You can use whatever currency is appropriate lol, I don't mean to assume a US bias! Anyhow, take the results and see where the most money was spent. There is your top product, then work on down the line. This will allow you to determine demand, establish pricing and also show you SORT OF your MVP (Minimum Viable Product(s)).

Profit can be a little tricky, though early on the projections should be pretty close. You want to maximize your time and dollar investment, so in an ideal world, each item you sell would have the maximum profit to you. That said, if you sell 1 item at 50% profit, but 40 different items at 20% profit each, then maybe the lower profit item is a better revenue generator. This starts to hint at demand and illustrates why I mention demand and profit (not supply) together.

I am assuming your supply channel is reliable and won't present a problem, at least initially. When your suppliers can no longer keep up, you will likely be able to start ordering in batches and thus reap the benefits of economies of scale. But lets not get too far ahead of ourselves!

The exciting but also a bit worrisome reality is that until you start selling, you aren't going to really know what sells and what doesn't. Planning is great, but plans are frequently thrown out the window when the rubber hits the road. Unforeseen things happen that will create chaos and stress - all we can ever do is manage them as best we can and move on. Learn from those instances and you will be able to see them before they happen in the future.

The absolute most important thing here is that you are doing it! So many people think running their own business is a pie in the sky dream but it is totally doable. Will there be problems along the way? Oh yes. Might you fail? Yes, that is possible, too. But you might also succeed beyond your wildest expectations. You won't know until you try.

Good luck!

PS - Yes, I have run my own business before and am working on one now. So, I've 'been there, done that' on a lot of what I am saying here. I don't mean to make it sound easy but it IS doable.

You are AMAZING! Thank you!
I have already started implementing the "which one would you buy" as you recommended above. I will spread it out a little beyond family and friends since they can be a little
too nice. I rather have critics than false positives^^

True that! Not sure if I'm going the right direction, but I've labeled the site so it looks like I've been around for a while with trust elements and "summer sale discounts" - as well
as a small competition where you can win free shipping, % off and whatnot (spinning wheel game). Fun to play around!
The profit is around 20-30% now after all is payed on each item.
Supply seems to be stable luckily enough haha

I've made my own test-order now so I can handle a order and send tracking numbers manually, that way I'll see possible mistakes as well from suppliers side and my own.
So far so good!
Have around 1000 USD to spend on marketing right now, but think I will go the recommended 5 usd/ day FB route and then up the rate steadily for "popular" products.
Will be hard to see if it's the product, ad-text, design, checkout or possibly ad-area that will be the hardest part to learn, but I'm excited!
Sitting with SEO now and that sh*t is sooo boring for 400 products...

Truly appreciate all your help!