We all know that the secret to solving any problem is by understanding what went wrong in the first place. With something like an 80 percent failure rate, starting a successful e-business is a real challenge that most entrepreneurs will go through.
Even thou each new business is unique, there are typical issue that leads to ecommerce failurese. Learing these potential pitfalls can help you avoid them altogether and have a successful ecommerce business.
NO REAL INVESTMENT. You can actually open an online store for only a few hundred dollars. But that few dollars will not dictate that it will be all you need to invest.
All starting business requres several rounds of renovation, combination of capital as well as tons of labor from your part.
Retailers coming from brick-and-mortar realm tends to have the worst ability to invest in an online store. If you already possess a physical store and would like to open a web shop, you should think of that new website as a new business location. It will need the same investment in terms of time as wel as a portion of investment in money.
NO CASH FLOW. In a nutshell, cash flow is what allows the money to move in and out of the business. You can get into trouble if you don’t have enough capital to keep on operating your busienss. A good example is an entrepreneur who invests all of his capital in the inventory, but there is no enough cash for marketing. This setting can spoil the business and even make it stagna.nt.
POOR INVENTORY MANAGEMENT. Inventory management is one of the most daunting challenge any new (even) old business faces. If you buy too much inventory, you can end up crippling cash flow. If you buy too little,you may end up missing out on potential sales and even disappointing your customers.
Ordering products, unlike what is people say is not an easy task. Selllers may have different lead times, this means that it could take a supplier a couple of days to receive a reorder for you, sometimes this process takes a week. You need to place reorders at very different times on every different levels of inventory.
TOO MUCH COMPETITION. The internet truly has become a land of opportunity for even the smallest of businesses. However, big markets have already taken residence and stapled themselves on the online realm. This includes Wallmart and Amazon among others.
If you sell a product that is being offered by a much larger retailer, then you’re in for a big problem. It could be very difficult for a new ecommerce store to try selling PS4s, which is already available in so many online stores, including Best Buy, GameSpot, Toys”R”Us, Newegg, and others.
Simply put, it will be exteremely daunting, so try and find your niche – that one special product only you can deliver or add value.
A BAD WEBSITE. A bad website can render your business useless. You read that right! A modern ecommerce site must be functional, secure, adapt to mobile devices, have great search, and load quickly. Miss any of this and you’re in for a bad ride.
POOR PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY. Your shoppers cannot physically see the products you are selling, so you need to give them a good visual representation of your products to aid them in assessing it, want it, and ultimately buy it.
NO WEBSITE TRAFFIC. If you have no traffic, then you obviously have no shoppers. Think of traffic as the amount of people who goes inside your store to browse for products. To make sales, you obviously, obviously need to have traffic. A fast way to get traffic is to use pay-per-click advertising. However, it can be expensive, so be sure that you understand it before you start investing.
LACK OF PATIENCE. ECommerce businesses take time to grow. Many business owners expect that they will earn profits almost immediately after setting up an online store. That, however, isn’t always the case.
The key thing here is patience, passion and the willingness to go the extra mile for your online store. Stay put, keep everything honest and most of all, persevere.