The world of ecommerce has taken a dramatic turn with the invention of smartphones.
Today, anybody can establish a successful ecommerce platform with very little capital. As a startup entrepreneur, how much have you saved up as capital? Thousands of dollars? Hundreds of thousands?
Contrary to popular opinion, establishing an ecommerce business does not require a truckload of money. With just $5000 or less, you can create and develop a very successful ecommerce business.
How to Start Your Ecommerce Business with $5000 or less?
While $5000 may seem like a small amount of money for some people, in reality, it could go a long way in starting up a business. Want to create an ecommerce platform with this seemingly small amount of money for some people? Let’s get started!
There are several steps you need to take to start a successful ecommerce business. These steps include:
Research and decide on shipping:
When it comes to ecommerce, most business owners are faced with two choices: dropshipping and holding or carrying an inventory. Dropshipping involves contacting a third party supplier to deliver products to the customer. On the other hand, holding stock has to do with taking items directly from your store or warehouse and giving to the third-party services to deliver. Before starting up an ecommerce business, it is best to decide which form of delivery or shipping would be best and more convenient for your business.
Create a website:
Creating a website is very affordable if you are tech-savvy. For your ecommerce business, you should create a website similar to Shopify’s interface. The website should be fast and have optimum user-friendliness. If you are tech-savvy, the cost of entry for creating a website should be around $28-$67. However, if you aren’t tech-savvy, you may spend up to $500 on creating an excellent site for your ecommerce business.
Google ads:
Google ads help to advertise your business and draw potential customers to your website. Signing up for Google ads could cost around $100. Now, you must have spent about $600 on creating a website and signing up for Google ads. In the same vein, you could hire some professional agency to run an ad words campaign for your website. They are running an ad words campaign costs around $500. Thus, you must have spent about $1100 in total at this stage.
Sign up for an affiliate program:
An affiliate program is an arrangement where you pay an affiliate network a commission to drive traffic to you or your website. There are several affiliate programs with differing costs. Some cost as much as $800 or higher. However, you can get a lot of affordable ones. Set up an account and sign up for an affordable affiliate program to drive traffic to your website.
Banners and Logos:
Your ecommerce brand requires banners and a professional logo. Thus, you could go to websites such as Fiverr or Upwork. On these sites, you would find professional graphic designers willing to design banners for your website. The cost of creating a banner ranks around $200. Thus, your total expenditure is within the range of $2100.
At this point, it is essential to take a step back and observe sales very carefully. You will need to monitor and take account of sales for the first month. Depending on the level of progress, you could invest more money in marketing. Investing in marketing would help you to draw more customers, drive sales, and traffic to your website.
It is also vital to ensure that you have a little amount of money left in your reserve to cover for unforeseen circumstances.
Let me know if this was helpful in the comments below.
