Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello,

Let me first introduce myself, I am a new comer and my name is Tim. I have been mauling over the idea, well yearning for it really, to start my own business for the past several months. The one thing that has always prevented me from taking the leap of faith was the fear of failure. I have recently overcome this fear and have decided I want to start an online business! 

Next hurdle for me was what kind of business do I want to get involved in? Sales? Services? Reinvent the wheel? I eventually decided I wanted to take a venture that did not require so much money up front, seeing as I don`t have a ton of it, and decided to go with drop shipping for starters. I figure this will save me tons of time and money and potential grief from having to grow relationships with various venders when I have 0 experience.

I decided to start doing some research, so I started reading articles online. I went to borders yesterday and looked at some books and came away with the Starting an Online Business for Dummies, 2nd Edition. I read the first few chapters and have come up with an action time line that puts my online E-tail store open for business on October 1, 2009.

My Action Plan: http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddb9c2b4_0gn9p57gp

All input appreciated regarding the plan!

My plan is to run an e-tail store from both my own personal website and ebay. I have never sold anything on ebay before so I am currently selling a decorative plate I have and seeing if I get a bite. If I do, what I make, if anything, is not important, but rather the experience of going thru and seeing how it works from the sellers side if I break even after shipping I will be happy.

I have set some financial goals for myself regarding the business and written down why I want to start my own business that way I can always come back if I lose focus or forget why I am doing what I am doing.

Goals

By 3 months I would like to profit $100 a week 

By 6 months I would like to profit $250 a week 

By 12 months I would like to profit $500 a week

Quit my job @ 12 month goal and take my business full time.

I`m not entirely sure if these are realistic goals, but I have always lived by the notion that I can accomplish anything, so long as I have a target to aim at, and make an honest effort to hit a bullzeye.

I am just now taking the steps to making my dream of owning and running my own business a reality. I know there will be obstacles to over come along the way and a lot of work ahead of me, but I am prepared to endure the pain and tackle the problems to realize my dream.

With that said, I have come to this community in hope that the people here both that have already walked down the path I am only begining to step upon and those who are also just starting out might be able to offer me some guidance, validation, suggestions and informative resources to aid me during my adventure, that way my walk through the woods might be just a little easier.

Sincerely,

Tim

I would strongly suggest you remove eBay from your central plan. With the way they`re wrecking the company, I would expect them to be pretty much out of business in America within a year or so. They`re attempting to create an Asian discount operation, mostly as a copy of Amazon.

You`ll do much better to focus a lot more strongly on building your e-tail store directly, with your own site and shopping cart, and marketing it directly to the online world. Costs for eBay are soaring, and most of the big sellers have already gone.

There are other e-commerce sites around, but they too are trying to get the money from their members. It`s like the people who made the most money during the California gold-rush are the merchants who sold shovels and pans to the prospectors.

The main point is don`t jump on a bandwagon. Create your business, then spend your money and time on marketing for yourself. What "seems" like an advantage riding the coattails of someone like eBay is actually making yourself dependent on someone else for your success.

-------------------------

Michael Peregrine
Consultant/Coach
Start a business without starting from scratch.
My Youtube

Keep in mind that a listing fee is repeating. If you don`t sell the item within a short period, you must pay another listing fee, then another, then another. AND when or if the item does sell, you then must also pay a commission (final-value fee).

Many other online solutions offer what eBay used to offer: free booths or stores, very low final fees, tiny or no listing fees, integration with Google Shopping, and so forth.

So eBay really isn`t much of a value for advertising either. Particularly with new merchandise. When you factor in the forced interference with the entire sales process, it`s a disaster. You`re told what kind of payment you can take, what carrier you must use, how much you must charge for shipping, and the list goes on.

The world is moving toward regulation on such a massive level that small businesses could easily be wiped out entirely. As such, the better strategy is to "cut yourself loose." Don`t rope yourself to anything that could be dragged down, otherwise you too will be dragged down.

Some great responses so far. I would just like to comment on your fear of failure. Don`t worry if you "fail" at the start and everything doesn`t go as planned. It`s what you do after you fail that`s important. In other words, don`t quit and constantly try to improve. Good luck.