Retail Blog

What’s stopping you from starting the next big thing in e-commerce? Nothing. We propose that with as little as $1000 and some elbow grease you can build a successful and profitable retail business online.

The RetailBlazer formula for retail success is simple.

Success = Community + Expertise + Relationships + Branding

1. Community

Build a community–your customers should feel like they have a personal relationship with you and your other customers.

2. Expertise

Focus on a single product category and become and expert.

3. Relationships

Develop long-lasting relationships with wholesale suppliers of products in your chosen category.

4. Branding

Nurture a brand that fosters loyalty, trust, and expectation from your customers.

Disclaimer: This is not a get rich quick scheme. This is a strategy for getting your hands dirty, adding value, and then getting rich slowly while satisfying your customers.

1. Become and expert in something.

I told you this requires some elbow grease. But don’t worry. You don’t need any sort of advanced training. Just commit yourself to becoming informed about one category of products. Amazon started as a bookstore. They didn’t sell apparel, CDs, electronics or anything else. Just books. Before Amazon was the biggest player in e-commerce they were a simple bookstore. They focused their efforts, became experts, built a community, and then leveraged their brand as they branched out into other product categories.

Find your focus product category now, before you start, and become an expert. Your expertise will help foster the growth of your community.

For example, maybe you always liked artistic or decorative soaps. Become an expert. What different ways are there to manufacturer soap? What makes a premium soap premium and a discount soap discount? Who are the leading manufacturers? Who are the niche manufacturers? Begin your research online using search engines and sites like Wikipedia. As your business grows you will have the opportunity to visit trade shows and talk to manufacturers and suppliers directly.

2. Incorporate, open a bank account, and obtain the reseller’s certificate required by your state.

This is the boring part. Incorporation gives you limited liability for your business affairs and gives you additional credibility to your customers and suppliers. There are several different options to choose from.

The reseller’s certificate (sometimes called a reseller’s license or permit) will differ depending in which state you live, but the underlying idea is the same: it gives you the ability to buy products wholesale without paying any sales tax. The reseller’s certificate shows the wholesaler that you are able to collect sales tax from the final retail customer (your customer), so you don’t need to pay sales tax buying wholesale. Each state has their own rules, and many wholesalers will require that you have the proper documentation for your state.

3. Brand yourself, get a company logo, and choose a domain name.

Your brand is worth investing time and money in. You can make a mint selling commodity products if you have a brand that people trust.

When you sell online you sell next to the biggest and most aggressive competitors in business. You can differentiate yourself by selling unique specialty products and building trust and the expectation of value with your customers. Get a decent logo.

It is vitally important that you own your brand in your market. Do you want to sell widgets online to customers in every country? Go to Google right now and type in your brand’s name. If a large multi-national corporation comes up first, find a new brand, because you may never win the coveted Google prize for your brand’s name. If you want to sell tires in Albany, NY take the same test.

Have you selected a company name? Great, you will buy the domain name when you sign up for Yahoo! Merchant Solutions.

4. Sign up for Yahoo! Merchant Solutions.

E-commerce technology is becoming a commodity. Yahoo! Merchant Solutions provides a fully featured e-commerce storefront for as little as $50 down and $40 per month plus a percentage of sales. You can upgrade the service as your business grows. One of the strengths of Yahoo Merchant Solutions is that they will host your blog for free! Remember: you need to build a community.

5. Find products to sell.

This is the fun part. Retailing is an invigorating mix of dry operational mechanics and creative merchandising. Use a service like ProductBlazer to find wholesale suppliers. ProductBlazer is like having 24 by 7 access to the largest retail trade show in the world, and it is free to use. Don’t fool yourself that you can drop-ship everything. Get to know some of the suppliers of products in which you are now an expert and start building a relationship.

One of the most important aspects of running a retail business is having good sourcing relationships. Over the long-term it pays to build a relationship rather than to rely on a nameless and faceless drop-ship catalog full of low-margin commodity products. The most important part of this step is to make your first wholesale purchase! You’ll find that many suppliers will have a minimum first order of around $200. Depending on your product category you may be able to resell this merchandise for over $400.

6. Buy some shipping supplies.

You will be shipping products out of your living room or garage so you will need shipping supplies. Go to Staples and buy just enough boxes and other supplies required to ship your first wholesale purchase as individual units.

7. Start marketing through Google or Yahoo Keyword Advertising.

Keyword advertising is an excellent way to get started marketing your business. This type of advertising can bring you as much traffic as you can afford. It’s up to you to convert the traffic into paying customers.

8. Pick, pack, and ship!

You’ve got orders! That means you’ve got customers! What ever you do–don’t let your customers down.

Let’s tabulate the results:

Don’t fall into the get rich quick trap. Take your time and build a real e-commerce business by focusing on community, expertise, relationships, and branding.

Get started today if you feel motivated. ProductBlazer is a great way to find new products to sell. Interested in selling soap? Here are ten wholesale sources of specialty bath soap. Happy selling!