If you find yourself dreaming about cutting all ties with a 9 to 5 office job then running your own online show store might be the right route for you. Starting a business or a store is an exciting and anxious time all rolled into one.
However, the potential rewards far outweigh any negatives you may encounter. The good news is that people will always want and need new shoes so you already have a market and a very large one at that.
You just need to know how to target a niche market.
Things to consider
Whether you are looking at opening an online store or a physical store, there are lots of things you need to put in place and consider before setting up a shop. There are lots of processes to put your plan into action from marketing to sourcing stockists and suppliers. And lets not forget- getting a website set up and ready to go
- sorting out your business banking(any loans you may need)
- creating policies (such as customer care policies) you want to implement before you can go about opening a new shoe store, therefore, below are some of the steps you should take in order to successfully accomplish your goal.
5 Steps To Starting Your Online Shoe Store
- Decide what you want to sell
- Find reliable suppliers
- Develop a high converting website
- Get your finances in order
- Define (and love) your target market
Decide what you want to sell
Decide which product lines you will sell and work out your markup/profit margin. Knowing how much you will be making on each sale after factoring in all of your overheads will allow you to forecast the monthly figures and targets for your business.
Find reliable suppliers
Who are you going to use to supply everything your shop needs? You need to nail down which stockists and suppliers you will use, consider if they are reliable, will they have the products you require at short notice? If they let you down then you will be letting your customers down.Develop a high converting website
You should get your website up and running as soon as you can! Online sales are ever-increasing and you want to get a slice of the pie, so getting a smooth, easy to use website up and running should be a high priority for you. When it comes to your new website it is important to analyze what your customers are looking at. What are they adding to their baskets and what are they leaving behind. Knowing what your customers are after and what products are selling will ensure that you don't waste any money buying a stock you cannot shift.Get your finances in order
Get your business finances in order before opening your online shoe store. Know your overall operating costs and understand at what point you will be breaking even, and at what point you will be making a profit. What are your outgoings and overheads such as insurance, stock, electricity, staff?Define (and love) your target market
Do your market research. You can’t sell shoes to everyone as people’s styles and requirements are different. Take some time now to research who your target audience is.- How much on average do they spend?
- How often do they purchase shoes?
- What styles do they go for?
Knowing the answers to these questions will allow you to focus on your marketing and on your customers.
