5 Things You'll Need to Start an Online Store
Thinking about starting an online store, but not sure what you need?
Not sure how much it will cost?
I get it.
Ten years ago I had 4, my little kids, at my feet and let me be honest here, I was one appliance away from going into debt. This money thing …or lack of the money thing was becoming way too stressful to carry.
I needed to find something that would help lighten the financial load of my family.
There I was, surrounded by my little kids, researching what this whole online business thing was all about. It seemed like every blog post, website and article I read said that to get an online business started, you needed to make all these big investments in inventory and a website and advertising.
But here’s the thing—I didn’t have tons of cash to invest. (I mean if I had lots of money just sitting around…I wouldn’t have actually NEEDED to start a business, right?)
I had to do things differently. I had to start with what I had, which was pretty much trash. I found a roll of vinyl that was headed to the trash and decided to sell it online.
Wouldn’t it be freaking awesome if I could tell you that over the next almost decade I made perfect decisions every step of the way? Seriously, I would love to be able to say it! But…like most business owners, there was a heck of a lot of trial and error. And some errors were a bit (or a lot) more costly than others.
I’m guessing you’d prefer to avoid making those mistakes?
Well, because I wish I could have, I decided to put together my list of those “must-haves” for people who are just getting an online business started:
#1 A Way for People to Buy
Pretty straightforward, right? If people are going to buy from you, you need to make it easy for them. Two of my favorite platforms are Shopify and ClickFunnels. I’ve used them both and can give them some big ol’ thumbs up. I've tried plenty of others that have fallen flat as I started to bring in sales.
#2 An Email List
Now, when you’re getting started, you’re probably not going to have an email list. But you kinda need to begin with the end in mind on this one as you'll soon find out that building an email list is like your setting up your own personal ATM. UM…who wouldn't love to turn that on daily? Have a way to build that list in place from the MOMENT you launch. I have tried many companies and recommend omnisend or klayvio for folks just getting started.
#3 Stuff to Sell
In other words, a product. Here’s the mistake soooooo many people make though: they buy too much product. As in WAY too much. YOU DO NOT go into tons of debt to buy products when you’re starting your online business. You’re trying to build your financial future, not risk it. In my masterclass, I share strategies (and some pretty dang awesome tools) for researching, selecting and testing products. But I’ll tell you what I tell them: Test, then Invest!
#4 Claim Your Name
In order to have a website, you need to have a URL—basically a name for your website. I recommend GoDaddy because I’ve found them to be crazy easy to work with over the last 10 years. And just know that you may not be able to get the exact name of your business. So many .coms exist that getting the one you want on the first try can be tough. Just keep at it.
#5 Get Social
By this, I mean get out there and grab your name on Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms. Do it fast—pretty much as soon as you’ve got your domain. People grab them so dang fast, and you don’t want to lose out. Promise me you’ll do it asap. Seriously. Pinky promise.
BONUS:
Okay, once you get all of those 5 things done (seriously—do them first!) then it’s time to go to Google. Well, actually to G-Suite. This is a somewhat magical tool that lets you look all sorts of professional by linking your email address to your domain address. So suddenly instead of yourstorename@gmail.com you can be yourname@yourstorename.com. How cool is that?!
Check out the video above to learn a little more about why I recommend these 5 must-haves for starting an online store.
You can also get a downloadable .pdf delivered straight to your Messenger inbox by clicking the link below.
The 5 things you need to start your online store or boutique.
Now, that you know the basics.
Have you ever wondered what types of products to sell? Or how to get people to your store to buy from you?
I decided to teach my 10 and 13-year old at the time how to build their online store. They took these 5 things that I talked about above, and I showed them the 3 secrets to building a profitable online brand. Do you know what happened? They sold their first 6 figures before they stepped foot in a high school. Yes, while flirting with the boys at the drinking fountain they'd learned to set up a system that helped them to make enough money to pay for their college in full.
Learning what you need to start an e-commerce store is one thing, but knowing how to grow a profitable brand and learn how to automate it is another and I want to show you how to make it possible, just like I showed my girls.
Dive into my masterclass, where I teach you
- Why having a new ‘shark tank' idea or trying to invent something new can cause you to fail!
- The little-known trick that helped me to sell over 7 figures of pillowcases…yes, boring pillowcases with zero social media following.
- The secret weapon the girls used to run their business on a Tuesday night and Saturday morning, yet have sales 7 days a week.
xo
Alison
Showing you the secrets to building a brag-worthy online shop. Why? Because I CAN.
