Want To Start Your Own Online Small Business?

Starting your own business can be both exciting and terrifying. I wanted to make this post to help you take your first steps as an entrepreneur! When I was deciding whether or not to start, I tried to do research and the articles were filled with so much fluff that it was difficult to really get the info I needed. So this post is going to be straightforward as possible from my experience with my business!

1. Decide What You Want to Sell

The very first step is deciding what you want to sell. What are you passionate about? Passion really shows through when trying to sell products so make sure it's something you love!

Remember, you can always add other products to your line but it's a good idea to start with something you know a lot about!

You may be surprised to find that the thing you think you want to sell isn't actually for you. I'll tell you my experience with that.

**Story Time! Skip to #2 if you already have your product picked**

When I first started a business it was a dropshipping tshirt shop. This was back in 2016. I really have no idea why I decided to pick tshirts because I was not passionate about them at all. Next up, I tried a jewelry shop called JemsAndJewells. I enjoyed making bracelets but not enough to have a whole business surrounding it. I was selling jewelery for awhile but felt myself losing the love. One day I decided to try to make soap and BOOM fell in love. I'm now a self care shop!

2. Choose Your Platform

I'm going to be completely honest here and say from my experience, Etsy is the best place to start if your products are handmade or vintage. They do have fees and recently they've gone up but you can price your items accordingly to make a profit! Etsy gets a ton of traffic so it's an awesome place to begin testing your brand and products. Once you are successful there you can move over to your own site!

If you'd like to own your own website my recommendation is shopify!

I currently have a shop on both of these platforms but you can do your own research and choose what's right for you!

3. Think Of A Name and Branding To Go With It

Your company name is extremely important. I know it's easy to just find the first available name that somewhat relates and go with it. When everything you think of is already taken it can be disheartening. I encourage you to really think about it and make sure it's something you'll love! Also if you can, avoid misspelling or hard to spell names. My old shop was JemsAndJewells (JEM for my siblings initials and Jewell is my last name. I can't tell you how many messages I got from people that couldn't find my shop because of the spelling!

Branding is also important! Pick a vibe and color scheme to match your name and products. This little touch will make you stand out from the rest!

4. Begin Making or Preparing Products

If possible it's always best to have a few items when you first launch! People will trust a new shop more if they have options and look like they put work into their business. Make sure your items are good quality!

5. Take Good Photos

I cannot stress this enough! Photos are EVERYTHING. I wish I would've realized this when I first started. Looking back, I cringe at how horrible my photos were.

- I recommend getting a light box. I have the $14 one off Amazon but there are quite a few options out there.

- If you use props make sure it's clear they're not included with the product. I also recommend keeping it as simple and clean as possible

6. Start Listing Your Products

Now it's time for the fun part! Listing your products! My main point here is to make sure you price your items so you get a profit! There are many different formulas people use to decide the price of their products but do what feels right to you! Make sure you are calculating material costs, website fees, time and shipping when choosing your price! It also helps to look around at your competitors but keep in mind some sellers make their items too cheap. Don't try to be the cheapest on the market unless you still can get a good profit!

There is a lot of info I can give on SEO, tags and titles but I'm going to save that for my next post!

I hope you found this post helpful! I plan to go more in depth on each category in the future. For now, I just wanted to give the basics to anyone thinking about beginning their small business journey.

You can check out my small business here

Or follow me on instagram for shop and blog updates here