How to start up business

Savvy_Sue

Flyonthewall wrote: »

I know online would still be competition, but I'd sell odd smaller, lightweight items online and have my own site where there's no fees and I can add any postage costs I want.

I know, I know, you probably don't want to hear this, but ... the disadvantage of having your own site is that you then have to advertise it, in the right place, to the right people. That's why a lot of people start out on Ebay or Amazon or if it's a crafty thing on Etsy, because you've already got a market there, and people trust those sites.

If you're setting up your own site you've got to get the shopping side of it right, which isn't trivial, and people may not trust you initially.

Percy1983

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I know, I know, you probably don't want to hear this, but ... the disadvantage of having your own site is that you then have to advertise it, in the right place, to the right people. That's why a lot of people start out on Ebay or Amazon or if it's a crafty thing on Etsy, because you've already got a market there, and people trust those sites.

If you're setting up your own site you've got to get the shopping side of it right, which isn't trivial, and people may not trust you initially.

The advantages to ebay are massive, yes they take a cut, but the amount of people who could potentially find your item is massive, and as said they will all have a level of confidence as there is more protection on ebay.

Flyonthewall

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I know, I know, you probably don't want to hear this, but ... the disadvantage of having your own site is that you then have to advertise it, in the right place, to the right people. That's why a lot of people start out on Ebay or Amazon or if it's a crafty thing on Etsy, because you've already got a market there, and people trust those sites.

If you're setting up your own site you've got to get the shopping side of it right, which isn't trivial, and people may not trust you initially.

That's why I'd sell odd things on ebay and having an actual store would help.

I know exactly what I'd need to set up an ecommerce site, it wouldn't take me long to do and it wouldn't cost me a thing to build.

Flyonthewall

Percy1983 wrote: »

The advantages to ebay are massive, yes they take a cut, but the amount of people who could potentially find your item is massive, and as said they will all have a level of confidence as there is more protection on ebay.

I know that.

googler

Flyonthewall wrote: »

In answer to all other posts:

3. People don't like to collect items from random peoples houses
7. People are happier to go to a shop than a house
11. There is a market for the items in my local area

how have you established these three 'facts' ... ?

martindow

Flyonthewall wrote: »

I know exactly what I'd need to set up an ecommerce site, it wouldn't take me long to do and it wouldn't cost me a thing to build.

I'm afraid that a website is not a magic money mill. There are costs involved in taking payments with fixed fees and also charges on transactions.

Even if you can do all of the work it is not free to run. You will need hosting, a merchant account and a card processing account. The fees on each transaction usually have a minimum monthly charge too which has to be paid if there are insufficient transactions. You will have monthly fees of 80 pounds or so per month whether anything sells or not.

But the major issue as has been said previously is how are you going to drive sales to your site?

motorguy

Flyonthewall wrote: »

I have an idea for business, but I need stock and a shop. I can't afford this. I don't have any debt and never have, but I don't work and I don't own any property or anything so I can't imagine a bank would give me a loan.

How can I set up my own business with no money?

Thanks.

To answer your question. Either

(a) get a personal loan, against you. However should the business fail you are still totally liable for its repayment
(b) get a loan from a friend or family member
(c) Partner with someone who has money
(d) Have a family member, friend or investor put up capital on the strength of future profit.

Option (a) means you only have to convince yourself your idea is worth investing in.

The other options mean convincing someone else.

mehera

If you run your own site have you included the SEO bill of probably thousands to get you visible online?!?

Set up a site and integrate it with Amazon and Ebay - both of which is effective and relatively simple.

Flyonthewall

googler wrote: »

how have you established these three 'facts' ... ?

By "people don't like to collect items from random peoples houses" I just meant that if you have the choice you're not going to decide to go to some random persons house if you have other options. It's just not a safe option for either side - you don't know the buyer/seller, anything could happen.

People are happier to go to a shop than a house. Thousands of people go to the shops everyday without a second thought. However, you only have to read forums to seem how wary people are of collecting items and all the scams of buying and selling.

Would you rather go to a house you don't know to buy off a person you don't know or go to a shop?

There is a market for the items in my local area. I have friends who'd be interested in such products, I went to college with people who loved the products I wished to sell and they all went to shops and were willing to pay loads. Plus there has been comments on sites about a fairly local shop selling similar things.

Flyonthewall

motorguy wrote: »

To answer your question. Either

(a) get a personal loan, against you. However should the business fail you are still totally liable for its repayment
(b) get a loan from a friend or family member
(c) Partner with someone who has money
(d) Have a family member, friend or investor put up capital on the strength of future profit.

Option (a) means you only have to convince yourself your idea is worth investing in.

The other options mean convincing someone else.

Thanks. I doubt I'd be able to get a personal loan and there's no one I could partner with or who could loan me money.