home based work

shelovestobuystuff

lee8040 wrote: »

whats your online shops sell?

I sell clothes and some jewellery for women in one shop and kids clothes,fleece tops,rainwear and some school clothes at the minute too in the other.
Only been at it since April and its great.
I couldnt decide between my 2 best ideas so I started them both up at the same time fully expecting one to do better than the other,but they both work well.The only problem I have is staying off the forums long enough to get all my work done.

shelovestobuystuff

lee8040 wrote: »

whats your home based job? only home based no where else please.


looking for a job that i can work from home, that i can train up to do for the future years

thanks

I am bias of course as this is what I do but online retailing is def the way to go.:cool:
The online market is growing very quickly indeed.Only about 50%-60% of U.K. homes are online at the moment but this will increase by 50% over the next year with almost 100% having online accessability within 3 years.
How,s that for a growth market?:j
You can start small so you don,t need much money or even computing skills either as there are plenty of web hosting sites for online business.:D
Its the ideal place to start up as the overheads are low so less financial risk.:D
Better than sitting bored in a highstreet shop waiting for people to walk in.:rolleyes:

:j On the internet the whole world is your passing trade.:j

black-saturn

There are some home based work websites for sale on ebay. But you need to do your own advertising and a bit of admin work.

CelticStar

I want to start my own retail shop online but have found a few suppliers a bit sniffy about supplying to exclusively online traders. Has anybody else found this?

shelovestobuystuff

You are more likely to make a successfull business out of doing something you love,something you are passionate about or could be.If you have a hobby think about how you could make it into a business.If there is something you know lots about,whether it be a particular time in history,cooking, model tanks or gardening then concentrate on ideas in that area.
What are you good at?
What do you love doing?
What could you call yourself an expert in?
Whats stopping you?

shelovestobuystuff

CelticStar wrote: »

I want to start my own retail shop online but have found a few suppliers a bit sniffy about supplying to exclusinvely online traders. Has anybody else found this?

I have approached a couple of suppliers who are a bit abrupt at first and will certainly not deal with ebay or other auction site traders but are quite happy to supply you if you have your own web site outside of these hosts.
I have not found anyone so far who does not recognise the importance of trading on the web and most of my suppliers are moving their operations online,some are slower than others, for the benefit of their customers too.
What is it you are thinking of doing?

CelticStar

I am thinking of supplying craft supplies but, instead of stocking small amounts of loads of miscellaneous lines, which is what a lot of suppliers do I want to concentrate on a few very popular products but stock a broader range of them than others do. Does this make sense? I've been a cardmaker for years so know quite a lot about the products. The cardmaking market itself is now flooded so there is not much money to be made there.

shelovestobuystuff

CelticStar wrote: »

I am thinking of supplying craft supplies but, instead of stocking small amounts of loads of miscellaneous lines, which is what a lot of suppliers do I want to concentrate on a few very popular products but stock a broader range of them then others do. Does this make sense? I've been a cardmaker for years so know quite a lot about the products.

Sounds good to me!!!
Ideal to start up in an area you have experience in ,which you do.
Internet is the best place to make it within a specialist market so you will do well.
Good idea too not to put too much into the bits that people can find anywhere already and concentrate on becoming known for selling really good specialist items.
I imagine the start up stock costs for this type of product wouldn,t break the bank so thats good.
Small items to store so won,t take over your home either.
Easy to post.
Sounds like you have done a bit of research on your market too.
So when is the big business launch?

CelticStar

Thanks for that - you've underlined exactly the way I was thinking, which is really nice and encouraging. My OH and I are just starting to design and set up the website. OH is good with computers so I have him to lean on in that area. Have sorted out a few good suppliers but a few have stressed that I must have a 'professional' website which I think translates as 'you must not just be selling on eBay'. I used to be a partner in a shop so I have knowledge of running a business. The partnership was a nightmare although I loved running the business so it has taken me a few years to take the plunge again as a sole trader. But nothing beats the buzz of earning your own money if you can and I've missed it.

Thanks again. I will keep you posted as to how I get along.

Good luck with your businesses too, sounds like you are doing really well. Congrats.

CS

black-saturn

The only thing that rings alarm bells there is that I know there are already thousands of craft sites. I've been buying wedding accessories from them in the last couple of weeks so have been wading through them all. As well as that the hobbycraft site more or less covers everything.