So you’ve decided to start up shop online, or you’ve been in business for a while but never had an online presence. Congratulations! Now is a great time to get started! The internet is exploding with new possibilities and an endless supply of potential clients searching for your product or service. So, what now? Can you expect to capture the attention of your site visitors with any old website? Not anymore! Customers expect so much from the people they do business with these days. Take a look at your own experiences online, and what you expect from the online shops that have gained your patronage in the past. Without thinking of your own site, or you own current status, who are you more likely to do business with? A company with a small, unimpressive, text only site, or one that is well designed, put together and pleasing to the eye? Obviously we all naturally lean to a more “put together” business. It gives us the impression that not only are they more professional, but they are also more capable of handling your request in a timely and appropriate manner. It doesn’t mean that your product or service isn’t the best available, but unfortunately you may be setting yourself up to be overlooked because you didn’t take your online presence seriously.
A lot of new business owners want to cut costs in any way possible. As a small business owner and WAHM myself, I can relate to not having the start-up costs that it takes to have a professional teach you the ropes and provide you with a fully designed professional looking website. Many people struggle with the decision to split costs between gathering inventory, or building an online presence. Obviously you must have the inventory to conduct your business, but if your online presence isn’t acceptable, who are you conducting business for? You’ll have tons of inventory, but no customers to sell to. On the other hand, what if you sink all your money into building that online presence, get tons of potential customers, but have no products to sell them? It’s definitely a difficult decision, and one that should be looked into very carefully when you are first starting out. No one knows your financial situation better than you do, so write everything down, be realistic with your expectations and plans for future growth. Make a simple, short list of necessities.
For a product driven business, you list may look something like this ::
Inventory:
• Product A:
• Product B:
• Product C:
Basic Presence:
• Business Cards
• Website
• Stationary
• Advertising (online and off)
Cut down your inventory to the necessities. If you do handmade crafts, instead of choosing 15 items to list in your store, pick your top 4 and purchase enough inventory to make two of each. OR, take your 15 items, slowly build up your stock and make ONE of each item to show your skills to potential clients. There is no need to have a house full of products and inventory when you’re just getting started. Cut costs by being reasonable with your expectations! A helpful way to do this would be by using the following list.
Split your budget in three sections:
Section 1:
Immediate inventory for the first products I plan to list online in my store.
Section 2:
Professional online presence, web and print designs.
Section 3:
Future business costs and inventory to fill incoming orders.
It doesn’t matter if you have $500.00, or $5,000.00 in your business fund, if you are careful with your spending and allot a fair share to the most important aspects when you’re just getting started.
If you have any questions about budgeting for new business ventures, or how you can get started with little to nothing, I’d love to help you in any way I can. I started my first business with less than $100.00 for everything. It CAN be done. The road can be bumpier for small business that lack the big capital it takes to get off the ground, but NOT impossible! We’ll follow up soon with free and cheap marketing ideas. In the meantime, good luck with all your ventures!
-Jenni
p.s. Don’t forget, Suga Pink Designs offers lay-a-way on any and all design services. Contact us for a custom quote or to set up a payment plan at customerservice@sugapink.com or visit us on the web at http://sugapink.com.
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