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Every single day, enthusiastic entrepreneurs start about 2,000 new small businesses. Three years from now, about 1,600 of those new businesses will have failed.
Being in the business of helping others break into the retail business, we've had a ringside seat to witness competitors battle it out retail arena, and we've identified the 12 differences that separate the champs from the chumps.
In this article, we reveal those differences and use our observations, experience, and expertise to steer you clear of the most common pitfalls and ensure that your business becomes part of the elite group of successful startups.
Poor management
People launch their own businesses for a variety of reasons. Some think it will be fun and easy. Others aren't happy with their current lifestyle and seek to better themselves financially. Still more look at their boss and think, "If he can do it, then I sure can!"
But the truth is that 80% of new businesses fail within the first three years. The number one reason small businesses fail is, by far, poor management.
Recognizing the essentials of good management
Good management boils down to developing a solid business plan and then effectively executing your plan or adjusting it to meet the needs of the current situation. Effectively managing a business, big or small, requires the following...
A well-designed eNewsletter, packed with valuable content and exclusive offers, can help you walk the fine line of keeping in touch with your customers without annoying them.
In this article, you learn:
How to design an attractive eNewsletter that increases your brand presence.
What to include in your eNewsletter and what to leave out.
How to encourage customers to subscribe without being pushy.
How to automate distribution to save valuable time.
Designing an attractive eNewsletter
Whenever you contact a customer, you have an opportunity to impress or disappoint, so you want your first attempt at an eNewsletter to be impressive. In any publication, your first impression hinges on...
The holidays are stressful enough with family gatherings, extra house cleaning, cooking, and keeping up the family traditions. When you add shopping to the list, some people start having anxiety attacks. They don't know what to buy for their friends and relatives, they have little time to wrap presents, and they sure don't want to leave anyone off their lists.
As a retail merchant, holiday stress provides you with a golden opportunity to better serve your customers. During the holidays, customer service often means removing some of the stress by making shopping less of a chore.
Getting ready for the holidays doesn't require a complete site overhaul. By implementing a few simple tactics to build on your existing merchandising, you can maximize sales and profits during the biggest retail season of the year.
Create a holiday gift center
People go shopping during the holidays in order to find gifts. Make it easy for your shoppers to find those gifts. Here are some tips...
By Mikal E. Belicove, Director - Community & Education, Doba
The IRS doesn't require certain small businesses to have a TIN (Tax Identification Number), but more and more businesses, some of which you may want to do business with, require a TIN.
What is a TIN or EIN?
A TIN is like an SSN (Social Security Number) for businesses. It identifies your business entity to the IRS and to any businesses or individuals who may want to do business with you. Like an SSN, a TIN is nine digits, but the nine digits are arranged a little differently. Instead of appearing as 000-00-0000, a TIN appears as 00-0000000.
The IRS officially refers to the TIN as the EIN (short for Employee Identification Number), because the number was originally intended and is still primarily used by companies who must process payroll taxes for employees. The number is usually referred to as a TIN when used to identify a business and as an EIN when used to report employment taxes, but TIN and EIN are just different names for the same thing.
Do I need a TIN?
Depending on how you've structured your business and whether you have employees on your payroll...
Search for a product on eBay or any number of other online marketplaces, and you're likely to find yourself inundated with product listings that look pretty much the same. All things being equal, you're going to click the item offering the lowest price, right? Or maybe you weigh price and trustworthiness, and you order the product from the big-name retailer that offers the lowest price. After all, when prices are comparable, why would you risk ordering from an unknown merchant?
It's tough to admit, but that's pretty much how online shoppers arrive at their purchase decisions. To encourage shoppers to break that routine, give them a reason to buy from you. Reach out to them to attract their business, brand yourself as the product expert, and prove to customers that you're as reputable as the Amazon's and Wal-Mart's of the world. This article shows you how to take an entrepreneurial approach to marketing—to pursue business rather than waiting for it to come to you.
Giving yourself a corporate makeover
People prefer to buy products from a company rather than from an individual, so the more you can make yourself look like a legitimate business, the better chance you have of attracting new customers. To give you a more professional look and feel...
By Mikal E. Belicove, Director - Community & Education, Doba
In traditional retailing, customers rarely abandon their shopping carts. They may take one or two items out at the last minute, but you don't see many full shopping carts just sitting in the aisles. Online, retailers, on the other hand, estimate that 30 to 35 percent of shoppers leave their shopping carts behind.
A well-designed checkout process can reduce these abandonment rates significantly. This article offers some suggestions.
Streamline the checkout process
Online shoppers want instant gratification, so make the ordering process as smooth as possible:
Use a consistent design. Don't throw something totally new at your customers - keep the design and functionality of the checkout process consistent with the rest of your site.
Don't require registration. Make registration optional.
By Mikal E. Belicove, Director - Community & Education, Doba
Almost every new online retail merchant makes the same mistake. They figure they can earn a lot of money simply by selling merchandise for a little less than the competition. They soon discover, however, that competing on price alone does not work. Every retail expert on the planet is well aware of the fact, but everyone seems to need to learn this painful lesson on their own.
If you made the mistake of trying to compete on price and price alone, don't feel bad. You're not the first, and you certainly won't be the last. Just stop doing it. If you need some convincing, that's what the first part of this article is all about. Here, you find seven good reasons not to compete on price alone.
1. The "Big Boys" will pummel you
The Wal-Marts of the world have a distinct advantage when it comes to pricing products to sell. Here's why...
By Mikal E. Belicove: Director, Community & Education - Doba
If you and I were to decide to go into business together, and we chose to open up a brick and mortar store on Main Street, there's no way we'd sign an 18-month lease, order display furnishings, install carpet, hook up a phone line, and hire employees without first knowing what we're going to sell. Yet, online retailers--or, more accurately, casual sellers who want to become successful online retailers--do it every day.
Without giving much thought to a company name, product line, or business or marketing plan, new online sellers sign up for services like Doba, work with a third-party vendor to build a webstore, and only then get around to asking, "Hey, what should I sell?" They head to eBay, see what is selling, and then decide to sell the same products--usually consumer electronics--for slightly less than the competition. They end up being disappointed, mainly because their profit margins are so low.
Doba® is the leading wholesale drop shipper in the emerging online product sourcing industry. Doba has a catalog of 1,700,000 wholesale products that over 40,000 subscribers use to conduct millions of dollars in annual sales through online auction and commerce sites such as eBay, Yahoo! Stores, and Amazon. To complement its inventory, Doba provides online retailers with premium services such as advanced tools, resources, and education to enable them to achieve maximum growth and profitability in their entrepreneurial endeavors.
The proprietary technology platform, built by Doba, enables business transactions between suppliers and retailers-transactions that otherwise would not occur-by offering a unique value proposition. For hundreds of suppliers, the platform:
Offers a new, large distribution and sales channel
Eliminates the risk and complexities of small-volume seller relationships
For thousands of retailers of varying sophistication and experience, the platform:
Aggregates their combined purchasing power
Alleviates the problems and expense of packaging, shipping, and warehousing products, further enabling them to sell wholesale products profitably
Enables them to transact with the world's largest manufacturers and suppliers without having to risk carrying unsold or unprofitable inventory
History Doba and its founders have been in the product sourcing business since 2000 and have been offering subscription-based wholesale drop ship services since 2002. Early on, the founders of Doba discovered that finding products for online entrepreneurs to stock and resell at a profit was a complicated, time-intensive process. Many cumbersome steps such as opening and integrating supplier accounts resulted in missed opportunities and lost profits. Doba now provides entrepreneurs a single, comprehensive solution for their product sourcing needs. The Company seeks out the most compelling products and works with manufacturers and distributors to lower prices and shipping fees on behalf of every subscribing member. Doba offers the world's largest online variety and selection of drop ship products and continues to add breadth and depth to its offering every day. Over the past two years, Doba has had its revenue in core subscription business grow nearly 100% annually. With the addition of its new management team in 2005, the business is on pace to exceed the previous year's revenues by over 300%.
Competitive Position
The Company enjoys a substantial lead in its subscriber base and total number of products compared to its closest competitors, and continues to build on that leadership position. Its core transaction platform has taken years and millions of dollars to develop and bring online. Doba has exclusive relationships, custom data integrations, and near real-time product information feeds which present a considerable barrier to entry for other companies. Additionally, the Company is the only drop shipper to become an eBay Certified Service Provider, undergoing rigorous certification in both customer satisfaction and operations. Finally, Doba has educational programs, online selling tools, and outstanding customer service which have resulted in increasing renewal rates.
Market
Product sourcing is a rapidly growing market as online selling and auction venues such as eBay, Yahoo! and Amazon continue to grow. For example, online auctioneers on eBay's platform boast over 430,000 users who consider online selling as their primary source of income and over 400,000 e-commerce stores exist on eBay and Yahoo!
Market statistics
Over 12 million small, home-based business in the U.S. (SBA, 2004)
Over 430,000 eBay sellers consider online selling their primary source of income (eBay, 2004)
Nearly 12 million registered sellers (eBay, 2004)
Approximately $32 billion in eBay product sales (eBay, 2004)
Over 250,000 Yahoo! Stores, and over 150,000 eBay stores (eBay, Yahoo, Dec 2004)
Total e-Commerce sales expected to reach $316 billion by 2010 (Forrester, Nov 2004)
Fast facts
Over 16,000 business customers
Paid subscriptions, growing over 40% quarter/quarter
1,700,000 products and 170 drop ship suppliers
Nearly 50,000 registrants
Estimated to more than double in size year over year for the next four years
