Re: advise on a specialty merchandise website

<snip>

Bithi's advice is very good.

I dove in the deep end.   I had a hobby, I knew lots about it, and thought
I'd have a go at turning this into a business.

I started with no idea about the financial side - in fact, I think - in many
small businesses, it's nearly impossible to forecast these things.

Anyway, 3 months later I had a business which was breaking even.   If it
wasn't for a huge quantity of faulty items (which we had problems returning
to the supplier) we'd have made a small (but reasonable) profit.   I think
turnover for the 3 months we were trading was around 3000.    Not great
perhaps - but this was something I was doing in my spare time.   I had a day
job.

Along the way, I learnt a lot.   The next venture I go into - I'll know how
to do things properly.

But ... get an idea, research your products, research your competitors, and
research your customers.  Who are they?   Why would they buy from your
store, as opposed to a competitors?    How will you bring people to your
store?   Most marketing books suggest that all things being equal, you can
expect 2% of an ads readers to actually visit the store and buy an item.
Get a feel for the quantities you need to be shifting in order to break
even...   are these realistic?

We doubled our sales every month - so - and eventually gave up due to a) the
time it was consuming and b) the number of faulty items we were having to
deal with.    Check your suppliers terms and conditions ... who pays
shipping on returning faulty items?    Will they send out single
replacements - or will they insist on shipping faulty items with your next
order?    What is the minimum order?   etc etc ...

However, if anything - the fact we broke even and had many happy customers,
goes to show that you can make a success of practically anything.   My next
venture will be longer term, we'll have a proper budget for advertising, and
we'd research suppliers properly beforehand.

Sorry this post is a mess - but it's late at night and my brain is fried.


Steve

>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (akan) wrote in message
> news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> > Hello everyone,
> >
> > I have been thinking about setting up a specialty merchandise site.
> > The thing is ,How do i check on demand for such a site? and would it
> > be profitable?
> > I understand that you are supposed to sell something that you have a
> > passion for or
> > a specialised skill.
> > I currently work in a one hour photo studio,i love reading novels
> > (fiction/non-fiction),travelling and watching movies.
> > Does this help?
> > I would appreciate any advice you may have.
> > Thank you