Make Money from Home in 2024: How to Start an E-Commerce Business
The potential to make money online and from home in 2024, has never been higher… you just need to know where to look. E-Commerce is a great place to start for any beginner looking to start their journey into entrepreneurship and side hustles. In the UK, more than 45% had a side hustle in 2023 with the most popular one being E-Commerce for a reason, so the question is, how do you start an E-Commerce business? Let’s find out more…
What is an E-Commerce Business?
In the simplest of terms E-commerce is just buying and selling online. Whether you are an individual sellers on platforms like Etsy or a large e-commerce company selling via Amazon FBA. So if you want to learn how to start an e-commerce business, there are a bunch of different routes you can go down: from setting up a TikTok Shop and making viral content or selling live! (similar to teleshopping was in the 90s/00s, to starting dropshipping using platforms like eBay and Shopify.
Is E-Commerce Right For You?| Discover The Side Hustle That Suits You Today For FREE
Dropshipping: Starting with Minimal Investment
What is Dropshipping?
Dropshipping was my introduction to the world of e-commerce and it tends to be one of the easier methods due to the low startup cost and not requiring a warehouse. It involves selling products without stocking them, where your supplier handles shipping directly to the customer. Think sell to buy – you sell the product first, then buy it from a supplier.
How to Dropship & Build a Successful Dropshipping Business
The beauty of dropshipping lies in its flexibility and low overheads. When you start, you are able to setup your online store for next to nothing (Shopify costs like £25 a month), so you build your store, and run ads, but how do I know what products to dropship you might ask?
- Market Research: You have to perform in-depth market research. Use tools like Google Trends to identify what products are in demand. Search keywords for that niche of products, and find out if people are buying!
- Finding Dropshipping Suppliers: You must establish good relationships with suppliers to ensure product quality and timely delivery. No one is going to buy if they are expected to wait over a month for delivery when Amazon Prime can deliver next day!
- Customer Service: Excellent customer service will help you build a loyal customer base. Prompt responses and addressing issues quickly can significantly boost customer satisfaction. Setup email automation to ensure there are a number of touch points post-purchase
Expand Your Dropshipping Products
Once you have a couple of products selling profitably, it’s time to look into expanding the number of dropshipping products you offer. You can either, find more products in a similar niche that will fit the brand you are building, or create a new store and start again!
Read More: How to Choose a Profitable Dropshipping Niche: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
If you are wanting to learn how to earn extra money and are considering a course for e-commerce, I’d strongly suggest you explore more into live mentorship.
Online courses are often full of regurgitated rubbish from someone that has never dropshipped in their life. Get onto live Zoom calls 1-1 and learn how to dropship with someone that is actively dropshipping successfully!
Amazon FBA: Leveraging a Global Platform
What is Amazon FBA
Amazon FBA was something I started during COVID in 2021, with the help of a mentor, I was able to turnover 6 figures within 12 months. So what is Amazon FBA and how does Amazon FBA work? Well, it’s fairly different to Dropshipping because you need to take stock before you sell. FBA stands for Fulfilment by Amazon, which means you send stock to Amazon fufilment centres, and Amazon then deal with the shipping & customer services side of things. Depending if you go down the Wholesale or Private Label route, you’ll either be selling on branded listings or your own listing!
Read More: How to Make Money on Amazon in 2023: Wholesale vs. Private Label Selling
Is Amazon FBA Worth It?
Asking is Amazon FBA is worth it is like putting a finger in the air to check the wind direction. Some people will tell you one thing, others will tell you something else. It’s all down to you. If you pick up Amazon FBA for 5 minutes, and then move onto something else, it’s not worth it, but if you are looking to build a long term business leveraging Amazon FBA could be an exciting financial prospect; it’s a comprehensive solution that caters to various aspects of online selling. So make your own decision, but here’s a few of its advantages, based on my 3 years of selling on Amazon.
- Expanded Reach: The immediate access to Amazon’s vast customer base is a game-changer. Your products are visible to millions, significantly increasing sales potential.
- Simplified Logistics: Amazon takes care of storing, packing, and shipping your products.
- Customer Trust: Where do you usually buy your products from if you want good quality and next day? You go to the authority.
- Prime Eligibility: FBA means all of your products are Prime eligible, meaning your customers receive products in almost all cases next day.
How to make more money in 2024 is on all of ours mind, and a course for Amazon FBA can definitely help, although Amazon FBA Mentoring is always better 😉
How to Start an E-Commerce Business
Developing a Comprehensive Business Plan
Whether it’s dropshipping or Amazon FBA, a detailed business plan is essential. Set your goals for the month, quarter or year and set a plan on how you are going to achieve them. Little Tip: Calculate how much profit you need and how many products that will need to be. Is it 1 product selling 20 times a day with £2 profit? or selling 5 times per day at £10 profit.
- Business Model: Decide whether dropshipping or Amazon FBA (or both) suits your goals and resources.
- Market Analysis: Research your target market and find a niche. Tools like Google Trends or Junglescout are invaluable in this process.
How to Setup an Online Store
Choosing the right e-commerce platform is crucial. Shopify and WooCommerce are excellent choices for dropshipping, take a look at what other dropshippers are doing and what platforms are being used. For Amazon FBA, optimizing your product listings on Amazon is key for sales and learning how to utilise PPC.
E-Commerce can offer you a profitable & sustainable opportunity in 2024. Whether it’s through dropshipping or Amazon FBA, with strategic planning and a customer-focused approach, you can turn these side hustle ideas into significant income streams. So, take the first step today towards making money from home in the UK or wherever you are, and explore the potential of e-commerce! The best way I always found was mentorship for e-commerce rather than e-commerces courses. Learning through live mentorship on Zoom or in-person 1-1 or as a group is vital.
Looking to get started in E-Commerce in 2024, book a free strategy consultation call with our founder, Jack Mangles.
If this blog has helped you – make sure to check out a number of our other posts here
You can also watch a number of our podcasts with a number of e-commerce experts here
