After some successful projects and some failing ones, the one I will explain here is my latest business project, creating an E-commerce store. After noticing the rise of E-commerce, I looked into it and with a friend, and we decided to open a website and a store on Shopify to start selling overseas products. We watched many videos and talked to as many people as we could to gain insight on how to properly advertise using various social media platforms, as well as a general direction on how to approach marketing and creating a well-organized website.
I had a family friend that does business in China, and after talking to him for a while, we made a deal where he could help us with overseas shipping and filling orders, therefore making the entire process so much easier for us as my friend and I had no idea on how to make a connection in China. After this, we researched a few products like Valentine's Day gifts and sports gear to sell on our website. After making some amateur video ads and narrowing our targeted audience with some weeks of learning, we started to see some sales roll in. It was so satisfying and rewarding to see people become persuaded by our ads and like our products enough to go and buy them online.
After a couple more weeks, the sales slowed and we were spending more on ads than we were making in sales so we decided to take all ads down and rethink our attack. That is where we left off a couple weeks ago and we are still in the process of finding new products and redesigning our ads. Even though we ended up losing a little in the end, the entire process was very informative and I learned more than I ever have about online sales and how E-commerce works in the little area I was working in. I also learned that I am not a huge fan of doing business completely online and that I really need to work on my marketing skills.
For the second part of the question regarding this class, I took ENT 3003 for many different reasons. The first reason was that I wanted to see what UF could offer regarding information with entrepreneurship and I was really interested to see what I could learn as I want to start my own thing for my profession. Another reason I took this class was that some friends told me that it was really interesting and that it made them think a little different when it came to discovering new markets and business opportunities.
John, it is very interesting that you and your friend pursued your own e-commerce store. It is impressive that you both had the motivation to get out there and try to start up your own business. Even though you lost some money in the end that was a great learning experience and now you have a bit of a background in being an entrepreneur.
ReplyDeleteHey John,
ReplyDeleteI too have started my own E-Commerce business, and have ran into some of the difficulties that you have encountered. You spoke about your Facebook ads losing there persuasiveness, and that you began to see your sales drop. I find that this is my biggest and most challenging issue with my E-Commerce store as well. Learning the Facebook ad algorithms and how to make them extremely effective is the hardest part of running an online business.
Even though you stated you need to work on your marketing skills, it sounds like you got some great entrepreneurial experience through this e-commerce business. Its also cool to hear that your dad is an entrepreneur too! If I were you, I'd totally go to him and ask him about his marketing experience and see what information he has to help you.
ReplyDeleteHello John,
ReplyDeleteIt's exciting to see that really enjoy the world of E-Commerce. It's a field I have yet to truly understand, and plan to take a look at in the future. Congratulations on the first sales! These are often the hardest ones to make and can be very discouraging when they fail to appear.
It's also great to see that you have pulled back on supply and are working on your strategy since sales have fallen off. It's always great to work towards long term growth rather than short term profit.
E-commerce is definitely a part of society that will not be going away anytime soon. Taking a chance and starting something new is admirable. Although you may have come away at a loss (for now), the lessons you learn through experiencing entrepreneurship will surely lead you to more success in the future. Best of luck on your future endeavors, and no matter how hard it may seem, don't give up!
ReplyDelete