Black Friday is typically a good day to buy electronics, so if your company needs tablets, laptops, desktop computers, phones, that kind of thing, it’s a good time of year to purchase these items. I bought my laptop a few years ago REALLY cheap on Amazon.
I would stop trying to figure out how to make money quickly and easily – if it could reliably be done, everybody would be doing it. Think about blinds – what are YOU going to bring to the table selling blinds that already isn’t being done better (or more cheaply) than anybody else? If you wanted to buy blinds, where would you go? Online? People can buy blinds all over the place online. Or would you go to a local big-box hardware/home improvement store? How would you be able to complete with them? Nobody is going to prefer you over one of these other places they’ve tried before. To do it right – what would that look like? It would be hugely expensive – investment in warehouse space, inventory, website, promotion. Do you know anything about blinds? I don’t think you’re going to be able to find a niche place for yourself doing that.
What DO you know about? I know a lot about my particular hobby, which I started doing when I was ten. I started my business online when I was 27 (back in 1997), before there were a ton of online sites like mine. Because I’m knowledgeable, and have been around a long time, I’ve developed a reputation as a trusted seller with interesting products. Do you have anything – a hobby, experience in another business that you could turn into your own business?
You have to find a need that isn’t being met, and even then, you have to be super hard-working, be willing to invest, and even then, you can fail. Don’t skip thinking about the first steps – what do I know? What can I do? Is there a need? Can I do it? Some of the best businesses are ones most people would think of as just “manual labor.” Products are easy to come by these days – easily and cheaply. But people don’t know how to fix things anymore, and they don’t want to cut their grass, paint their walls, power-wash their driveways, or even (it seems) actually go to pick up food at a restaurant. Think about what kinds of things you can do where people are mainly paying you for your TIME and EFFORT. If you can develop a reputation for being someone who returns calls, shows up on time, and does a great job, that is HUGE! Good luck!
Target has a really cool front section (right when you walk in) with holiday-themed small price items (other things, too!) A lot of them are $1-$5 and seem pretty well-made for what you are getting.
Ooh, yeah, so I run a hobby business, so the fun thing is kind of built in, as I sell what people like to do in their spare time! :) My website is on the Wix platform, and so they have templates you can use (some are even seasonal) and pictures you can use, but I make them “from scratch” using my own photographs that I take with my iPhone and edit on my Mac. Wix keeps track of my mailing list (people can sign up on my home page). I can also choose to send newsletters to customers who have left their e-mail addresses.
Typically, I write about what’s new (products), things I’m working on (I design and sell my patterns retail and wholesale), talk about what I’m up to, or things going on in the industry. I thank my customers/supporters. I also have a YouTube channel and Instagram account.
Healthcare is a tricky topic. I sometimes get newsletters about things like insurance and healthcare, and they typically go in my trash. You might explore how you can work value into your newsletter. A lot of times these kinds of messages look generic/mass-produced. Tailoring it to your audience is important. Make the information easy-to-digest, watch your spelling/grammar, and use original photos when possible. Anything that looks kind of generic isn’t going to be what people want to read.
Yeah, I mean, what I know is that people often do not read the information you put on your website. So, I get e-mails with questions about something that is explained on the website. Or sometimes they want to know if I carry something, but they did not use my search box to look for it first (kind of like when the kids can’t see the milk in the fridge.)
I find I’m mostly annoyed with things like that when I’ve been working a lot of hours. I just re-frame it in my mind that it’s literally my job to help my customers purchase my things. :)
Yeah, that idea of a very specific thing like a day, a time, a time-span, and a suggestion for services – for some reason, that made it more easy to visualize, and I was like, “Oh, yeah, I can do that.” A generic e-mail asking for people to make appointments would not have gotten my attention.
I try to make my newsletters fun (for my customers) to read, with good photography and a friendly feel. I regularly get comments that my newsletter is the only one they’ll read in its entirety, which is my goal! Because I have a website (Wix) that lets me see results, I know how many people received the e-mail, how many times they clicked, how many times they put things in their cart, and how many times orders were completed. It’s all automated, so it’s just amazing to me. What a great time to be a small online retailer!
Thanks. :)
(My business: retail and wholesale of needlework supplies). Business has been nuts since the pandemic started back in March 2020. This summer, things did start to die down a bit, but I am still working long weeks, and am very happy with sales. I send out regular newsletters, and when I have a slow couple of days, I hit social media, or use the time to place reorders, organize, etc.
I will say that my local salon that I frequent sent an e-mail out to their mailing list two weeks ago. They listed which employees of the salon had openings, and what they could do in those openings (so, like: “Jenna 10:30-12:00 Tuesday: Cut and Color.” The e-mail gave specific things that could be done during that time.) I called right away and not only made an appointment for a cut, but decided to get my hair colored for the first time in many years. If you have the ability to market yourself to your existing customers, take the downtime to do so. Make sure your salon hours are up-to-date on Google and such. Update your website. The holidays are coming, and hopefully there will be a lot of business coming your way.
Sometimes people don’t want to say the real reason they don’t want to buy something. Saying, “It’s too nice to use,” to me sounds like “It’s very expensive, and I don’t want to spend that kind of money on something I would most likely ruin.” Or, “There’s no WAY I would spend that much money on a cutting board.”
If “It’s too nice to use” is a VERY common comment, why not take (to the shows) some boards that have seen a lot of wear and tear. Give a little information about how to care for the board to prolong its life.
There was definitely a pull-back in spending as the year went on. Several customers reached out to say they weren’t going to be purchasing as much, because of the price of things (I sell hobby supplies with a primarily female customer group).
The past 3 1/2 years, it has kind of been FULL STEAM AHEAD, just shoveling orders out as fast as I can, ordering in huge quantities of things (as all of it would sell), and working so many hours.
Now that I have a chance to breathe, I am starting to go through the adjustment of less on my plate, which honestly, feels really good, as I have free time to make meals, clean and organize, and just relax. I am starting to clear out inventory that is “stale.” And planning what to do next year to keep the business alive (working with creative friends who are going to do exclusive products for me, creating more online content – videos, Instagram, newsletters, and doing more creating myself.
I don’t see all of this as a “problem,” necessarily. Just a new challenge, and I have a lot of ideas for keeping things alive. I have spent the last 5 years really building my brand and reputation, and I believe I can weather a downturn in customer spending just fine.
First, I e-mail the customer back and tell them this:
“My first advice is for you to check with your neighbors and your postal carrier to see if the package may have been mis-delivered. Most of the time when a package is showing “delivered,” but it hasn’t been, it’s with a neighbor. Also, if you live with someone else, ask that person if they brought a package in (and describe it to the customer) and put it somewhere. If you still can’t find it, let’s give it another week. Oftentimes, it’s been mis-delivered, and the person who received it may put it back into the system.”
I do usually tell the person what the package looks like – the size/shape of box or mailer (and color), as well as any identifying/unusual stickers or markings on the package (I put a logo sticker, or another fun sticker on the outside of every package.)
I personally do re-ship an order, or refund for it if it hasn’t shown up in two weeks. I don’t have to do it, but I DO it, because the VERY few times I have to replace a package, doesn’t cost me much money, and it gains me loyalty from that person forever. I do add insurance on any package $300 or more, just for my own peace of mind (in cases like this.) I always figure, yes, it costs me extra, but they spent so much, it’s kind of a “bonus” I throw in for large orders, which also protects me and my business.
Technically, you don’t have to do anything, since it’s showing “delivered,” but think if this was you in your customer’s shoes. What would you think or want to have happen in this instance if you were being truthful that your $500 order wasn’t delivered? They can hit you with a charge-back on their card or PayPal account, in which case you’ll lose the money anyway.
I think the margins in appliances are really small, so you have to have the volume to make a go of it. That being said, we prefer getting our appliances from our local appliance dealer, rather than the big box stores. We can ask questions and get advice from salespeople who have been doing it for decades. We may pay a little more there, but we’ve always been happy with the service.
I run a mail order retail business out of my home with 6,000 different products (many of which are patterns – I have six 4-drawer, deep file cabinets where those go, organized by company/designer, and then alphabetically – the drawers are all full).
I have products in one section of the house – my office, our guest room, half of our living room space, and then part of the garage. I am starting to reduce the bulkier things I sell. They require bigger boxes to ship (and I have flat-rate shipping), and try to keep my total number of products around the 6,000 mark). When you can’t spread out anymore, go “up.” So, I have several rollable six-shelf shelving units that I got on Amazon for CHEAP ($119) that are full – you can find them on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NHGMU98/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They allowed me to expand UPWARDS to stay organized. These particular shelving units can also support 500 pounds PER SHELF. I also have stackable totes I get at Target (I find their prices were the best, especially for the quality of the totes.) If your products do not need to be climate-controlled, maybe you could invest in a nice shed for the back yard for overflow inventory?
I will say that if you really want to try to keep your business at home, what I would do is use the available vertical space with shelves and closets (you can get hanging shelves for closets at home improvement stores or online). Keep some products out of the living space by putting them in the garage or a shed. Keep your number items mainly to what sells more frequently; I regularly will delete an item if the last one sells, and it’s something I don’t sell very often. Avoid moving out of your house if possible – renting a storage unit is preferable to warehouse or retail space, which can get expensive; do this only when/if you get so big that you can easily afford the upkeep, bills, and hassle.
Good luck!