IT distribution in Europe or how we started our business - Part 1
My story began 9 years ago, exactly at the moment when I decided to move from Russia to the Czech Republic (Prague) to continue my studies at a higher educational institution on a budgetary basis. Our family did not live richly and many joys of children's life passed by, this was especially noticeable against the background of the children of the “sailors”, whose fathers in the nineties and zero were paid in foreign currency and could afford a lot. In this regard, after graduating from high school, I had a “clear idea” in my head that I had to earn so much that my children did not need anything, getting the best money could buy.
I do not know whether this is good or bad, but my head is constantly filled with various ideas. At the initial stage of building my own business, I had to choose from a huge number of various options, and, often, I caught myself thinking that I was starting to develop the next idea without fully understanding the first one. Or, sitting at the dinner table, could throw a fork and run into a computer, frantically grabbing the air and picking up another request to google with shaking hands, in order to find out about the concept that came to my mind as much as possible. As a result, back in 2007, I borrowed $ 500 and decided to engage in retail trade in Chinese phones and accessories. The IT field attracted me the most, I could spend hours searching for interesting products and negotiating with suppliers. Now this will not surprise anyone, but then it was a breakthrough. Purchases over the Internet were just beginning to gain momentum, and only a few worked with China (especially in the Czech Republic).
I found a reliable partner of Focalprice , who had a comfortable admin panel and the possibility of dropshipping , in case the business goes uphill. The store spun on the standard scheme - the VKontakte group, the purchase of accessories on my modest budget and the delivery of telephones to order. During the first 4 months of work, I managed to collect about 1,500 subscribers in the group, sending out invitations by hand every day and selling about 20 phones. I earned every 30-50%. If you look from the outside, it may seem that this is a very good perk for the student, requiring virtually no cash investment, but this is so, but this is only the “tip of the iceberg.” Under the "water" was a huge reservoir of work and time spent. By approximate estimations it turned out like this:
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As a result, in monetary terms for 4 months of work, my balance amounted to $ 1,300 (of which I had to return $ 500) = $ 800. As a result, in temporary terms, I spent about 1128 hours, with an average cost of part-time work for students of $ 4 per hour, I could earn $ 4512 , of course you need to take into account the amendment that you would have to search for the same, only work during the time specified by the employer and this work It would not be "sugar", usually unloading in warehouses or distribution of leaflets in the subway Therefore, in principle, that would have happened.
Having figured these numbers in my head, I realized two things - you need to expand the audience and focus not only on the Russian-speaking community, but also you need to look for products with much higher margins. After some time, my wife came across an iOffer portal, which operated like an ebay auction or an Amazon store, with one, but very significant difference. They sold copies of A ++ brand products. The designation A ++ says that the copies are almost impossible to distinguish from the original, but at the same time the price was 5 or even 10 times lower. As well as the portal Fastcardtech , where it was possible to find not only Chinese samples of electronics, but also very good copies of the original telephone. Then I realized - this is just what I need, and the adventures were not long in coming.
First attempt at writing
I do not know whether this is good or bad, but my head is constantly filled with various ideas. At the initial stage of building my own business, I had to choose from a huge number of various options, and, often, I caught myself thinking that I was starting to develop the next idea without fully understanding the first one. Or, sitting at the dinner table, could throw a fork and run into a computer, frantically grabbing the air and picking up another request to google with shaking hands, in order to find out about the concept that came to my mind as much as possible. As a result, back in 2007, I borrowed $ 500 and decided to engage in retail trade in Chinese phones and accessories. The IT field attracted me the most, I could spend hours searching for interesting products and negotiating with suppliers. Now this will not surprise anyone, but then it was a breakthrough. Purchases over the Internet were just beginning to gain momentum, and only a few worked with China (especially in the Czech Republic).
I found a reliable partner of Focalprice , who had a comfortable admin panel and the possibility of dropshipping , in case the business goes uphill. The store spun on the standard scheme - the VKontakte group, the purchase of accessories on my modest budget and the delivery of telephones to order. During the first 4 months of work, I managed to collect about 1,500 subscribers in the group, sending out invitations by hand every day and selling about 20 phones. I earned every 30-50%. If you look from the outside, it may seem that this is a very good perk for the student, requiring virtually no cash investment, but this is so, but this is only the “tip of the iceberg.” Under the "water" was a huge reservoir of work and time spent. By approximate estimations it turned out like this:
')
- Search for an interesting product on the site - 2-3 hours a day
- Support and design of the group - 2-3 hours a day
- Compiling a customer base and answering subscribers' questions - 2-3 hours a day
- Personal meetings with customers to transfer goods 2-3 hours a week
- First sale in 60 days
- Losses on the accessory that did not sell -350
- Earnings on accessories that sold + 150 $
- Earnings on phones about $ 50 per item total + $ 1000
- First sale in about 60 days
As a result, in monetary terms for 4 months of work, my balance amounted to $ 1,300 (of which I had to return $ 500) = $ 800. As a result, in temporary terms, I spent about 1128 hours, with an average cost of part-time work for students of $ 4 per hour, I could earn $ 4512 , of course you need to take into account the amendment that you would have to search for the same, only work during the time specified by the employer and this work It would not be "sugar", usually unloading in warehouses or distribution of leaflets in the subway Therefore, in principle, that would have happened.
Having figured these numbers in my head, I realized two things - you need to expand the audience and focus not only on the Russian-speaking community, but also you need to look for products with much higher margins. After some time, my wife came across an iOffer portal, which operated like an ebay auction or an Amazon store, with one, but very significant difference. They sold copies of A ++ brand products. The designation A ++ says that the copies are almost impossible to distinguish from the original, but at the same time the price was 5 or even 10 times lower. As well as the portal Fastcardtech , where it was possible to find not only Chinese samples of electronics, but also very good copies of the original telephone. Then I realized - this is just what I need, and the adventures were not long in coming.
In continuation (Part 2) :
- Threats from buyers
- Ride with bandits in a jeep
- Check with Armani Watches
- Letter from Nokia
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/246553/
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