Online store without initial cash investment

Recently, in the social sphere, comments constantly flashed about the fact that an acquaintance of one of the participants earned 15,000 euros per month on his online store. And what to open such an online store - everyone can.

Here are the comments from an open discussion in the “business” group in one social network:
"For example, opening an Internet store, with the right approach, can bring you $ 10,000 / month clean 2 -3 months after opening, at a cost of $ 100 (again, if you have knowledge)"

I think that any user who is reading Habra has already guessed which store he is talking about.
Of course, the participants who did not read the Habra were immediately excited, and the person continued his “success story”:
“But imagine that you made a new site, and started selling goods all over the world. You opened discussions about the store in the 50 largest forums of the world on the subject of goods, and not only in English. language. and your product became interested in a couple of popular bloggers, and they unsubscribed about it on their website, and their visitors — the same bloggers — also purchased the product, and even recommended it on their blogs, and parallel with that, I think further , as with 0 investments but with the presence of a pumped brain, you can climb. and since clients are people from all over the world, making $ 15,000 / month is not as difficult as it seems. ”
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In my work, I have to advise small businesses and individuals on how to properly and effectively start doing business on the Internet. And such discussions here, to be honest, upset me very much.

In this article I want to write a few recommendations on how to rationally move in the direction of your online store. At the same time, I do not touch on the topics “Do I need to register an LLC or is IU enough?”, “How to hire a courier”, etc. All these topics are searched on the Internet in a few minutes.


We will proceed from the following initial data:
1. There is a higher or incomplete higher education. Experience in online advertising and online marketing is not.
2. There is no initial capital.
3. There is a desire (and this is the most important thing) to make your company.

If there is initial capital or experience - you can immediately go to the second or third stage. But, all in order.

Step One: Gaining Knowledge.

You are a university graduate (or are studying in recent years). In high school, you were taught higher mathematics, economics and many more subjects that, undoubtedly, develop your thinking, but are not required in real life. You need to get the KNOWLEDGE and SKILLS of working on the Internet. One of the easiest options is to get a job in the advertising department of a company or in an advertising company where they tell you what contextual advertising is, what SEO is, what SMO and media advertising are. Also, they will tell you how to calculate metrics: conversion, return, cost per click, price to reach the goal, and much more. You will also learn how to work with freelancers (ordering banners, texts, printing, website development, etc.). If you are not told this or are not allowed to do this, change jobs. Remember that it is more important for you to gain experience and knowledge than money. You will receive the money later, and much more than at work as a manager. Usually, the absorption of all this material takes about 5-6 months.

Stage Two: Starting a business.

What to sell? Products or services? In fact, it does not matter. The main thing is that you have a reliable supplier and the purchase price is lower than the market. By the way, the most reliable supplier is yourself. Sell ​​your services.
Now you need a platform where you will sell. For this fit any ready-made free script online store. If you sell one service (for example, advice on cooking shrimp) - then you do not need an online store at all. Enough unpretentious site with an order form.
So, there is a playground. Where to get customers?
Remember that the more customers you need, the more expensive the cost of attracting one customer. And as we have no advertising budget, we need “free” clients. Where do you get them from?
Free clients are only in a mousetrap. Often, they say that there are customers that do not spend money - this is not true. You spend your time, and it costs money (at this time you could work in the office and get your sn). This is called loss of profit.
Starting to receive "free" customers can be quite simple. For this there are forums, social networks, friends. Only I beg you - do not engage in spam. He does not give any result, but only spoils your karma and reputation. Better, write about yourself an interesting article on Habré, start Twitter and LJ, in which describe the advantages of your product and news, get groups in social networks, in which invite interested people. I guarantee that this will give you the first customers on which you can test the entire process of your online store. It also allows you to earn the first free money that can be spent on advertising.

Stage Three: Scalability.

At the previous stage, you tested your store's business model, tested all user behavior scenarios. You are ready to dramatically increase the number of its customers. You have already earned a more substantial advertising budget.
Your choice is contextual and SEO advertising, possibly banner advertising (depending on what you are selling). It will give you predictable customer flows - which are fairly simple to regulate.
At the same time, do not forget about social services - they will help you retain customers and will very well complement traditional advertising.

Stage Four: the result.

What will happen next - the choice is yours. If you choose a product with a large market, you can develop your store, add new functionality, develop a product line, promote your brand.
If you have chosen a narrow segment, then you can stop the development of the store by occupying your niche. You will have time to build a new store, while remaining a steady income.
You can sell a ready-made business. In any case - the decision is yours. Your goal has been achieved - you have created an asset that brings you profit without initial cash investment.