Thanks to the advancements in modern technology that brought about the internet, anyone now has the opportunity to start a business and make money online. This means that even without a brick and mortar shop, you can already offer various products and services to your target market. In case you are planning to begin an online accessory boutique, below is a comprehensive guide on how you will be able to legally start it.
Design a Business Plan
The first thing that you need to do if you want to legally start an online accessory boutique is to design a business plan. Your business plan should encompass the goals that you have for your business, as well as the necessary actions that you plan to take for you to reach your objectives. Alongside this, it should also include your business model, as well as your estimated start-up costs. Your business plan should also reflect your revenue predictions and anticipated problems, as well as your competitor analysis and your marketing strategy.
Select a Platform for Your Business
As soon as you have a business plan on hand, the next thing that you need to focus on is selecting a platform where you will run your business. This is comparable to choosing the best location when it comes to a brick and mortar shop. In this case, you have several options, such as creating a website dedicated to your brand or leveraging e-commerce platforms, to run your shop. There are certain advantages and drawbacks to either way.
Thus, you should carefully assess which platform has benefits that significantly outweigh the disadvantages.
Develop Your Brand
In developing your brand, you need to first pick a brand name that you love, and that is easy to remember for your target customers. From there, you need to develop your boutique’s unique brand. In doing so, you need to consider the name that you came up with, your target market, as well as the overall look and feel of your online shop. Hence, it is a good idea to come up with brand values that can serve as your guide in developing your brand.
Under this step, you also need to design a logo for your brand, which should communicate your values. Your logo should be legible regardless of its size. In parallel to this, you also need to choose the colors that will best represent your brand. A good rule of thumb is choosing the best combination of one primary color and one secondary color.
Register Your Online Boutique
To run your online accessory boutique legally, you need to have it registered to avoid the possibility of getting penalized in the long run. In this case, you need to decide on your business structure, whether you will choose to operate as a sole proprietorship, limited liability company (LLC), or a corporation. From there, you need to register within your state or country and sort out your finances because it is highly likely that you need to apply for a sales tax permit. This entails the need for you to meet tax requirements.
Work with Suppliers
As soon as your online shop is registered accordingly, the next step is for you to source out suppliers. There are several means where you will be able to acquire the products that you want to sell in your shop. For instance, you can reach out to other sellers in different e-commerce platforms to know whether they offer wholesale purchases.
There is also the option for you to connect with local artists and crafters or scour local consignment. You can also search eBay when looking for a source for wholesale sunglasses and reading glasses, scarves, belts, bags, or other accessories that you want to sell on your online boutique. Just make sure that you go for a supplier that has an enormous selection of quality accessories at reasonable prices. This will ensure that what you will offer to your customers are high-grade products at a competitive price.
Make Your Products Stand Out
The digital world is quite a competitive space, which means that to be successful in your business venture, you need to make your products stand out. You can do this by making sure that your products are well photographed, such that they already speak for themselves. There is the option for you to photograph your products yourself to cut down on overhead costs or hire a professional photographer who has expertise when it comes to product photography.
Decide on Your Logistics
Another thing that you need to decide on is the logistics of your products. This covers how you plan to ship out your products to your customers once they purchase from your site or e-commerce store. There is the option for you to partner with a shipping carrier or dropship your products. In terms of the former, you need to have ample space where you will store your products, while in terms of the latter, the products that come from the warehouse of your suppliers will be shipped directly to your customers. Aside from this, you also need to decide whether you will be able to offer free shipping, flat-rate shipping, or real-time shipping rates.
Market Your Business
The last, but perhaps one of the most important steps of all, is to market your business. In doing so, you will be able to promote the products of your boutique to your target market. There are several ways on how you will be able to accomplish this online such as through email marketing, social media marketing, as well as SEO techniques.
Follow the steps listed above, and you will come up with an online accessory boutique that you can legally run. To gain a fair share of the market as soon as you have established your online shop, make sure to design a marketing campaign that will promote your business to your target market. As soon as you can accomplish this, then it is most likely that you will gain a positive revenue and eventually grow your business to scale.
