How is my business doing?

[roystoys]

Hello,

I recently started up my first company August 2009 and started trading in September 2009. As I'm effectively new to all of this, I would really appreciate all the advice I can get from those more experienced than me. Basically, I would like to know from others where their business was at the stage I'm at now (8 months old). I know it can change wildly depending on many factors but I would just like to see if I'm behind/on/ahead of the curve at all based on other's past experiences. I'm an independent online retailer, so the experience of others like me is welcome.

We've been trading for 8 months now and have had a total of 80 sales. It's somewhat sporadic when we get sales and there's little consistency - so far in April, we've had the grand total of 1 sale whereas last month we'd already had 10 by now.

Our initial funding was via the bank for a few thousand and we have not broken even yet. In fact, we're still hovering along the baseline and making minimum payments because when we get some money back in we like to reinvest in more stock - unfortunately sales as mentioned above are pretty slow and it's a tight rope to walk when you're scraping the barrel to make a stock payment and hoping you'll sell what you buy in time to make payments.

Traffic has been going up lately. We use Google Analytics and for the first few months we were getting between 2-12 unique hits a day. Nowadays it's between 20-30 unique hits a day. Yesterday we got 53 unique hits, which while not a record is very good for us.

We've advertised on Google Adwords and Facebook but don't currently due to an extremely poor ROI. More recently the site has been given a new facelift and we've started listing on shopping price comparison sites and utilising Google Base effectively to try to draw shoppers in.


So how are we doing? I would love to hear from other more experienced online retailers, or even others in my position to see how I match up. Any advice that can be offered on where I'm going wrong/stuff I could be doing etc is very welcome! Thanks!

 

[MH1]

From the tone of your post probably not as well as you wish to be. The market you are in is notoriously tough, you only have too look around to see how many small independent toy shops have closed down to see how tough it is.

To help build a list have you considered listing some of your products on ebay or amazon, both platforms have the traffic you desire, possibly at a fraction of the cost of an adwords campaign.

 

[roystoys]

To help build a list have you considered listing some of your products on ebay or amazon, both platforms have the traffic you desire, possibly at a fraction of the cost of an adwords campaign.

Well I would like things to be going better perhaps, of course I'd love it if we were receiving a hundred orders a day every day I just want to be realistic but I have no point of comparison to be able to tell how well I'm doing which is why I'm asking around others who might be able to help.

Yes, we are listed on both Amazon and eBay. Amazon's fees are ridiculously high though and even on items when we can normally beat Amazon's own price, after compensating for their fees we can easily end up one of the more expensive sellers on there. I really don't know how other people do it.

eBay is probably our most successful venture and we do most of our business on eBay. Our eBay username is also the address of our website and we link to our website on our eBay World page as we try to encourage people to visit our website as the eBay fees make items more expensive but it's where we conduct most of our business still.

 

[silvermusic]

eBay is probably our most successful venture and we do most of our business on eBay. Our eBay username is also the address of our website and we link to our website on our eBay World page as we try to encourage people to visit our website as the eBay fees make items more expensive but it's where we conduct most of our business still.

You ought to be looking at eBay as nothing more than a customer acquisition avenue. Include a URL to your web site in all email, include a flyer in with your packages, even a money off voucher. It's a hard slog getting some eBay folk to buy outside of the comfort zone of eBay but it can be done. But please don't try the same on Amazon if you value your account, it's strictly against their rules. none of this is rocket science but it does work if done right.

 

[alanc]

It's a hard slog getting some eBay folk to buy outside of the comfort zone of eBay

The same could be said of Amazon customers, depsite the price advantages of them moving away from the big A. I have regular customers who look at products on the website and then buy on Amamzon.

@roytoys
80 sales in the first 8 months is not good, when you consider that this includes Christmas. if you're not getting a good ROI on Adwords, then you're advertising too broadly and need to narrow it down - perhaps just specific products. On the upside, sales figures seem to be very variable at the moment.

I notice you stock Pokemon, but not Ben 10 or Top Trumps? Much more popular items I would guess.

 

[silvermusic]

The same could be said of Amazon customers, depsite the price advantages of them moving away from the big A. I have regular customers who look at products on the website and then buy on Amamzon.

The Big disadvantage with Amazon is that they don't allow you to market yourself, web site and brand like eBay, well not if you stick to their rules anyway. With their recent move to insist that your amazon prices should be the same or lower than any other venue you sell on I feel they've shot themselves in the foot. for me amazon has it's uses to sell the better rare stuff quickly at top prices, but I only list a fraction of my stock on there, most of it is not financially viable after their cut of the sale.

Another very real problem with amazon is that they have all the data. You can be sure if you find a product they themselves don't stock and it sells well that eventually they'll source and sell it far cheaper than you ever can.

@roytoys. I've just had a quick look at you site and have to say while it's functional, it's not very bright, colourful or exciting considering what you sell and who your target market is. Long term it may be worth considering getting it redesigned by a professional.

 

[alanc]

The With their recent move to insist that your amazon prices should be the same or lower than any other venue you sell on I feel they've shot themselves in the foot.

Wow, That's news to me

 

[silvermusic]

Wow, That's news to me

Log into you seller account and read the announcement board.

 

[alanc]

Log into you seller account and read the announcement board.

Found the announcement on my old trader account (the free one). It's not on my Seller Central account.
(Apologies for hijacking the OP's thread).

 

[roystoys]

Thanks for the help and advice so far everyone, it's really appreciated

80 sales in the first 8 months is not good, when you consider that this includes Christmas. if you're not getting a good ROI on Adwords, then you're advertising too broadly and need to narrow it down - perhaps just specific products. On the upside, sales figures seem to be very variable at the moment.

This is basically what I had feared. Christmas was a very poor time for us and sales, in fact our best month so far has been March. I used to put this down to the website being new and it needing time for people to find out about it/trust it but you can't keep using that excuse forever you know? Do you have perhaps a ball park figure for how many sales you think would merit doing well for an 8 month old online retailer so we have something to shoot for/have a feel for how far off the mark we are?

I notice you stock Pokemon, but not Ben 10 or Top Trumps? Much more popular items I would guess.

We don't stock Ben 10 or Top Trumps because we are a Nintendo specialist; we only deal with games and merchandise from Nintendo and Nintendo-related franchises. Ben 10 and Top Trumps aren't Nintendo related. We'd rather not start stocking stuff outside of our niche as we'd rather build up a strong brand image and we feel moving into non-Nintendo areas would dilute that.

 

[gemd89]

building up a niche is all well and good if your getting the sales..but wouldnt you be better offer other products instead of just nintendo?

www.babybrandsdirect.co.uk or .com do a huge range of baby and childs toys if you wanted to expand on your product range.

 

[yourmajesty]

Is there any way you can do droppshipping to other suppliers. Get involved with the local schools and run some kind of charity event to benefit a local school and hopefully the local people in turn will buy from you. I run a local community website (urls withheld). I find that a community touch (good content and not all businesses on there) are the ideal way to REACH OUT to people at a local level. I wish you all the best. After running a business in the past I know how hard it is these days I just do web design and promotion.

 

[silvermusic]

Is there any way you can do droppshipping to other suppliers.

Bad idea to much hassle from too many idiots, it's really not a way to make money just a black hole on your time. However, if you can re-sell in bulk to other dealers/companies that's one route work doing, but it will take time to build up contacts and of course sources. It's something I do more and more nowadays. It's easy to make silly money if you're doing little more than removing an invoice, label and putting you own invoice label on a box. As an example I did just that earlier today and made £104 for ten minutes work.

It's not enough on it's own as being able to pick up deals I know I can make money on don't happen everyday, but it's a very profitable addition to my business overall.

 

[roystoys]

I did actually have a guy from Israel who messaged me on eBay regarding sending him a large shipment for his company over there. Got all the way to discussing payment before he 'mysteriously' disappeared and stopped responding to emails.

I've also got a wholesale auction up on eBay. 30 day auction, coming up a week left with a couple watchers, ~100 pageviews and no takers so far :redface:

 

[silvermusic]

I've also got a wholesale auction up on eBay. 30 day auction, coming up a week left with a couple watchers, ~100 pageviews and no takers so far :redface:

I don't mean to come across as I probably will, but please get out of the eBay mindset. By all means use it to gain customers to your web site, use it like a showcase for a selection of your best/most profitable product or as somewhere to shift stock for cashflow if/when needed. I've seen it break too many decent people in the past, it's like an adictive drug for cashflow.

Over time you'll gradually gain contacts with other businesses who you can sell to, if you can get the right deals and that's something that will only happen over time. It's took me seven years to get to the stage I'm at now.

 

[roystoys]

I don't mean to come across as I probably will, but please get out of the eBay mindset. By all means use it to gain customers to your web site, use it like a showcase for a selection of your best/most profitable product or as somewhere to shift stock for cashflow if/when needed.

I understand that and I am pushing my website and trying to get customers to come to my website wherever possible. My eBay username is my site's address, in messages to customers I always suggest using my website for cheaper prices, I send out flyers with every eBay purchase advertising my website and my eBay World details contain a link to my site.

I only use eBay for stock that sells well but it's a sad fact that not many people are currently buying from my website; the fact of the matter is I have the choice of either begrudgingly using eBay or going out of business.

 

[yourmajesty]

Roy I`d like to help anyway that I can I really feel for you I really do. I had a business in 2004 selling audio equipment , I paid 3k for the website. I now do web design for a living. I am not here to promote that only to help. I would agree that when people are competing with the big boys who advertise on tv it is hard and yes when I had my website and if I had it now I would still use ebay and recommend it to anyone. When a business like mine advertises in bulk on ebay it always is not good for one person the seller. I am setting up a clothing line soon and got my tee shirts off ebay 100 of them for 50p each less than what the person originally paid for them (there tee shirt business failed basically). Your unique selling position like mine at the time is I could undercut people (but the units were not selling). Here we are not talking about someone who has lost out on a job interview (and has one lined up for next week)this IS your livelyhood. All I can do is offer you free advertising on my community website. Might not generate loads of business but may help. I would try selling bulk business to business. Not everyones forte is telesales so if you think that is not for you try and get a self employed telesales person to do that all they need is skype headest (skype 3 pounds a month) I got a headset from market for ten pounds the other day. I am not saying I want to sell them for you just give you advice. Sadly my business went under I lost 10k (ish) I have learned from my mistakes and now make a reasonable living out of selling websites. All the best Roy.

 

[yourmajesty]

Just followed you on twitter and put a shout out for you. Got a mention myself in the Guardian today just from tweeting. My twitter name is yourmajesty I am just a bloke from Bradford and that is my business name.

 

[roystoys]

Thank you very much yourmajesty for all your help! I have followed you back. It definitely is tough out there and I'm sorry to hear your first business went under. I really appreciate the advice and advertising and I sincerely hope your new business goes well!

 

[silvermusic]

I understand that and I am pushing my website and trying to get customers to come to my website wherever possible. My eBay username is my site's address, in messages to customers I always suggest using my website for cheaper prices, I send out flyers with every eBay purchase advertising my website and my eBay World details contain a link to my site.

I only use eBay for stock that sells well but it's a sad fact that not many people are currently buying from my website; the fact of the matter is I have the choice of either begrudgingly using eBay or going out of business.

One tip I will give you. Never have the same product on your web site cheaper than it is on eBay, baring in mind of course that you're only using a selection of best sellers. There's good reason behind the thinking too. Imagine it from a buyer perspective. They buy widget X on eBay then find they could have got it cheaper on your site, how do you think they will feel? Yep, not rocket science is it.

Lastly for tonight as I need some sleep, give people a time limited voucher code they can use on your web site for money off, or a special deal and tell them to sign up to you newsletter for other offers like this in the future. It's worked wonders here in the two- three years while I weaned myself off eBay.

 

[Robtheblob]

RoysToys,

Its brave of you to ask the question! Our business is new too and you are so right to try to benchmark. Everyone will BS you on theor own business but you should not forget the backdrop we are operating in. People are still nervous, especially now the election is looming.

I am working on my SEO and looking to augment the business with offline sales in the meantime. We are doing school pamper evenings and fashion events. Is there anything you could hold stalls at in your local area to gain exposure and pick up a few sales?

I am getting some good advice here (look at the threads I've posted in). If you find a magic solution let me know! In the 3 1/2 months we've been open, the one thing I have learnt is that the business needs to be worked at constantly.

 

[johndon68]

My eBay username is my site's address

You want to be careful with that as it is against eBay's rules - if someone reports you to eBay you'll be in trouble.

John

 

[Clodbuster]

You want to be careful with that as it is against eBay's rules - if someone reports you to eBay you'll be in trouble.

John

I do and my three direct oposition all use their trading name as their user name. Not had any complaints in 8 years so maybe not something to panic about.

 

[johndon68]

If your ID is literally your website address (i.e. it includes .com .co.uk etc), it's definately not allowed: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/account/user-id.html

John

 

[Clodbuster]

Ok, it is just the name - doesn't include the other bits.

 

[yourmajesty]

Hi just got my community site back online after a hic up with fast hosts I am here to help it is the holmewood dot org website I mentioned. Some tweeking to be done as I am now looking for advertising revenue of 40 per advert and have next week to generate min of 10 sales 400 pounds revenue which is actually undercutting the market as majority charge 120 a year. Like I say for you have a free ad matye anything I can help let me know and did you get my twitter comment on the what about doing a rental ds game for local people. Post leaflets then people call and have id rent it for say a 5 pounds for a month just an example as my partners sister she plays ds and after a couple of days she has played it and wants another. just a thought.

 

[Miss Pretty Pink]

I went online with my website Pretty Pink Vintage Boutique in Jan of this year.By February it was reasonably stocked and since then I have had 5 sales,3 very good ones.
I know there is a market out there for what I sell.
So far I found promoting my business with press releases the best to be shown on Google.
Hope to have the SEO done soon too.
Good luck,
Miss Pretty Pink

 

[Green Jelly]

Roystoys - have you worked on your SEO much at all? It is a slow and gradual process but will start to lift you up on search engine rankings and improve your visitor rates. The guys on the SEO, PPC and Online Marketing board are very helpful.

I would also suggest the 2 pronged attack of the targeting online and local business. If you can get flyers out to everywhere your target market go in your local area - school book bags, soft play, youth clubs, sports clubs etc you can build up your local presence and word of mouth recommendations.

I assume there are Nintendo forums around (not looked into it myself!) you could start posting and network in this way. They may have some reasonable priced advertising opportunities.... A blog is also another idea....

 

[nextdayprint]

I agree with those who said SEO is something you need to look at, but I would suggest you get your site polished up before you spend time and money trying to promote your site. At the moment it doesnt feel finished and is somewhat unprofessional in appearance, which in turn stops customers from trusting you.

I have recently launched my online business though I have a couple of offline ones to support it and as such have less of the budgetary issues that you are facing. Whilst my site is still someway off being the polished end result I'd like, it is however working quite well already. Through plenty of SEO and careful adword campaign management, we are doing several jobs a day and we have been live less than a month. Feel free to check out the site and hopefully get some ideas on how to improve your own, or do what I did and -on forums that allow it- place adverts offering to reward people for critiquing your site. I give the especially useful reviewers 250 business cards for free, but in your case you could offer something cheaper, something you are having trouble shifting.

Anyway, good luck man.