Ready to Give Up pre 1 year...please help

[BeautyStartUp]

Hi all,

I'm about 9 months into my new ecommerce business. It has been beyond tough. My conversion rate on a good month is 1.5% on a bad one lower than 1%. I sell niche natural beauty products by relatively unknown brands.

I feel that I have done everything I can and without significant investment in PCC/Adwords/Remarketing/Email Marketing/More Stock that this business is going to continue to flatline. I am seriously considering closing it down as I am so tired of working so hard and not seeing any results.

I have - an online facebook group with 1.8k member ( this is shared with another beauty business). Worked with a range of influencers/bloggers to promote products and the store. Conducted a national skincare survey to grow my newsletter list to over 600 subscribers. Written relevant content for my blog. Run fbook/twitter/insta channels every day with good content (around 1.5 followers). I bring on new brands & products every month. I send newsletters every 2 weeks with original content in them. I optimise all products and content for SEO as best I can. I have a small Google Shopping campaign which is converting at just over 2% but I have not broken even yet.

I wish someone had told me how competitive it was out there. I had no idea what I would be up against and thought that I would pick up the 'long tail' of the market - natural & organic skincare- which is huge. But I am not getting the traffic and not getting noticed amongst all my competitors. The beauty industry seems pretty cut throat.

My growth is pretty static - on average I get 700 user hits a month and 10-15 orders. It appears that the countless hours I have put into marketing the business is coming to pretty much nothing.

I have no more time and no more money to give the business. So what I want to know is - how long does it take to build up an ecommerce store? If I am seeing no real growth should I just give up the ghost as the products clearly are not selling? If I keep doing what I am doing then will SEO/marketing etc start to yield results? Or are the sales figures trying to tell me something more important?

What I find most frustrating is that the people I do convert love the products, they like the website and the brands and the ethos of the business. I KNOW there is a market for these products but its just getting to that market which is proving pretty much impossible.

Thanks for reading this far. Any experiences or suggestions most appreciated.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

9 months isn't long though. There may be things you can do to improve but there isn't much you are going to change overnight, small incremental improvements over time really do add up though.

Since you say your customers love your product can you not get them involved, maybe offer free products or a discount for anyone they refer?

 

[Graham Tyers]

I would keep going... Another 2 years and you'll be flying!

You're doing all the right things, you just have to keep doing it. And do more of it, and get up an hour earlier and then do it all over again.

 

[BeautyStartUp]

I was going to introduce a customer loyalty scheme to encourage more reviews/referrals etc. So if I carry on doing what I am doing it will grow slowly but organically? I guess I am struggling with that idea as the evidence is suggesting otherwise - as in since I launched sales have not really grown much (first month was great as I had built up a decent following and buzz). I get the sneaking feeling that the only ecommerce stores to do well have tons of money to throw at marketing and I have spent all my savings, I have nothing left. And now I have to take a second job to pay the bills which is a bit of a kick in the teeth as by now I was expecting to be taking a (small) income from the business. In it's current form I will not make any (more than pocket) money until year 2 or perhaps 3. Is this normal?

 

[BeautyStartUp]

thanks for the replies btw

 

[Guy Incognito]

We're in a different sector but have similarly low conversion rates. It can work out!

Do you manufacture yourself or are you selling stock from other companies? I read it like it was the latter, in which case your margins are going to be small.

You need to look at the cost per order and revenue per order mainly. You need the revenue to be higher than the cost. If you are not manufacturing then the margin could be your issue.

In our first 9 months (to Dec 17) we had 25,700 visitors to our website and 170 orders (but our average order value is relatively high). Most of the visitors came through google ads.

Fast forward to 2019 and this year to date we have already had 40,000 visitors and 218 orders. We have brought in over 50% more revenue than we did in those first 9 months, and we are aiming to increase turnover to seven figures this year.

We're not a massive business (yet) but we focussed on Instagram and specifically google ad words, and now we are about to do some proper Facebook advertising too. We don't do newsletters. We don't discount.

The main difference seems to be two fold - we're in a niche sector with very few (if any) competitors, and we manufacture our own products. You seem to be in a crowded market with smaller margins.

Good luck!

 

[AllUpHere]

What marketing budget did you start off with?

 

[BeautyStartUp]

Nice to hear a success story! Bur yes your situation is very different from mine. I sell stock on consignment at a relatively decent margin (40-50%) but I probably only make about 20-25% per sale once postage and discounts have been taken off. I'm not making a loss on any of the sales - I am just about breaking even once marketing costs etc have been taken off. As I don't own the stock it is very tempting on tough days to just send it all back and got back to what I know which is B2B sales

 

[Graham Tyers]

Without a marketing budget it's going to grow slowly, but it will grow. It always does.

E-commerce business can be really exciting because it's so low overhead. It sounds more as if it's the love you need back, just as much as you need the customers.

Do you have a supplier who would have an interest in supporting you? Another business who can carry your product line? You are going to have to keep plugging away for another few years before there is any cash to take out so if you can't run it part time with a small investment each month to pay the running costs then you will probably have little choice but to close down or move the business on. It'd be a shame though.

 

[BeautyStartUp]

re marketing budget. Very little tbh. I focused my budgets on free product for influencers mostly, I gave up on Adwords as it wasnt working. I have just paid £500 for training on PPC and Adwords which is already working so I could scale that up if I wanted. The main issues is time - I have about 8-10 hours a week to spend on this business (I have small children and another consultancy role that pays the bills) This situation is not going to change for another year at least.

 

[Mr D]

With unknown products you are always going to struggle to get noticed.
9 months is nothing.

Took me almost that long my first year to sell £1k total worth of product when I started early this decade, within another 6 months I had sold another £6k.

You have a niche - its a crowded one and as you have found, competitive. So compete.

Add sites. Add offers. Get your name out there.

 

[BeautyStartUp]

It sounds more as if it's the love you need back, just as much as you need the customers. You've hit the nail on the head there. I find it lonely, isolating and like F*&king pulling teeth most of the time. I'm used to instant results which is what you get with B2B sales. A handshake, a deal done and money in the bank. Shame I had to learn that by spending all this time and money on a B2C business but hey ho! I wanted to have a team a people (can't afford them) and to see the rewards of seeing a business grow. But I'm getting none of that at the moment! Not sure I can hack it for another 2-3 years to be honest.

 

[DEFCON1]

Yep, it is extremely tough & you will likely have to work even harder if you want a chance of making it a success.
I would say now's the time to take a step back & stop the scatter gun approach. You most likely will be spending an awful lot of time and effort on the wrong things & not doing any of them properly.
My question to you right now would be..
Specifically where & how are you getting those 10 - 15 sales a month? I bet it's mostly from one particular channel.
Answer that question & for now put ALL your efforts in that ONE area!
Let us know how many sales you get next month, best of luck.

 

[Graham Tyers]

It sounds more as if it's the love you need back, just as much as you need the customers. You've hit the nail on the head there. I find it lonely, isolating and like F*&king pulling teeth most of the time. I'm used to instant results which is what you get with B2B sales. A handshake, a deal done and money in the bank. Shame I had to learn that by spending all this time and money on a B2C business but hey ho! I wanted to have a team a people (can't afford them) and to see the rewards of seeing a business grow. But I'm getting none of that at the moment! Not sure I can hack it for another 2-3 years to be honest.

I'll drop you a PM with some contacts - if you ever want to vent or pick our brains on Adwords or affiliate marketing, or email marketing, feel free. I have an office with 20 staff who keep each other gee'd up and motivated now. Alone this stuff is hard.

 

[BeautyStartUp]

Specifically where & how are you getting those 10 - 15 sales a month? I bet it's mostly from one particular channel. Good idea I will definitely do that. Im surprised at how well PPC has been doing tbh (all sale this month have been from google shopping) so I think I will look to scale back other areas that are not yielding much.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

And now I have to take a second job to pay the bills which is a bit of a kick in the teeth as by now I was expecting to be taking a (small) income from the business. In it's current form I will not make any (more than pocket) money until year 2 or perhaps 3. Is this normal?

If you believe in what you are doing then take a second job to keep some money coming in. You can grow organically but there will be more pain on the way; if you can pay your bills in the meantime it makes all the difference.

I have a lifestyle business now where I earn a decent living and can work more or less when I want. The first 3 years were awful though and I wouldn't want anyone to go through the same - it was worth it eventually though.

It sounds like you just need a bit of encouragement more than anything, it can be difficult when friends and family are not in the same boat and don't really understand.

 

[DEFCON1]

Specifically where & how are you getting those 10 - 15 sales a month? I bet it's mostly from one particular channel. Good idea I will definitely do that. Im surprised at how well PPC has been doing tbh (all sale this month have been from google shopping) so I think I will look to scale back other areas that are not yielding much.

In that case, this month ONLY put your efforts into Google Shopping & look at doing an awesome job at it!
Drill down into the data & find which keywords & ads are driving those sales. Just focus on those that are converting for now.
What keywords are converting? - Bid Top Spot for those & add Negative keywords!!.
What ads are performing best? - Create 5 - 10 Ad Variations & test.
What time of day are you making sales? - Shutdown bids on times you don't & double down your budget for when you do.
Mobile, Desktop or Tablet?
Etc... etc..
So much to do in just this one area. (A Full Time Job in itself) Research & do it well.
I bet you could double or triple your sales from just concentrating on that this month.
That alone would give you a much needed motivation boost!

 

[Paul Norman]

I have done this - for three sites.

To get to stage one - which for me was where I could pay a person's salary to do the day to day stuff in the business - took around 18 months for each of the business.

To get to the next stage - £1m turnover - took a further 18 months.

But turnover is dependant on the value of what you are selling (shoes and clothes for me) . The underlying target was a profit target.

We, at the point you are at, looked for some off line ways of marketing too. We were trying to create stories to boost our content. None of these ideas will be for you, but they might give you a thought starter! We sponsored street dance 'B-Boy' competitions - and got stories, and shout outs. We spent a fair bit of photography - good images are vital to get your stuff picked up by other people, like magazines. We did pop up yard sales. We put leaflets in thousands of doors. We ran a pop up art show. We turned up for the opening of an envelope if relevant people were there.

It is tough. And at times you will wonder if it is worth it. And if you decided it wasn't, that does not make you a bad person. But I don't reckon you as far off track as it seems.

 

[The Ecom Guy]

If money is your issue, cut down or cut out completly your PPC activity. - it does seem that since your original post you invested £500 in your own knowledge for PPC. I would quickly determine whether you are making money on PPC or not. If you are not, shut it down and forget about it for now.

Your focus imo with that product range should be building up your email marketing list, your 10 -15 orders a month within 6 months can grow 200% pretty seemlessly by introducing basic segmentation campaigns. Email marketing is also very cheap especially for your sorts of volume you would be sending.

Focus on building your list - be careful how you approach incentivisation for a signup now though due to GDPR regulations.

 

[js5691]

Have you thought about posting your website for a few of us to take a look at?

Often a third party can find things, you cannot see from within.

 

[The Ecom Guy]

Have you thought about posting your website for a few of us to take a look at?

Often a third party can find things, you cannot see from within.

Important to add that he needs to be a full member in order to request site reviews.

 

[serendipitybusiness]

Yep it is not easy and it is not instant, however there is some good advice here, I would take it and run with it. You have to keep tweaking until you get it right and it does feel like you are banging your head against a wall but that is the game. Be thankful it is or anyone could just pop up and take your business. Only the strongest survive so if you are up for the challenge keep at it but if your heart isn't in it let it go as it won't be a smooth or easy ride.

 

[BeautyStartUp]

Hi everyone, sorry kid duty called! Thank you for your words of encouragement and insight. It really is helpful after the day I've had I didn't know if I was able to post my site as I am a new member but the business name is Rare Beauty. There is no other like it.

Very happy for all constructive criticism, although I do have a list of changes I want to make, if I only had the budget!

 

[serendipitybusiness]

Yes a website is never done! Here are some quick fixes that will help your conversion.

What is most important to you email addresses or sales? If it is the latter, get rid of the popup, this is a mistake a lot of companies make and it does hurt conversion.

Make the free shipping notice more visible with a different colour and image. This is a conversion enhancer so you want t make sure it stands out.

Put your product cats in the main menu rather than all the rest, they don't really care about your blog, your residents or you, they want easy access to products and the contact page, thats it.

There are a lot of products up there are your descriptions unique or have you copied them from your suppliers, if it is the latter you need to change this as duplicate content will be hurting your seo.

There is more but this is what I would start with.

 

[BeautyStartUp]

hi thanks for these suggestions. I am unsure about the pop up as have had different advice but I think I may trial removing it for a while and tracking activity but placing more sign up CTA's throughout the site - I do get on average 3/4 sign ups a week but usually by people who are about or ready to buy (as they then place an order using the code). Yes the menu IS going to change to exactly what you describe, just waiting for my web developer to come back with a quote etc. Re products, I am working on the SEO as when I started I didn't realise what an impact it would have but now I am re writing all PD's when I launch a new product and I need to go back and do some of the first products I added. SO again, a work in progress! Thank you for taking the time to look I appreciate it

 

[antropy]

As highlighted by other people 9 months is not that long. Maybe think outside of the box when it comes to marketing and selling your products? Have you thought to involve the local community more? Create more marketing material such as leaflets to put through people's letter boxes? Alex

 

[serendipitybusiness]

You don't need your web developer, it is wordpress, go to appearances > menu. Your web developer has created the main frame of the site, however the beauty with wordpress is that you can make a lot of changes yourself.

Maybe use your developer to create a second menu that is small and above your logo for other items such as account.

The pop up, split run test it, I bet your bounce rate goes down dramatically. At the moment you are sacrificing sales for email addresses.

 

[BeautyStartUp]

How do you split run test the pop up?

 

[serendipitybusiness]

You split run test the page and activate the popup on either the a or b test. It depends on how your pop up is configured.

 

[julharris]

Here's a few suggestions (excuse me if this sounds a bit blunt, intended in a helpful spirit!):

• Your website seems over busy, with so much going on that you don't know where to look. There isn't a clear proposition. You need to clearly state your purpose and value as a retailer, right at the top, e.g. "We've tracked down the rare finds in organic beauty". Pick one image, not twenty, and lead with that.
  
• The newsletter pop-up does not serve your customers, it serves your marketing purposes. Make your website customer-centric instead and get rid of it.
  
• What works for you? I bet social doesn't, but somehow we all get on the treadmill. PPC has huge potential for you so pour your energies into that.
  
• Consider your first year as research into the most effective marketing methods, learn what works, and abandon those that aren't delivering for you

Well done to you for getting this far. If you can manage to hang on, I think that this one will come right. I've worked with another organic skincare retailer and would be happy to offer personalised advice if you wish. Good luck!

 

[oldnickb]

Your lead capture proposition sucks. Instead of "10% off first order" try "see special offers here" and then instead of "I consent to receiving regular newsletters from Rare Beauty." which sounds really boring try "Yes I want your tips and tricks and special offers. Please send me my 10% off the first order voucher" Only ask first name and email for the subscription. You'll get their full details when they order. Email them every day with tips and tricks and each week make a special offer. If you google PLR natural skincare there are thousands of articles that you can buy and edit to suit your products. If your products are vegan friendly Google vegan forums and post regularly in them. Post articles on the importance of diet for skin.

Try for a couple of weeks switching your front page to your about page. Never use the term "sign up" that has connotations of the army or a loan. Use "Receive" or "get your hands on" Don't call your emails a newsletter just tips, tricks and special offers. You could easily load 365 emails into an autoresponder and have them set to go out every day then broadcast your offers each week. try sending them out different days until you find which day of the week gets best response.

I only know one person in your niche. She has opted to use fulfilled by Amazon. She makes a batch of product ships it straight to Amazon and when she emails her customers, she has a list of over 10,000, the link goes straight to her amazon sales page and they fulfill the order. As sales come in Amazon pushes her product up their search results and she gets new customers from that. She is also an Amazon affiliate and reviews a different skincare book every month. I have no idea what her turnover is but she employs four people and just bought herself a tesla.

 

[DRDR]

You've mentioned Adwords isn't working for you but also mentioned all your sales this month are from Google Shopping. You need to determine which is it. If Google Shopping is the only place bringing in sales and you stop Adwords, you will lose out on all sales. You need to set up remarketing campaigns to target to those who visited your products. That will immediately help your PPC conversion rate.

Try to determine if you got any sales from blogger gifting. Give them specific discount codes to use and track to see the day after they post if that item sold and if their discount was used.

Keep sending out the newsletter and try to offer discount codes if possible. Everyone likes a discount especially in competitive niche.

 

[Taobao agent]

Hi
I was thinking to have my own small business as well, the factor is that I need money and the courage to give up my job. So you are much better than me, you made the really big first step and you tried to fix every problem that you faced.
In my opinion, to build up an e-commerce store is not hard and it really depends on which online store you want. You can run the business on Amazon, eBay or others, but think a suitable one.
Have a try, I believe you can do very well.

 

[TheWebDesignCompany]

Are you using remarketing adverts?
You can make a small company look like a huge one with well designed remarketing adverts.

You know when you look at an item on eBay, then banners keep popping up everywhere reminding you of that item you looked at and tempting you back to look again & buy it.

That’s called remarketing.

You can do the same.

 

[alanc]

Late to the party, but my advice is to explore your Google Adwords account UI where your PPC and Google Products are managed. In there you can find out what search phrases are actually being used to serve your adverts. Some of them may not be what you wanted e.g. "Free Natural Beauty Products". You can stop these money-wasting clicks with negative keywords. Also find out about exact phrase searches as these can be more useful than single keywords.

Google is always on hand to waste your advertising money. You need to guard against this.

 

[TheWebDesignCompany]

You don't need your web developer, it is wordpress, go to appearances > menu. Your web developer has created the main frame of the site, however the beauty with wordpress is that you can make a lot of changes yourself.

Maybe use your developer to create a second menu that is small and above your logo for other items such as account.

The pop up, split run test it, I bet your bounce rate goes down dramatically. At the moment you are sacrificing sales for email addresses.

That will only work if your login is an administrators account login.

You may not have access to the site options if your account is set as a different type of user.

 

[SustainableKate]

I would defintly encourage you to keep going - new businesses are really hard going, but it seems like you have a great concept and have gained some valueable tracktion so far. Keep pushing on.