Are You Ready for a Shopping Cart?

You have a passion. Something you love to do, know a lot about, and want to share with the world. This passion has turned into an idea for a business, but are you ready for a shopping cart? Starting an ecommerce business is a big undertaking. It's going to take time, energy, forethought, careful planning, and a strong execution with consistent follow through. Before you get started, consider your experience, social network, and product:

How long have you been doing this?

Experience counts for a lot, especially on the Internet. Many of the people you will be dealing with through your shopping cart have not, and will never meet you in person. Your experience and knowledge will be a foundation to build on and advertise when drawing people to your store. You can establish this experience through a variety of means, especially social media. Make sure that you are secure in your knowledge and information before setting up your ecommerce store. Once you've put yourself out there, you can't afford to have your credibility eroded by looking ignorant or uninformed about an issue in your market. On the otherhand, however, do not let a constantly changing marketplace intimidate you and keep your from even getting off the starting line.

How strong is your network?

Social networks and social media can be great ways to establish your knowledge and experience in front of a virtual audience. The best way to spread the word about yourself (because you are marketing yourself on a certain level) and about your upcoming shopping cart is through a strong social network. Again, this should not intimidate you. There is no minimum number of friends or followers or regular blog readers that you need to have before you can think about opening an online store, but you can use the number and activity level of the people in your network to gauge if there is a need for what you want your e-store to provide. Use your network as a resource to analyze the market. If there are other shopping carts doing what you want to do, or something similar, think about how yours will be different (and maybe better!).

How strong is the product in your shopping cart?

What do you intend to sell with your shopping cart? Is it a new, one-of-a-kind product, not available anywhere else (like a special equipment pouch for SCUBA divers), or just your own unique take on an existing product (like a funny t-shirt or a handbag made out of recycled or found materials)? How long have you been making the product in question? How many revisions have you been through? Is this a model that people are generally happy with when they get a hold of it? You want your shopping cart to work one way: out! Dealing with returns and exchanges reduces your productivity (especially if your shopping cart isn't your first/only priority) and erodes your credibility. How much experience do you have selling your product in real life? If you've never sold your product in person, have you had people tell you that you should? These are all just questions to help you make the most informed decision before you put out the time and energy (and maybe money) to set up a shopping cart.

Deep Breath, Your Shopping Cart is On the Way

Anything worth doing is worth doing right. The Internet is littered with content, sites, and shopping carts that are of low quality and have been abandoned by their former owners. It takes a lot less effort to plan and execute a good ecommerce store than to set one up in haste, have it spiral out of control, and try to dig it out and patch it up later (after your market share and credibility have eroded). Make sure that you are sufficiently knowledgeable and experienced, have a strong social network to drive customers, and a proven product that consumers are going to want to buy. If you have those things and a can-do attitude, you'll be surprised at how far your shopping cart can take you.