Ecommerce Business- How to Start an Ecommerce Business 2022?
Start Your E-Commerce Business by Following Simple Steps
As with starting any business, learning how to start an e-commerce business isn’t always easy—but setting up, launching, and maintaining sites where entrepreneurs, designers, and creatives of all kinds can sell their wares is easy. Can, is now more attainable than ever.
E-commerce businesses — businesses that move goods, services, and funds over the Internet — vary in size and scope, from retail behemoths like Amazon to craft sites like Etsy. Online shopping is just one of the many areas that have seen vast growth in the last five years. According to a report by the US Census Bureau, in the third quarter of 2019 alone, US e-commerce sales were about $154.5 billion, accounting for 11.2 percent of all retail sales in the country.
Depending on your goals, starting an e-commerce business may make sense. After all, without the need for a brick-and-mortar location, e-commerce businesses offer more flexibility, affordability and opportunity for many entrepreneurs.
The Way to Start an E-Commerce Business
While there are notable differences in starting an e-commerce business compared to starting a brick-and-mortar business – there are also a number of similarities. As we’ll discuss below, many of the planning and legal steps you’ll need to take will follow (more or less) the same process as any other business. However, once it’s time for you to get started, you’ll see how different starting an e-commerce business can be.
Step 1: Research the e-commerce niche and find your niche.
The first step in learning how to start an e-commerce business is to do the necessary research. Likewise, if you’re starting a restaurant and looking at different locations, food options, and themes, you’ll want to research the area of e-commerce that interests you and your specific business. would like to make some decisions.
Step 2: Choose your business name and legal structure.
Once you have solidified the plan for your e-commerce business, the next step is to choose a name. Like any other business, you’ll want to choose a name that’s unique, but also clearly represents what your business is or does. You may also want to consult your local Secretary of State’s website as well as the US Patent and Trademark Office to make sure you are not choosing a business name that is claimed by someone else. Another company has done it.
While you may not want to spend too much time on a website just yet, it may be useful to see if your potential business domain name is available. If your domain name is currently in use, you might consider a different business name, or a different structure, such as “yourbusinessname.co” instead of “yourbusinessname.com”.
Step 3: Apply for an EIN.
Not all types of businesses are required to have an EIN, this nine-digit number can be useful to help you separate your personal and business finances. Also, you can apply for an EIN from the IRS for free — either online, by mail, fax or phone. Since you’re learning how to start an e-commerce business, you’ll want to apply for that business tax ID online, and once you do, you’ll receive your number immediately.
Step 4: Obtain permits and licenses for your e-commerce business
After applying for your EIN, you’ll now want to obtain the necessary business licenses or permits to operate legally within your city and state. As we mentioned above, if you set up your e-commerce business as a sole proprietorship or general partnership, you don’t actually need to register your business with the state — unless You are not filing a DBA to act legally under a specific. Business name. For other business entity types, however, you will need to register your business with your state and obtain a general operating license. Depending on where your business is located, you may also need to obtain a local operating license.
Step 5: Choose an e-commerce platform and build your website
At this point, you have completed the paperwork required to register and legally launch your e-commerce business. Thus, most of our steps so far mirror the process of starting a brick-and-mortar business.
Shopify
Perhaps the most famous and popular e-commerce software out there, Shopify offers an all-in-one, user-friendly solution with a variety of add-ons. You can purchase a Shopify subscription in one of four plans, starting at $5 per month with Shopify Starter (this plan does not include a full online store).
WooCommerce
If you’ve already started a WordPress site, or you’re familiar with the platform, you can download WooCommerce to start selling on your WordPress site. This plugin is open source, free to download and includes a full range of e-commerce features.
Square space
Often thought of as a website builder, Squarespace also offers e-commerce capabilities and is known for its innovative templates. You can choose from two e-commerce specific plans from Squarespace Basic for $26 per month or Advanced for $40 per month.
Magento
Finally, if you want to customize every aspect of your online store, you can choose to use the open source version of Magento. With this e-commerce platform, you can connect every element and customize your site — but you also need to have (or pay for) the technical skills to do so.
Step 6: Source or develop (and list) the product
After choosing your e-commerce platform and launching your website, you’re almost at the end of the process. At this point, you have to actually source the products you are going to sell. You should have already thought about how you would go about this process when you did your research in the first step. You can make your own products, source them from distributors, or — if you’re selling your own services, such as as a consultant, you may only need to describe and list those services on your business website. .
Step 7: Market your e-commerce
Now that you have your products or services ready and listed on your online store, your website up and running, you’re ready to start serving customers. To do this, of course, you will need to market your e-commerce business properly.
