Setting Up an E-Commerce Business
So I stumbled upon this wonderful thread on my Twitter timeline. As I read it through the thread, I couldn't believe that someone would post such information on Twitter for FREE. Anyways I read it and it made so much sense to me. The Twitter handle of the author of the thread is @ronaldnzimora . I didn't know him before I read the thread, I still don't know him, but after reading his thread I knew it would be a wise thing to follow him. If you're reading this, I would also advise you follow him as well. Okay, enough of the boring stuff. Read away...
Okay, this here thread will show you a way into the e-commerce game.
I'll tweet as much as I can but I don't want this to be too long a thread. At the end, if you want to explore further, I'll give a link to a course.
It's NOT my course (would have loved it to be) but it works.
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So this is about importing simple products (or even complicated ones) from China and reselling them here for profit, many times A LOT of profit.
My business has an arm that does this with great success. I don't preach what I do not do.
Now that we have a premise, let's begin.
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So I originally wanted to just post links to products, but this afternoon, I thought why not do more, by explaining how the business model works and revealing some "insider secrets". Dont mind me, there's actually no secrets. Anyone selling "secrets" is a fraud. Yes, I said so.
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So this thread is not about teaching you how to import and sell a bunch of unrelated products, like Konga and Jumia. It's about selling ONE product, and then as you grow, add RELATED products that sell to the same audience.
The Konga/Jumia model... well you already know *shrugs*
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So for any business you want to start,doesn't matter which type, the first you look for is a MARKET, NOT a product. It nears repeating again because many people don't listen. If you want to start a business,you MUST first look for a market,and not just any market, a HUNGRY market
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The simple explanation of what a "market" is, is a group of people who are interested in something. So everyone on earth is in a market for food, but then large markets can be further subdivided into smaller, tighter markets eg. vegetarians, vegans, meat lovers, etc.
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But notice when you ask business owners, "who is your target market?" they say, EVERYONE!
Do not fall for that trap. There's no market known as "everyone". It does not exist. Period.
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You want to know who your exact target market is, if you are small business owner, especially because you are small business owner, because you do not have a bottomless pit of money available to spend advertising to "everyone".
So you start with a defined target market.
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There are two broad markets - the male and the female market, which you can them further subdivide by preferences, interests, work, race, religion, age, education, wealth, etc.
But no matter what market you define as your target, what you must make of of is two things:
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1. They are HUNGRY for something, whatever that something is - software, services, food, physical products, etc.
&
2. They have money to buy it.
What's the use targeting a market only to find out they cant buy what you have for sale?
Like selling Ferrari to Osun civll servants.
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In the case of e-commerce, people in the age bracket of 25 and above, male or female have things they buy or plan to buy. More importantly, they are WILLING to allocate some of their monies to these things, the questions now is, what will they buy.
You can find out by...
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1. Using Facebook Audience Insights.
Read up about it here: thrivehive.com/guide-to-faceb…
2. Watching what trends there are on Google Trends, Instagram and Twitter.
So for example the Super Eagles trended this year, are you then surprised Super Eagles jerseys sold so well?
Aha!
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3. Observing people everyday, what what the common patterns are. What are people buying, talking about, arguing about, fighting about, etc?
That should give you an idea.
Now let's get into the meat proper.
So say I have decided to sell something to men and I have determined...
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that men love sports, women, entertainment, food, fashion, sex, more money, okay what should I sell them bearing in mind this is e-commerce and whatever I chose has to be a physical product, something i can buy for cheap and sell for higher.
I'll focus on the thing I know...
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men agonize about the most - sex and love (acceptance). They won't admit it, but it's true.
So what can I sell to men to enhance their status to the opposite sex? Better clothing? Pheromones? Ah! Pheromones might be a great product to sell them. They're scents that supposedly...
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attract women to men.
Maybe it's not pheromones, maybe it's a sleek watch that enhances their look, or an oil that enhances certain parts of their anatomy *cough*
So I simply choose one and now, I have a target market and I have a product idea.
What's next? Next thing is...
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I look for where I can buy that product for cheap & hopefully sell it for higher.
There are a number of places to do this.
1. Alibaba.com
2. AliExpress.com
3. Made-in-china.com
4. GlobalSources.com
Why China? Because it's the world's factory
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You'll get products cheaper from Chinese factories than you can anywhere else.
So on those sites, you follow the easy to understand prompts, search for your product, agree on pricing.
On AliExpress, you can't haggle much,but on Alibaba, you can get prices lower than advertised
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But before you pay, you need to sort out how to get these products into Nigeria.
if you use the recommended shipping options on those sites, you will pay through your nose and you won;t make a kobo of profit.
So what do you do? You use alternative means of shipping to Nigeria.
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There are cargo companies that help you do groupage shipping,where they ship a lot of people products together and the owners share the costs of shipping so to say. There are plenty,Google "Ship Cargo from China to Nigeria".
Or simply use ChrisVicMall.com.
Who are they?
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ChrisVicMall.com is a cargo/freight company. They can ship via air and sea routes. of course air is faster, and more expensive, but they have different fare options and charge you per KG depending on the option you choose.
Visit their website to learn more.
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When you choose a cargo company, call or email them, (with ChrisVicMall you need to create an account on their site), they will give you their address in China which you then supply to the manufacturer who will send your good to them. Once they receive it, they forward to Nigeria
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But you need to pay the manufacturer first, right?
Sure or you're getting nothing. Once you agree on pricing, you can pay them via a card (preferred in case there's a dispute so you can get your money back) or via Paypal.com You can open a Paypal account in Nigeria
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Let me explain now how to choose which kids of products to buy from a manufacturer, because there are different solutions/products that solve the same problem, for example, for weight loss, you either buy gym equipment or buy weight loss tea..
1. You want to AVOID heavy items.
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Heavy means weight, and the heavier your items, the more it will cost you to ship.
2. You want to avoid products that get too much Govt agency scrutiny, like edibles will have NAFDAC snooping around, electronics will have SON circling, etc.
You get the idea.
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3. You want to GO FOR items that cost anywhere between $0 - $5,if you can.
(I will explain why you have to follow these rules as much as you can)
4. You want to avoid mechanical products,anything that requires a lot of "figuring out".
5. You want to go for products that are...
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intriguing, unique or eye-catching. They need to stand out.
6. You want products that are difficult to find elsewhere online.
If there are too many sellers already selling it, it's saturated.
7. You want products consumers find difficult to guess how much it costs you to buy.
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8. You want products consumers are happy to purchase the product without too much research. Impulse buys.
So why these criteria?
E-Commerce has a drawback, and that is overhead. You basically have to pay everyone else before you collect profit. You have to pay - the factory...
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pay cargo shippers who bring it to Nigeria (you pay them in Nigeria at the point of collecting your goods),. You pay any custom duties if any, pay to advertise the product, pay to hip it to buyers before getting your profit.
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As a consequence, you no not want anything that will add to your overhead costs
You don't want a heavy product, or something that requires too much careful handling,
You also want to buy cheap, as it reduces your costs.
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Once your good are here, yiu go to the cargo company's office, pay them and collect it.
Now it's time to advertise.
There are different places to advertise.
1. Instagram
2. Facebook
3. Twitter
4. Linda Ikeji Blog
5. Bella Naija
etc
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When advertising make sure it's on a medium your target audience frequents, for example, if you're selling a but enhancement pad, advertising it in Complete Sports is a waste of time and money. Women hardly read the paper, the ones that may probably dont need their butts enhanced
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You also need to use clever copy - descriptions that arouse the emotion of the target market and make them buy. Say for example I am selling Pheromones, I won;t just say, Buy Perfumes that attract women to you.
I'll say:
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"The Secret To Attracting The Woman of Your Dreams... s Inside This Tiny Bottle.
Put a dash of this on your clothes and watch women fall for you as if by magic
Only =N=6,000 a bottle. Click here to learn more."
See what i did there?
That's how to make people quickly pay you.
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So once they pay you, you need to ship it to them, right?
Now this is a big issue in Nigeria, Shipping is expensive here for reasons you already know, but entrepreneurs always find a way.
If you want to ship into Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt, you can use:
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For Abuja use this lovely lady here: Doo @Giorgi1881 for all Abuja deliveries. She's got a car, know Abuja inside out and she is a very trustworthy person.
Speak to her.
For other cities, I'll get the names and contact details by tomorrow, and post it.
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So here's how you start.
You start small, say with =N=50,000 - =N=100,000 and if the product sells well, you order more, and increase. if it doesn't, you kill it, and find a different product.
This business model is simple & I have people I have taught that make millions at it.
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So here are product ideas you can start importing.I had 10 in mind but I'll do just 5,sorry guys,getting tired of the typing,forgive me.
Here they are:
1. Pheromonesaliexpress.com/store/product/…
ANDaliexpress.com/item/Perfumed-…
Target: Men and Women, 25 -40
Ad example: Tweeted above
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2. Goji Creamaliexpress.com/store/product/…
Purpose: Repairs facial skin
Ad Example:
"25 and Looking 50?"
Use Goji cream to remove fine lines, wrinkles. Prevent rapid aging and remove dark circle.
It's not your regular cream mate. Try it"
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Target Market: Women
3. Swimwear
Above the $5 price point but its lovely! See for yourself.aliexpress.com/item/FIGOBELL-…
Ad Example:
"Look Like a Goddess on Your Next Vacation.
Be The One Every Man On The Beach Wants To Look At
with this African print inspired line of swim wear"
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4 & 5.aliexpress.com/store/product/…
ANDaliexpress.com/store/product/…
Target Market: Women
Ad Example:
Look Classy With the Next Generation of Watches
Buy One, Get One FREE.
Click here:
"
You get the idea.
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I hope you learned something today and yes, it's really that simple, do not complicate it.
If you have any questions, ask away, I am available for the next 15 minutes.
Thanks for reading.
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Join my Facebook group here: web.facebook.com/groups/1262997…
Subscribe to my YouTube channel here: youtube.com/channel/UCMPH5…
Follow me on:
INSTAGRAM: @ronaldnzimora
TWITTER: @ronaldnzimora
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Thank you very much for this useful article. I like it. ecommerce china agency
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