Lost job last week and starting online business- advice please

by him77
5 replies
Just lost job and would appreciate some help to get my home business started.

My business is a website selling offline products of mom n pop shops across the country.


I have a niche I want to focus on relate to mom and pop shops. I want to set it up where I can take their orders online from my website and they mail the actual product to the consumer.

I want to be paid as their affiliate basically for promoting their products and people buying them from me. I wish there was a software or script I could just plug in to get started.

Can anyone point me the direction or advice to get this started as soon as possible.

Thanks!
#advice #business #job #lost #online #starting #week
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    I want to be paid as their affiliate basically for promoting their products and people buying them from me. I wish there was a software or script I could just plug in to get started.
    You say 'affiliate' but you are describing drop shipping. Do these small shops have affiliate programs in place? If people order through YOU and you place the orders to the mom/pop/shops....can you jack up the price and sell at a profit...or will you be pricing products too high?

    Trying to be realistic. Most small offline stores operate on narrow profit margins and sell products purchased from manufacturers or 'more likely' middle men.

    I'd say your bottom line question would be this: Can what you plan to sell...at the price you need to sell....compete with same product from amazon? In some specialized markets, the answer may well be 'yes' but mom and pop stores are seldom able to obtain the same pricing discounts as large retailers can.

    Working as an affiliate marketer can be profitable - and drop shipping can be profitable. To do either successfully you need understand the steps involved and have a plan to target a specific market, look at the competition for the products....and more.
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  • Profile picture of the author fasteasysuccess
    It sounds like your best way to do it would be set up agreements with your mom and pop shops to drop ship for you. This does 3 things, you know really what is being ordered and coming through since using your site to buy, you don't need to carry inventory and you can literally charge your mark up if choose off your site as well instead of waiting for affiliate commissions.
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  • Profile picture of the author DRP
    Originally Posted by him77 View Post

    Just lost job and would appreciate some help to get my home business started.

    Can anyone point me the direction or advice to get this started as soon as possible.

    Thanks!

    Yeah, collect your unemployment benefits, cut your costs down to bare bones, and find another job as fast as you can. Forget about pipe dreams and unicorns. (online/home business)



    Sincerely,


    Reality
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    I'd rather tell you an ugly truth than a pretty lie.
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  • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
    Originally Posted by him77 View Post

    Just lost job and would appreciate some help to get my home business started.

    My business is a website selling offline products of mom n pop shops across the country.


    I have a niche I want to focus on relate to mom and pop shops. I want to set it up where I can take their orders online from my website and they mail the actual product to the consumer.

    I want to be paid as their affiliate basically for promoting their products and people buying them from me. I wish there was a software or script I could just plug in to get started.

    Can anyone point me the direction or advice to get this started as soon as possible.

    Thanks!
    What have you found so far? ASAP and six days later, are you still pursuing this? I think it is a very flawed idea.

    Too much slop and mess involved, way over simplified, there are much better things to pursue.

    Why and how did you come up with this?

    GordonJ

    PS If open minded, we may be able to offer better ideas, depends how stubborn you are.
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  • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
    Originally Posted by him77 View Post

    Just lost job and would appreciate some help to get my home business started.
    One question - if your previous employer called you up and offered you your job back, would you take it? If yes, you're not ready yet to start a business - at least not one that's able to replace your job.

    If the answer's no, I assume you're already under way with your project, which is why you haven't returned to this thread.
    .
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