Not so long ago, being a business owner was associated with the idea of having lots of capital, managing hundreds of employees… However, the definition of “doing business” has evolved a lot over time as it has become more accessible. It has become so ordinary that you can now start your own business from your living room, with hardly any up-front investment. Does the idea of making a profit from your couch sound appealing? That's what we thought... and the key word here is "online"!
You can now start your own business from your living room, with hardly any up-front investment
So how should you do it you ask? Here are 4 simple steps that Zaapi has compiled for you to get started today!
1. Decide what type of business you'll do
By definition, doing business is trading. What you want to think about before starting is, if you want to sell items, what should you be selling? Should you focus on reselling, selling second-hand goods, or creating your own brand and products?
In order to make your decision, here are a few things to take into consideration to evaluate the products and explore the market.
- Trendy products: hopping on a trend can be very tempting, you get lots of sales and overall, demand for your product is high. However, one thing to keep in mind is that trends are temporary and tend to not last very long. If you do decide to sell a trending product, make sure to enter the market quickly and, ultimately, on time. Also, do not overstock - you wouldn’t want to be left with lots of stock of a product that’s not selling anymore.
- Long established products: these products have been in the market for a long time and are very stable. It’s appropriate to invest in those as demand is steady over time.
- Growing products: think ahead, these products are showing signs of growth and interest. You may want to invest in them because they’re likely to become very strong in the market and grow substantially in the near future.
2. Choose a good name
Naming a brand is like naming a child, you want to make sure you choose the right name because not only will it stick forever but it will also carry your brand’s character. Try to come up with a name that is distinctive, easy to remember and linked to your business! You can play with words to make it look more unique. Keep in mind that the most important thing is that you like your business name before other people can like it as well!
3. Set up your sales channel
Now that you've got a cool name for your business, it's time to set up the channel for you to secure customers! Indeed, if there's no one place for your customers to see your catalogue and make orders, you're sure to lose out on a lot of business. Not to mention that managing orders directly on social media can quickly become a nightmare for sellers with all the back and forth with customers, payments, inventory and order management...
That's where Zaapi comes in! With Zaapi, you can create your own online store and start selling in minutes!
With Zaapi, you can create your own online store and start selling in minutes!
You can add your products, product categories, discounts and see your store come to life in real time!
Got an order? No worries? Manage it from within the order page and don't worry about notifying your customer - Zaapi sends automated SMS messages to your customer every time you update their order so you can rest easy and your customers can stay on top of things!
Want to see how well your store has been doing and which of your products sell best? Use Zaapi's analytics dashboard to dig into the health of your business and improve it even further!
Simply put, Zaapi means owning your online store and managing it on your own terms. No fees. No commissions.
Zaapi means owning your online store and managing it on your own terms. No fees. No commissions.
4. Promote your store on social media
Once you've put some love and care into creating your store, it's finally time to start getting those sales! And in today's connected age, there's nowhere better to do that than social media. With Zaapi, you can easily share your store, product and discount code links on any social media platform you like.
So what are you waiting for? Head to Facebook, Instagram, Line, WhatsApp, Viber or any other platform that you use and start your online business today!
