Market Expert Offers 5 Tips for Opening Your Own Digital Business Without Capital or Inventory
In a country where business is a very difficult task, this necessary path for millions of Brazilians ends up being difficult, but giving up is not an option. Also, for many people, becoming their own boss is more than a dream, it’s a necessity.
According to a recent survey by Creditas, in partnership with Open Box, even in the face of a challenging economic scenario, Brazilians are confident in 2023: 54% have applied for credit to expand their business, 41% to obtain working capital, 31% to open the business and 7% to avoid bankruptcy.
But how to undertake when the bank account balance does not help much? According to the market specialist Alex Moro, from the online school Entrepreneur effectit is possible to undertake in 2023 without capital or shares, at no cost and only knowledge and strategy in the segment.
Moro himself lists five tips to undertake without investment and also without inventory.
1. Choose the right product for you
“Anyone who thinks that to start selling on a marketplace you need a different product, high-tech or a department store, is wrong. The ideal item is not one that everyone sells or a market trend, but one where the seller has been able to test on the platform and understand the demand for him before investing in large stocks. I always recommend to my students: Start with the products you have an aptitude for. If you like makeup, for example, start there,” advises Alex Moro.
For the savvy, the best part about starting a business with a marketplace is being able to start a digital business without taking real money out of your pocket. And a good starting strategy is to advertise the sale of used products.
“If you have products in your house that you haven’t used in 60 days, this product will be much more useful to someone else and will also generate income for you. Based on this strategy, in addition to helping another person to buy that product on more convenient terms, the entrepreneur also starts his own online store without initial investment and already having his first impressions of the entire sales process in this segment : selling on the platform, enabling the learning path is more intense, knowing where to click, how to talk to the buyer, how to print the shipping label, how to send it to the post office and all the small functions that are developed and improved day after day , gradually put into the hand”, he comments.
2. Do online and offline market research
“With the segment and product chosen, it’s time to see the demands in the sales channel. How did competitors work on this product? How are their ads? There are some tools that help market entrepreneurs a lot to identify the market demand and analyze their performance. This is the case of Melibox, an analysis tool approved by Mercado Livre, Google Trends and Nubmetrics. With these tools it is possible to carry out an entire market study to analyze the performance of the product online”, guides the marketplace specialist.
After research and performance testing, the next step is to identify if the product is in a nearby physical store to speed up delivery.
“Go to the stores near your home to check if the product is available. So when the purchase in your online store is completed, you know where to go quickly so that delivery can be made as soon as possible,” suggests Moro.
It should be clarified, however, that the stockless business is not the same thing as dropshipping, which has become a fad in today’s markets.
“Dropshipping or direct shipping is a supply chain management technique in which the retailer does not keep the products in stock, but offers and markets products that are in the supplier’s stock anywhere in the world, whether from a local supplier or even from China. What I teach is that the entrepreneur becomes a sales representative, which is based on buying a product from a local merchant after selling it online, acquiring agility and ease in sending it to the customer, carrying out the packing process and sending it as if it was in his warehouse. This strategy allows novice sellers to test potential products to sell in their sales channel and to validate new products that they want to sell and later add to their inventory,” Moro points out.
3. Create captivating market ads and run tests
“In the market, a crucial point to generate sales is knowing how to advertise well. Invest in relevant keywords in the titles, high-resolution photos, well-crafted description, fill in all the data of the technical sheet and everything that is required by the marketplace. Keep building baits for different audiences and different product benefits and features and analyze the best performing ad,” he says.
“Also, knowing how to work with the sales channel algorithm will benefit you even more. I unveiled more than 30 features of the Mercado Livre algorithm, for example, which consists of strategic practices on the platform that will increasingly contribute to your growth. One tip for manipulating the algorithm, for example, is to strengthen your link with the market and be an excellent seller ― don’t make small schemes to sell by sending advertising links to friends, for example, you could be blocked by the algorithm immediately ― use more and more services provided by the marketplace, create product kits, invest in videos and always follow the rules dictated by the sales channel”, teaches the specialist.
4. Price below value to leverage early sales
“Advertise below market price, maybe even cost, just to validate those early sales and gain the necessary reputation in the market. When you make a sale, go to the nearest store that has the product, purchase it, pack it up, and send it to the customer. Right now you’re not going to make any money, you’re going to separate what we call a ‘validation budget’, which is the money that goes into these little actions to find the right product to sell in the market,” advises Moro.
5. Reinvest the profit
“Here’s the cat jumping when I say you don’t need to have an initial investment to undertake in the market. His first sales were made by selling used products online. Now, with your product and audience established and your first used products sold, it’s time to reinvest your first sales earnings to buy your first mini-stock and get your online store going. But don’t make the mistake of buying too many products. Buy just enough for a few more weeks, until the sales volume consolidates and you can make giant strides”, concludes Alex Moro.
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
