It can be intimidating to start a business, but push past the fear and get started.
Here's how we got started with our online furniture business - We posted an ad on Craigslist for a TV stand. Very soon afterwards we got a call from an interested person. This was my first call so I was nervous. He wanted to see the TV stand first, but we didn't have a place for him to come look at it.
He was really interested in it and loved the price point, but was not willing to commit unless he could see it. Because the conversation went so well and he seemed genuinely interested I felt like he would purchase it if I could show it to him first.
Because he was really interested I called him back and offered to deliver it to him anyway. If he didn't like it I told him he wouldn't owe us anything and we would try to sell it to someone else. He liked that idea so we took a chance and delivered it to him.
He bought it from us and was so impressed with our service that he recommended us to a neighbor who ended up purchasing from us as well. That's how I got started in the furniture business.
We have the advantage of living close to some of our major suppliers' warehouses. What this means is that we can wait to purchase from them until we actually have an order. This has helped us tremendously and kept us from having to invest in a lot of inventory.
We have grown quite a bit in the last 3 years to the point that we now ship all over the country. It didn't happen overnight, but it wouldn't have happened had we not taken the small steps at the beginning.
My point is this - begin. There will never be a perfect time to get started. If you wait for that "perfect time" you will never begin. Start now. Take those small steps now.
If you don't know where to start ask someone. There are some great resources out there to help. Ask me. I'm not an expert in every business, but I do feel that I can point you in the right direction.
Here's how we got started with our online furniture business - We posted an ad on Craigslist for a TV stand. Very soon afterwards we got a call from an interested person. This was my first call so I was nervous. He wanted to see the TV stand first, but we didn't have a place for him to come look at it.
He was really interested in it and loved the price point, but was not willing to commit unless he could see it. Because the conversation went so well and he seemed genuinely interested I felt like he would purchase it if I could show it to him first.
Because he was really interested I called him back and offered to deliver it to him anyway. If he didn't like it I told him he wouldn't owe us anything and we would try to sell it to someone else. He liked that idea so we took a chance and delivered it to him.
He bought it from us and was so impressed with our service that he recommended us to a neighbor who ended up purchasing from us as well. That's how I got started in the furniture business.
We have the advantage of living close to some of our major suppliers' warehouses. What this means is that we can wait to purchase from them until we actually have an order. This has helped us tremendously and kept us from having to invest in a lot of inventory.
We have grown quite a bit in the last 3 years to the point that we now ship all over the country. It didn't happen overnight, but it wouldn't have happened had we not taken the small steps at the beginning.
My point is this - begin. There will never be a perfect time to get started. If you wait for that "perfect time" you will never begin. Start now. Take those small steps now.
If you don't know where to start ask someone. There are some great resources out there to help. Ask me. I'm not an expert in every business, but I do feel that I can point you in the right direction.
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