Masstechoutlet
Newbie
- Jan 1, 2013
- 37
- 4
From a sales perspective, here's a couple of gems that have served me well. My own golden rule of selling: People love to buy, but hate being sold to. The only 5 reasons why a customer will not buy from you:
1. No money
2. No hurry
3. No need
4. No desire
5. No trust
Are the products branded or unbranded? To pay or not to pay the fees and costs myself to obtain the best price? This myth is regarding the age old question "what to sell", the common answer is sell something that you are interested in or have knowledge about - Why is this a myth? The answer is simple, a large percentage of people will have common interests / knowledge in at least one (if not all) of the following: branded electronics, mobile phones, gaming, or designer / branded clothing, ALL of which are very saturated markets with poor margins, especially as a new seller with limited funds and contacts trying to break in where many far bigger sellers dominate, made all the more competitive by new sellers trying to break into the market believing they need to be the cheapest therefore, undercutting and devaluing the products, often to the point where there is little to no profit available, sometimes to even sell at a loss! Valued Resellers connect this with commitments.
So, should you always sell something you're interested in? Hell no! Sell something that other people are interested in with plenty of research in a smaller niche and offering your own USP (unique selling point), get this right and the sales WILL come, unless you happen to be fortunate enough to be interested in a decent niche, it is often far quicker and easier to research a new product / line than it is to break into a saturated market, I'm not saying it cannot be done, but be prepared to be able to bring something new to the table. Obviously it would be ideal to be interested in what you're doing / selling and this could always be an 'end goal' as in something that you are working toward to better position yourself for success, but in many cases it isn't the best place to start unless you can be fortunate enough to have a captive audience although even these are often limited (school, college, workplace, family, friends, their friends, etc. but do not overbuy as this will generally run out but obviously try to get as much as you can from it).
Myth 2: This myth is regarding using marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon as a primary selling platform as it's easier due to the already large exposure that these sites have, whereas this is not such a clear cut myth as some others it has been proven repeatedly that it is never a good idea to place all of your eggs in one basket, by all means, use these sites as a springboard to help achieve sales whilst your own website / other outlets are building up in the background, and once this happens, then use these marketplaces to further compliment your business, NOT be the primary part of it as it's all too easy to have the proverbial rug pulled from under your feet. There are no shortcuts, business is a steep learning curve and requires effort, if you run a set and forget policy to wait for the funds to roll in then yes, it's great all the time it works, but one day you may have to stand on your own, so it's always best to have this ready for such a day.
Myth 3: This is an all too common myth that most who are established know of, but many starting out do not, and that is there is no such thing as cheap branded electronics, clothing, etc. but all too many chase this dream, and in this chase they look to what they believe to be the source, China. Quite a lot of people still have the outlook of "many brands are made in china so they have to be genuine", this one I cannot stress enough, this is a big fat MYTH, although you are correct in stating that many brands are indeed manufactured there, this is where it ends, these factories are contracted to manufacture the products for the brand then export to the brand / their official distributors and that's all, they are not licenced to sell the products, therefore, for the goods being sold in China to be genuine, they would first need to be re-imported back into china from an official source as many brands do NOT have official distributors in mainland China, therefore, many official branded products are not available cheap or in wholesale quantities there.
Even if the product does come from the actual factory that manufactures for the brand (which is rare but many factories will claim this as fact), the item(s) in question will still be unlicenced for resale so would be no better than fakes, and as such, would still get seized if found at customs and carry the same legal implications.
Myth 4: This myth depends on many variables but it is still a myth in the many cases, and that is "you need a lot of money to start a business" whereas this is true to a degree it is not always the case, granted, more money (coupled with knowhow) will give you a greater chance of success there are ways and means to achive a more distant goal, for example, there's the well known advice of "sell some things from around the house to gain more capital", but it is not limited to this, most people have something that they can do, whether skilled or unskilled, whatever it is it's something that some other people either cannot do, don't have time to do or simply cannot be bothered to do, so, advertise your services and fill that gap to get even more capital and even closer to where you want to be, where to advertise really depends on what it is you can offer, for example, PC servicing and upgrades, you can advertise locally with leaflets, facebook groups, etc. whereas something like design services or digital goods can be advertised both locally and online, even if it's just putting up flat pack furniture, there will be demand for it, even if only small, it all adds up and it's money for time which if not established, many will have some spare anyway!
The key to starting on a budget is to not take money from the business and to instead use it for growth, so ideally there will already be enough coming into the household to live on allowing business money to be reinvested, but if service related, then there is obviously less needed to reinvest other than for marketing, only you know your model of what you want to do and where you want to be, so only you can consider your own best course of action, but just remember that nothing is impossible if you have the will to succeed and the motivation to keep on going and work through the tougher times, yes, it will be a lot of work for little return to begin with (as it will be reinvested), but if done correctly the day will come where you can reap the rewards.
If you have questions, need sourcing PM me
1. No money
2. No hurry
3. No need
4. No desire
5. No trust
Are the products branded or unbranded? To pay or not to pay the fees and costs myself to obtain the best price? This myth is regarding the age old question "what to sell", the common answer is sell something that you are interested in or have knowledge about - Why is this a myth? The answer is simple, a large percentage of people will have common interests / knowledge in at least one (if not all) of the following: branded electronics, mobile phones, gaming, or designer / branded clothing, ALL of which are very saturated markets with poor margins, especially as a new seller with limited funds and contacts trying to break in where many far bigger sellers dominate, made all the more competitive by new sellers trying to break into the market believing they need to be the cheapest therefore, undercutting and devaluing the products, often to the point where there is little to no profit available, sometimes to even sell at a loss! Valued Resellers connect this with commitments.
So, should you always sell something you're interested in? Hell no! Sell something that other people are interested in with plenty of research in a smaller niche and offering your own USP (unique selling point), get this right and the sales WILL come, unless you happen to be fortunate enough to be interested in a decent niche, it is often far quicker and easier to research a new product / line than it is to break into a saturated market, I'm not saying it cannot be done, but be prepared to be able to bring something new to the table. Obviously it would be ideal to be interested in what you're doing / selling and this could always be an 'end goal' as in something that you are working toward to better position yourself for success, but in many cases it isn't the best place to start unless you can be fortunate enough to have a captive audience although even these are often limited (school, college, workplace, family, friends, their friends, etc. but do not overbuy as this will generally run out but obviously try to get as much as you can from it).
Myth 2: This myth is regarding using marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon as a primary selling platform as it's easier due to the already large exposure that these sites have, whereas this is not such a clear cut myth as some others it has been proven repeatedly that it is never a good idea to place all of your eggs in one basket, by all means, use these sites as a springboard to help achieve sales whilst your own website / other outlets are building up in the background, and once this happens, then use these marketplaces to further compliment your business, NOT be the primary part of it as it's all too easy to have the proverbial rug pulled from under your feet. There are no shortcuts, business is a steep learning curve and requires effort, if you run a set and forget policy to wait for the funds to roll in then yes, it's great all the time it works, but one day you may have to stand on your own, so it's always best to have this ready for such a day.
Myth 3: This is an all too common myth that most who are established know of, but many starting out do not, and that is there is no such thing as cheap branded electronics, clothing, etc. but all too many chase this dream, and in this chase they look to what they believe to be the source, China. Quite a lot of people still have the outlook of "many brands are made in china so they have to be genuine", this one I cannot stress enough, this is a big fat MYTH, although you are correct in stating that many brands are indeed manufactured there, this is where it ends, these factories are contracted to manufacture the products for the brand then export to the brand / their official distributors and that's all, they are not licenced to sell the products, therefore, for the goods being sold in China to be genuine, they would first need to be re-imported back into china from an official source as many brands do NOT have official distributors in mainland China, therefore, many official branded products are not available cheap or in wholesale quantities there.
Even if the product does come from the actual factory that manufactures for the brand (which is rare but many factories will claim this as fact), the item(s) in question will still be unlicenced for resale so would be no better than fakes, and as such, would still get seized if found at customs and carry the same legal implications.
Myth 4: This myth depends on many variables but it is still a myth in the many cases, and that is "you need a lot of money to start a business" whereas this is true to a degree it is not always the case, granted, more money (coupled with knowhow) will give you a greater chance of success there are ways and means to achive a more distant goal, for example, there's the well known advice of "sell some things from around the house to gain more capital", but it is not limited to this, most people have something that they can do, whether skilled or unskilled, whatever it is it's something that some other people either cannot do, don't have time to do or simply cannot be bothered to do, so, advertise your services and fill that gap to get even more capital and even closer to where you want to be, where to advertise really depends on what it is you can offer, for example, PC servicing and upgrades, you can advertise locally with leaflets, facebook groups, etc. whereas something like design services or digital goods can be advertised both locally and online, even if it's just putting up flat pack furniture, there will be demand for it, even if only small, it all adds up and it's money for time which if not established, many will have some spare anyway!
The key to starting on a budget is to not take money from the business and to instead use it for growth, so ideally there will already be enough coming into the household to live on allowing business money to be reinvested, but if service related, then there is obviously less needed to reinvest other than for marketing, only you know your model of what you want to do and where you want to be, so only you can consider your own best course of action, but just remember that nothing is impossible if you have the will to succeed and the motivation to keep on going and work through the tougher times, yes, it will be a lot of work for little return to begin with (as it will be reinvested), but if done correctly the day will come where you can reap the rewards.
If you have questions, need sourcing PM me