Lifetime Moms

As I mentioned last week my buddy for the 2010 Clean Start Challenge is Koletta Pickett, and her goal is to become an entrepreneur by launching her own ecommerce website. I’ve been operating my own online store for several years and I hope I can help her get her store off the ground. Her reasons for wanting to start her own business are similar to mine, financial security, control and setting an example for her kids. If she can follow her dreams so can they.

There are several things to consider when launching an ecommerce site.

• Decide who will be building and maintaining the website. Are you able to maintain the site yourself or will you need to hire someone to make updates?
• Do you want a paid hosted solution or a free self-hosted solution? You can set up a site pretty quickly with OS Commerce or ZenCart. For free, self-hosted solutions technical support may be limited, however, with a hosted paid solution you have support available for emergency outages.
• Determine what products you would like to sell. Can you create a product niche? For example: baby clothes for preemies would be considered a niche product.
• Once you decide what you would like to offer, do some research. Search for your competitors, find ways you can improve what they’ve done and/or find your very own unique approach.
• Determine if you will be carrying inventory, or if you will drop ship products. Each has its challenges. Be prepared to have some capital on hand if you want to stock inventory. If you plan on drop shipping, determine what the lowest price point is that you are willing to accept. For example, if you are drop shipping a product that sells for $10 or less on your e commerce site you probably won't gain much profit after paying the manufacturer fees and shipping.

Koletta is ready to get her business off the ground but first she needs to complete this week’s challenge and create a personal sanctuary. It’s really good to create a space where you can free your mind of clutter and really think about your business. Even if it is a small space in the kitchen, having a place of your own will get you in the mood to work whenever you sit down.

When we moved, my husband and I were able to create our own office space which has made a big difference. When I am at my desk it sets the mood for business, I’m instantly focused on what needs to get done. I can’t wait to hear about Koletta’s personal sanctuary. Be sure to check out her video and vote daily for your favorite (Koletta) for a chance to win $1,000.

This month’s challenge is brought to you by Glade ®