How to decide what you are going to sell:

One of the most important decisions you will have to make is what you are going to sell.  To keep your mind open, let’s call whatever you’re going to sell, The Product.  The Product can be one particular item, a whole line of products, or an entire category of products.  There’s a lot of research you need to do before deciding what The Product is, and a lot of questions that need to be answered. 

Is The Product something you make yourself?  Are you going to become a re-seller?  Does anyone want to buy The Product?  Who else is selling The Product?  Can The Product be shipped around the country?  Around the world?  Will it get there in one piece?  Do you care about what you are selling?  Do you know about what you are selling?   Do you know who your customers will be?  Will you be able to supply The Product to all your customers?

Don’t let all those questions frighten you.  I’m just trying to illustrate questions that need to be answered before you move on to actually doing it.  I’ll help you decide what to sell, and tell you how to do it.  Let’s quickly tackle some of those questions right now.

Is The Product something you make yourself?

If you have the ability to make something that others want, sure!  It’s a great way to turn a hobby into a business.  If you knit quilts, paint paintings, make furniture, write software, build models, bake cakes, or any of a hundred other hobbies, chances are there’s someone out there who can’t do that and wants to buy it from you!

Selling something you make yourself has some great advantages.  Each thing you sell can be unique, and might only be available by buying it from you.  This means no or little competition and the potential to create your own market for your products.  Even if there are others online selling their own creations similar to yours, each handmade piece has it’s own personality, so you can each offer your own special contribution to The Product.

People sell merchandise online for a variety of reasons.  While there are thousands of e-commerce sites, online commerce is still in it’s relative infancy, and the internet is the great equalizer.  On the internet, a small e-commerce site can compete and beat much larger companies.  Think about it, if people were so happy shopping at these huge stores, why is buying online exploding in popularity?  Maybe you have a B&M and are already selling The Product, and now you want to add selling online as an additional outlet to sell The Product.  There are many reasons to sell online, and it’s much less expensive to get started than it is for a B&M store.