'10 Minute Tip' by Colin Stickland - Leading Ecommerce Expert - 7am until 9:30am
YOU WILL NEED TO BRING A FACE COVERING TO THIS MEETING - WE WON'T BE WEARING THEM WHEN EATING OR SPEAKING.
Colin Stickland had worked for a number of leading Global and UK companies in a variety of marketing and sales roles for many years.
In 2005 Colin chose to move away from the traditional corporate world and take advantage of the opportunities the internet created by establishing his own e-commerce led business.
Colin created a brand, established its online presence (alongside traditional channels),created customer funnels, established robust supply processes and developed lifetime customer value. So Colin has shared all the same problems you will be facing today in starting your own ecommerce business.
Colin’s consistent and predictable growth led to an approach from a much larger competitor seeking to increase their own online presence, and this led to a successful high value sale of his ecommerce business three years ago.
Since then Colin has been headhunted to work as a consultant and on an interim basis to help other business owners like you grow their own companies online. That has led to Colin launching his “Detail Squared” consultancy which fully reflects the importance of detail and planning to becoming super successful at online sales.
About the conversation:
5 THINGS YOU SHOULD AVOID WHEN STARTING AN ECOMMERCE BUSINESS
One of the many lessons small business owners apparently learnt from the Corona virus lockdown was that you must start selling online. If you’re about to launch your business on ecommerce or you’ve already started come to the Business Growth Club Milton Keynes this Friday morning to get some seriously good advice.Colin Stickland’s 10 minute tip will cover the top 5 mistakes you must not make when starting to sell and market your business online. Hopefully Colin’s experience will save you loads of time and money. It’s just as important to know what not to do as it is to know what you should be doing.
The good (and bad) news is that there are now so many low cost tools available to you. Anyone with a reasonable level of computer literacy can now create an ecommerce website and sell online within a matter of hours. But, you really shouldn’t try doing that until you’ve discovered the top 5 things to avoid.
1) DON’T JUST BUILD A WEBSITE
Start with the end if mind – what are you trying to achieve, what will it deliver in the end.
2) DON’T MAKE ANY DECISIONS WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING
Learn – it’s widely said by those who achieve business success that they spend a lot of time reading, to broaden their knowledge. Read up on online and e-commerce to find out what’s available and learn from others experiences. Use online courses such as Google Garage to learn in more detail what’s possible and how easy it is.
3) DON’T THINK IT WILL ALL JUST HAPPEN
Process, Process, Process – You need to plan the entire customer journey from beginning to end, from finding customers, through to ensuring you have accurate data.
4) DON’T GO WITH THE EASY OPTION
Go with the best option for you – We all know a friend who does websites. But are they any good at design, do they know your market? Are they skilled at SEO? Will you become too reliant on them? What happens if they close their business? Do your research just as you would when buying a house. A website might be the biggest single investment your business makes and it can cost you dearly if you get it wrong (like having to underpin a house).
5) DON’T STICK YOU HEAD IN THE SAND
You still need a USP (unique selling point),more than ever - your competitors are now global. Your customers can order from anyone anywhere in the world. You need to be clear on who your customers are, why they will buy from you rather than another business and make this crystal clear. Amazon is most businesses biggest threat, just as Tesco was a decade ago.
You can ignore this great advice and take shortcuts just to get something going but, in the end, this will cost you lots more of your valuable time and money and lose you vital sales. Come and learn this Friday.
