The decision to quit a stable and not the most exciting job in a large company did not come immediately. Moreover, at that time I had grown up to be the head of the customer service department in a well-known Internet and teleprovider. But I was 22 years old, I had just got married, and the realization that now I need to support my family pushed me to start my own business. I gathered a "consultation" of my best friends and brother-in-law in the kitchen. Together we discussed possible ideas for a long time.
Creating an online store seemed to be the best option: at that time, the popularity of online shopping was noticeably gaining momentum. As a result, only my brother-in-law supported me, to this day we are partners.
Many people say that it is impossible to build a business with relatives. From experience I will say: it is difficult, but it is possible.
The implementation of the idea took about six months. There was a lot of enthusiasm, but there was no money at all, so I decided to use the help of the state (yes, and this is possible). It was necessary to take courses at the employment center, protect the business plan and register as an individual entrepreneur. After that, it was possible to receive a one-time annual payment from the employment center, which at that time amounted to 1,500 units for me. With this money, we created our first website, where we studied and stuffed cones.
The paperwork was delayed for a month. It was necessary to receive an allowance from the state, and then another week was taken away by queues at registration authorities and paperwork. The sites themselves were registered easily: it was enough to provide copies of documents or simply enter your data and pay for the domain name and hosting.
Our first site was made by friends for a nominal fee. Now he is already resting in peace on the Internet. The next project, based on the recommendations of friends, was created on a trading platform with a designer of websites and online stores. Over time, we decided to create a corporate website, investing maximum effort and time there. It took more than a year to register the trademark "SameTo".
A platform was chosen to work with the site Zakupka.com — Ukrainian version of the popular catalog of goods and services Satom.ru .
Satom.ru — a platform where you can create a business online with minimal costs. You get at your disposal a ready-to-work website with a modern design and many functions for promotion: from contextual advertising in search engines to email and SMS mailing.
On the pages Satom.ru buyers will easily find any product or service, and seller ratings and customer reviews guarantee the success of the transaction.
Even if you already have a website, Satom.ru it will become an additional effective platform for promotion and will ensure the influx of new customers. The service operates in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine.
The manager called me and offered to try to work on this site. No effort was required on my part, the manager set up the store in one day and moved all the goods there.
Initially, I chose the "Standard" package, but pretty quickly realized that there would be a good return from this project, and switched to the "Maximum" package. Sometimes we use banner advertising, but contextual advertising on the portal is always enabled. We launched it almost immediately, and for many years it has been paying dividends.
What can I say about Zakupka.com ? I like that the portal does not stop there and is constantly improving in technical terms. If necessary, you can get prompt feedback from managers. The unique text is not stolen here.
Orders from search engines did not begin to arrive immediately, but then there was stability. Orders attracted through contextual advertising on the portal began to arrive on the day of its first launch.
The main problem at the initial stage was, of course, the lack of experience. Initially, we chose the wrong niche and began to deal with expensive goods for children — strollers and car seats. The boxes with all this were right at our house.
As it turned out, it is difficult to start immediately with expensive things. The competition in the market of children's goods was huge at that time, so it was not possible for a novice site to survive.
Having sold out all the strollers, we strenuously began to look for other options for the development of the store. It was then that the offer to work on dropshipping was received. Gaining momentum, we gradually began to buy the most marketable goods and form a warehouse, which at first was located in our garage. Orders were delivered by my partner, and sometimes even my wife had to take it on.
Over time, we have signed contracts with courier services and transport companies. My wife also got involved in the family business. After leaving her job, she took SEO courses, mastered Internet marketing and is still engaged in the development of our website.
Of course, the number of stores has grown over the years, so the competition is making itself felt. The stronger it is, the more effort we put into the development of stores, trying to come up with chips that can interest customers and favorably distinguish us from competitors, and, of course, we advertise.
The best advertising is word of mouth from satisfied customers. A large number of positive reviews on different sites are bearing fruit.
Informers are the cheapest, but no less effective advertising.
We are firmly focused on the further development of stores. At the moment, the situation in Ukraine is not the most stable, no business can say with certainty what awaits it even in six months. But if there are no surprises, then the course is always more or less the same: expanding the staff, assortment of goods, samples of different product lines, building up sites and increasing the popularity of existing ones.
Separately, I want to note that one of the main secrets of a successful business is the right choice of good employees. I am grateful to my team, managers and warehouse workers for their dedication and professionalism. They are the backbone of our whole business.
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