Online shop and quit my job?

[rollonretirementfgs]

I want to start an online shop business. I hope to be able to quit my part time teaching job eventually. I have no idea what I'm doing, or really where to start. Am I being a dick? Can I really do this??

You've no idea where to start so in the kindest possible way, I'd say this is a poor idea. If you're looking to change direction job-wise then it needs to be with some knowledge and understanding of what you plan to do

Have you sold your products consistently to know there’s a market for them? Also be aware of the high fees from the likes of Etsy

How much start up capital do you have?
What sort of items will you sell?
How and where will you advertise to get your site known?
Are you able to deal with the web design, etc yourself?
Who is your target audience?

What are wanting to sell? Are you thinking using an established online store (eg Etsy) or setting up your own website? Have you done a basic business plan to work out costs, taxes, etc? What's your marketing plan?

What is unique about your product that will make people buy from you and not elsewhere and how will they find out about your online shop?

As already asked what is the line of business that you want to go into?

When you say you don't know where to start do you mean as in you don't know what you'd like to do
Or
You don't know how to put the business out there?

Edited to say...no you're not being a dick for wanting to give it a try.

Sounds a bit vague to me. You need to work it out from a business perspective - what would the running costs be compared to the income you generated? How would you market your product etc etc.
Id start the shop and run it alongside my teaching for a while, then drop the secure job only if and when the shop takes off.

This.

Running a business is so much more than just setting up a shop and expecting people to buy.

Its a hard long graft and much much harder than I expected it to be (although I am in a slightly different sector).

So I would say, give it a go but don't give up your day job yet.

I think it's harder to make money doing this than it used to be a couple of years ago. Sites like Etsy have been flooded by cheap mass produced tat which makes it harder for individuals selling bespoke products.

How much salary do you need to be able to pay yourself in order to cover whatever living costs you have PLUS how much pension contribution do you need to make?

Why do you want to run an online shop? Do you have a specific product or niche that you think you have an advantage in?

Or are you just fed up of teaching and think this will be an easier, lower stress way of earning the same money that will also be done at home and fit easily around childcare/kids at school etc? If it is that, then it is a bit of a fantasy. You would likely be better off trying to find a salaried role in a different job.

Er,good luck then

The internet is saturated with online 'businesses' and with a COL going on you will find it tough

Most people start up while also keeping their current job. As orders flood in they can decide how to go. If no orders then they still have the day job to fall back on.

Keep your job for now and find an online mentor. A lot of online courses look like scams, so be careful. There are free tutorials on youtube. It took me around 2 years before I started making money and 5 years to make more more than my job. I have tiktok shop, amazon and my own websites. Learn digital marketing, google analytics. These are the two main important things to attract customers to your websites. I still have my job simply because I want to keep contributing to the pension and I don't mind the job.

Keep your job and set it up in your spare time and see how it goes.. it that's time and most businesses fail within a year or dont make a profit. Good luck x

What are your products? Do you have an established customer base? If not, what market research have you done so far?

Your attitude is a bit defeatist and doesn’t sound like you want to own a business, yet you want to open an online shop?? I’d really try to figure out if you actually want to be a business owner or if you just want out from your current job.

You say you haven’t a clue what you’re doing - are you going to learn? Have you looked into other similar businesses, what business model you would like to adopt, how much marketing you would have to do, how you would manage and store stock, how much international shipping would cost, your legal responsibilities with returns/lost or faulty items?

As far as I know most start ups have losses for the first few years, can your finances manage that? Will you need to get a loan to kick off the business?

edit: just want to add even your username OP - rollonretirement 😅 if you start a small business who knows when you’ll be able to retire, how will you fill your pension pot if you’re making losses?

Based on that post - no, you can’t.
But is it possible for some people to make a living from an online shop? Yeah.

Dh did sort of this 10 years ago. He started a largely online business selling a craft product (maybe you might say artwork, depending on what is being sold), sells through a website, instagram, ebay/etsy, etc. Started out of our shed and now has two commercial premises and turnover of probably at least half a £1m a year. He did it nights and weekends while working his office job for a few months before he quit and went FT at it.

But what's important is that he knew the product he wanted to create and sell, had the unique skills to create it, knew the market and cost of raw materials, had a business plan, a business degree and a online marketing background. It was very good financial decision for us, but it was a big leap to start.

You have to know your market, your costs, your profit margins very well to take the risk. If it isn't something you absolutely love doing, I'd be inclined to find something you do love as a way out of teaching, ideally that offers the stability and protections of employment, because you do lose out on things like maternity leave, annual leave, sick pay, a workplace pension, etc. when you go self-employed.

I m an online seller since December, ebay, Etsy and now TikTok, 200-300 listings on each platform. Steady income and growing. No other investment than my time so far (I had an idea).

My products are in demand, so I have not done content/social media seriously yet, but it s now my priority because it s the only way to scale up. I m currently building my own studio, lives coming soon, here we go😆

For my business, TikTok is where the action is. Millions of daily users/potential clients, their fees are much lower than ebay/Etsy, they offer massive discounts to both sellers/buyers. And there, you re not just a listing, if you do good content, you ll attract clients.

But it depends of what you want to sell and to whom.

If you want more details, a leg up or any questions, pls DM or ask here, happy to share what I have learned 🙂

This is helpful thank you.

Wow you can tell all of that from a few sentences! Amazing

Thank you so much!

When I say I have no idea, I have run a small business before from home. I made and sold chocolate products. I relied on Facebook and Instagram and did really well. Managed to make a small income while I was bringing up my kids.
I now realise that due to COL, the prices of chocolate and all the other ingredients has spiralled out of control, and o think it would be much harder to make a profit. Christmas time would be ok but the rest of the year I think I would struggle.
I was thinking personalised gifts and homewares. I wouldn't have the issue of hygiene ratings, storage, use by dates, wastage etc. I could store products in my garage.
I'm not expecting to make big bucks, and I'm not expecting it to take off immediately.
Should I use shopify for example?

OP in fairness you wrote the post and asked for thoughts… of course I only had those few sentences to go on 😅 all of the questions I posed and many many more need to be considered by all business owners.

You’ve shared more info that you didn’t include at first that now shows you might be well able to handle a business - you’ve done it already! So you definitely don’t have ‘no idea’. I’d say Shopify or Etsy are the two big ones, I always see people offering personalised items on Etsy. YouTube is a good free resource, there is probably videos of people comparing the two sites and what works better etc. I’d say spend a while building up your stock (making, crafting things), open an Insta page maybe and take commissions to get some business practice in. Once you have a few followers and sales you could set up your shop site then.

the prices of chocolate and all the other ingredients has spiralled out of control,

This is true but I've been to many events/fetes where prices have been what you might consider to be on the high side for confectionery/bakes but the taste is far superior to supermarket bought items.

You could start off at local produce markets, village/school fetes, craft markets look around for what's selling, what's missing.

The market round here is fairly saturated with people (mostly mums) trying to sell personalised stuff so they can work around having a family and not go back to their old job. If it’s the same near you, then obviously be aware! Are you selling stuff that’s different to others?