Helping a friend set up a business - giving me a taste for business

[seselia123]

I am helping my friend set up her business. I am being the lady in the street asking questions to a survey i hope her business goes well its the least she deserves. If anyone can save me leg work please fill in the survey below

www.surveymonkey.com/s/JPNJNX6

I am thinking about going into the retail industry possibly a online clothes shop but i have no experience should i just start on ebay, i have found some good suppliers

I knew someone at college who ran a web clothing shop on Ebay, he was making a tidy bit of profit but then he had to swap supplier. He went from selling quality south Korean clothes to selling cheap Chinese knockoffs and business stopped shortly after.

If your suppliers are reliable and good quality then selling clothing could be pretty good on Ebay, then when you make a bit of a name for yourself swap to an eCommerce platform website.

Sorry, tried to click your survey link & just got to the survey monkey homepage so couldn't fill it in.
Anyway, your idea about just selling on ebay might be a really good idea when you are starting out - a bit like dipping your toe in the water to see how it goes. It is cheap to set up & quick (more importantly). I know the commissions are high at ebay but it will give you a good idea whether your idea works or not.
Setting up a website to sell online is full of loads of pitfalls (I should know!) my online business is in a different field - holidays - but the principles are the same - cost of setting up a website if you don't know how to do it yourself, cost of maintaining it, promoting it so that you are in the top 10 google position etc etc

I would suggest giving the ebay thing a try first in the short term & then if it proves successful moving on to your own independent online business.
Let me know if there is anything else I can help with, I know how hard it can be! Good luck

i am having a bit of success selling clothes but my friend is encouraging me we did a market / boot sale type time today and i made £285 today £175 profit. I am over moon if i could make this everyday i would have a viable business

I've started selling clothes on eBay and am seriously thinking of doing more after reading this post.
It's easy money and you need to be organised, but it's fun too. And you direct your workflow to fit into your lifestyle.
Be interested to know how you get on. Great to hear from more experienced business starters, and their journey and advice too

Holidaymummy - how hard is it rank in the top ten on google. Do you have a holiday website i would guess that is just as competitive to rank high as clothes.

I am selling on ebay not making a million yet...but i am making a profit so going to continue and build up profits to take it to the next level. In my mind was thinking sell on ebay for 9 months then look at expanding by which time i should have the money needed to pay a professional to help with google rankings

Hi there - sorry I hadn't followed the post, so didn't get your question until now! Yes, I do have a holiday website & yes, it is a complete nightmare. It is such a competitive market & you are up against so many "big players" in the market that is is almost impossible. Basically you have to find other techniques if you can but ultimately it really is down to word of mouth - the best way to spread your name.
Its not just the cost of getting a professional to do the rankings - many charge a lot of money for a small business, but it is also set up & maintenance cost of your website - in the clothes busy I expect you will need to update the website as often as me, so basically you must be able to do it yourself otherwise your profits will be eaten up completely.

As a small idea, you could always set up a website in tandem with working on ebay so that you can start getting people to "follow" your website before you really try to push it?
Let me know if there is anything else I can help with.
Lucilla