1. Re-analyze demographic of buyers of particular products
After a month or so of operation, you should start analyzing the
demographic of the customers buying your products.
These include age,
gender, nationality, and such. This will help you make necessary
changes. For example, if you originally perceived that your products
will sell more to people between ages 16-29 and yet your second study
revealed that your buying customers are between the ages of 14 to 40,
you might want to increase your scope of advertisement and make some
other changes.
2. Update future orders according to sales analysis
Your future orders of merchandise from your suppliers should not be based on guesswork. It should be influenced by current data you have with you – the sales report analysis. The idea is simple: order more of products that sell a lot and order less of products that sell less.
Also, you should determine from the sales analysis which products are seasonal (sells well only during certain months of the year). In which case, you should order seasonal products only during their season.
3. Acquire supplies by consignment as much as possible
There are two ways of acquiring merchandise: 1) by purchasing and 2) by
consignment. With consignment, you are taking possession of the products
but you are not yet paying for them.
And here is the juicy part – you will only pay for the sold products. As
for the unsold products, you can return them to the supplier if you
like. This way, you are not absorbing the losses resulting from the unsold
merchandise. It is your supplier that will be absorbing the losses.
4. Limit orders of introductory products
At some point in time, you may want to introduce new items into your
line of products. But do not get too excited so as to order one too many
of the new item. Start with less. If everything gets sold, then try ordering more next time.
If the new item keeps showing promise, it is by then that you can start ordering more. This is a precaution that professional entrepreneurs always take. This is done to prevent possible losses arising from unsold merchandise.
5. Do up selling effectively
Up selling is a marketing technique used by entrepreneurs to maximize
sales.This is done by offering additional related products to customers
that buy from you.
For example, if a customer buys a digital camera from you, you can offer
him to also buy related products such as memory cars, lenses, tripod
stands, and such. It would be easier for them to agree to such offers because the products are related to the product they just bought.
6. Do cross selling effectively
Cross selling is just like up selling. It is done by offering customers
to buy more than what they purchased. But in cross selling, you are
offering a product that is not related to the one they purchased. For
instance, if a customer bought a camera, offering him to buy an mp3
player is called cross selling. This is helpful if you are selling a
variety of products that are not related to each other.
7. Make a list of possible ‘risks’
Business
does not always go according to plan. There are definitely going to be
some obstacles and difficulties. But with careful planning,
deliberation, and observation, you can come up with a list of possible
risks.
Try to think of possible problems that your business might face. Try to simulate situations in your head. What difficulties do you think will arise? With this kind of anticipation, you will be better equipped to face such problems.
Of course, all the tips may be difficult to remember. It is advisable that you read it again and again whenever you have the time. This is the best way to instill the principles to your mind.
This write up is not a solution to the problems that you will face as a businessman, it is available to make you a better entrepreneur – the kind of entrepreneur that can handle problems based on the situation.
Good luck with your business venture. Keep dreaming and keep aiming high. All the Best.
