Hey all,

Being thinking around of a "What if I start an online busines" idea and the ones that calls my attention is the one to sell products but I literately have no idea what does involve having a online business and wanted some advice. One thing that I always think about this business is the returned product.... Does the company swallow the cost or is there another way around that? What about merchandise stocked? What amount is good to start?

Thank you.

Ideas are crap, everyone has them.

Check out Running Lean by Ash Maurya, it has a great framework on how to move with that idea through to something tangible and see if it is wanted and/or needed by your market.

Look at a business and see how you can make it better, faster, cheaper.  Add value to peoples lives and you will add money to your pocketbook.

Returned product - if you buy from a distributor most of the time they have a return process and will take the item back.  I manufacture my own product and most of the time eat the cost.  I have my manufacture provide some/most replacement parts.

If you just want to sell other people product I would suggest doing what is called dropshipping to start where when you sell something you have a supplier ship it.  That way you don't actually have to carry any stock but it is a cutthroat game.  It is low margin sales that you don't earn much but you can build a following and then start stocking the higher selling items to make more.  To make things even more interesting you can private label items (take something and put your brand name on it) which is what I do.

If you have any specific questions PM me.