"Online Small Businesses Making it BIG!" Article by Tina Zawila

I read an article recently on Gabby Leibovich, co-founder and director of Australia’s biggest online shopping business Catch of the Day, and the statistics astounded me.  The turnover of this business has doubled year on year, and we are not talking small numbers, its revenue in year 1 was $7 million and by year 4 it was $60 million.  Not bad for a business without a physical shopfront!

Catch of the Day has about 3 million unique members and each week more than 15,000 Australians register as new members.  On average, an item is sold across their group of online stores, every two seconds, and the group receives about 12,000 orders for products and services a day.

 

Certainly, this is an amazing growth story, and it all started with Leibovich selling goods at markets in Melbourne and from his family garage via eBay.

An online business gives budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to enter the market with minimal start up costs and they don’t even need to leave their home to do business with their customers!

Even though these small businesses can be established with relative ease – you can just start up a Facebook page and be on your way – to be really successful, you need to spend the time working ON your business to give your small business the best chance of longevity and profitability.

From the start you should have clearly articulated your vision for your business.  Why you are in business, who are your potential customers, what do they want and how can you reach them?  

Don’t try to go it alone.  Make sure you seek advice from professionals such as your business advisor, and do your research on other businesses/entrepreneurs who are successfully doing what you want to do.  Make sure you can rely on your suppliers, and that you have sufficient capital to fund any upfront costs such as stock purchases.  It’s also important to know how many customers/sales you can fulfil say within a day or a week, so that you can meet and manage your customer expectations.

If you have a vision for your small business, talk to the professional team at Sothertons on 4972 1300, to turn your ideas into reality.