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Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

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Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#81

Post by swalsh »

mikec3010 wrote: post #45
Descartes1 wrote: post #24

Revenues are irrelevant. Profits aren't.

This is a really ignorant thing to say. If you have a hearty revenue stream but no profit, you can tweak the model to make it profitable. Some profits aren't possible at small scales, so having revenue proves you have demand and can lead to safely risking big bucks to get to a profitable scale.

Especially in the eCommerce business where you might have a deal with a supplier. It's not unusual to be able to negotiate a higher margin the more you sell. Any single financial metric alone cannot tell the whole story of a business. Revenues are equally as important as profits.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#82

Post by swalsh »

fridaysoff wrote: post #71
fabricexpert wrote: post #26

I run an almost identical fabric shop online. 20k/month revenue is great but remember this is not a SaaS with unlimited scale and low costs. It's actually a very traditional business model, and margins here are only going to about 20-30%, potentially a lot less if you have to pay for your storage space. You buy the fabric, typically you'll double the price when selling to customers. Then you take off additional posta…

Thanks for your insight. You're not too far off, but my margins are much higher - thank goodness. I've been at this for 5 years and also have an employee who helps with all the cutting, packaging and shipping. I offer a flat rate shipping fee for small price orders anything under $45. Sales above $45 ship with a Canada Post calculated shipping rate. Good luck with your business :)

Just out of curiosity, have you tried building the price of shipping into the product, and marketing with free shipping? From my own experience in eCommerce, it really boosts conversions.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#83

Post by chatmasta »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #48
sdenton4 wrote: post #3

Beware. There's a whole lot of "start an e shop and get rich quick" bullshit out there. https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/117-the-worlds-most-ex...

I got down to where he said he paid $10 for shipping and instantly clicked that it was a watch from Aliexpress and it was a classic dropshipping gig. There were some people a few years ago that managed to sell off a few hundred Hawaiian shirts that were most likely drop shipped from China by using some well targeted FB (and probably Instagram) advertising, and giving the shirts funny names (named after local alcoholi…

> Morally it's murky, but it's clever.

No offense, but this is the kind of thinking that holds back people from succeeding in business. I see it a lot from non-biz engineering types.

There is nothing, nothing “morally wrong” with dropshipping. The main value you provide is discoverability; if the customer finds a product through you that they would not have found otherwise, then you added value. Also, you provide customer service and return policies that the supplier may not. Finally, you also provide value to the supplier by selling their merchandise in channels they are unable or unwilling to reach.

In fact, all that really matters is that the customer made a voluntary decision to purchase a product from you, and was not misinformed about the terms of purchase or shipping.

You are under no obligation to inform the customer of your suppliers. If you disagree morally with that, then feel free to link them to a site where they can buy your product from someone else.

The idea that there is something “wrong” with selling a product for more than you pay for it is ridiculous, at best. That is literally what business has meant since the dawn of civilization.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#84

Post by fabricexpert »

justaskin134 wrote: post #46
fabricexpert wrote: post #26

I run an almost identical fabric shop online. 20k/month revenue is great but remember this is not a SaaS with unlimited scale and low costs. It's actually a very traditional business model, and margins here are only going to about 20-30%, potentially a lot less if you have to pay for your storage space. You buy the fabric, typically you'll double the price when selling to customers. Then you take off additional posta…

> If you're good at marketing you can shift quite a lot of fabric For me marketing is always the toughest part . How do you do your marketing ? What tips can you offer us that save the most time and money spent ?

It really depends on your business / niche but what works for me is:

- Get to know potential customers. This means talking to them, making friends with (some of) them, getting involved in the community around your product etc.

- Build up a solid blog, instagram etc. for inbound and discovery marketing

- Giveaways / discounts can give you a temporary boost

- Tell your story well, if you're a small business people love to buy from you, and they even accept slower delivery and issues if you personalize your support

- Go to relevant events / shows, try to get featured on podcasts etc.

- Work on SEO

- Pay for ads directly to bloggers, vloggers and relevant content sites

- Send free samples to targeted influencers

- Use but don't abuse your mailing list

What doesn't work for me is buying traffic from google/facebook, they just tend to send junk through with an appalling bounce rate.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#85

Post by ggg9990 »

fridaysoff wrote: post #79
anoncoward111 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice, thanks for the numbers! At a certain point you start competing with Home Depot, Michaels, Walmart, Amazon, whoever. You are in the product retail business, rather than the manufacturing or services business. I think if you get really good at streamlining your marketing (Instagram photos and landing pages) as well as your pick/pack/ship operations (i.e running a warehouse), then you can expand into multiple nich…

You're welcome. Ya you can't be scared off by the big guys like Michaels, Walmart, Amazon. The fabric I sell isn't really mainstream and it's more boutique quality designer prints. My market isn't really people who would shop at the big box stores anyway. I tap into the niche markets, etsy shop owners, small biz crafters. There is a real community and it's one that likes to shop local and Canadian.

What’s the URL? I’m in the market for specialty fabrics

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#86

Post by ggg9990 »

JackFr wrote: post #30
subpixel wrote: post #12

“Knowing I had another year-long maternity leave on the horizon...” said no American, ever.

Is using a year long maternity leave to start a business an argument for extended maternity leaves?

Not really, it’s an argument against. A government funded maternity leave is for the benefit of the child. At the point you have enough time to start a business you can support your own kid.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#87

Post by fabricexpert »

fridaysoff wrote: post #71
fabricexpert wrote: post #26

I run an almost identical fabric shop online. 20k/month revenue is great but remember this is not a SaaS with unlimited scale and low costs. It's actually a very traditional business model, and margins here are only going to about 20-30%, potentially a lot less if you have to pay for your storage space. You buy the fabric, typically you'll double the price when selling to customers. Then you take off additional posta…

Thanks for your insight. You're not too far off, but my margins are much higher - thank goodness. I've been at this for 5 years and also have an employee who helps with all the cutting, packaging and shipping. I offer a flat rate shipping fee for small price orders anything under $45. Sales above $45 ship with a Canada Post calculated shipping rate. Good luck with your business :)

Thanks - how are your margins higher even with an employee? I'm guessing your markup is way higher?

I'm in the UK - I don't think our market can support higher margins (cost to import fabrics is relatively high), so just curious.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#88

Post by matte_black »

Splines wrote: post #54
thecatspaw wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "PJ: That is the one thing that actually makes it look slightly scammy... like Nike's not like we just sold a pair of sneakers." I do have to disagree on this. This is them trying to increase the "social proof", proof that you are making a solid choice in buying this item. Nike doesnt need to do this because everybody knows nike, and feels that they are good shoes worth their money. Showing proof of other purchases…

> Of course this all assumes legit "soAndSo bought it too" messages And this is why I would never trust such messages. It's way too easy to fake it, and too much work to make it real, and there's no way for customers to verify it's real anyway.

Doesn’t matter. If it pops up you still have to actively remind yourself not to trust it to be immune to it’s effect.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#89

Post by conductr »

Descartes1 wrote: post #23

I've always hated the concept of "revenues" in commerce. Honestly, who cares what your revenues are? Profits are all that matters.

Agree. I work for a big healthcare company that likes to throw around the revenue numbers (pretty much all public companies do). Of course it's huge, cause healthcare is expensive (US). Our profit margin is like 2% cause COGS and labor is just as expensive and our top line revenue is basically just a made up number that we like to bill people, with no hopes of actually getting paid that amount, it's before the insurance companies "contractual adjustment", which is essentially a huge discount that we know invalidates top line.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#90

Post by markkanof »

fridaysoff wrote: post #79
anoncoward111 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice, thanks for the numbers! At a certain point you start competing with Home Depot, Michaels, Walmart, Amazon, whoever. You are in the product retail business, rather than the manufacturing or services business. I think if you get really good at streamlining your marketing (Instagram photos and landing pages) as well as your pick/pack/ship operations (i.e running a warehouse), then you can expand into multiple nich…

You're welcome. Ya you can't be scared off by the big guys like Michaels, Walmart, Amazon. The fabric I sell isn't really mainstream and it's more boutique quality designer prints. My market isn't really people who would shop at the big box stores anyway. I tap into the niche markets, etsy shop owners, small biz crafters. There is a real community and it's one that likes to shop local and Canadian.

Thank goodness there are people like you that aren't scared off by the big box stores. I am not in the market for fabrics right now, but I am looking for various supplies for a home remodel. I frequently find that while the big box store might have multiple options in any given product category, they are all garbage and I have to look at specialty stores to find anything worth spending money on.
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