Want to start an ecommerce business? Hold on to that enthusiasm. As you dive into this opportunity, you’re going to run into questions—and answers to these questions will naturally lead to more questions.
It’ll be overwhelming. It’ll be a little scary. There will be unknowns.
Don’t be alarmed. This is a natural part of the process.
We’re here to help answer as many questions as we can. Instead of writing a 25,000-word guide that may or may not answer your immediate questions, we decided to make an ultimate toolkit to guide you to the right resources.
Below, we’ll direct you to the best guides, articles, podcasts, interviews, YouTube videos, and courses you need to help you start an ecommerce business. Don’t read all of them now—that’ll be too overwhelming. Instead, browse through and see which ones stand out. Start there.
Bookmark this page and come back when you have questions. We promise we’ll have answers. Plus, all these resources are free, so you can consume as much or as little as you’d like (whenever you like).
Resources to Help You Start an Ecommerce Business
1. Hiring Your Ecommerce Team (Article)
Just because you’re building an online business doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. Build the right team, and you can accelerate your way to success much faster than going solo.
Our guide to hiring an ecommerce all-star team will show you who to hire and how much to pay them. The article breaks down why each role is essential, and it’ll give you key dos and don’ts to look for when you start the interview process.
2. Figuring Out Your Expenses (Article)
This step is where most want-to-be founders get tripped up. After getting excited about revenue opportunities, they start thinking about the costs.
It takes money to make money, but estimating your ecommerce startup costs doesn’t have to be a guessing game. This article walks you through all the expenses you can expect. From buying your domain name to taking professional photos, this piece covers everything you need to know to accurately budget and save money.
3. How to Build a Successful Ecommerce Business (Podcast)
In this first episode of Foundr’s Incubator series, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at a coaching call between the head of a billion-dollar company and an up-and-coming ecommerce entrepreneur.
The conversation shifts between how to grow, how to market, and how to take your online business to the next level—and the 2 cover just about every question you have on your mind (and likely a few you’ll have soon).
Give it a listen if you’re looking for know-how sprinkled with empowerment and inspiration.
4. Ecommerce Marketing Tips (Video)
Gretta Van Riel knows a thing or 2 about starting a business—she’s created 4 multi-million dollar ecommerce brands. In this short video, Gretta breaks down the ecommerce marketing tips she followed to repeat this success again and again.
You’ll learn about:
- Content strategies
- Collaboration opportunities
- Consistency benefits
- Email list building
- Upselling tactics
If you want inspiration to uplevel your marketing, spend your next 15 minutes watching this. You might be doing a few of these things already, but we know you’ll hear something you’ve never learned before.
5. Ecommerce Success Story With Maurah Ruiz (Video)
Professional model, pageant queen, and international entrepreneur Maurah Ruiz chats with Foundr about how she launched Acv Gummi. Ruiz’s first 2 businesses failed, but then she learned the framework necessary to create her own brand.
She followed the model, and now she’s moving on to a 2nd (and potentially 3rd) ecommerce business. Here’s what she shares in the interview:
- Advertising mistakes and how to do it right
- How to master influence marketing
- Tips for building a marketing budget
Whether you’re launching your 1st or your 5th ecommerce business, this is the interview you’ll wish you had heard from the get-go.
6. Common Ecommerce Mistakes (Article)
You don’t have to learn the hard way. Others have gone the path before you, and they’re not afraid to share their most honest (and embarrassing) blunders.
Give this a quick read if you want to avoid the most common ecommerce mistakes. There’s a good chance you might be making them already, but not to worry—there’s still time to pivot and recover.
7. Ecommerce Social Media Strategies (Article)
Social media can be a make-or-break tool for marketing your ecommerce business. Used correctly, it can spread awareness and sales like wildfire. However, “going viral” is easier said than done.
This blog post outlines modern-day strategies for dominating on social media. It includes tips for choosing the right networks, preparing your content, leveraging influencers, and more. If you’re looking to build your brand (and sales) on social media, this blog post is the best place to start.
8. Building the Perfect Sales Funnel for Your Ecommerce Store (Article)
Sales funnels are key to the success of any ecommerce store. You need a plan for how you’re going to take your audience from awareness to customers. Beyond that, you want to turn customers into repeat customers and repeat customers into brand fanatics.
It doesn’t happen by accident. You need a plan.
The guide to ecommerce sales funnels will walk you through how to build your funnel from the ground up. It’ll help you validate your ideas and build a product page that converts. Plus, it includes funnel-building tactics (like social proof and incentives) to push buyers from reading to entering their credit card information.
Learn how to build your sales funnel before you even start selling with this comprehensive how-to.
9. Profitable Business Ideas for 2021 (Video)
Want to start an ecommerce idea but don’t know where to start? Let Foundr CEO Nathan Chan give you a hand. In this short video, he’ll walk you through the exact businesses he’d start if Foundr went bankrupt tomorrow.
10. Finding the Best Ecommerce Brand Name (Video)
What’s a brand without a name? Not much, really. To shine, your ecommerce business is going to need a kick-butt name—and this video will show you how to find it.
Gretta Van Riel will walk you through her namestorming process for finding the right name for your brand. She’ll also provide some much-needed advice to keep you from drowning in the pool of indecision. Give it a watch if you’re struggling to find a good name for your ecommerce business.
11. How a Bootstrapped Ecommerce Company Took on Amazon (Podcast)
Need some inspiration to get through the hard times? Listen to this podcast episode with Steve Traurig, cofounder of Booktopia.
Learn how Steve stumbled upon Booktopia and got it off the ground without any business loans or VC funding. Hear how Steve and his business fought back Amazon after the ecommerce behemoth came across the waters to Australia.
Steve’s story is loaded with tips and actionable advice for building a sellable company. Listen to the podcast to discover all he’s learned and how to adopt his “never say never” mindset.
12. Automate Your Ecommerce Business (Article)
You’re likely not starting an ecommerce business because you want to work long nights and on the weekends. Starting a business can be difficult and time-consuming, but there are ways you can offload work while still operating efficiently.
Learn the 11 ecommerce business processes you can automate and how to do it. This blog post will help you identify which tasks to automate and how to find the right software to get the job done. It might be a 10-minute read, but it’ll save you countless hours in the weeks, months, and years to come.
13. Getting Your First Sale (Article)
There’s nothing as validating as making your first sale—but even great products can result in zero customers. This blog post will walk you through all the different ways you can hustle to get your first sale and build your business’s momentum.
We’ll cover everything from networking to Facebook Ads to community building. You’ll leave with the know-how to get your first sale on Day 1 instead of Week 2.
Start Your Ecommerce Business Today
Don’t have any specific questions but want all the answers? This is where to start. Our bread-and-butter ecommerce masterclass will walk you through everything you need to know to launch a profitable online store in 12 weeks or less.
This course covers:
- What product ideas work best in 2021 and beyond
- How to know if your ecommerce idea will work
- Formulas for making sales immediately
- Frameworks for scaling a profitable business
Plus, you’ll get the “Idea to Brand” eBook for free just by signing up. It’s loaded with 130+ pages of ecommerce case studies, tried-and-true tactics, and actionable content for creating a successful online business.
