Have you ever wondered what small business growth over time looks like? What can happen to young ecommerce stores in a couple of years?
Martin, our today’s guest, grants us with an amazing opportunity to observe an ecommerce business growth in dynamics! From his previous interview, we know he managed to DOUBLE his sales in just a month – so, it’d be fantastic to know about how his business operates two years later!
Martin, welcome back! How have you and your business been since we last spoke?
Due to an illness, I have had to take a break from the business at one point, but I have recently started back up again.
And just like before, Sellvia was my choice of a partner as it’s been a good experience with quality service and reliable procedures.
I have started turning a profit again and am ready to scale my business once more. I’d say, it’s growing month by month!
What, do you think, is instrumental for your small business growth?
Sellvia addressed a major issue I had: the delivery time which used to cause many customer complaints. In fact, I was dealing with customer complaints on almost every single order when I was reselling AliExpress products.
It would have shut down the store if it wasn’t for Sellvia’s excellent logistical service and 4 days US delivery time.
Tell us more about things you’re selling!
I sell exercise equipment and sporting goods primarily for home and personal use. I chose it because it’s a personal interest – I used most of the products myself! – but also because I launched it at the start of the pandemic when I assumed this would be a market with lots of potential.
How do you manage your time between running the store and marketing it?
Running the store is relatively easy. With the Sellvia plugin, I can add new products very quickly. The most time-consuming part is making ad creatives. Sellvia’s ready marketing materials for some of the products were actually a time-saver. Still, when it comes to unique ads needed to be done from scratch, I prefer videos, and those take time to create.
Meta advertising proves to be the most effective, even though I had to start over because of the many changes to Meta advertising that made it difficult to maintain a profit. I have also seen some good results from SEO. Plus, I also run a YouTube channel with my store brand. I have even tried ChatGPT to create scripts for my YouTube videos.
How has your small business growth influenced your professional and personal life?
I have learned a lot about digital marketing, social media and website management – I knew nothing when I started. My full-time job is more about face-to-face sales, but I grew more interested in digital sales, trying to grow my online business. I have a new network of like-minded people who also find ecommerce business and social media marketing interesting and discuss it with me.
What do your friends and family think about your ecommerce business?
They think it is great, they are impressed that I can run a profitable ecommerce business and have a full-time job and a family. It makes for some interesting conversations around the dinner table. Even though it’s not a full-time livelihood for me, it’s still very interesting. My wife wants to join me: she thinks of quitting her job and doing ecommerce full-time after this store is back on track. My children are not old enough to join us yet, but maybe they will in the future! We’ve talked about starting their own businesses, and they’d like to start it as some point when they get a little bit older.
What are your small business growth goals?
I want to increase the number of profitable products and eventually make a profit of 10,000 $ per month and start building more stores. I have looked at expanding the business to Etsy and placed an order for a Sellvia turnkey Amazon business just today. It enables Etsy and Amazon integration and allows selling bespoke printed t-shirts, hoodies, whatever.
What advice would you give to ecommerce newcomers wishing to succeed in 2023 and beyond?
I would recommend using a reliable partner like Sellvia. I myself took it slow and learned a lot along the way about marketing and product management. If you want to make a profit quickly, I suggest you make sure that you have a plan. Marketing and SEO are keys to making a profit, so think how you will market your business and which channels you will use. If you have a social platform already, use it!
What an inspirational small business growth story! We’re beyond grateful to Martin for reaching out to us again and providing the over-time feedback so many people look for. With so many further growth opportunities of expanding to Amazon and Etsy, we’re sure his business has a fantastic future!