How to build a successful e-commerce business

Is there a short cut to success? I’d love to give you a new and unique answer which would magically make all your problems disappear. But, unfortunately, there is none. So, I’m just going to go with the old fashioned epithets of ‘hard work ‘, perseverance, talent and a little bit of luck (although the law of attraction states luck itself is directly proportional to how hard you work!).

A lot of budding entrepreneurs think that they can get a website, open a shop and customers will beat a path to their store. The reality is far different. With a billion websites out there, getting discovered, building the trust that gets a sale take a lot of time. Most new e-commerce sites don’t net a single sale for the first 3 months.

You could do a simple google search to find hundreds of articles about hard work. I simply wish to give a more realistic perspective on the subject.

Case study 1:

In 1993, K. Anders Ericsson and colleagues asked musicians to estimate the amount of deliberate practice– full engagement in structured training activities designed to improve a particular aspect of performance– every week for each year of their careers. They found that on average, the most accomplished musicians estimated much higher amounts of deliberate practice than the less accomplished musicians. At age 20, the average estimated hours for the most accomplished violinists was more than 10,000 hours, whereas the average estimated hours for the least accomplished violinists was about 4,600 hours.

Case study 2:

Winston Churchill, one of the 20th century’s greatest orators, practiced his speeches compulsively. Vladimir Horowitz supposedly said, “If I don’t practice for a day, I know it. If I don’t practice for two days, my wife knows it. If I don’t practice for three days, the world knows it.”

 

The field of fashion is no different. Sure, talent is important, but consistency, hard work and dedication to the art are even more important. Opening an online store is easy, anyone can do it. But making it successful requires hardwork, perseverance and motivation. Maintaining its standards consistently with new, catchy designs, customer service, keeping up with trends, research etc are the tough parts. It’s even tougher doing all these knowing that you statistically won’t be getting even a single order for at least 3 months from starting your store. These are the parts which will determine if you will be a success story or a cautionary tale for others.

If you say, “I’ve tried all this, still no success”, here are few more case studies for you, Colonel Sander’s chicken recipe was rejected 1099 times before going mainstream, Henry ford failed in five businesses before starting ford motors, Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper early in his career because “he lacked imagination and creative ideas”.

So what is the secret sauce to building a new digital business?

1. Have something truly unique
2. Share your website with friends and family and ask them to share it with their friends
3. Provide excellent customer support. Give your customers a reason to buy from you
4. Be active on social media like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and share your work.

In the end it takes talent, nurturing, motivation, persistence and hardwork to build a success story. There are no shortcuts here!

Fashion Philosophy

Where’s all the art?

Though it might seem as if the artistic aspect of fashion is missing in the bustle of commercial marketing and constantly changing trends, it actually is not the case if you look at the work of some of the most accomplished designers today.

Just like painting, sculpture or dance, there is an inspiration, that compels the designer to create, thus giving them a reason to create, a purpose. This compulsion can be due to numerous factors which could be emotional or inspired by internal or external circumstances. Regardless, the compulsion to create can be boiled down as a need to express,

Fashion creates a gate way for the human mind to express an inner truth, a belief or an idea, about oneself or the external world though the canvas of clothing. An emotion one can wear, which reflects themselves or the world around them.

Every aspect of a garment can tell a story, from the colors, texture, cut, drape to even minute subliminal details such as buttons which can signify strong ideals such as aspiration or innocence.

Now, owing to the union of technology and fashion, expressing yourself has become easier than ever. Through the MyWear^® designer platform, you now have a blank canvas. Express your own emotional spectrum by launching your own clothing line under your own label.

So, whats your expression?

 

MyWear My Way: Nicole Richie’s Bevy of Blossoms & Stripes

Spring is just around the corner and, if you’re anything like me, you’re busy lobbying and bribing all the groundhogs out there with bark and apples in the hope we can get this show on the road! Late January seems to set off an internal alarm in most of us that says we’ve officially had it with winter and are ready to embrace warm weather… and the fun, poppy fashion that goes along with it! When I came across this stunner Nicole Richie wore on a red carpet I knew I needed it in my life. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate spring than with a combination of delicate blossoms and bright, sporty stripes.

Because the real deal is out of the question, as this is probably thousands of dollars, I made my own interpretation via LaunchMyWear!

I started by creating a stripe pattern in Photoshop:

Next, I found floral patterns to work off, adding flowers by copying and pasting layers in Photoshop. I made a second layer of the design and flipped horizontally to create a floral peter pan collar:

Finally, I uploaded the files to LaunchMyWear and applied the floral print to the collar and the stripes to the skirt and hemline only. I kept the top bright white.

After publishing my dress, it’s ready for purchase. Not only for myself, but anyone who wants to buy or customize their own on MyWearStore.com! Now, please, Spring… hurry up!