Hello. My name is Toni Lawrence and I own Celebrate Milestones (http://celebrate-milestones.com). I put the business together in 2009 as a result of job outsourcing and my need to bring in income. I was working out of my home full time for T-Mobile, taking customer service calls for T-Mobile when they decided to outsource their call center jobs to Bangladesh (200 people lost their jobs).
While on unemployment, and having a hard time finding a job despite a good work record and a great deal of experience, I decided to open an on-line gift shop. As the shop expanded I later moved on to all types of items for special events. Currently I carry wedding dresses and formal wear, jewelry, party favors and decorations as well as gifts.
Because I did not have money to purchase inventory I looked into drop shipping as an alternative way to add items to the store, but not have to invest in stock. I have an agreement with several wholesale distributors in order to carry a variety of different items than those supplied from just one wholesaler, and my customers order through me. I get a small percentage off what I buy from the distributor, sometimes have to pay a drop ship fee to them, and they send the merchandise directly to the customer. Many wholesalers demand a minimum purchase, and since I am working on a tight budget and most of the orders I receive are for one item, I am not always able to work with wholesalers I would like to. I have my checkout charge shipping via the UPS table for the weight of the item, and I do not make any money off the shipping – as a matter of fact, because I live in Michigan the UPS charges are based on items being sent from Michigan to the customer instead of where they actually come from (distributors from all over the country and Canada) I may even end up paying more for shipping than I charge the customer. In addition, I offer free ground shipping within the continental U.S. on orders over $150 (except for extra heavy items, in which I allow a $30 shipping allowance). Since the distributors do not have that policy I take the shipping charges out of my profits (sometimes I end up paying more than I make). This is a lesson I had to learn – about the $30 allowance, because I ended up paying out-of-pocket a couple times and too many of those puts you out of business.
Although I had years of retail experience in physical stores, and had owned a local newspaper for a few years, I did not have online marketing experience. This has been the biggest challenge I have had to meet. There are many things you have to know in order to have an online store that gets traffic, and the business world is changing these rules all the time.
For someone wishing to start a business of their own, I recommend you take some business courses as well as bookkeeping. One thing I have learned over the years was the importance of a real business plan, a good bookkeeping system, and knowing your competitors as well as your products.
Do a lot of research on the niche you want to appeal to, and be willing to make adjustments as you go along.
I do research all the time for myself, from setting up the website, adding stock, bookkeeping and keeping up with out-of-stock and discontinued items.
Because not all distributors send out a list when an item is out-of-stock or discontinued, and I have over 7,000 items in my shop, I am not always able to catch an item before a customer orders it.
In those cases I have to try to save the sale by substituting for another item, or give the money back.
This is heartbreaking for two reasons – I lose a potential customer who will probably never come back, and I lose revenue.
Because competition is stiff, here is what I I need to do:
With Celebrate Milestones I need to make sure that my customer service is set apart from the others by being better at what I do.
I understand how important it is to show appreciation for the people who are supporting my business by purchasing from me, so I want to bend over backwards to get them what they are looking for. It’s not always possible to please everyone, and sometimes you do get scammed and end up taking a loss. That’s all a part of doing business.
Because the store does not bring in nearly what I made working, I still have to supplement my income by doing other jobs. I freelance as a writer doing web content for several people. The business pays for itself, and my utilities, but I have a long way to go to make it a full-time job.
Be prepared to work 20 hours a day when trying to get started. You don’t have to be technically inclined if you use templates and have a server that is dependable. If you can afford it, pay someone to do your SEO work. You will find you will need to do a blog separately (http://partyideadblog.com/ ), and make sure you add links back to your site in the content.
People who work at home have a real challenge. Some people think that, because you are working at home, you can just drop things and go at a drop of the hat. Not if you are serious about being successful.
It is not something you can do when you have small children around. I watch my (2-yr-old) grandson while my daughter goes to school. He demands all of my attention, so when he is here I can’t work. If you can work with someone else, and they can take care of the kids while you are trying to get going, that would be a plus.
Better yet, have others work with you to set things up. I did it alone, along with trying to look for a job and write, so there is no free time.
Not everyone can own a business, but everyone wants to. Many people who are experts in their field do not make good business owners.
You have to be ready to accept help and criticism.
You have to have the time to devote to make it work, and you have understand there will be setbacks.
If you keep your eye on the goal, and don’t get diverted, you will be successful. I wish you the best.
Some items you may find shopping online at Celebrate Milestones~
While on unemployment, and having a hard time finding a job despite a good work record and a great deal of experience, I decided to open an on-line gift shop. As the shop expanded I later moved on to all types of items for special events. Currently I carry wedding dresses and formal wear, jewelry, party favors and decorations as well as gifts.
Because I did not have money to purchase inventory I looked into drop shipping as an alternative way to add items to the store, but not have to invest in stock. I have an agreement with several wholesale distributors in order to carry a variety of different items than those supplied from just one wholesaler, and my customers order through me. I get a small percentage off what I buy from the distributor, sometimes have to pay a drop ship fee to them, and they send the merchandise directly to the customer. Many wholesalers demand a minimum purchase, and since I am working on a tight budget and most of the orders I receive are for one item, I am not always able to work with wholesalers I would like to. I have my checkout charge shipping via the UPS table for the weight of the item, and I do not make any money off the shipping – as a matter of fact, because I live in Michigan the UPS charges are based on items being sent from Michigan to the customer instead of where they actually come from (distributors from all over the country and Canada) I may even end up paying more for shipping than I charge the customer. In addition, I offer free ground shipping within the continental U.S. on orders over $150 (except for extra heavy items, in which I allow a $30 shipping allowance). Since the distributors do not have that policy I take the shipping charges out of my profits (sometimes I end up paying more than I make). This is a lesson I had to learn – about the $30 allowance, because I ended up paying out-of-pocket a couple times and too many of those puts you out of business.
Although I had years of retail experience in physical stores, and had owned a local newspaper for a few years, I did not have online marketing experience. This has been the biggest challenge I have had to meet. There are many things you have to know in order to have an online store that gets traffic, and the business world is changing these rules all the time.
For someone wishing to start a business of their own, I recommend you take some business courses as well as bookkeeping. One thing I have learned over the years was the importance of a real business plan, a good bookkeeping system, and knowing your competitors as well as your products.
Do a lot of research on the niche you want to appeal to, and be willing to make adjustments as you go along.
I do research all the time for myself, from setting up the website, adding stock, bookkeeping and keeping up with out-of-stock and discontinued items.
Because not all distributors send out a list when an item is out-of-stock or discontinued, and I have over 7,000 items in my shop, I am not always able to catch an item before a customer orders it.
In those cases I have to try to save the sale by substituting for another item, or give the money back.
This is heartbreaking for two reasons – I lose a potential customer who will probably never come back, and I lose revenue.
Because competition is stiff, here is what I I need to do:
With Celebrate Milestones I need to make sure that my customer service is set apart from the others by being better at what I do.
I understand how important it is to show appreciation for the people who are supporting my business by purchasing from me, so I want to bend over backwards to get them what they are looking for. It’s not always possible to please everyone, and sometimes you do get scammed and end up taking a loss. That’s all a part of doing business.
Because the store does not bring in nearly what I made working, I still have to supplement my income by doing other jobs. I freelance as a writer doing web content for several people. The business pays for itself, and my utilities, but I have a long way to go to make it a full-time job.
Be prepared to work 20 hours a day when trying to get started. You don’t have to be technically inclined if you use templates and have a server that is dependable. If you can afford it, pay someone to do your SEO work. You will find you will need to do a blog separately (http://partyideadblog.com/ ), and make sure you add links back to your site in the content.
People who work at home have a real challenge. Some people think that, because you are working at home, you can just drop things and go at a drop of the hat. Not if you are serious about being successful.
It is not something you can do when you have small children around. I watch my (2-yr-old) grandson while my daughter goes to school. He demands all of my attention, so when he is here I can’t work. If you can work with someone else, and they can take care of the kids while you are trying to get going, that would be a plus.
Better yet, have others work with you to set things up. I did it alone, along with trying to look for a job and write, so there is no free time.
Not everyone can own a business, but everyone wants to. Many people who are experts in their field do not make good business owners.
You have to be ready to accept help and criticism.
You have to have the time to devote to make it work, and you have understand there will be setbacks.
If you keep your eye on the goal, and don’t get diverted, you will be successful. I wish you the best.
Some items you may find shopping online at Celebrate Milestones~
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