500 euro, the freedom of Web, good strategy and personal commitment were the ingredients that Yiannis Zafeiropoulos (@i_Zaf) needed in order to make a successful e-business.
Advice: Look for customers right from the first day! Don’t just wait for funding.
Yiannis Zafeiropoulos writes:
“It’s been approximately 2, 5 years since I started www.AZshop.gr with very limited resources, as an extension to the family business. The most common question people ask me is “How did you do it?”
How it all begun…
After I finished my MBA at ALBA Graduate Business School I was searching for a job, like most people of my age do when they finish their studies. However, after approximately 12 months and hundreds of job applications to Greek companies, I was never proposed a job offer…
How it worked out…
By investing just 500 euros (plus 3000 euros for merchandise) I decided to start an e-shop that sells kid’s apparel. What I had from the family business was a small warehouse and the established connections with the suppliers. What I didn’t have was… everything else that is necessary to start an e-business…
By bringing back to life an old obsolete laptop I set up my web site with Skroutz store’s subscriber based platform. I took pictures of my products with my personal pocket camera and used a table “photo studio” that I bought for 120 euros from ebay. By watching tutorials on YouTube and attending a Photoshop seminar (which I bought for 19 euros from a group buying site) I learned the basics of photo editing and I managed to make my product photos look more professional. I also designed myself my business cards and edited the company logo, which I scanned from an old leaflet of the family business. Additionally, I wrote all product titles and descriptions, negotiated the shipping cost after I contacted all courier companies in the country, organized the warehouse, created a customer feedback form, personally thanked every customer after each purchase etc.
Advice: Investment can be limited, as long as you have a specific strategy to follow!
The free side of the web
For the promotion of the business, I read a book on Google Adwords, watched all video tutorials on YouTube and took advantage of the free credit that Google offers to every new Adwords account. Furthermore, I set up free Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin business accounts, and I read and watched every instruction I found on the internet about these services. I also created a text-only weekly newsletter and sent it from a free Gmail account to every customer that had opted-in for newsletters. I took advantage of every free tool available on the internet and studied hard to learn how each service works. And slowly but steadily, my e-shop was improving and was gaining more and more reputation.
Throughout this course, I had decided to borrow ideas only from the world’s best e-commerce sites and try innovate in as many areas as I could. Also, I wanted my e-shop to offer excellent customer service, because I myself am a very demanding customer. I thought that even if my business fails, I would like it to be remembered as a small e-shop with large customer service…
Advice: Resources are always there…and often they cost nothing!
Personal engagement is the key
By working 18-22 hours a day for more than a year, I managed to create with minimum capital a sustainable e-business, which has now one of the most advanced web sites in Greece and offers top level customer service!
Therefore, when people ask me now “How did you do it?”, I respond by saying “money is the last thing you need if you want to create an e-business”…
