Electronics Bungalow Update

I received an email from the wholesaler that I sent my application for and was informed that I was approved. My next step is to have web developers build my website for me which I plan on doing when I get funds in hopefully next week. I want to give a list of items as a sample of what will be included for products on my site just to give you an idea:

• Computers-including desktops and notebooks
• Televisions-including Plasma, LED, LCD, and 3D
• Tablets
• Cameras and Camcorders
• Printers
• Accessories

plus many other items!

Once it is up and running you will be able to view the products available on the site and if there is something you are looking for that is not on the site I welcome anyone to contact me about what it is you need and I will do my best to try to get that product for you. So please follow this blog so that you can keep up with the updates for Electronics Bungalow, I want to give my customers the best service possible and attend to all their electronic needs.


For my tips and advice today, I wanted to share a website I stumbled upon last week that gives a variety of tips for anyone looking to start an online business:

http://www.dragosroua.com/77-tips-for-starting-an-online-business/

Take a look at that site and as always feel free to leave comments here.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Andrew Owens
Electronics Bungalow

Measurements

Being the weekend I am not likely to hear back from the wholesaler until at least Monday about my application. That being said, I thought about what I can do to keep track of sales, page views, item views, trends, etc...I have searched online and it seems that a lot of small online businesses use Google Analytics to keep track of a lot of that stuff while using the merchant services for payment to keep track of the accounting and sales.

However you decide to track the measurements and progress of your business, just know that it is VERY IMPORTANT to indeed keep track of the measurements and progress of your business. There are a lot of useful tools out there and you can't just focus on sales and dollars in order to run a successful online business. It is probably more difficult to run an online business than a brick & mortar store, albeit less start up expenses, which makes it more important to also focus on every factor that has an effect on your business.

I myself will probably start using Google Analytics for these measurements once I get my business officially launched. I will play around with other tools as well and see what I feel is best for myself and my business and will report back here to inform you guys as well. Until then, be sure that you know what measurements you need to keep track of and use tools that are out there for e-commerce businesses.


Andrew Owens
Electronics Bungalow

Help

ELECTRONICS BUNGALOW UPDATE:

I was able to get in touch via email with the wholesaler and they said that the application is close to being complete, they needed one more form for me to fill out for them which I have already completed and submitted. I hope to hear back from them by Monday or Tuesday.

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I titled this post "Help" because I wanted to talk a little bit about needing help when you are starting your own business. With my experience so far, I have already had to ask a thousand questions and I will probably be asking a million more in search for answers and help on what steps I need to do and the direction I should be going. Starting something up from scratch isn't easy and it can get a little overwhelming at times.

I want to reiterate that if there is something you need help with or something you don't know or confused about to just ask questions, search online for the answers, join a forum that has members in similar situations. Never be ashamed to ask for help, I am really close to officially launching my business because of the questions I asked and the help I received.

One of the best sites that was given to me to find information, tips, and ideas for an e-commerce business was this website:

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/

I highly recommend checking out and looking around that website if you are looking to start an
e-commerce business or even if you already have an e-commerce business because they offer all kinds of advice. Also, I welcome an comments on my blog, so if you have any questions about my company or need help with something please feel free to make a comment.


Andrew Owens
Electronics Bungalow

The Waiting Game

So I have sent the application to the wholesaler I want to order my products from last Tuesday and I have yet to hear an accept or deny for the application. I will be emailing them tomorrow as to the progress of the application.

I want to talk just a little about patience when trying to build a business for yourself. This isn't the kind of thing that will happen over night, it is something you want to take your time with and plan out so that you get everything correct. There are steps that are needed to be taken before you can even begin to sell a product. Make sure you understand the legalities of starting a business and be patient when going through these steps because some of them take a little longer to accomplish than others.

I have had to wait for certain documents for weeks at a time and I can't just ignore these things because they are necessary from a legal standpoint and also to get to the next step. Right now I am waiting for the wholesaler approval and it is hard to move on until that goes through. So my advise is just to be patient, some things take time and if you rush through things it will just hurt you later on.

Andrew Owens,

Electronics Bungalow

The Beginning

Hello, my name is Andrew Owens. I am the founder and owner of "Electronics Bungalow". My business is in the pre-stages of being created and I will be using this blog to update the progress of it, then once it is up and running I will be posting product updates, specials, sales, and promotions on the site. I would also like to use this site as information for people that are trying get into business for themselves, I know it has been a little bumpy road for myself and I have found articles and websites that have helped me out so I would like to pay that forward.

Let me start by telling you a little about myself. I am 26 years old and I reside in Woodland Hills, CA. I moved to California from Florida in February, 2010 where I spent most of my life. I attended Florida State University and received by undergraduate degree in Business Management. Currently I am taking online classes for a Masters in Accounting & Financial Management.

I have had the 9-5, Monday-Friday jobs with crummy pay just like everyone else and I grew tired of it. I felt like I could do more for myself with something that is my own that I can work on in my own hours and be my own boss. I wanted to create something I could be proud of and make a respectable income with so I decided to create an online electronics store. I felt like there is always a demand for electronics and if I can get my price my products competitively and market them to the right group then I can find some success. The goal is not to get filthy rich and I realize that more than likely won't happen. My initial goal right now is to get it up and running and to start slow with trying to build customers and get my name out there.

Electronics Bungalow will be a store that will have great prices for consumer electronics and be designed as a store college students can come to and find what they need for classes as well as looking for with recreation. I know when I was an undergrad there wasn't a whole lot of electronics places that had good deals for students. There was an on campus store, but that was more expensive than any place else. The store will be accessible for everyone, but I would really like to market it more to college students and have them see that there is an alternative store for them to turn to for their electronic needs for classes.

So I will try to update this blog everyday and keep everyone informed on the progress of the website. As it stands today, I am waiting to hear back about my wholesaler application then I will be building the website. Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions on here as I love to hear feedback.

Andrew Owens

Electronics Bungalow