The very first thing that you will discover as an online retailer is that online retail is tough. Even with all of the automated solutions and online resources available these days, most people that try will fail and quit.
Success in online retail, like success in other businesses and areas of life, depends upon the development of good habits. Fortunately, these habits can be learned once you’ve identified them. When you learn the habits of successful online retailers, you can imitate them and become successful yourself!
I have identified five major habits of successful online retailers and entrepreneurs that you can try to adopt. Incorporate these into your life and success will follow.
1. Successful entrepreneurs are focused
Most successful people are focused: They do one thing and do it very well. A focused person becomes an expert at a business because he or she focuses on it and refuses to be distracted.
The great Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie said a successful person must “concentrate your thoughts, your energy and your capital” in one area. Carnegie did this by focusing his efforts on the production of one product: steel. Carnegie became so good at producing steel that he became one of the richest men in human history.
Here are some methods that you can use to develop focus:
- Concentrate on one task at a time. Don’t multitask or work on several projects at once.
- Create to do lists or outlines and follow them. A good way to do this is to create a list of the most important tasks. For example, complete the projects you make the most money from first.
- Avoid distractions by ignoring email, Facebook, instant messaging, etc., when you’re working on an important project.
2. Successful entrepreneurs don’t waste time
Most unsuccessful people have one thing in common: they waste a lot of time. They fiddle around with projects, get easily distracted by email or the web, or end up watching TV or playing video games instead of working.
Some ways to avoid wasting time include:
- Treating your business as your job; set several hours a day aside for it, and devote those hours only to the business.
- Limiting distractions. A great way to do this is to create a separate office with no TV, video games, books, etc., where you can work. Another is to work alone.
3. Successful online entrepreneurs use productivity management tools
The most successful entrepreneurs in history, including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs and Sam Walton, always took advantage of the latest technology. They cut costs and reduced labor time by using automated solutions.
Online retailers can do the same thing by taking advantage of productivity management tools. Such solutions can help you focus on your work by limiting distractions such as Facebook, Skype, and email. The best thing about productivity management tools is that they can teach you not to waste time.
Some popular productivity management tools or apps include:
- Streak: an online customer relationship manager that manages email contacts.
- Asana: another online customer relationship manager that can handle sales, tracking, hiring and customer relationships.
- Trello: a similar tool to Streak and Asana that’s free.
- Stay Focused: an extension for Google Chrome that limits the amount of time you spend on time wasting websites (such as YouTube, Facebook or sports-related sites).
- Leech Block: a similar tool to Stay Focused for Mozilla Firefox.
- Self Control: a Mac app that blocks access to distracting websites and even your mail server, just like Stay Focused.
- Chrome Nanny: another Google Chrome app that blocks access to online distractions.
- Time Tracker: keeps track of how much time you spend on various websites so you can see how much time you’re wasting.
4. Successful online entrepreneurs have a good work/life balance
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Many retailers "burn out" because they spend all their time working. They have no fun, neglect their social lives, and find themselves caught on an unsatisfying treadmill of nothing but work. Successful entrepreneurs don’t burn out because they have a good work/life balance.
Some tips for having a good work life balance include:
- Limit the amount of work you do to eight hours or less a day. A good way to do this is to have a specific time that you stop work every day, such as 5 p.m.
- Make sure you have more in your life than work. Take time out for family, social activities, religious activities, relaxing and just plain fun.
- Get at least eight hours of sleep a night.
- Take regular work breaks, such as every two hours or when you complete a specific task.
5. Successful online entrepreneurs keep themselves physically fit by exercising
You will never be able to operate at peak performance if you’re out of shape or sick. Dozens of studies have shown that people who exercise every day are more productive. The reason for this is that those who exercise are in better health and have more energy.
A study in Sweden found that dentists who devoted 2.5 hours a week to exercise got more done at work. The average person needs to get at least a half hour of physical activity, such as a walk every day, in order to be healthy.
If you want to be successful, exercise every day and eat right. You’ll be happier and more productive.
These habits are just the beginning of success for an online retailer. But there are many other habits that can breed success.
Bonus tip: Provide outstanding customer service
Good customer service doesn’t mean catering to all the customers’ whims — it means providing the best customer experience possible. Zappos.com founder Tony Hsieh said it best in a 2007 interview with Inc. Magazine:
“I'd rather spend money on things that improve the customer experience than on marketing,” Hsieh said. Hsieh knows that a happy customer will recommend his site to others, so he concentrates on customer experience.
Zappos.com is now the world’s largest online shoe and clothing shop. The site became so successful that in 2009, Amazon.com acquired it for $1.2 billion. Zappos’ success is based on the successful habits that Hsieh developed.
Start implementing these habits into your routine, but only one at a time. Master it, then move onto a new one. Slow and steady wins the race!
