Online shoe business start-up steps

Hello Everybody,

I'm new here and I have one question and hopefully somebody may be able to help me.

I would like to start my own online business selling shoes. My question is, what do I have to do first? Do I have to create the website first or do I have to make deals with wholesalers first? I hope that this is clear and any answers will be much appreciated. Furthermore if someone can provide me a few wholesalers names (from Europe) it will be great.

Its totally your call really.

I would recommend setting up a few wholesale deals first before doing the site. At the end of the day the site costs money - domain names, hosting, graphic designer, pay per clicks, advertising etc

You don't really want to have masses of money going out before it starts coming in,

If you give yourself a month you can also start bulidng anticipation for the launch. Get it all sorted and you will more than likely receive a flurry of orders on day one and get the cash flow moving quickly.

One word of advice, if you are asking questions like 'what do I do first' you need to go back and start doing far more research. Make sure you know what you are doing first and you will have a business model that is a lot smoother.

Its hard to say a lot more about this without knowing how much stock you are buying and what shoes you are buying.

I have a few suppliers somewhere will try dig em' out for you.

bevsey thank you very much for your reply.

i guess you are right, i need to do a lot more research in order to start this business. What i was thinking is to get my contacts ready so i know from the beginning that my suppliers will be able to supply me the products i will ask for.
But i am not really sure how much stock is wise to buy at the beginning because you know its a bit risky to spend a lot of money and then not having enough buyers to ask for them.
My main problem though is that i dont know which supplier i should trust and i guess this is a very common problem for anyone trying to build a retail business.

If you can provide me a few names it would be great...i want to sell athletic and casual mens shoes that will be cheap and modern (this is me dream business)!!!

Thanks bevsey

Thanks Chris.

Research is the key, if you are selling shoes then obviously there are buyers out.

If you are looking at the shoe market, already very competitive and have money behind you. Don't know your financial situation but you would be amazed what a few thousand can do.

My recommendation would be this - are you going to compete selling well known brands against the likes of big shoe companys like footlocker etc? No probably not.

I would go the China route, (may involve a trip there - which hey isn't a bad thing) and going to shoe manufacturers and creating your own brand. Combine price with comfort or Cost with quality and get them made for around $15 a pair. Then come back and make a margin of around 300% if not more. For me this is what China is all about, none of this iPod rubbish just real business!

If you can design a few innovative models. Maybe a black loafer with a bright green sort of logo/design on it. Maybe a couple in red. People WILL buy this. If you are the only company that does this then people will love it.

Granted the shoes maybe not to your taste but you don't have to sell what you like. I will be honest and say I wouldn't ever sell on eBay half the stuff my buyers do but they sell it. Would I wear all the clothes I sell? No!

But people will buy it, we are entering a stage now where innovation is everything, no longer can you just copy someone elses idea and find a good income (sadly) those days are well gone.

I will leave saying that these things are the items that become overnight successes! You get a celeb wearing your shoes, it gets featured in a magazine next thing you know you will have orders by the thousands and being offered distribution services by every company going...