How to start an online boutique

When I wanted to start my own boutique online I went crazy looking for a "how to guide". I wanted to find someone to tell me exactly how to do this and be good at it. Well I will later on tell you about the steps I took but here is a great guide to get you started. After all I support mom owned business and I want you to be successful as well.
How to start an online boutique
Step 1
First of all, what do you want to sell? Is there a problem that you are trying to solve? Are you trying to make someones life better? I know these questions are overly dramatic but important. You have to find a problem and have a solution for it. Get a strategy going...sit down in front of the computer and get your shit together. Only the well thought out ideas succeed. So you want to be a millionaire stay at home mom...well how do you want to get there? Create some sort of business plan. Don't rush this!! Take your time, this plan will change over and over but the concept should stay the same; you want to open an online boutique.

If your are not going to be making your own items, apply for a sales tax permit and a federal tax identification number. Some wholesale vendors will require that you have these in order to purchase their goods. Particularly if you are going into business with your husband or someone else, consider forming a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or a corporation. DO YOUR RESEARCH!!
Step 2
Choose an E-commerce site to host your online boutique. Check out 1and1.com so far they are the cheapest!! Volusion.com offers an entire package that includes your domain name, shopping cart and web hosting. Corecommerce.com is another E-commerce site that offers packages both of these sites offer business email addresses, website templates (and the ability to use your own design), marketing tools, accounting tools, data feeds, Google AdWords coupons, the ability to create coupons or newsletters for your store and the ability to accept a number of different payment methods, such as Paypal, Google Checkout and credit cards. GoDaddy.com allows you to pick and choose the services you need, such as a domain name or shopping cart.
If you aren't familiar with SEO and online selling, an all-inclusive site such as Corecommerce.com may be the way to go. Volusion.com and Corecommerce.com offer a free 30 day trial. Vendio.com is a hosting site that allows you to operate your store for free. However, you won't have an exclusive domain name and your URL will be lengthy. This is important---a shorter URL such as Cutebooties.com is easier to identify than one that includes the hosting site's name and additional information, such as Vendio.com/stores/Cutebooties.com.
Step 3
Set a theme for your store when selecting or designing your website. Choose a catchy name and logo for your online boutique. Familiarize yourself with your products. Create an "About Me" page that includes your business history, vision and goals. Detail your shipping and return policy on a "Shipping and Returns" page. Create a Privacy Notice page that details how you will use your customer's information.
Step 4
Locate suppliers. Look for baby gear closeouts on eBay and other auction sites. If you don't already have specific brands in mind or you intend to design your own gear, contact American Apparel for basic wholesale baby gear. Also contact websites such as Children's Wholesale or Wholesale Kid for purchasing wholesale baby clothing, shoes and accessories. Until you know what will be a hit, limit your purchases to no more than 10 to 15 items of each style.
Step 5
Take high quality images of your inventory. Very important if you choose the Etsy.com route. Include relevant information in your product listings such as clear descriptions, sizes, colors and clothing or shoe materials.
Step 6
Promote your store. Thoroughly read through your website host's advertising tools. Take advantage of the Google AdWords coupon if offered. Submit your baby product feeds to Google. FACEBOOK!!! Your host site may have an easy way to do this; otherwise; you can visit Google.com and import them yourself (see Resources). Take advantage of Google Analytics, which you can use to analyze your traffic. Identify which key words (products) bring in the most customers.

This article was printed somewhere on about.com a little while ago. It helped me. I will post more suggestions later on as my journey continues.

Ana's Baby Couture

Ana’s Baby Couture boutique began out of the desire to find unique chic clothing and accessories for children. Family owned and operated company created out of the love and passion for trendy and hip accessories for children. We specialize in offering unique hair accessories. It is my mission to support mom-owned business.
I am working hard to realize my dream. I have many dreams; to own my own successful business, stay at home with my kids, and ultimately love every second I work. Seems a little nuts? I stopped sitting on my butt and started doing something about it. There is something so powerful when you realize that you are the one in charge of your destiny. The hard part always is getting up and doing something about it. That is the stage that I am in.