Buying an Ecommerce Business: How To
One way you can become a successful internet entrepreneur is by buying an ecommerce business
Buying an existing eCommerce business for sale is one way you can avoid the challenges that go with launching a new eCommerce brand.
Yes, becoming a successful internet entrepreneur takes much time and effort. You have to know which of the eCommerce brand to select and how to vet them. Besides, raising the money and the web development skills needed to launch a new one is a herculean task on its own.
Fortunately, website marketplaces and brokers that cater to such needs have become more prominent in recent years. So, it’s now easier to buy online eCommerce business for sale while revealing more affordable options. That means you can buy an online eCommerce business for as low as $300, and up to $10M.
Why Buy Ecommerce Business For Sale?
Below are the core reasons why you should buy an eCommerce business
- A proven and reliable business model
Oftentimes, businesses or entrepreneurs that want to get into a popular niche such as online skincare business are not always sure where or how to go about it, not to mention beating the competition to be at the top.
Acquiring a premade and successful eCommerce business is a great way to start strong and achieve an early foothold in your target niche.
Here, the keys rest on the ‘proven’ business model. The business has differentiated and proven itself to be a reliable and profitable venture. It has an already established base of traffic, customers, and suppliers. Above all, it has gained much from someone else or some other business taking all the risk over the years.
- Cross-Selling Potential
For a business owner that owns an eCommerce business in the same or similar niche, buying an existing eCommerce business for sale can translate into massive cross-sell capability. Cross promotions have paid many online business buyers in significant returns—from email lists to targeted competitive discounts—as a way of moving customers/clients between both platforms.
- Gain a strategic and informed advantage
The internet as we know it is one innovative, wonderful, and weird place for making a lot of money. Thus, it’s not unusual to come across businesses in the market that has a unique feature about their brand and business model that buyers are keen to purchase for a strategic purpose.
One of the reasons why investors acquire eCommerce businesses is to gain a strategic advantage in the areas of suppliers, customer relationships as well as warehousing contracts.
- To beat the hard work
As stated earlier, one major reason why you should consider buying an eCommerce business for sale is that it offers a cheap method of getting around the hard work in building a great business. You will become less bothered by doing things like setting up ads, keyword research, site development, SEO, finding suppliers, customer service, etc.
10 Pros and Cons of Buying An Ecommerce Business
- Established customer base: An existing ecommerce business comes with an established customer base, which can provide immediate revenue and a foundation for growth.
- Proven business model: Buying an ecommerce business means that the business model has already been proven successful, reducing the risk of failure associated with starting a new business.
- Established systems and processes: A successful ecommerce business has already developed and fine-tuned its systems and processes, such as order fulfillment, customer service, and marketing, saving time and resources for the new owner.
- Established suppliers and partnerships: An existing ecommerce business may have already established relationships with suppliers and partners, which can be difficult to establish from scratch.
- Brand recognition: An established ecommerce business comes with an established brand name and recognition, which can help drive sales and generate customer loyalty. A great business broker can really help identify businesses with great brand recognition, like Ecommerce Brokers.
Disadvantages of buying an ecommerce business:
- High initial cost: Buying an established ecommerce business can be expensive, as the business has already generated revenue and may be valued higher than a new, untested business.
- Risk of buying a declining business: The ecommerce industry can be highly competitive and constantly changing, meaning that an established business may be experiencing declining sales or may not be adaptable to changes in the market. This is where an Ecommerce Broker is most valuable!
- Limited control over the existing systems and processes: The new owner of an ecommerce business may need to work within the existing systems and processes, which may not align with their own preferences or methods.
- Dependency on existing employees: An ecommerce business may have employees that are already familiar with the business, but the new owner may be dependent on these employees to continue the existing level of success. This is where seller financing or earn outs are great to mitigate risk.
- Difficulties in integrating new ideas and strategies: A new owner may want to implement their own ideas and strategies, but may face resistance or difficulties in integrating them with the existing business model.
Final Thought
So, we’re rounding up our tips on how to buy an eCommerce business for sale. It is something you should seriously consider doing if you want to become your own boss in the 21st century. The process is challenging for first-timers, but with the above tips, even the sky can’t be your limit to the success that lies ahead of you.
Of course here at Ecommerce Brokers we help with the buying and selling process. So if you are looking to buy an online business feel free to contact us for a call to chat about your buying criteria and we can send you a few interesting deals to take a look at.
Author Bio: George Moulos
Forbes 30 Under 30 2020, CEO of Ecommerce-Brokers.com
I own an online M&A firm called www.Ecommerce-Brokers.com and we have 11 years experience helping buyers and sellers acquire and sell millions of dollars worth of online businesses.
Looking To Buy? Visit our Elite Acquirers buy side broker service to learn more here
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