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corcor67
09-28-2009, 01:49 PM
Hi, I have had this idea in my head for some time now. I feel it is time for me to have at it but I'm not exactly sure of what steps need to be taken. I suppose I'll go ahead and let the cat out of the bag, I plan to start an online bonsai nursery from my home, possibly if it works out well, opening a physical store (but I'll worry about the physical store when that time comes). Bonsai has been a favorite hobby of mine, I am very passionate about it and couldn't imaging anything better to call a job than practicing my hobby.

Right now I have nothing except a personal collection and some ideas. I have found some wholesale trees I can get nice and cheap, still working on the pots. I don't have the room to run a big business at the moment but am willing to expand with the company. I plan to test the waters by selling some on ebay just to see if I can make a worth while profit before going all out and spending loads of cash on products I will lose money from.

I have been to many of my possible competitors websites and have found some things I, as a customer of theirs, wish were different. This is where I plan to focus my buisness from the start, expanding to cover more product hopefully.

I feel like im going in blind though and hoping for some pointers, maybe some things I need to consider before starting, any legal matters or tax stuff I need to be figuring out. Thank you for any help :)

cbscreative
09-28-2009, 02:26 PM
How much research have you done? From my understanding, places like California have some strict regulation for the shipping of live plants. That's not to discourage you, just to raise a point about the need to be well prepared for the potential obstacles.

When checking eBay, be sure to look at completed auctions to be sure there are good sales and enough demand. Look for patterns in successful sellers that you can learn from.

billbenson
09-28-2009, 02:33 PM
Why not set up a blog or informational site on the product with the intent of turning it into a product site later.

Personally I would use a site structure not a blog structure but have a section for visitor questions or comments. Use the questions and whatever to write additional pages.

Before you will be able to sell much you will need to develop traffic. A lot of people feel 100 pages of quality content is a good number to shoot for for a credible informational site that will place well in google.

Within the site have product pages similar to order pages on a cart, but don't put prices or make them order pages yet. Add that later when you get the site built up.

Optimize and keep building up the site. Might play a bit with adwords, but don't spend much until you actually start selling. Track the popular pages traffic, where its coming from, time on the page etc.

When you get the traffic you think that can support a business or hobby business put prices and a cart on the product pages.

Meanwhile, find dropshippers if you can, so you don't have to inventory. Don't put ads or off site links on your site if you can avoid it. Make it a good online resource first. I'd have a timeline of at least 6 months before you sell any product. By then you should have a good idea of price points, popular products etc., if you design the site properly.

At least that's how I would approach it.

corcor67
09-28-2009, 03:12 PM
How much research have you done? From my understanding, places like California have some strict regulation for the shipping of live plants. That's not to discourage you, just to raise a point about the need to be well prepared for the potential obstacles.

When checking eBay, be sure to look at completed auctions to be sure there are good sales and enough demand. Look for patterns in successful sellers that you can learn from.

I'm a little lost on the research, I am an admin on a bonsai forum, a mod on another bonsai forum, and a member of a few others (ya im a forum-aholic) I see every day what beginners are buying, the market is a bit lacking for experienced bonsai artists material at reasonable prices, I am hoping to get some business by catering to their needs rather than the over priced sapling stuck in a pot and sold to the beginner at a high price, although this seems to be where everybody is making their big sales. I was hoping to be able to cover beginner to experienced, but feel I should focus on one goal in the start...(thoughts on this?).... Yes I have notices some states have restrictions when it comes to shipping plants, I haven't looked into this yet...thanks! its on my to do list now (something I wouldn't have thought of untill it was too late)

cocoy
09-28-2009, 03:28 PM
I've bought bonsais on the net. The difference with bonsais is that each tree is different and unique in it's own way. It's not like going to home depot and seeing 20 plants that look the same and whatever you pick is fine.

The plant shown on the website photo should be the actual plant you send your buyer. So you'd have to have a decent amount of trees to maintain and stock. That's just my experience with the smaller dealers which I prefer.

With the larger dealers they seem to have a generic photo and will just send the customer something similar.

You probably know this already anyway. :)

corcor67
09-28-2009, 03:36 PM
Why not set up a blog or informational site on the product with the intent of turning it into a product site later.

Personally I would use a site structure not a blog structure but have a section for visitor questions or comments. Use the questions and whatever to write additional pages.

Before you will be able to sell much you will need to develop traffic. A lot of people feel 100 pages of quality content is a good number to shoot for for a credible informational site that will place well in google.

Within the site have product pages similar to order pages on a cart, but don't put prices or make them order pages yet. Add that later when you get the site built up.

Optimize and keep building up the site. Might play a bit with adwords, but don't spend much until you actually start selling. Track the popular pages traffic, where its coming from, time on the page etc.

When you get the traffic you think that can support a business or hobby business put prices and a cart on the product pages.

Meanwhile, find dropshippers if you can, so you don't have to inventory. Don't put ads or off site links on your site if you can avoid it. Make it a good online resource first. I'd have a timeline of at least 6 months before you sell any product. By then you should have a good idea of price points, popular products etc., if you design the site properly.

At least that's how I would approach it.

The informational site is just what I had in mind, I have looked into blogging, but it doesn't seem to be where I want to go with the site. I like the question/comment idea also, it will give me a chance to answer the questions people might ask and add more content. Unfortunately my computer is down at the moment, I only have my smartphone to do my online work and I can't seem to set up a site from my phone (just a temporary dillema though). I have been reading much into developing traffic, it's not all sinking in but I keep reading and bookmarking for later use. Like I mentioned in my last post I am an admin/mod/member of many bonsai forums and I know most I will be able to put a link to my page in my signature, I am on one of these forums every day, if not 2 or 3 of them and always helping with others difficulties, I think it has given me a good reputation on those forums and would possibly help my credibility. I'm not so much into the dropship, maybe because I don't know much about it, but I can get regular trees for about $2 grow them out a bit and begin to train them for bonsai, put a reasonable price tag on them (not sure of that yet) other sites are selling material for $40-$50 for thin little seedlings in a bonsai pot...will take more physical labor from my end, but I think a better product at a fair price would be the result. But I am here for suggestions, and so far I have seen a great response to my post. Thanks, both of you, I really appericiate the help! :)

corcor67
09-28-2009, 03:46 PM
I've bought bonsais on the net. The difference with bonsais is that each tree is different and unique in it's own way. It's not like going to home depot and seeing 20 plants that look the same and whatever you pick is fine.

The plant shown on the website photo should be the actual plant you send your buyer. So you'd have to have a decent amount of trees to maintain and stock. That's just my experience with the smaller dealers which I prefer.

With the larger dealers they seem to have a generic photo and will just send the customer something similar.

You probably know this already anyway. :)

BINGO!!!... The generic photo is the thing I hate most about buying bonsai online, unless you read the fine print that says a similar tree will be shipped you could think you are paying for this magnificent artistic creation and recieve a little akward looking stick in a pot...It can be a bit depressing when you open the package. I won't be able to keep a large selection right away, might even sell off some of my collection to make some room for this (not my favorites of course) But I would like to be able to have a site you can buy the exact tree you see pictures, NOT one similar. I will be starting small anyways so I think I could keep up

billbenson
09-28-2009, 04:04 PM
Your going a few different directions here. It seems like you want your bonsai business but you also want to sell online.

I'd suggest you break this into a couple of different posts on different forums. Those of us with online marketing experience can help you there. It appears you also want to grow and sell your bonsais locally. The traditional marketing forum may be best for you there.

Also, you need to figure out how much you are going to be making per plant. You have to be sure that buying and growing plants before selling them will provide you with enough margin to make some money either locally or online.

For online, I like to see a markup of 30% unless you are very high volume.

There is a lot you can do to get started, but you have a fairly complicated business model, if I understand it correctly, so you probably need a decent business plan.

From the internet side of the fence, that doesn't mean you can't start writing an information site. While you need to figure out SEO and internet marketing, just start building a good informational site. You may want to go back and edit pages later, but IMO time starts now on that one.

corcor67
09-28-2009, 04:23 PM
I am going for an internet business right now, I don't have the money to set up a physical store, and not sure I would get much business locally, im in a town with a population under 500...not thousand...just 500, the best shot for me for a physical buisness would be the next biggest town down (about a half hour drive for me) its about 26,000...and haven't found anybody there into bonsai so I'm sticking to the net for now, in the future with the money and a relocation maybe a physical shop, but I'm not concerning myself with that right now

corcor67
09-28-2009, 04:51 PM
I got my first question up over there, thanks for the tip ;)

vangogh
09-28-2009, 08:12 PM
Interesting idea for a site. I agree about having the images be unique. It also means you'll only be carrying one of every item in stock. You could develop a story around each new tree. Give each more of a personality to reinforce how unique it is.

I actually can see this working well with a blog. I answered your other thread about the free sites, but I think WordPress could be a good option. You can set it up so it looks more like a standard site with a blog attached. I know money is an issue, but the basic set up wouldn't cost much if you decided to hire someone and if you're willing to give it a shot I can walk you through a lot of the steps here.

The blog gives you the place for the informational content and as I mentioned above you could write up something for each new tree to give it a personality. Perfect for a blog post. In between new trees becoming available you can offer advice on caring for your bonsai tree and how to create a bonsai, etc. There's so much you can cover. You can even add a forum to the site. The makers of WordPress also have forum software called bbPress that integrates nicely.

There is going to be some costs associated with starting a business. It doesn't have to be a lot, but you do have to accept that you're going to spend some money getting your business going. You also need to know you're going to have to spend considerable time getting things going. The less money you have the more time you need to spend.

billbenson
09-28-2009, 09:48 PM
Vangogh, again probably the wrong forum, but when I suggested a site structure rather than blog, my thinking was a wide site rather than a linear blog type site. In other words a whole ton of categories and nothing non related to those categories below them.

In a traditional blog, they tend to be "bills blog about bonsai, rather than "trimming bonsai", types, fertilization, whatever. Comments to respond to in each category is great, but the questions may lead to different categories. That would lead to a very "wide" site, rather than a traditional blog. It seems to make more sense to me. Am I missing anything?

corcor67
09-28-2009, 10:26 PM
I like the ideas, glad I have found so much help here...i like the site set up, and the blog for the individual trees...would it be possible to sort of combine both?

cbscreative
09-28-2009, 10:43 PM
I posted in your other thread which may offer some further help too.

vangogh
09-29-2009, 12:20 AM
Bill you can do everything you're suggesting with WordPress. I guess I see a similar site as you with a blog as one of the sections.

Paper Shredder Clay
09-29-2009, 01:26 PM
I know of a person who is doing somewhat what you are wanting to do. He has been selling live plants on Ebay for a few years, mostly through a Ebay store vs auction. He also has made eGuides to sell along with the plants that do pretty well. It is possible. I have read your other thread as well. If you want a "real" web site, I advise you to hire a web designer and maybe pay him / her extra to walk you through with how to maintain and add to it. Then I would advise you to learn how to add to it yourself. But if you are just starting out with little to no knowledge, hire a professional. And be sure they are a professional, not just someone who is a friend of a friend or someone who is just cheap. Be sure they use a CMS (Content Management System) as it will be easier for you to maintain if you aren't too skilled in programming web pages, just yet.

Harold Mansfield
09-29-2009, 06:50 PM
I like the ideas, glad I have found so much help here...i like the site set up, and the blog for the individual trees...would it be possible to sort of combine both?

You can definitely do both on one site. As VG said, WP is the best for such a thing..static look on the landing and blog capabilities to add additional info and fresh content.

dynocat
10-03-2009, 11:03 PM
I am going for an internet business right now, I don't have the money to set up a physical store, and not sure I would get much business locally, im in a town with a population under 500...not thousand...just 500, the best shot for me for a physical buisness would be the next biggest town down (about a half hour drive for me) its about 26,000...and haven't found anybody there into bonsai so I'm sticking to the net for now, in the future with the money and a relocation maybe a physical shop, but I'm not concerning myself with that right now

Just a though while reading this post. Our city has a population of about 6,500 people with a 50,000 pop city 10 miles away. The past couple summers we've had a man with a van park in an empty lot off a busy intersection to sell his bonsai. He did have to get a city business license and pay a very small fee to the lot owner. He does a booming business. I think he was there maybe two or three days a week. His busiest times seemed to be at the end of the day with people on their way home from work.

The advantage I see for him besides making some bucks, is getting bonsai info out to potential customers, as well as answer their questions.

I can see you doing best with your individually pictured plants sold online. Rather than a physical store, have you considered any shows--art, craft even gardening shows in bigger towns in your vicinity? Then when you sell, you have our online store listed on your business card and handouts, like bonsai care instructions, for customers to busy more and refer friends.

We've been in business (handcrafted kitchen utensils) since the early 1990's and started by doing shows in a five state area. Even though sales weren't huge, it definitely got the word out. Now we still do a large famers market each summer and one holiday art show. Other than that it's online sales and phone orders.

Best of luck to you.