Auction 411

Once you have determined the products you are going to sell on eBay, the next step is to provide your business with structure. Structure is extremely important to establish in the beginning phases of your business because it is the guiding light that will keep you from going astray via marketing ideas or the ever scary word — greed!

So, let’s get out a pen and piece of paper (yes, we actually still use paper these days!) and get ready to write down the following:

1. Your Vision Statement

Here is where you will write down your ideal vision of how the business succeeds. i.e. “To become the most popular eBay seller of Children’s Rubber Duckies!”

2. Your Mission Statement

Here is where you will write down the purpose of your business. i.e. “I want to supply the highest quality and most fun rubber duckies on eBay.”

3. Your Goals

Here is where you will write down the short and long term goals of your company. Of course, these will have to be changed once in a while (we suggest every 3 months). i.e. To sell 100 Rubber Duckies per Day / To sell 10,000 Rubber Duckies per 3 Months / To be a Top Seller in 6 Months.

Remember to be realistic and if you don’t know, it’s OK. We will go over how you will give yourself projections based on a few weeks worth of work! It’s really not as hard as it sounds, so don’t worry — we’re doing this together!

4. List Your Financial Resources

This one is simple. You need to learn how to keep a simple balance sheet so that you know where your money is coming from and where it’s going to. It might be great to make $10,000 a month, but if it’s costing you $15,000 a month and you don’t know it, then you will have a problem.

5. Targeting your Customer Base

Research your competition. Understand your Product. Become an expert in your product. Learn who will buy and why, so that you can expand your target base as much as possible without becoming too general.

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