Starting My Own ECommerce Business

Let’s face it - this pandemic has hit us super hard. I know that some people have been more affected than others, and that is totally something that one needs to consider when sharing their own pandemic situation. However, I have had my fair share of struggles through this whole thing as well. While I did not end up losing anyone close to me to COVID (thank the Lord) I faced a lot of financial uncertainty and was at risk of completely losing my business, which in turn meant losing my home and my livelihood. Now, I am a simple man who owns a bait and tackle shop in a rural town in Florida. I have seen a lot of dark days in my lifetime, but never has my life been so completely upended like it was in the face of the COVID19 pandemic. Once the government decided that most restaurants, businesses, and other public places needed to be closed down for several months, I was not sure if my business would make it through to the other side. However, thanks to eCommerce and technology, I have been able to thrive in the midst of this crazy time. 

The first hurdle I needed to overcome was my aversion to all things technology. Like I said earlier, I am a simple man who loves to fish and is passionate about bait and tackle. I did not have much need or use in my life for fancy technology or great involvement with computers or the internet. However, I was introduced to the idea of eCommerce by a colleague of mine who was also a small business owner. It seemed like that was my only shot at making it through the pandemic with my business intact, so I just went for it. To my surprise, I found it relatively easy to adjust to the online world. I had help creating my website and various software accounts to manage my orders and inventory, but after that it was all smooth sailing. The nice thing about my customers is that they are very loyal and always come back to shop again; once they heard that I was still kicking online, I had no problem filling orders throughout the week! I even began to see more and more people start to buy my products. I realized that, due to the pandemic, people were on the prowl for new hobbies of all sorts, including fishing. 

It was nice to see the spike in new customers wanting to shop my store and buy my products. Managing my store online was definitely new for me and caused a lot of stress at first, but I knew it was the only way for me to keep my business alive. I had to invest in a lot of different shipping boxes and packaging materials because people only used to buy my products in person.

I even

had orders coming in from different states and eventually different parts of the world, how crazy is that! It took me a hot minute to find the right supplier of shipping boxes because many companies were having supply chain problems and shortages due to the pandemic. Now that things are opening up again and I am back in my store, I can happily say that I kept my business alive through the pandemic with the help of eCommerce.