These days more people do their shopping online rather than go to an actual store front and it’s easier than ever to set up your own business, be your own boss and still keep your daily job!

Here are some tips that will help you get your business started and the top five eCommerce platforms that you will want to work with or avoid.

For starters…ideas…

• Do you have a great idea for a business or do you have something you want to sell? Have you decided what you want to do?
• If you’re a creative person you may make your own personalised crafts and want to sell them to the masses.
• Do you have a niche hobby or interest that you think you could turn into a small business?
• How about programming? Are you good with computers but you don’t know where to display your talents so that potential clients can hire you?

Start with finding the thing you love and decide how you want to market that. Once you have your idea, think about how much you want to sell. If you think that you will be moving high volumes of merchandise you may want to choose an eCommerce site builder program that allows a lot of storage space and ample bandwidth.

Think about how you plan on handling payments.

Setting up online money transfer accounts can take some time so get started on that as soon as you can. The next step is to look at these 5 eCommerce platforms and decide which one is right for your business.

Hosted or self hosted – that is the question…

When choosing an eCommerce site, you’ll need to look for either hosted or self-hosted. If you choose self-hosted the site will provide you with the software but you will be responsible for your web hosting and if you want a more reliable platform, you’ll want to go with hosted. The downside of a hosted site is the monthly fee and if you don’t have much merchandise to sell, you may be paying more in fees than you’re bringing in.

5 eCommerce sites

Shopify (Hosted)

Shopifyhas an aesthetically pleasing interface and is a very efficient eCommerce platform. It also has numerous add-on apps just as you would a smartphone or tablet that allow you to customise and personalise your Shopify store. While Shopify has been given great reviews, one comment users make is that they would like to have more control of the checkout process and page. It comes at a price, $29 a month and a small transaction fee depending on the plan you choose.

BigCommerce (Hosted)

This option is excellent for the user that wants to set up a simple site with little option for customisations. The easy to use interface of the admin panel is a bonus for those who are just starting and a little nervous about starting their own business. BigCommerce has packages that begin at $29.95 a month in addition to their 1.5 percent transaction fee.

Magento (Self-hosted)

This is a classic eCommerce platform. Magento is the most widely used eCommerce sites, but the reviews don’t match the user ship. Magento is hard to customise and some say outdated. Reviews claim that this eCommerce platform is hard to use.

WooCommerce (Self-hosted)

WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin and it has the great reviews when it comes to being able to customize your store to fit your specific needs. If you can used WordPress, you can use WooCommerce and easily build your online business. Since the two are connected, you will be able to use your blog to help boost traffic to your business site and let your clients know what you’re all about.

Etsy (Hosted)

If you’re looking for a very simple way to sell crafts or small items, an Etsy shop would be the perfect place to start. A .20 cent charge for each item listed and a 3.5% transaction fee is all that you will be charged to get your products presented to the public.

Whichever way you choose to go about starting your business is up to you, just do it. You’ll never know how far you could go until you begin!

If you’ve started you’re own eBusiness or keen to start a store we are keen to hear your comments below.