More than most businesses, creating a really great eBay business plan
is essential if you want funding of any kind.
Over lunch with a friendly banker, she was heard to say, "I couldn't
believe it. Here was this guy who wanted funding for an eBay
business. I've never seen an eBay business make any money at all!"
And there lies the challenge.
THE STRONGEST ADVANTAGE TO YOUR eBAY
BUSINESS PLAN
Presented intelligently, the lender will understand what you want to
do, and will see the profit in it. eBay business plans are the
gateway for marketing for all kinds of products, and is a business worthy
of serious consideration.
THE STRONGEST DISADVANTAGE TO YOUR eBAY
BUSINESS PLAN
Presented a bit less intelligently, the lender will see nothing but
money going down the drain with business plans about eBay.
Truthfully, how many successful eBay marketers do you know?
Really know personally? I can count on one hand the ones I know, and
I work with business people every single day.
And how many eBay hopefuls are out there? Thousands. Tens
of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. All have business plans
for eBay sales, usually in the millions of dollars.
Unless you can place yourself squarely in the winner's circle of eBay
business plan marketing, you
haven't got much of a chance at funding.
THE BEST WAY TO SUCCEED IN YOUR eBAY
BUSINESS PROPOSAL AND YOUR eBAY MARKETING PLAN
DEMONSTRATE YOUR SUCCESS.
If you haven't had prior success with marketing on eBay, you won't get funding. Nobody
is going to bet on your dream. Your eBay business proposal must
demonstrate your success.
There are some real skills you need, like the ability to write
creative, compelling ads. Without a demonstrated success in doing
so, and documented in your eBay business proposal, nobody is going to believe you can do it.
DETAIL YOUR PRODUCT SOURCE FOR EBAY BUSINESS.
There are only two ways to make money on eBay. You can buy
product from companies going out of business (i.e., you can get it real,
real cheap); or you can create your own product (and by pass the middle
man in the sales cycle).
There are no other ways.
It is not possible to buy on eBay and re-sell at a profit
consistently enough to make a real business out of it. A young
couple was trying to do just that with beads, a big industry on eBay,
and nearly went bankrupt. Thousands of others made the same eBay
marketing plan mistake.
So where is your product going to come from?
WHEN "NEW" IS NOT "GOOD"
As Meg Whitman says, eBay is a whole new business model. There
has never been anything like it.
Bankers don't like new. Bankers like "historical" figures.
eBay simply hasn't got historical figures, or industry trends, or any of
that sophisticated stuff that usually goes into marketing proposals. There is no way a banker can compare your
business to the thousands of other eBay businesses out there to determine
that yours is really good, or not.
MAKING YOUR eBAY BUSINESS PLAN AND YOUR eBAY
MARKETING PLAN WORK
First, get a solid business plan model to work with. Here is one
that has a solid outline with a good feel to it:
|
 |
Your 7-Step Business Plan for your eBay business
will get you up and running in no time. Using templates in MS
Word and MS Excel, programs you already know, it just couldn't be
easier.
Click on the book cover for
information |
YOUR BEST FUNDING OPTION
The
SBA, especially the microloan program, is
likely your best source. Odds are that you don't need a huge amount
of money, so try that first.
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