Member Article

StinkyInk talk to Bdaily about their e-commerce experiences

John Sollars, serial entrepreneur and MD of the printer ink web superstore Stinkyink.com, shares his thoughts on the role of ecommerce in his small online business.

What benefits has ecommerce given you?

Ecommerce has got to be the most efficient and cost effective route to market that has ever been devised. After a life spent visiting and chasing customers, the experience of running a website which can trade 24/7 unattended and can serve a worldwide audience is brilliant. We regularly take orders on Christmas Day! With clever software, ecommerce can make your business very efficient and enable you to achieve turnover per head figures that traditional businesses can only dream about.

What key challenges has your company recently faced?

Moving from a business that has expanded at 60% for the past two years, year-on-year, into a much slower growth phase is our present challenge. Maintaining our market share, getting stock levels just right and finding the right people to move the business forward in the future are more important than ever. And all the while its vital to keep a positive outlook on life during these testing times.

What is your biggest achievement over the past 12 months?

Our in-house IT team has developed an entirely new website from the ground up and then integrated that into our existing back office systems. Using these skills and a flexible database design has enabled us to maintain our business in tough economic times, and even expand. But crucially we are not be reliant on third parties to make changes to the systems that underpin the business.

What is your biggest focus for the coming year?

Thats easy: keep focused on what we are good at - selling ink cartridges! It isn’t difficult and there are lots of businesses doing it, but we have to do it better than all the others. So we wont be distracted by easy money ideas and schemes; well keep improving our processes; and well be sure to stay on top of overheads.

If you had to choose one top piece of advice for someone just starting out in business, or is currently operating within your industry sector, what would it be?

For anyone starting out in retail nowadays ecommerce has to be an integral part of any sales and marketing plan. It offers low cost entry into the market and with eBay and Amazon marketplaces available for testing product ideas, you can bring products in front of a large audience without big investment in software and clever people. And dont stop at website sales, look at a mobile version of your store to get customers on the move, plus a Facebook site too.

Can you share with us your view of the current landscape of business, in the UK or further afield, and where your organisation sits within it?

Business at the moment is tough, and likely to get tougher. Britain went into recession in 2008; we didnt pay for it at the time, but now the bills are piling in and must be paid.

However, I think we can too easily talk ourselves into a depressed state over the economy. For example, when I visit my favourite restaurant and the owner tells me how difficult trade is, I’ve stopped sympathising with him and now focus him on marketing his business better.

We can all moan for ever, but the bottom line is that we reap what we sow. If we let negativity permeate our mindset it becomes very difficult to get rid of it and you can talk yourself into a state of no hope. Stay focused, carry on doing what you do well, keep an open mind for new opportunities and when they come knocking grab them with both hands. The end of the world isn’t nigh; we just have to accept that the growth in GDP over the past decade was not sustainable, but people still need stuff and it is our responsibility to provide what they need.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .