Sunday, July 11, 2010

Teenage Blogshop Bosses


SIWM Assessment

UPDATE!!
Daryl Kang, 29, an entrepreneur and a blogger says, “It takes at least two to three years before you can see results.” Generally, it takes (at least) months before you can even conclude whether or not his/her business venture is even able to survive in the industry, much less talk about making profits.
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As I've been doing alot of online shopping lately, I usually don't buy any stuff from most of the blogshop unless their doing spree from other countries or their products are really nice, which is totally rare for guys. So while online shopping, I've came across a blogshop - http://shoppingisfun-forteens.blogspot.com/ who is currently a secondary school student, and makes me wonder were they too young to start their own business.

So I decided to interview my friend(Yimann) currently she's in Bukit Panjang Govt High School.


*same Pretttttty smile* 
-o-

1. What is your goal for creating blogshop?
her: So that I can earn money from the clothes I sell. I also hope that this could be the starting of a real business. Some sort of building up a brand. It is also a way to use up my free time, like a hobby.
me: In my opinion I think that to start a business with low cost is a good experiment to know the concept of starting a business.        
"for the young minds to dream the impossible - Jean Mercies"

2. Do you give out your personal details?
her: It is actually a must to give my name and contact details like phone number and email to the public or to publicize it on my blogshop. This is to provide a basic understanding trust between the owner and costumer. But I won't give out into regarding my family, my school.
me: I think is okay because most of them are female and classmate that shop to support their friend.
"A ringing telephone is the insistent summons of modern life, and the decision not to take a requires fortitude. - STEPHANIE WINSTON" 

3. Did your parent know you got a blogshop?
her: Yes, but I am not really sure if they really allow or agree with me as they don't even know the concept how a blogshop works as at their time they don't have any blogshop or online shopping not like now they have a lot of online shopping and things like that. Lastly, they don't do online shopping.
me: Relationship with parent is very important. Is good to share what you are doing to people that close to you. 
Communication with another person. wasn't it the realest thing in life? - ANNE MORROW LINDBERGH


4. Do you meet up with your client alone?
her: Yes. Cause most of them are female. And will go places where it is brightly lit with many people. The best place is the mall located in town within Singapore, where it is very bright emitted from the neon advertisement lights from the many surrounding shops and is usually crowded  with people.
me: Be in control. It is a good practice to plain for where to meet especially for people you never met before. In this way it is manageable and puts you in the driver seat.


5. What do you think is the best age to start a blogshop?
her: About fifteen as they are more mature in thinking and they have experience in blogging before.
me: Maturely is depend on experience, not age.


6. What do you think of recent cases whereby people paid and did not get their goods?
her: I think it is the trust between the owner and the costumer. If you stood up there your costumer would not buy from you anymore. Additionally, now more and more blogshop do not meet up and trade with their costumers, they do it by postage. And there would always be a chance that the products will be lost in mail. But the blogshop would normally place a notice to say that lost mail would not be replaceable. And i think if the owner had done the disappearing product act on purpose then sooner or later no one would buy from your blogshop, like killing your own source of resource which frankly speaking dumb.
me: Business with low cost can just take it that you've paid for a very expensive lesson. Question is - Have you learn it? 


7. How to you promote your blogshop?
her: Put advertisements and links on the tag-boards of other blogshops, alternatively I can rent a small area or space at Toy Outpost - http://www.toyoutpost.sg/Toy-Outpost.aspx to sell my products there. This Toy Outpost are situated at shopping malls like VIVO and PLAZA SINGAPURA which have a higher human traffic flow.
me: You will get connected to a friend circle that know how to do business.

8. How much is the annual turnover?
her: It depends actually and frankly speaking I don't earn much, because of transport fees and also keeping the price low would have have more people buying. But because now there are blogshop, there is a larger competition so the lowest price normally wins and also depends on the quality of the product.
me: Mostly, all the blogshop now, are selling the same stuff over their sites which is like totally ridiculous cause basically anyone and everyone will be wearing the same thing as you do!!
So I  thought to stand out from the rest..
  • Your blogshop must sell unique stuff which means you got to sell things that are different from the rest of the blogshop, so you win!
  • Your site must be easy to navigate and looks at least professional abit.
  • Your service must be good and prompt enough!
  • Must be establish, and it takes time.

9. Are there other benefits?
her: Yea, like gaining experience, traveling around Singapore during the weekends and it is also a way to spend my free time, instead of playing games.
me: Can get to know other people, make new friend and also gain experience.

10. What are your long term goals for your blogshop?
her: Didn't think that far, just hope that I can gain experience. But I don't think this would be my long term occupation but jiust a short-term and a way to gain experience.
me: If you are schooling, you might neglect important things to be done for study, while updating your blogshop.


CONCLUSION
However, what is the best age to start a blogshop? It is hard to determine the age to start a blogshop.
Setting up a blogshop is not an easy task. It takes years to build up your own customers  base.  Also, maintaining good relations with your customers through emails has a different impact as compared to talking to them in person.
A well-known blogger - http://www.sabrina.sg/2009/05/05/can-blogshops-make-money said: To achieve the status and earnings, you must be willing to sacrifice time and effort. You must be willing to take the time to learn and refine your own blogshop constantly, like every other business out there.

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Now tell me your opinions are they too young to start their own business. Do you think it Good or Bad? 
Share your experiences and thoughts.

19 comments:

Fangru said...

Q, u probably can visit this ladies apparel blogshop which is very famous and fast selling coz they design and manufacture their own clothing. I always buy from them de. Their blog also features in magazines..

http://bonitochico.livejournal.com/

ahQ said...

2 fangru:
Their products are really nice, BUT all the stuff not for guys. Anyway when meet up again.. miss ya all

Fangru said...

ooh haha.. didnt notice u r looking for guys one. tot u project so give u ideas. ya long time the whole group didnt meet up le..

ahQ said...

2 fangru
ya loh. everyone so busy. saw your facebook you going oversea?

Haniz Halim said...

I think 15 years old is quite a young age to start a business. However, if they have the confidence and maturity, why not?

Hirah said...

Very interesting and unique presentation.

Just wondering, where do these students get their supply from?

Are they selling the items on behalf of a company? I mean since you stated most blogshops are selling the same thing…

I never online shop before so perhaps you can share with me how they actually start their businesses.

If it is easy, than anyone can begin a blog shop.

Otherwise, hopefully these students are not being jeopardized by businesses that are just making use of youngsters to get easy money.

Zulfadli said...

It's never too young to start something. I think it is good that they start at a young age, as they will learn along the way too. But of course with some adult guidances for any assistance. Rather than wasting time, surfing the net and chat, why not do things that is able to bring in some profits..

Carl said...

its a good pastime/hobby, helps to cultivate a sense of responsibility and the experience could be beneficial in the future.

XiaoNoobish! said...

I have a friend that once opened a blogshop. She told me that she got all the merchandise from an overseas supplier.

Anonymous said...

It's useful to let us know the views of the young blogshop owner and you cover some of the aspects of blogshop ownership and blogshopping.
Besides the interview, what other articles or research did you read? Do share with us and cite your sources.

There were a few recent articles about how blogshop owners are having very successful businesses, even earning over a million!

With new media, many young people can start their businesses. That's having the entrepreunership!
-newmediascapes

Sarika said...

As Zulfadii said It's never too young to start something . i agree with the fact that its always good to start your own income source and as far as i know blog shop is a quite good idea.And the age doesnt matter if u have the ability and spirit to do it..

Sarika said...

As Zulfadli said, It's never too young to start something.Its always a good to start your own income source and i think blogshop is quite a good idea.If u really have the spirit and ability to do it then age doesnt matter.

ahQ said...

To: Sarika, XiaoNoobish, Carl, Zulfadli, Hirah, Haniz Halim

Yup.thank to all the comment. Every business requires certain amount of planning before you can actually get it started.
Personally, I think that blogshops can be successful as long as the intention is to make extra cash. To make it a real business, it's probably best to get the system more automated.

ahQ said...

To: newmediascapes

Hmmm... I guess I'll need to read up on that.
will re-update this sunday

Anonymous said...

Most teenage blogshop bosses, start from handicrafts make from ordinary materials and their creativity.

Every business has to start small. People make mistakes and its those faults that they learn and become better.

All is required is a leap of faith, start a business and put in your entire effort into it. Steve jobs didn't think much when he started APPLE. He partnered with his pioneers and put his heart into it.

Ru Huan said...

I don't think there is a limit for how old can a person open a blog shop. They can create them as long as they have the interest and the knowleadge on how to do those purchasing system. It is best to consult an adult before doing it, as the internet consist of any kind of people.

Wei Zheng said...

Blog shops will definitely require a good sense of responsibility, other than that I don't think there's such a thing as too young to start.
~Wei Zheng

ahQ said...

To: Benjamin Chew, Ru Huan, Wei Zheng
Yup.thank to all the comment.
Hmm. What I think is that you can possibly put up these business. Just keep it up and think positive.
Blogshops can make loads of money, however it is the consumer in the end who decides.

ahQ said...

To: newmediascapes
updated post link