My dad always had a saltwater tank in the house while I was growing up so it was natural when I bought my first house I did too. It grew from there, before I knew it I had 5 tanks and my dad asked me why I just don't open up a business.
So I did. Now 6 years later I am helping educate and sell to fellow hobbyists and also giving back to charities that mean a lot to me. We keep a lot of product on hand or in warehouses but we also dropship directly from a number of manufacturers.
How did you earn your first sales? Which channels are now generating the most traffic and sales for you?
We earned our first sale with the ability to reach a wider audience. We use a lot of paid for marketing, social media and newsletters to generate more sales and let people know what we are up to.
Tell us about the back-end of your business. What tools and apps do you use to run your store? How do you handle shipping and fulfillment?
We usually ship from our warehouses or from the manufacturer by utilizing drop shipping methods. We tend to use quickbooks as well as excel to know where we stand.
What are your top recommendations for new ecommerce entrepreneurs?
Our top app recommendations for new Shopify store owners are: Chimpified for newsletters and client database, persistent cart, aftership and yotpo for product reviews.