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When it comes to launching a successful Amazon business, you might have heard it’s easy to start. Then you might have thought, “Well, if it’s that easy, then why isn’t everybody doing it?”
The harsh reality is that 83% of Amazon FBA (fulfillment by Amazon) businesses fail. So while there may be 6.3 million third-party sellers on the global Amazon Marketplace, only about 17% are making muster in terms of success.
In truth, selling on Amazon FBA isn’t easy, but it’s not particularly hard either—as long as you sidestep crucial pitfalls that more than 80% of failures weren’t insightful enough to avoid. We’ve consulted the experts (and failures) in order to provide you with the following five top mistakes you should avoid when launching a successful Amazon business.
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Obsessing About Branding from the Start
We’re neither suggesting that building a brand is unimportant nor are we saying that the need for a brand should be overlooked. However, when you’re just starting your Amazon FBA, branding shouldn’t be part of your launching strategy.
You’re far better served by researching strategies for selling, marketing, and optimizing your products and listings. Make it your aim to have customers find you on Amazon before laser-focusing on branding. After all, what is a brand if you don’t have any customers? The truth is that branding comes much later when you’ve secured a solid customer base and loyal following.
Listening to Your Heart Instead of Leaning on the Facts
At some point, almost every entrepreneur has fallen in love with an idea only to see it fail miserably because they didn’t follow through with the facts. While you might be passionate about selling a certain product on Amazon, don’t be fooled that others will share your enthusiasm to own it. Instead, do the research.
Dig into the data about certain items, how they sell, how successful they are, and who is buying (and why). The more forewarned you are about which products sell and which ones do not, the more forearmed you are to make your dream of launching a successful Amazon business come true.
Picking an Icky Niche for Your Amazon Business
This mistake is similar to picking the wrong products. The trick to avoiding a dud niche is, again, doing research. Ideally, you want a niche that is not too saturated with competitors but is still attractive to consumers. This requires marketplace data research as well as product research to determine what customers really want.
Neglecting to (Smartly) Optimize Your Listings
Hands down, listings that are not optimized are a surefire way to crush your dreams of having a successful Amazon FBA. Optimize your listings and products intelligently and strategically in order to: 1) Generate attention and gain better rank in search engine results and 2) Attract the right consumer to match your offerings.
Ultimately, deft optimizing can see you selling well and building up your Amazon business success. When you learn to smartly optimize and rank your Amazon listing, you have far better chances of getting found online, connecting with your ideal target audience, and making sales.
Underestimating the Costs of an Amazon Business
Costs to launch your Amazon business will depend upon your wanted results. According to our research, FBA startup costs can vary wildly from $500 seed money for a bare-bones outfit to up to $12,000 for a deluxe, optimal Amazon store startup. As the adage goes, “It takes money to make money,” so you’re probably budgeting for startup costs.
However, where most Amazon business owners fail is to calculate future projections for long-term success. Therefore, it’s important to assess what ongoing costs your business will require (not just startup costs) so you can keep your online business afloat, even in times of a soft market.
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Conclusion
We hope this post helps you to avoid these top mistakes, launch a successful Amazon business, and make your dream a reality.
And don’t forget the biggest mistake of all to avoid: the mistake of giving up. Even if your first attempt doesn’t work, analyze what went wrong and try again. No success comes overnight, and there is no such thing as a get-rich-quick business that is legitimate. So, do your due diligence, be persistent, avoid pitfalls, and endeavor to achieve your online business dreams.
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