Do you plan to start an online business but having a second thought because of the regular day job? If you’re working from home and enjoying a little schedule flexibility just like me, then I say, get it started. It’s no doubt feasible.
I started selling on Lazada in June last year after getting furloughed due to the pandemic, and through the months, I have kept it growing and getting more and more profitable. While I have a regular day job being an online teacher (as schools have shifted to distance modes), I have been given the big opportunity to realize one of my ultimate dreams — get into business.
It’s not that easy I admit, but it’s absolutely manageable.
In this article, I’ll share six tips on how to sell online on the background of the regular day job. You might want to read these related articles after too:
- 7 Benefits of Selling on Lazada
- Lazada Seller Startup Checklist and Other Requirements
- 99 Best Products to Sell Online in the Philippines (2020)
- Lazada Seller Experience: How I Made PHP6,000 Sales in Just Two Weeks
[1] Look for a Flexible Platform. You choose — Lazada, Shopee, or Facebook Marketplace. Among these three, Facebook Marketplace but offers the greatest flexibility in terms of negotiating with the customers about payment channels, order fulfillments, and shipping scheds. However, communications with them via chat usually eat up most of the time.
Shopee has the door-to-door pickup of orders even for microsellers, but the beyond-the-schedule arrivals may cause hassle especially if you’re running a busy work from home. Lazada, on the other hand, has a drop-off plan (for nonpick-up sellers) which allows you to hand over your parcels at your most convenient time provided that there is still available space in the DOP cage. This actually works well on my end.
[2] Schedule Your Order Fulfillment. While I run a busy daily schedule except breaks when I have an hour or less to drop off parcels, I usually process and pack orders at night. Processing a daily average of ten parcels takes me thirty minutes to an hour.
Sometimes, I make use of my other breaks between online classes to process orders and include them to what’s packed for the scheduled drop off. During mega sales, I have to maximize all available time for order fulfillment. Lazada sellers must avoid service-level agreement (SLA) breach to prevent order volume limit (OVL) and other penalties.
[3] Prepack Fast-Moving Items. I don’t usually prepack items because I can still manage order fulfillment given the daily average, even during mega sales. I think I’ll do it as soon as the average reaches twenty or more.
Prepacking fast-moving items can save a lot of time, however can result in excessive use of packaging materials. Multiple items in a single order can be best bubble-wrapped and packed in one, instead of having them prepacked individually.
[4] Outsource When Needed. Whether stocks or manpower, it is always better to outsource than fail to fulfill customers’ orders on time. For instance, a Lazada SLA breach translates to order volume limit (OVL) where there is a limited number of succeeding orders that your customers can place. This usually last for days or weeks.
Being the jack of all trades can result in lack of focus on the most important aspects of business operations. Outsourcing helps you save time and effort doing things by allowing others at minimal costs.
[5] Maximize Your Days Off and Weekends. While I have my regular day job four days a week, I usually schedule most of the drop-offs and purchases of goods during rest days and weekends. Receiving parcels on workdays, even at the doorstep, causes work interruption and a little stress.
Weekends, in particular, are great opportunities to organize everything about your online business — replenish platform stocks, make purchases of supplies, and even prepacking items.
[6] Learn from Other Sellers. While Lazada itself is comprised of thousands of microsellers and big brand owners, the existence of a support page entails collaboration and inspiration from the shared successes of others. You can always gain new tips and tricks on how to make your online business thrive.
Sellers out there are much willing to provide helpful pieces of advice to newbies who struggle making their first sales or improving their platform scores. Just be a member, read posts, and ask questions.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
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