Have you ever wondered how people and businesses go about selling their products on the internet and if it’s difficult create an online store? Steve Chou used to wonder the exact same things before he became a father five years ago. He wanted to find a way for his wife to quit her job to become a stay at home mom without losing one entire income stream. Through a lot of research, trial and error, and ultimately success, they started their own profitable online store and impressively made over $100,000 in the first year! After achieving success and getting numerous questions from people seeking advice on how to do the same, Steve founded the Create A Profitable Online Store Course.
He’s spent a lot of hours building out the course and has been featured in many media outlets including The New York Times and MSNBC. I’ve known Steve for years and recently met up with him in Denver. Curious to learn more about his business he shared with me his thoughts in the following interview.
What’s the number one hurdle people face when trying to start their own online store or business? What are some other obstacles people face?
Steve:The #1 hurdle that most people face is finding the right niche to pursue. There is a delicate balance of demand vs competition that must be taken into consideration when deciding what to pursue. If either your niche is too competitive or if there isn’t enough demand, you won’t be successful.The other big obstacle that most shopowners face is getting people in the door and traffic to their website.
How do you build a reputation of trust around your online store so that people are willing to input their credit card or Paypal information and make a purchase?
Steve: There are many ways to build trust. First off, it’s important to add trust logos near forms fields where people are entering in sensitive information. Also, adding real customer testimonials around key decision points is essential as well. But overall, if you have a good looking website, that usually speaks volumes about your store credibility.
Tell us about how you decided to price your online store product? Talk about the value you believe it provides. Is there a money back guarantee?
Steve: There is no other course out there that provides the level of personal support that my course provides. Every week, I hold office hours where I answer questions live. In addition, I’m constantly adding new content to the course so the material will never go stale. We are currently at over 100 videos and over 40 hours of video content that pretty much covers everything you need to know. And you receive a lifetime membership to the site as part of your course fees. (Note: as of 7/2014 the video count has climbed to 120 over 60+ hours!)
Who is your typical buyer of your product? What is their demographics (gender, age, employment status, current income levels, etc)? What do you think their motivations are for buying your product?
Steve: Basically, my course appeals to anyone who wants to take control over their life and become their own boss. Due to the demographics of my blog, I attract a lot of couples who want to start a family and stay at home with their kids. But overall, anyone who has the desire to start their own business should consider signing up.
You currently make over $100,000 from your online store and are on track for a new record year. Is the figure in revenues, operating profits, or net profits?
Steve: We made 100K in profit during our first year of business and it continues to grow in the double and triple digits every year.
Is there a profitability point in time where you will be willing to quit your day job in order to spend more time with your family and do whatever else you enjoy doing? Is there some type of personal savings goal you have in mind that covers X amount of years of living expenses perhaps?
Steve: For me, quitting my job is not about the money at this point. Between my businesses, I already make more money than I need. The key for me is keeping my mind stimulated so I don’t get bored. Right now, I design microprocessors at my day job and it forces me to use my brain.
If your store’s profitability is irrelevant for quitting your job, then what holds you back from quitting your day job? You mentioned you like your job and find it to be quiet cushy, however, surely there are other things you’d rather do?
Steve: Currently, I’m trying to figure that out. I’m not the type of person that can play tennis or golf every day or travel 9 months out of the year. I need constant mental stimulation. If I ever quit my day job, I’d probably start another business.
If you are a normal person who can generate over $100,000 in revenue over a few short years, why don’t others do the same with the advancement and ubiquity of the internet?
Steve: I believe that everyone can do it. However, there are very few people that have the necessary persistence. That is why it is so important to find a mentor who can provide you with guidance so you avoid making silly mistakes.
Tell us about a time, or times when the online business didn’t go so well. What did you do to carry on? Did you ever want to shut the business down or neglect it for a while?
Steve: Our online store had the luxury of being profitable since day one. The beauty of the internet is that it doesn’t cost much money to start and maintain a website. Therefore, we never ever considered shutting the business down. While there were many slow periods in the beginning, once we got into a groove the business kind of snowballed.
Untemplaters, if you want to learn more about Steve, check out his blog My Wife Quit Her Job, where he writes about his experiences running his online wedding linens store.
To learn more about Steve Chou’s Create A Profitable Online Store Course, please click on the banner below:
Copyright 2012. Original content authorized only to appear on Untemplater.com. Thank you for reading!
Updated: 7/2014
Awesome interview and congrats on your success. I think you nailed it on the head when you said anyone can do it, but not everyone is persistent. So the big question is, can your course teach someone to be persistent who is not? Finally, your course helps people start a profitable online store, but can your course material help an existing online store get to the next level or is this your next course?
Persistence is all about how confidence. By using actual numbers and methods to predict income and revenue before the store is launched, a student can go in with a reasonable level of confidence that his/her idea will not be a total bust.
Then once the store is launched, there’s no better motivator than making actual sales. Almost all of my students have made their first sale within the first few weeks of launch
In terms of your last question, I have a handful of existing business owners who have signed up to improve their sites. I do fully custom website critiques on video.
I have been a long time reader of Steve’s blog, and I really admire how he can balance to have both a day time job and run his own online business. My wife and I have also thought about putting up an online store, though we are still trying to figure out the perfect niche for our business. We also need to come up with a process on how we can divide our time should we choose to keep our daytime jobs.
Hey Dominique,
There’s is no such thing as the perfect niche:) Sometimes, you have to pick something and just get started. Even though my wife and I both had full time jobs at the time, we managed to launch our store by working nights and weekends. Good luck!
Steve, the demand/niche dilemma is so spot on. I’ve tried a couple things in the past, but never did enough research in this area. The closest I got to success was selling computer games way back in 2004.
Unfotunately, I quit the site because I didn’t want to spend the time necessary on it. Short story, my mind was not right for entrepreneurship, which was a shame because the site was breaking even and orders were increasing.
What is your feeling on people hitting middle age that are married with kids, like 35+. Do you think the opportunity is just as good for them because of increased life experience? Do you think at some point, the door closes for starting an online business?
Hey Jeremy,
The demographic you are describing just happens to be the one I fall under. I don’t think the door ever closes. The investment is minimal and you can have something up and running relatively quickly. I have students in my course that are grandparents looking to supplement their retirement.
Great and valuable article. Samurai always delivers. My wife is a stay at home and would love to get into something like this. Thank you very much for introducing me to Steve’s course.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
I’m curious where you got your products? Were they dropshipped? Did you use a typical dropshipper or make your own connections?
Hi Veronica,
None of our products are dropshipped. We carry all of our products in inventory in order to provide fast delivery and great customer service. We made our own connections overseas by going to tradeshows.
Thanks Steve. Good info there. I’m curious if you started the store first, or made connections first? I’m guessing connections then store?
Hey Veronica,
We started the store first without any connections whatsoever.
Nice interview! I always find it interesing that people who start these businesses say they were easy. If you have the skills, love what you do, you will be good at it. If you are good at it you will do well monetarily. If you are good at something, it is easy.
Starting the business wasn’t exactly easy for my wife and I when we first started out. In fact, there are a bunch of articles on my blog that describe the pain:)
But that being said, if I had a mentor during this whole process, it would have made things a whole lot easier.
I would love to have my own online arts and crafts store while being able to work at home and take care of my kids.
Thanks for doing the interview!
Hey Linda,
It’s actually not an arts and crafts store but more a store geared towards wedding favors and gifts. As a guy, it was not my first choice but it’s been very good for us:)
Nice interview! Steve I love how your course has so many videos. When it comes to technical learning, watching videos makes learning so much easier. And I like how you’re able to share all of your expertise since you built your wedding store from scratch leatning everything on your own and are still adapting it to keep up with the latest technology.
How many hours a week do you and your wife spend on the business on average? And as an experienced entrepreneur, what advice do you have for people who are thinking about starting their own business?
Hey Sydney,
I don’t really touch the business any longer unless there is some work to be done on the website. For a while, my wife was only working a few hours a day. However, we recently moved the business to a larger office so things have been a little more hectic. We are looking to hire one more person and then hopefully the business will be on autopilot. The best advice I have would be to just give things a shot. It’s so inexpensive to start a business online these days that it would be a pity not to even give yourself a chance.
A bigger office and hiring another person sounds exciting! I like your advice on giving things a shot. I recently decided to start writing an eBook that I hope to publish next year because I really have nothing to lose and even though it will be a lot of work, it’ll be fun at the same time!