91.1 F
San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

The Weekly Briefing

The Weekly Briefing Think your workday is crazy? Try walking in Josh Noland’s shoes. He’s 18 years old and, when not managing a shipping and postal retail store or notarizing documents on the side, he’s busy marketing his on-line gift and novelty business, Josh’s Original Products. The company, which he runs from his home in Chatsworth, offers a long list of products ranging from watches to wall hangings. After high school graduation in 2002, Noland decided to forego college and focus instead on becoming an entrepreneur. Now, he’s educating himself on the do’s and don’ts of running a small company and navigating the ever-changing world of “E-tailing.” “I started this business in December. I wanted to do something that would leave me flexible to move around the country if I wanted to. I had some experience in retail and I like selling people things they can use in their homes or give as presents, so I chose retail. “I spent about $1,500 of my own money getting started and I’d say the biggest challenge getting it going was establishing my Web site. I went on line and found a company to do it for me, but within the first week they went off line so I lost a good $400 in advertising, which I’m still trying to get back. “I found an on-line distributor that had products for sale that were interesting to me. I sell more than 400 different items on the site, including watches, antique dolls, kitchenware, garden supplies and curios from around the world. I was able to check out the products my distributor offers because they are located down the street from where I work in the day time. That’s really important. You should know what the quality of the products you are going to offer on line is like before you get started. “Mostly the distributor sends the orders straight to the customer, so I don’t have any inventory. Although, if a customer prefers, I can have the products sent to me and I send them on from there. “My sales are pretty slow right now, but I’m just getting started and I’m mostly focusing on boosting up my marketing plans. I compete with on-line retailers, and there are a lot of them. I search the Internet regularly and check out my competitor’s prices and do what I can to offer my products at the lowest price possible. I also have promotions. Right now, first-time visitors to my site can e-mail me for a 10 percent discount coupon, that’s one of the things I do to make my site more competitive. “I also compete with brick and mortar stores. So I go out regularly in the neighborhood and around the Valley and drop fliers to let people know about my business. And, I’m starting to get some responses from that.” Jacqueline Fox

Featured Articles

Related Articles