My name is Dan Rusu, entrepreneur and proud owner of lightingshoes.net This is my story on how I managed to seize the opportunity and how I was able to double my sales to $10,000 in just one month.
Our business provides shoes that light up for everyone, from toddlers to adults. With a range from sneakers, low tops, and high tops in various colors, we’ve got something for every customer!
Last month our online store alone had 11,000 visitors, resulting in a whopping $10,000 in sales. We are on track to generate $15,000 in sales this following month. As time progresses, we are getting a bigger share of the market and expanding every day.
How I Seized the Opportunity
Being an entrepreneur and a software developer, I was thinking about creating a product that I could sell on a subscription plan to customers. One of my dear friends told me I should do a check on Shopify, believing there was a great market for those developing plugins for Shopify.
I checked it out and I really liked it, but I didn’t fully understand what people needed from a new plugin. Then it happened. I felt like I should take action and become a Shopify site owner. Armed with a insatiable hunger for success, I started browsing around, looking for stores already getting orders on a consistent base so I didn’t have to start from scratch. I stumbled across a store named Lighting Shoe which averaged $5,000/ month with a 20 percent profit margin over the last six months. The owner asked for a $8,000 price. I felt it was a great deal. I knew the price was low because of some problems that needed to be fixed in order for the site to become an established business itself. That day I became the owner of lightingshoes.net
What I Brought to the Business
After purchasing the business, I was hooked on fixing the major problems and trying to establish the store as a stand-alone business.
The biggest occurring issue was the supplier. The previous owner relied on a drop shipping business model that required customers to wait an average two weeks for the shoes to arrive. Needless to say, I needed a new supplier. After many searches, I found a supplier in the U.S. that would ship the shoes directly to the customers within 3 to 5 days.
Acknowledging that the biggest issue was now fixed, I started working on the other issues. One by one, I fixed every other problem that I could find. Because of the previous owner’s actions, I had to set up a new merchant account.
I always knew that the details can make or break a site, so I started redesigning the site. I made a better logo, ensured the connection the website was fairly decent and fast. Then I redesigned every aspect I could have thought of in order to make the store trustworthy.
Below you will find a list of my what I did to double the conversion rate:
1. I have added discount pop-ups with the Better Coupon Box plugin.
I knew customers liked discounts. Who doesn’t ? So I have put discount pop-ups everywhere. They got 10% off when shared us on social media and $10 off when they tried to exit the site and a pop-up asked them to stay. We got 37 more sales from those tactics alone.
2. I have added Sales Pop with the Sales Pop plugin.
I knew people wanted to see other people buy our products as well and I managed to get that result using this plugin that generates a pop on the lower site of the customer’s screen. It states from where and when a product was bought.
3. Replaced product images with better quality images.
I hired an image designer to create new images and make them stand out. That really set us apart from the rest of the stores. Our products images showed that we really took care of everything.
4. Automatic email when customers abandon their carts.
Basically, when a customer abandons their shopping cart without checking out, they receive an automatic email reminding them of that. The email alone led to 12 additional sales.
After we did all the work, the website converted 2.07 percent! A massive double in the conversion rate which was generated within a month. A staggering revenue of $10,000/ month with a profit margin of 25 percent. Now the store operates on its own, I mostly work around two hours per week. The virtual assistant I hired does mostly everything from handling customer support to working with the vendor.
The Future of LightingShoes
My only focus now is to increase the site’s SEO and social media reach. Everyone would like to see their store highly ranked on Google or among other retail stores.
A few potential buyers have contacted me, but I’m not interested in selling just yet. When the time comes, I’m planning to get a seven-fold return on my investment.
My Advice for Other Entrepreneurs
I really recommend to do all the possible homework before buying a business. Know your niche and know what you need in order to improve the store. It won’t be easy, as starting a new business involves a lot of hard work. Really think about what your hopes are and how you actually plan to get there.
I also recommend to reuse the income you generate into growing the business even bigger ! I’m doing just that with SEO, expecting a good ROI.
I’m waiting for you to join the club of passive income earners!
Biography
Dan Rusu is an entrepreneur, software developer and business owner. He is the proud owner of lightingshoes.net, which provides LED Shoes for everyone from kids to grown-ups. They specialize in Kid’s shoes, an example can be seen here: YZ™ – LED Shoes – Light Up Shoes Kids Boys Girls – Black.
Dan Rusu also hopes that one day he will enjoy fruits of his labour and have a fully passive income.
