Thirty-three people on Forbes' billionaires list made their fortunes from e-commerce. Together they're worth almost $600 billion, according to Billionaire Tracker, which tracks their net worth live.
Almost none of them started big. Most launched one small store selling one thing. Here's what their first stores had in common.
1. Start with one product you can win
Jeff Bezos started Amazon in 1994 from a garage in Bellevue, Washington, selling only books. Books were easy to ship and impossible for a physical store to stock in full. Only once Amazon owned that category did it expand to everything else.
For your store: don't launch with 200 products. Pick the one you can explain in one sentence and sell better than anyone. (Not sure which one? Here's how to find a winning product.)
2. Solve a problem you have yourself
In 2004, Tobi Lütke wanted to sell snowboards online through his shop, Snowdevil, but the e-commerce software available was poor. So he wrote his own. That software became Shopify.
For your store: the best product ideas often come from something that annoyed you as a customer.
3. Launch before it's perfect
eBay started in 1995 as AuctionWeb, a side project on Pierre Omidyar's personal website. One of the first things sold was a broken laser pointer. If he'd waited for a polished marketplace, eBay might not exist.
For your store: a live store with a few sales teaches you more than a perfect store nobody has seen.
4. Serve the customers others ignore
Jack Ma co-founded Alibaba in 1999 from his apartment in Hangzhou to help small Chinese manufacturers reach buyers abroad, a group the big players weren't serving. Marcos Galperin did the same for Latin America with MercadoLibre.
For your store: a small audience that nobody serves well beats a huge one everybody is fighting over.
5. Boring products can build big businesses
Wayfair began in 2002 as a site selling stereo racks. Spanx started with a single undergarment and about $5,000 of Sara Blakely's savings. Neither product was glamorous; both solved a clear need.
For your store: "useful" beats "exciting". Look for products people search for but nobody sells well.
6. Make speed or trust your edge
Coupang won South Korea with very fast delivery. eBay worked because buyers and sellers learned to trust each other through ratings. Early on, customers forgive a small brand almost anything except slow shipping and silence.
For your store: be clear about shipping times, answer every message, and show reviews as soon as you have them.
Starting is cheaper than ever
When Bezos launched Amazon, building a store meant writing your own software and stocking your own warehouse. Today you can go from idea to a live, branded store in an afternoon. Zentrix sets up the storefront, branding, legal pages and verified suppliers for you, so you can spend your time on the part these founders got right: picking one product people actually want.
Build your store with Zentrix →
