If you want to start an eCommerce business, know that making it is not as easy as many self-professed gurus online will let you think. A study found that a whopping 90% of eCommerce start-ups in this country fail after only 1-2 years. This is much higher than in most sectors, and this is mainly because of the lack of experience and naivete of many entrepreneurs in that space. This is why you should consider acquiring important skills before you even think about starting this kind of business and think about getting a formal education as well. Here are some of the skills all eCommerce entrepreneurs need to master if they want to succeed.

Management Skills

Too many people get into eCommerce thinking that they'll be able to operate from an island. If you want to be serious and eventually expand your business, you will eventually need to do more than just direct orders from a remote warehouse.

You will need to learn how to manage customer relationships, get more involved in the procurement and distribution process, and add people to your team. There’s a strong chance that you'll have to manage people remotely and on the ground as well.

All of this will be way too difficult for you if you don't have at least some sort of management background. This is why you should consider getting either a bachelor's in management or business administration or something like an MBA or a master's in management if you already have a foundation.

If this is your case, you could go a step further and get something like an MSc Management in a Digital Economy from an institution like Aston University. You'll get all the tools needed to run an eCommerce organisation efficiently and learn valuable skills that will give you a significant advantage over your competition.

Financial Literacy

It's surprising to see how many people think they can be successful in eCommerce without an understanding of things like financial forecasting, accounting, financing, risk management, or financial planning. They then wonder why they're always struggling with cash flow or why their margins are so much thinner than they imagined.

Being financially literate will allow you to set up your business so it can be as tax efficient as possible. You’ll be able to use a variety of financial instruments to lock in the prices of commodities if you manufacture your products. You’ll also learn how to use debt to your advantage.

Very few eCommerce entrepreneurs know when and how to get financing and often get rejected or taken advantage of. If you are financially literate and have the credentials to back it up, financiers and investors will be more open to working with you and won't be able to exploit you as easily.

Marketing Skills

Knowing how to market your product and/or services through various platforms will be extremely important as an eCommerce entrepreneur. You will need to master things such as search engine optimisation, PPC marketing, media buying, affiliate marketing, among others. In addition, you'll need to master traditional marketing skills like print media, display advertising, and sponsorships.

Ecommerce entrepreneurs who know how to use a wide variety of techniques and know which ones are more likely to work depending on the product or brand will have a much greater chance of succeeding. They'll squeeze more revenue from their campaigns and might even be able to market their business for free.

Understanding how to use social media correctly, for instance, could allow you to save tons of money on branding and marketing. Knowing how to use tools like SMS and email marketing will also allow you to market your business on the cheap and could get you surprising results.

Customer Service

A lot of people who get into eCommerce get blindsided by the customer service aspect of it and are surprised at how demanding responding to customers’ questions and complaints can be. Many of them also struggle with maintaining relationships with clients or maintaining professional communications.

Just getting one of these things wrong could be disastrous for your brand. Even if you have the best product on earth, you will get slammed if you don't offer good customer service. So, you will need to be prepared for the challenges that come with dealing with customers and get familiar with things like customer relationship management systems before you start. Also, be prepared to delegate some of your customer service tasks.

Time Management

Ecommerce businesses are usually open 24/7, and that comes with lots of challenges, especially when it comes to time management. So, if you're struggling with staying organised and managing a schedule, then you will need to work on this before you even think about starting an eCommerce business. This is especially important if you're running a one-person operation. You should also think twice about running this type of business part-time. This is something you will need to fully dedicate yourself to unless you don't really care about growth or just want to run this as a hobby.

Graphic and Web Design

You don't absolutely need to understand or have a background in graphic design to be a successful eCommerce entrepreneur. But, if you constantly have to hire people to create banners, design elements, and marketing material for your brand, you will lose a lot of money. Having some sort of knowledge of graphic design would allow you to handle some simple jobs on your own and be less dependent on outside help.

Web design, on the other hand, is something all eCommerce entrepreneurs should at least have a foundation in before they get started. You have to be able to do things like add pages and products to your website without having to keep someone on your payroll or work with a third party. You'll also be able to cut costs on maintenance and won't have to give access to your website to as many people.

These are some of the skills anyone who wants to succeed in eCommerce should try to learn and integrate right now. Having a wide skill set will give you an advantage in your space and reduce the chances that you'll burn yourself.