Are you an Instagram Entrepreneur ?

Entrepreneurship has no clear boundaries in the world of Social Media. From Facebook to Instagram to twitter, one can sell whatever one wants to sell. One direct message and you can place your order. Nowadays, one does not need to visit a store or even go to any E-commerce portal to shop. Instagram has become a marketplace for the new generation entrepreneurs  wanting to work from home and earn a little extra.

Feministaa spoke to Sanya and Priyanka,  co- founders of ” Bella Bella “.   A portal which sells products related to women’s fashion. 

“Today, everything is on the web and obviously if we want to keep up with time and sell quick, then there is nothing better then going online. The kind of masses we can appeal here, its almost impossible to do it by any other means “ says  Sanya.

Apart from just having a mere presence on Instagram, Priyanka says, “ We are looking forward to take part in various exhibitions which keep taking place in other cities, this way we get many new customers and it will even boost our sales. We are also launching our website soon and if all is well, we also plan to open a retail outlet shortly”. One always looks for a business expansion and Instagram might be just the right beginning, it certainly should not stop there. One should aim at bigger things and start sourcing to retailers who can provide them with a stable income.

Even though the business model for Instagram does not require much investment, the most basic & fundamental problem for any entrepreneur  is arranging for the monetary funds. Sanya mentions that since they were not sure of the response they would get, they were hesitant to take financial help from their parents.

There are different kinds of business models, an instagramer can choose from. The first is certainly having a setup of the inventory which is already in place. In this case, an investment in inventory and maintenance is the only challenge. The second model is the “order after payment” method, where the seller will only call/ source the product from his vendor if the customer has paid for it beforehand.

Just because its Social Media, things don’t get easy. Instagram entrepreneurs also face challenges. Most important is to consistently engaging the customers and building a relationship through constant messaging and follow up.  Also, the chances of a seller being a pretentious fake one is high on social media, so people are very cautious who they deal with.

“We had to adopt various strategies initially. We contacted our friends and informed them about the venture that we started, people started visiting and they loved our collection, this way word of mouth publicity really helped. We followed the people on instagram to who we discovered had similar interests and followed us back, also we give our stuff to famous bloggers to promote, so this way slowly and steadily we are growing” says Priyanka of Bella Bella .

Just a product page on Instagram is not enough to sustain in the ever growing marketplace on Social Media. Offline events, innovative and attractive photography along with a strategy for customer retention are important factors in deciding the fate of any  business.

Visit Bella Bella on instagram @bellabellaOffcial