E-shop cheaper than a vegetable store

In the era of existing off-the-shelf solutions, the cost of starting an online business is lower than opening a small neighborhood vegetable shop. However, an e-shop requires some start-up expenses. Shoper, a platform of ready-made online stores, suggests where to look for financial support for the first e-business.

Raising capital to start your own online store is best started with your own savings or the support of loved ones. The group of early "investors" financially supporting a new venture is referred to by Americans as 4F. This is an acronym for the English words founders, family, friends and fools. - Launching an e-commerce store using off-the-shelf e-commerce software such as Shoper does not require a lot of money. The cost of starting an online store can be closed in the amount of PLN 1,000," explains Tomasz Tybon, director of marketing and sales at Dreamcommerce S.A.. More than 10,000 Polish e-businesses have already used this method.

The second way is through EU and labor office grants. Although this year there are no direct grants for opening your own online store, you can get funding to start your own business, such as a stationary store, whose additional business will be selling online. Interestingly, according to current regulations, a stationary store is one that allows personal pickup, and therefore also an online store that offers this option.

It is best to look for information about grants for starting your own business on the websites of local governments or county labor offices, as they run their own programs. Grants are paid out under European Social Fund programs, as well as under budgets for activating young people. The latter can be used by future entrepreneurs under the age of 30, not working or studying, registered as unemployed. Grant amounts for young entrepreneurs usually range from PLN 20,000 to 40,000.

There are also grant programs for unemployed people over the age of 30. Waiting for them are training courses (and/or counseling) to prepare them to start their own business, financial support for starting a business of up to 6 times the average labor salary, and activities for the development of young enterprises in the initial period of developing a business (up to 12 months).

Still another form of assistance are Academic Business Incubators. These are special projects aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs taking their first steps in the business world. Among those who benefited from the incubator's help were Ania and Wiola, founders of the chillbox.pl store. They came up with the idea of setting up an e-shop during a "girls' night out." - First we answered the fundamental question of what we like to do in life, and then we thought about who could help us realize our idea," they recall.

An incubator allows you to set up a company "on a trial basis" and run a business without actually registering. Academic Business Incubators offer assistance in implementing ideas, organize training, workshops and specialized lectures. An agreement with AIP does not offer direct financial support, but exempts budding entrepreneurs from certain costs, such as Social Security contributions and accounting costs. Thanks to the Shoper platform's cooperation with AIP, budding e-entrepreneurs can also benefit from such support.