Sourcing the Product

Photo Credit: https://diodetech.com/product-source.html

As mentioned previously, creating a web based business is new knowledge for me. It took effort to understand the benefits and drawbacks of using affiliate marketing vs. drop shipping as a business model. At first glance, the answer seemed simple when choosing a method to generate sales. The easier method being affiliate marketing. 

With affiliate marketing, everything was cut and dry. Find publishers, offer a commission, and bring in the profits. It certainly seemed ideal compared to drop shipping which would require overcoming some challenges like chargebacks and extended shipping times. However, what I learned this week was easier doesn't mean better.

I discovered through the readings and resources in the assignments this week that implementing a decision matrix is the first step to targeting what is important to the business owners and the company before making a decision on a business model. Using a decision matrix will aid in establishing a business model by ranking the importance of quantifying criteria based on a comparison between two or more alternatives. Once a ranking of importance is established, an obtainable model can be implemented.

I also found, it's equally important to do the research to discover what will work despite any challenges that come with the best answer. For example, although affiliate marking seemed like the easier route in the student recommendation model, in the long-run, it would require a great deal of time and money to find publishers willing to advertise products on their website. Given the skill set of the student group and their criteria, affiliate marketing may not have been the best answer. Further research into finding the right business model is well worth the investment.