First-time poster here. I am looking for advice on a business I started in 2019.
Background on the business:
We started up a small spice/seasoning business in 2019 (right before the pandemic) in South Africa. It is my partners' family recipe for an all-round bbq & cooking seasoning mix which is really fantastic. They developed the recipe years ago and have always used it in recipes that proved it to be a hit. Later on, they bottled the seasoning to give as gifts for Birthdays and Christmasses and so on, this also proved to be very successful as most people would ask for refills frequently.
I decided to take the product on as a personal business venture by bottling and branding it and selling it to a wider retail market. We entered the market in 2019 after some proof runs with packaging etc.
Background on me and my partner:
My personal experience with starting a business is not a lot, I am a freelance graphic designer with experience in packaging design and moderate web development. I have extensive hospitality industry experience and I'm pretty OK at social media management and marketing.
My partner (life and business) has great experience in sales and manufacturing but he is not as well experienced in technology (ie. social media etc).
We do unfortunately have limited funds at this time, as we have put a lot into our business with development, transport, getting samples out, etc etc.
We have a new partner in our business who is currently helping with sales and a bit of funding.
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The current state of business:
We have done OK with sales (given Covid and not everyone buying), we've opened a few retailers across the country, we have few local celebrity endorsements, and have a good loyal following.
The main issue is online sales and getting new retailers to take a chance in trying the product. We can't afford to leave every retailer in the country a sample but we still try and do.
It is a good, quality and tasty product. It looks good and sells well in person, but how do you drive more sales online? I think from the time we started our online shop in 2019 we have only gotten 3 sales, which is way below what I was expecting.
The big retailers won't look at us twice, the reasons being Covid and an overstocked market of spice.
What is a good step to take to advance our online sales?
I am happy to give more information if needed and also thank you for taking the time to read!
TLDR: New business started in 2019, looking for advice on how to drive online sales.
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