My parents own a small Chinese supermarket, and lately business just hasn’t been great. They work incredibly hard, but we don’t get as many customers as we used to, and it honestly hurts seeing how much stress they’re under.
One of the biggest challenges is that we have live seafood, which is really expensive to maintain. If it doesn’t sell, it can die, and that’s just money lost. We also have fresh produce and other perishable items, so every slow day really adds up.
I’m 18, and I really want to help them, especially with the online side since they’re not very familiar with social media or digital marketing. I feel like there has to be more I can do than just hoping more people walk through the door.
I’ve been thinking about creating an Instagram, TikTok, maybe even a website. One idea I had was selling some of our non-perishable products online, like snacks, noodles, sauces, seasonings, teas, candies, dried mushrooms, and other dry goods since those would be much easier to ship than refrigerated or frozen products.
The problem is… I honestly have no idea where to begin. I don’t know if I should build a Shopify store, sell on Amazon or another marketplace first, how shipping works, or whether this is even the right direction. I don’t want to spend a bunch of money on something that won’t actually help.
If this were your family’s business, what would you do first?
I’m honestly just trying to help my parents however I can. They’ve put so much into this store, and I don’t want to sit back and watch them struggle if there’s something I can learn to help. I’d really appreciate any advice, even if it’s just pointing me in the right direction. Thanks everyone.