How to start an E-Commerce business on a Shoestring budget

I mentioned in a small business forum that I started Sunnystuff for practically nothing.  A reader asked me to explain this, so I will oblige.  Sunnystuff is actually my second e-commerce experiment/venture.  My first is FirePouch.  I live in California and there is an issue with wild fires every summer.  I was looking for something to protect my stuff, but I didn't want a big, heavy safe.  I stumbled across a manufacturer who made exactly what I was looking for.  I noticed that they had only a few distributors and I thought their sites were weak.  I figured: A) If I wanted it, others would too (i.e., there is a market).  B) The competition was small and I felt that, if I was at least equal on price, people would buy from me over them because of confidence derived from a more professional looking site.  C) Again, because competition was small, I figured I could get to Google Page One rankings pretty quickly.  Once I decided I wanted to do it (i.e., it was worth doing), I simply contacted the manufacturer and we worked out a deal. They allowed me to purchase small amounts to start, so the risk was very small.  I put the site together over a weekend and it's been a nice little cash flowing business for me ever since.  It's pretty much on auto-pilot now.  It's not going to get me to retirement, but it's nice pocket change for the minimal effort needed to maintain it.

Back to Sunnystuff, it is a similar situation, maybe even better. Through other means, I met a manufacturer of Beach Chairs, Beach Umbrellas, Sun Hats, etc. (i.e., the products on Sunnystuff).  Since their office and warehouse are close to where I live, we worked out an agreement such that when I get a sale on Sunnystuff, I can pick it up, pack it, and ship it. It's practically a drop-ship, but I get better margins because I do the packing and shipping.  So, my only costs for starting Sunnystuff.com are my web hosting fees (~$100/year after hosting fees, domain fees, and SSL certificate fees), advertising (Google Adwords), and my time.  Each sale is profit that I put right back into the business to increase advertising.  The cycle continues and it grows organically (at least, that's the plan).  At a certain point, I hope to cap that advertising spend and start to pocket some of the profit.

So there you have it.  I've found 2 manufacturers (so far).  They already sell their stuff to others through traditional sales channels, so they have assets (images and copy) to share.  Think about how many there are out there.  The guys who run these manufacturing companies are so busy running their everyday businesses that they don't have time (or don't want to devote the time/effort/resources) to learn a whole new world.  That presents great opportunities for an entrepreneur with web skills/knowledge.  I come in and create a whole new channel of sales for them at ZERO risk to them.