Hi Jayne
If it helps i was exacly like yourself with no knowledge what so ever but I stuck with it and eventually with a lot of help of these good folk, I eventually got a website together and I'm delighted with it.
I was amazed how little it cost aswell. With help desigining templates and paying a years hosting, domian names etc i'd say I spent around £250 and that's because i got help to do alot of it which many people do themselves and therfore don't pay for, so depending how brave you are it could cost you alot less.
I looked at dropshipping but did discover too many people doing the same thing so I really took the plunge and found suppliers in china and imported the stock over. That was the hardest and most time consuming part, not to mention the storage implications. But it was the right thing for me.
I'm still learning but that's part of the fun. Zen cart is great and have very indepth forums for all the help you need. I discover new things everytime I visit just by reading other people's threads.
Traffic to my site has been amazing, I've had over 8,000 hits in a month. (I think is good
)
Sales are slow though but I'm hoping with a bit of tweeking and time that will turn around.
To get this I've done leaflet drops, advertised in local ad magazines, got every friend and relative telling people, approached businesses like vets etc (being pet products), put lealets in post office windows, shops, things like that. 10,000 A5 leaflets cost me £98.
oh yeah, and I got a t-shirt printed with logo and web address on for £10 and I wear it when out walking my dogs!!!
Anyway good luck and I hope that helps.
Tori