If you’re like most entrepreneurs, running your own business can run you ragged. You wear all the hats, make all the decisions … it’s exhausting. But as the saying goes, you’d rather work 80 hours for yourself than 40 hours for someone else, amirite? But what happens when 80 hours becomes 100 hours, or 120 hours? When you’re constantly busy but not feeling like you’re making progress? When your dog AND your kids both snap at you? You’ve put in all the sweat equity you can afford, but it’s still not enough?
If you started an ecommerce business thinking it was your ticket to Easy Street, you have certainly found out otherwise by now.
Starting an online store on a platform designed for small to midsize businesses certainly seemed like the way to go, because who can afford a fully custom site? Relatively easy setup, low cost point of entry, and the default settings met all your basic needs, right?. Ok … some of them?
Perhaps you were told that your online store could be customized, but you’ve no doubt discovered that your shopping platform’s help desk will not help with that. Have you tried hiring a web developer who really didn’t know anything about ecommerce and you ended up paying dearly for their learning curve, only to find that they couldn’t deliver?
And what about routine maintenance — are your backups reliable? Are your product photos and content updated regularly? Is your site running slowly and you don’t know why? Are 404 errors driving you crazy?
If you’re struggling or are simply unsatisfied with your online store and don’t know where else to turn, what you need is an ecommerce development expert.
“But why outsource when I should be able to do it myself?” you ask?
Reasons to Get Outside Help for Your Online Store
- Running your ecommerce business is already a full-time job, and you want to spend more time with your family and/or occasionally binge-watch Netflix.
- You can’t afford even a part-time employee to help. Besides, you don’t know enough or have the time to train someone else.
- Site upkeep is no fun and you hate it; consequently, you neglect to do certain tasks that usually come back to bite you later when you’re in crisis mode.
- You realize that it’s not the best use of your time, that it’s better to work “on” your business rather than “in” your business.
- Asking your spouse or family member to help out isn’t an option because he/she already has a full-time job or other responsibilities.
- You want to add custom functionality to your store that would help with all of the above — but you don’t write code.
“If there is a aspect of my business that I don’t like working on, I usually end up outsourcing it. As a founder you can focus your efforts on the aspects that you enjoy while hiring out the rest.” — Nathan Resnick, Founder of Sourcify
“In my mind, the bottom line is that everyone outsources. Unless you grow, harvest, and process your own food, make your own clothes from fibers you’ve produced and spun, build your own house, create your own power sources, and are completely independent from the long chain of people in the manufacturing economy, you’re paying other people to do that which you do not want to do, don’t want to make time to do, or lack the skills to do. In the modern word, specialization is the norm.” — J.D. Roth
There comes a point (usually much sooner than most entrepreneurs are willing to admit), when it all becomes too much. When you have more work than you can handle, but not quite enough to hire a full or even part-time employee, outsourcing to an ecommerce expert may be just what you need. Check out Inkblot Digital’s Store Support service for BigCommerce, Lead Commerce, Shopify, and Volusion stores.
How does our Store Support work?
You can use our service in three ways:
- Pay by the hour (Hourly: for very short jobs or emergencies)
- Pay for a set number of hours per month on a one-time basis (On Demand: for longer, one-time tasks)
- Pay for a set number of hours on a recurring basis (Recurring Monthly: for continuous support and priority service)
Pssst … sidebar … Our Recurring Monthly packages are really something to shout about. Not only do you get our very best hourly rates, but the following features are included free:
- Priority Service
- Monthly backup (including template)
- Site Downtime Status Report
- Missing Title Tags Report
- Broken Links Report
What kinds of services could I use this for? Can you give me some more examples?
- Making changes to website layout and styling
- Adding custom coding & functionality
- Updating content & graphics
- Managing product & store configuration
- Providing graphic design for site banners
- Providing ecommerce consulting
- Optimizing website speed
- Restoring backups when code changes cause templates to break
- Integrating external services such as Google Analytics, a third-party reviews system, or other tools
- Building custom API integrations to allow better management of your ecommerce store
Store Support = Life Support
Think of our Store Support as your part-time help desk or outsourced internal development team.
Life is too short to spend time doing things you’d be better off not doing yourself. Let us help you shoulder the burden. Contact Inkblot Digital today and let’s find out how we can make your online business — and your life — easier.
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