You’ve read the first two articles in my “Online Business” series and you’ve done the preliminaries. Now the first major choice you’ll have to make. Will you do all the work yourself or will you outsource it?
The doors of an online business never close. By not running a 24/7 operation, online business owners may fail to fulfill orders in the manner promised–a surefire way to lose customers and miss the chance to build loyalty. Internet businesses need to operate full time, so entrepreneurs must be realistic about how much help they will need.
Typically, online business owners find that their hands quickly fill up with the chores and challenges involved in simply running their businesses. They’ll often turn to web experts, or professionals who coordinate online business tasks every day. With the numbers of well-trained web professionals out there today, consider these possibilities when looking to hire:
- Hire someone who will be dedicated solely to web management, if the nature and size of the business supports it.
- Hire temporary employees to help set up the business and bring them back periodically to make changes to the site, expand online capabilities or launch new ventures.
- Outsource the development, design and hosting of the website and rely on an outside organization to keep it up to date and to manage growth.
- Use an “e-commerce in a box” product to set up an e-commerce site. These products typically charge a monthly fee (around $25) and provide an online store with virtual shopping carts (locations where shoppers electronically place the items they want to buy).
Choose wisely, your business depends on it.