Issue 5 2019

18 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 5 2019 , 3 Barriers to Break and Get Your Service-Based Business E-commerce Ready By Susan Friesen, founder of the award-winning web development and digital marketing firm eVisionMedia. You might not think your service can be sold online but here’s 3 reasons why you might be wrong! We’ve all seen how rapidly e-commerce has taken over but many service-based small business owners and entrepreneurs are still gun shy about taking their business to the next level online. Whether you sell a physical product or provide a service you could benefit from online sales. In this post we’ll look at the barriers presented by e-commerce for service providers and how many perceived obstacles are easily and affordably addressed by planning your approach like a pro (or with one) and using third party tools that make the whole process much easier. Want to use sponsored posts on Instagram to grow your business? Try our post: 3 Beginner Steps to Building Your Business on Instagram Using Sponsored Posts. Here’s 3 common barriers business owners face when contemplating adding e-commerce to their business tools: 1. You Don’t Sell a Product Many businesses sell a service that can’t draw a clear line between the user and the service. Whether it’s consulting, speaking, coaching, or any other industry where you are the product, the perception is that e-commerce isn’t something you should pursue. In reality you do sell something, but you’ll have to be an out-of- the-box thinker if you want to use e-commerce to build your business and your personal brand. Are you a consultant? Consultants tend to adapt to the project and use their experience to guide business owners or other service providers through a lengthy process that evolves as the problems are discovered. Sometimes there are consistent problems that are encountered and that’s where you will see your opportunities. If you see that company after company is hitting the same wall and you have helped previous clients get past it, then that solution can be a product you can sell. Get creative! Many successful apps started because someone like you saw an opportunity no one else was addressing and pounced. This can be said for other service industries as well. It’s not the only approach though; if you’re a coach or a speaker you’ve got potential for e-commerce as well. Speakers and coaches undervalue themselves habitually. Your value is clear to many other businesses who have hired you so understand that your personal brand makes a big impact. Take that knowledge and monetize! Write a book, have shirts and mugs printed, or look at any other way to turn your knowledge into tangible items. These could be promotional items or anything else you think of. You’ll then not only be making money through sales but building your brand at the same time. The big point here is not to limit yourself to your service and to recognize the potential of your knowledge. If you’re having issues with this, we have a great mentoring program that can help you discover the hidden potential for e-commerce your brand offers. 2. You Don’t Have the Time This is the biggest reason most people don’t get into online sales. The setup, the maintenance, and the eventual product shipping all look like major time commitments. The new reality of e-commerce for small businesses is these things take very little time. The setup can be quick or take a long time and the barrier will actually be you. Being overly picky about design elements or quirky functionality always hold businesses back. Always put the emphasis on your business servicing the user. Really all you need to do is make sure your website can take and process an order and the information and products are presented clearly with as few steps as possible for the user to complete their purchase. Maintenance can vary and often it’s a good idea to start things yourself and then hire a third party or freelancer to handle the maintenance. Sometimes there isn’t much required other than logging in a few times a week, though once you see it all working you’ll likely be inclined to check all the time (in a good way). Shipping is as easy as applying an app to print shipping labels and then having the item picked up for delivery or taking the items to the post office.