It is possible that you do not believe that your service may be marketed online; nonetheless, here are three reasons why you could be mistaken! We have all seen the astounding rate at which e-commerce has taken over, yet a significant number of service-based small company owners and entrepreneurs are still hesitant to take their companies to the next level by expanding their operations online. It is possible that you might gain from online sales, regardless of whether you offer a tangible product or provide a service. In this post, we will discuss the challenges that are posed by e-commerce for service providers, as well as the number of perceived obstacles that can be easily and affordably overcome by planning your approach like a professional (or with one) and making use of third-party tools that make the entire process much simpler. Interested in expanding your company via the use of sponsored posts on Instagram? Look at our post: In order to expand your company on Instagram via the use of sponsored posts, here are three simple steps. The following are three major obstacles that company owners have when they are considering incorporating e-commerce into their business tools: 1. you are not a vendor of a product It is common for firms to offer services that are unable to establish a distinct boundary between the user and the provider. It is often believed that engaging in e-commerce is not something that you should do, regardless of whether you are in the consulting, speaking, coaching, or any other business in which you are the product. In point of fact, you do sell something; nevertheless, if you want to maximize the potential of e-commerce to create both your company and your personal brand, you will need to think creatively and outside the box. Do you work as a consultant? It is common for consultants to adjust their approach to the project at hand and make use of their prior knowledge in order to steer company owners or other service providers through a protracted process that develops as the challenges are identified. Occasionally, you may come into challenges that are experienced on a frequent basis, and it is in these situations that you will find opportunity. When you see that one firm after another is encountering the same obstacle, and you have assisted prior customers in overcoming it, then the solution that you have helped them overcome might be a product that you offer. Use your imagination! The origin of many successful applications can be traced back to the fact that someone, like you, saw an opportunity that no one else was addressing and seized it. Similarly, this is true for a variety of other service-oriented sectors. Nevertheless, this is not the only strategy; whether you are a coach or a speaker, you also have the opportunity to monetize your business via online sales. There is a common tendency for instructors and presenters to undervalue oneself. If you want to realize that your personal brand has a significant influence, you need know that your worth is obvious to many other firms that have employed you. Make use of that information to your advantage! Consider publishing a book, having t-shirts and mugs produced, or exploring any other means by which you might transform your expertise into concrete products. Things like promotional materials or anything else that comes to mind might be included here. After that, you will not only be able to make money from sales, but you will also be able to grow your brand at the same time. In this context, the most important thing is to not restrict yourself to the service you provide and to acknowledge the potential of your expertise. We provide a fantastic mentorship program that may assist you in uncovering the untapped potential for e-commerce that your business has to offer, in the event that you are experiencing difficulties with this. 2. you are unable to spare the time For the most part, this is the primary reason why most individuals do not engage in internet commerce. There seems to be a significant time commitment involved in the process of setting up, maintaining, and eventually distributing the goods. When it comes to small enterprises, the new reality of e-commerce is that processes like these require very little time. You are the one who will be the obstacle, and the setup process may be short or it might take a long period. Businesses will always be held back if they are extremely particular about the design aspects or the functioning of their products. Always make sure that the point of your company is to provide service to the customer. In all honesty, all that is required of you is to ensure that your website is capable of accepting and processing orders, that the information and items are given in a straightforward manner, and that the user must complete their purchase with as few steps as was feasible. Maintenance may vary, and it is often a good idea to begin things on your own and then employ a third party or a freelancer to manage the maintenance once you have completed the first tasks. There are times when the only thing that is necessary is to log in a few times each week; nevertheless, once you see that everything is functioning well, you will probably feel the urge to check it many times per day (in a good way). When it comes to shipping, all that is required is the use of an application to generate shipping labels, followed by either having the item picked up for delivery or carrying the things to the post office. Take a look at the possible profit margins you have and consider what the implications of selling may be for your company. It is possible that you may be astonished by the amount of income that you are not producing. 3. The price is really high Due to the fact that many service-based firms have seen how costly it was in the past to enter the realm of e-commerce, which is no longer the case, this presents a significant challenge for them. We investigated the obstacles, such as how to make your business profitable and how time might play a role in the equation. When you divide your time and set up some e-commerce, both of these things imply that the present firm will see a loss of income. In point of fact, going into business for oneself online is really inexpensive. If you decide to use woocommerce (https://woocommerce.com/) for your WordPress website, build a store on shopify (https://www.shopify.ca/), or go with bigcommerce (https://www.bigcommerce.ca/), you won’t have to spend a lot of money to get your business up and running. The cost of using WooCommerce is directly proportional to the amount that your professional web developer charges. This system is compatible with WordPress, which means that if you already have WordPress up and operating, the only other thing you will need to pay for is either the time you spend attempting to set it up yourself or the money you will spend to have it done by a professional. Both Shopify and BigCommerce make the process far simpler; but, in order to begin using them, you will either need to install them as a subdomain of your current website or you will need to create an entirely new website. Starting at $30 per month, each of these options include your hosting, and their prices are very equal to one another. They take care of everything, even the processing of credit cards, and there is no lack of applications that handle functionality that is not inherent to their platforms. However, employing this strategy will need a significant amount of time. You should make sure that the professional developer you choose for any of these systems is well-versed in the platforms before you hire them. This is because the platforms are quite different from one another, even down to the programming languages that they are designed with. There are, of course, a great number of alternative possibilities to take into consideration, such as 1shoppingcart or even infusionsoft and magento, which are all regarded to be more expensive choices for businesses that operate on a big scale. In the end, the answer to the question is the shortest possible one: no, it is not too costly. This is due to the fact that the pricing range begins with totally free. It is your time that is the true expense, and the only danger is that you will waste it. If you do decide to investigate the possibility of engaging in e-commerce, you should devote a significant amount of effort to the planning process. The process of coming up with ideas took not just a single day but many weeks of spitballing and brainstorming. Consider what other people in your sector have done, and more importantly, what they have not done, and then make sure that everything is planned out in the appropriate manner. You could find that hiring a professional business mentor to help you is the finest move you’ve ever made for your company. While you are on your road to establishing your e-commerce project much more quickly and with much less work, you will be guided through the common hitches and obstacles that you often encounter. It is in your best interest to enter the ring as quickly as possible since an increasing number of service-based firms are beginning to see the possibilities of e-commerce. It is perhaps possible that e-commerce has become the major source of income for many businesses.