3 Signs Ecommerce Outsourcing Is Right For You

With the ease of buying products online, e-shopping is becoming everyone’s go-to option, so it’s no surprise that online sales are continuously on the rise. Why would you bother going to a department store when you can buy your favorite pair of shoes using a mobile device?  You can even have it delivered right to your doorstep.

Ecommerce is unquestionably at its peak.  With its potential to become a very lucrative business, small business owners are jumping at the opportunity. If you are one of them and you’re just starting out, you already know how toxic it can be to run this kind of business.  As you continue to grow and expand, you’ll be needing all the help you can get.

While it may have already crossed your mind, you’re still probably wondering when is the best time to outsource. Look no further because below are some of the signs that will tell you that the time for ecommerce outsourcing is now.

1.  Your business is growing and you don’t have enough time for all the tasks

As your business grows and you begin to expand, the need for additional resources becomes inevitable.  With the increasing demand you’re getting from your customers, there will come a time when the hours in your day are just not enough to cover all the critical tasks your business needs to operate.

While it may have been possible to do it yourself in the beginning, this will become increasingly difficult when you’re starting to expand.  Sure, you may have been able to handle the customer service and product sourcing tasks before, but as the demand for your product goes up, the volume can become overwhelming.

This is when ecommerce outsourcing becomes a viable option.  By assigning the most time-consuming tasks to freelancers, you’ll be able to have more breathing room to take on the more important tasks like taking care of your financials or planning your next strategy.  Things that CEOs are supposed to do.

Business owners have the tendency to want to do everything on their own.  It’s normal because they want everything to be perfect and to be done their way.   You probably feel the same way too but you’ll be missing out on a lot of opportunities to scale up if you refuse get other people to do these things for you.

Why would you waste your time on product research when you could outsource this to someone who is more experienced?  Will you still be able to handle order fulfillment if you have to do 20 to 50 of them before the day ends?  How about customer service?  Who will take care of it when you’re busy with order fulfillment?

Picturing the scenario in your head is already overwhelming in itself.  What more if it actually happens?

The truth of the matter is, you are putting the business at bigger risk doing everything yourself.  There’s just no way you can run the business properly while juggling everything — product sourcing, inventory management, order fulfillment, customer service — all at the same time.

Refusing to consider ecommerce outsourcing because you’re trying to save money is also a poor excuse.  If you take a closer look at things, you stand to lose more if you’re getting fewer things done – or not getting things done properly.  That’s what will happen if you don’t have the extra hands you need to help you.

While ecommerce outsourcing can cost you a couple of bucks, the benefits you’ll reap makes it a worthwhile investment.  You can’t afford to get left behind.  When it’s time to scale up, you have to go with the flow.  With more work coming your way, outsourcing is not such a bad idea.

2.  You need expertise that is outside your knowledge base

Steve Jobs once said that it doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do because the reason why we hire smart people is so they can tell us what to do.

While the former head of Apple may have had a huge ego, he still humbly recognized the fact that there were people out there who were better than him in other aspects of business. This holds true for any business owner.  With the range of skills required to run an online store most especially, ecommerce outsourcing makes perfect sense.

Why?

Because of the abundance of talent available in the freelance market.  By outsourcing some of your business’s most crucial tasks, you are getting the opportunity to work with people who have skill sets that fit your needs.

While you may be knowledgeable in basic tasks like product fulfillment and customer service, there are tasks that require a specific set of skills.  For tasks like graphic design, product listing optimization, or social media management, for example, you’ll be needing an expert.

And you need someone who specializes because their expertise will help your business gain traction, and do so faster than with just you trying to figure things out. The difference between having someone who knows what to do and someone who also knows how to do it best is huge.  Having the latter will benefit your business in the long run.

This will also free you up big time because experts don’t require guidance.  All you have to do is leave everything up to them and wait for the results because they know what they’re doing. If you outsource social media, for example, you just have to provide the necessary details and let the freelancer do their magic.  Then you wait for their report and evaluate. Did you get more engagement with the new strategy?  How many new followers did you gain with the new posting strategy?

Having someone you can trust to perform some of those critical business tasks can go a long way.  Not only will it help get things done, but you will also be assured that the work is top quality.

3.  Your goal is to run a profitable eCommerce store without working 50+ hours per week

There’s nothing a business owner would like more than to see their business become profitable.  Apart from providing customers with what they need, an increase in profit will always be one of the primary goals.

There will also always be trade-offs, however, if you want to accomplish that.  It will either be an additional expense or extended work hours.

While hard work and dedication are already a given for any entrepreneur, working more hours can have a huge impact not only on your health but also on your motivation and relationships.  As a business owner, you can’t afford to burn yourself out because that would still ultimately lead to your business’s demise.

What good is a victory if you’re barely breathing?

Ecommerce outsourcing gives you an opportunity to celebrate your wins without working more hours than you should.  Seeing an increase in profits is useless if you’re all stressed out and exhausted.  It’s just not worth it!

By outsourcing tasks to freelancers who are considered experts in their fields, you are giving your business and yourself a chance to strike that balance. With freelancers at the helm, you don’t need to kill yourself by doing everything alone.  You have to remember that stress can cause you to lose focus.  When you’re the CEO, you can’t afford that.

We’ve all heard that saying that all work and no play makes one a dull boy.  These experts’ skills are the key to achieving the balance you need to thrive.  Their skills can make your business soar to new heights while giving you some extra time to do the things you need to outside of work.

With experienced people running the business operations, you will have time to remember why you started it in the first place. Chill out, spend time with family, do the things you love.

Conclusion

Ecommerce is booming like never before.  Business owners from all over the world are jumping at the opportunity to be part of it.  With millions of online stores already in existence and even more opening up each and every day, it’s getting more difficult to compete.

If you want to keep up and stay ahead of the competition, ecommerce outsourcing is one of the best decisions you can ever make, especially at a time like this.

By outsourcing tasks to experts, you are giving your business more than a fighting chance to be set apart from your closest competitors.  It gives you the opportunity to focus on running the business at the highest level.

If your business is already experiencing any of these signs, it’s time to give ecommerce outsourcing a try.  The best way to begin is to assess which tasks and skills you will need experts for. Write them on a sheet of paper.  List down all the responsibilities you would like the expert to assume after you’ve hired them.  Once you’ve finalized your decision, sign up on FreeeUp and submit your request.

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