Starting a new business is inevitably stressful for the people running the company. Here are a few tips that can help you reduce the number of headaches you have from your ecommerce startup:
Make sure you have a good accountant
This might seem unnecessary so to say but it is important to have your books done properly. It hard to keep a business going when the IRS is making your life miserable. The issue goes further than that because with out having your finances in order it will be hard to attract investors. The problem of good books can even go so far as to prevent you from getting new customers. If prospective customers do not believe you have a viable future they will be much less likely to do business with you. This is particularly important for clients that will have an ongoing relationship with your company.
Hiring bad programmers
If you are running a ecommerce startup it is important to have a good grasp of what you would like to achieve technically. This is not a problem for programmers who are starting companies but it is a problem for business people trying to have other people implement their vision. One problem is that business people do not know how to identify good programmers from bad ones. Without understanding the technical side of the issues at hand, how can you evaluate the competence of the people you hope to employ? It is hard to find good programmers to complete somebody else’s vision for a business.
Bad pricing
Your product can be great but if you do not price it correctly you will end up in a bad situation. If the product is too expensive then you will not generate the revenue you need to keep business afloat. If the product is not expensive enough than you might generate a lot of interest in your product but you will not be able to sustain the model without the funds required to sustain the cost of operations. You will need to find the right inflexion point to create interest in your business while creating enough revenue to keep it going. This is easier said than done.
Not doing enough beta testing
Thing seem to be going well when you launch, you attract a lot of interest and your product goes viral on the internet. But then you get a stream of emails from people who would like to purchase your product asking “Why can’t I complete my order?” The problem is that your order form is not working correctly. This scenario highlights the importance of checking to make sure your product and website work correctly. There is nothing more stressful than not being able to take money from people who would like to give it to you.
Hopefully the tips provided above will help you stay sane.
