First-time ecommerce entrepreneurs need to start as lean as possible: open the store and get going. But inevitably, you’ll need help from someone else.
Something that can easily be done in minutes might take days to learn to do it yourself. Advice from someone who has more experience can give you a conversion boosting tip that could have taken you days to figure out.
Friends with different skillsets often partner up to cover all the tasks themselves, but that can only happen organically. If it doesn't, you will need help from outside of your circle.
So, do you need help starting or growing your ecommerce business? This article shows you how.
What Tasks Should I Outsource?
First, delegate time-consuming tasks that others can do more efficiently. Why should you spend time creating custom descriptions for all of your products?
Then look for partners to help you with tasks that take time to learn properly, especially ones that aren't in your skillset. You could learn how to do Facebook Marketing, but designing Facebook Ad Banners isn't something you need to know long term.
Don't waste your time looking for solutions to a specific one-time problem that you don't know how to solve. If you need to edit your product page layout, you could spend several days doing it and then notice that the website doesn't work on mobile anymore.
Value your time and invest it where you can get the best ROI.
You should be left with a few core responsibilities like road mapping your entire business strategy, taking care of the main traffic source, and determining your inventory list and positioning.
Common Tasks to Delegate
When running your online store, numerous functions can be handed off to external specialists. Consider bringing in outside help for building and maintaining your website, especially when it comes to mobile optimization. Technical support and server management are other areas where experts can save you countless hours.
Managing your stock levels and coordinating shipments are perfect candidates for delegation. These operational necessities consume significant time but don't necessarily require your direct involvement. Similarly, handling customer inquiries and support tickets can be assigned to dedicated professionals who excel at communication.
Your promotional efforts across search engines and social platforms often benefit from specialist knowledge. Creating written material for your site, including blog entries and item descriptions, can be efficiently handled by experienced writers. Visual content like photos and graphics are best left to creative professionals who understand design principles.
Financial transaction handling and security measures require technical expertise that specialists provide. Managing returns and exchanges involves processes that external teams can streamline. Analyzing your store's performance data and generating reports are tasks that data-focused professionals can handle more efficiently.
If you sell across multiple platforms, coordinating your presence on various marketplaces becomes another area where outside assistance proves valuable.
Benefits of Getting Outside Help
Bringing in external professionals offers numerous advantages for your online store. You'll reduce expenses by avoiding the need to train employees and manage payroll for every function. Equipment and office space costs also decrease when outside teams handle certain operations.
By assigning non-essential work to others, you free yourself to concentrate on what matters most: developing your products, building your brand identity, and ensuring customers have positive experiences. This focused approach leads to better resource allocation and improved efficiency overall.
Working with specialists gives you access to talented professionals worldwide who excel in their particular areas. Whether you need help with promotional campaigns, shipping logistics, or customer communication, these experts deliver superior results compared to generalists.
External partners can quickly adjust their services based on your changing needs. During busy seasons or unexpected growth spurts, they can ramp up support. When things slow down, you're not stuck paying for unused capacity.
Professional service providers often complete projects faster than in-house teams learning on the job. This speed advantage helps you launch products quicker and start generating revenue sooner.
Experienced customer support providers can enhance satisfaction levels among your shoppers. Round-the-clock availability, assistance in multiple languages, and efficient problem-solving all contribute to a stronger reputation for your store.
Where to Look for Help
While some of the tasks like logo design can be done with the help from sites like Design Crowd, the best way to find help is by using general freelancing platforms. By using sites like Upwork.com or Freelancer.com, you can find help with absolutely anything.
Do you need someone to help you with advertising? Do you need someone to help you fulfill orders? Upwork has over 17 million freelancers ready to work with you. From ex-Googlers to amateur beginners willing to gain experience for low payment terms, you will be able to find the best person for your individual needs. Sites to consider include UpWork, Freelancer, PeoplePerHour, and Guru.
All of them are free to join, simply publish a job listing and see what candidates apply. No obligations. You can also consider these alternatives:
Fiverr: With Fiverr, you can get a job done for a fixed price of $5. That job can be any small task: a simple logo, an ad banner, a short Instagram video, or a product description. The majority of freelancers accept only one time tasks.
OnlineJobs: Hire and train remote Filipino employees. You can hire a full-time English native speaker virtual assistant at as low as $250/mo. However, hiring a full-time assistant may require investment in careful employee hiring so we suggest considering this alternative in the later stages of your business.
Clarity: Browse through a community of proven experts in various fields from ecommerce entrepreneurship to social media marketing, hop on a call and ask for advice.
HeyCarson: A platform to have small Shopify tasks done for you. If you need a small Shopify theme adjustment or help setting up a newsletter subscriptions box, this platform is for you. It might be pricey in comparison with other platforms, with hourly rates ranging between $95 and $125.
How to Choose the Right Partner
When selecting external help for your store, start by confirming that potential vendors possess the specific skills your platform requires. Someone might be excellent at creating promotional campaigns for search engines and social networks but lack experience with shipping coordination or stock management. In such cases, consider hiring different partners for different functions.
Compare pricing from multiple providers to find competitive rates. Ask about introductory offers or discounted packages when bundling multiple services together. The right partner should help you reduce overall expenses while improving your operations.
Protecting customer information and company records is essential. Evaluate how potential providers safeguard sensitive data, what security protocols they follow, and whether they comply with relevant regulations. Confirm they meet necessary standards and can adequately shield your customers from security threats. Verify they use encryption methods to protect information during transmission.
To succeed in online retail, you need the ability to expand when demand increases. Find reliable partners who can grow their services as your needs change. Assess whether they can handle increased volume, manage fluctuations in customer activity, and adapt to evolving requirements.
How to Look for Help
Always write an extremely detailed job description, and try to be as specific as possible. Check each candidate profile, portfolio, and read their testimonials. Once you have picked a few freelancers, have a call with them and discuss your needs. Look for freelancers who could assist you with future tasks and can be easily reached.
On the other hand, be a good client. Provide the right resources to get the job done, pay on time, and set clear but not ridiculously short deadlines.
Don't look for one-time hires to help you finish a small task.
Your goal is to build your contact list over time and have freelancers in all ecommerce fields. Whenever you need someone, you already have a positive history with an experienced freelancer that you can hire.
Asking for Help to Grow Your Business FAQ
What Tasks Should You Delegate as an Ecommerce Entrepreneur?
No matter how talented you are, it’s impossible to do everything all at once as an ecommerce entrepreneur. It’s vital to find the right help at the right time. The key is knowing what you excel at and which jobs you don’t perform as well, and then filling those gaps with experienced employees or freelancers.
Consider bringing in outside help for building and maintaining your website, managing your stock levels and coordinating shipments, handling customer inquiries and support tickets, and creating written and visual content for your marketing efforts. Financial transaction handling and security measures require technical expertise that specialists provide. If you sell across multiple platforms, coordinating your presence on various marketplaces becomes another area where outside assistance proves valuable.
What Are the Advantages of Asking for Help?
Bringing in external professionals offers numerous advantages for your online store. You'll reduce expenses by avoiding the need to train employees and manage payroll for every function, and free yourself to concentrate on developing your products, building your brand identity, and ensuring customers have positive experiences. Working with specialists gives you access to talented professionals worldwide who excel in their particular areas. Whether you need help with promotional campaigns, shipping logistics, or customer communication, these experts deliver superior results compared to generalists.
Where Can You Find Help With Ecommerce Tasks?
Outside of placing job adverts on LinkedIn and Glassdoor, you can find freelance and gig-based help all over the internet. Sites like Upwork.com and Freelancer.com can find help with absolutely anything. Other sites to consider include PeoplePerHour and Guru.