Developing a business plan before venturing into Ecommerce will give you a smooth and financially secure transition to the digital market. This will serve as the map that tells you how to turn your business idea into reality. That is if you know what your Ecommerce business plan should cover.
An Ecommerce business plan covers five significant components that branch out to more equally essential elements. You can download our checklist for a winning Ecommerce business plan.Download our Business Plan Checklist
Every business plan must start with research. This can include looking for a problem to target or finding the customers you want to target.Additionally, you must also know about the due diligence that encompasses your business idea. This may include an investigation of legal, financial, or workforce requirements to run your business smoothly. Your research and due diligence process must cover the following:
Market research helps you understand your target customers, including demographics, behavior, and other factors that can influence their buying decisions. It answers the following questions:
To begin your market research, find out where your potential customers are lurking. Social media is one of the major tools you can use to gather information. You can also look for statistical data about your target market.
A competitive analysis will help you know who you will be going against. This will tell you the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, and how you can adjust your strategy to surpass them.Your competitive analysis must cover the following:
Use competitor analysis tools to make your research easier. Some of the tools we use for our clients include Ahrefs, Alexa, Moz, and the ever-reliable social media.
Technology research determines the software or online programs you need to build, run, and grow your online business. This can range from specialized Ecommerce platforms like Shopify and Magento, website builders, to Content Management Systems.Essentially, Ecommerce businesses need a web server, web tools, and database system. However, you may also need specific marketing tools, Google services, POS systems, and other technologies that improve how you communicate, store, and process data about your customers such as a CRM.
The resources and business requirements you need will depend on what you want to accomplish and sell. This may or may not include the people you need in your workforce, your order fulfillment process, legal requirements, and other due diligence.Some of the legal requirements for Ecommerce businesses in the US may include:
Products and services research will cover the changes you need to make to stand out from your competitors. One big question you can ask is, “are there product features or additional services I can include to make my brand different?”This should include due diligence or government-mandated requirements that surround the product or service you want to offer. This can help you decide whether or not your product or service is worth the effort and money.If you’re planning to sell products, you need to research manufacturing, supply chain, and dropshipping. All of these factors will affect the quality of your products and overall customer experience.
Probably the most essential part of your research process is your financial plan. You need to know where you will be getting the funds for your initial capital, your projected expenses, tax considerations, risk management, and long-term investments.Adding a financial plan into your Ecommerce business plan will determine whether or not your business is feasible. This may also be a requirement if you want to win approval from an investor or to secure a loan.Take the time to find cost-effective solutions that will cut your expenses without sacrificing the quality of your business.Having an outsourcing company to help, for example, can reduce labor and operational costs by up to 60%. Consider outsourcing companies that have Ecommerce expertise, because they have all the support you need to run your business, including:
Your Ecommerce business plan must have a brief overview of what your business is about. This will help you with two things: (1) providing a short, clear perspective about your online business, and (2) attracting people to invest in your idea.
Your business name doesn’t just define the identity of your online store. It can also affect how customers and investors perceive your business and whether or not they want to buy from you.A study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Review found that stock names that are easy to pronounce had 11% more investments than those with difficult pronunciation. Therefore, the simpler, the better.You can use Shopify’s business name generator to give you some ideas.In terms of registration, there aren’t specific licenses that you need to have to run an online business in the US. However, you have to comply with regulations as per the requirements we mentioned previously.
After conducting research, you must formally define who you want to target. Moving forward, this will serve as your guide whenever you want to strategize in targeting your ideal consumers.Of course, this comes with your total budget and its breakdown. If you want to look for investors, defining the details of your target budget will help them decide whether your business is worth their risk.
Every Ecommerce business must choose which platform to use, and include all the necessary technology needed to run the business. Knowing the platform and technology you will use is essential because it will define the capabilities and limitations of your Ecommerce website.Some of the most popular Ecommerce platforms include:
Your order fulfillment must define how you will process the orders of your customers, from inquiry up to delivery. You may hire a third-party service for order fulfillment if you don’t have your own warehouse, and you want to manage the effort you put into refunds and returns.On the other hand, if you want to sell services, determining your service fulfillment will define your customer satisfaction rates. Your service fulfillment must set standards for adequate service, value for money, and customer relationship management.
Finally, your business plan must have a quick overview of your marketing and sales strategies or campaigns.It doesn’t have to be a full-blown marketing and sales campaign yet. However, if you’re presenting your idea to an investor or potential business partner, they will want to know how you plan on selling your product or service.We will expand more on marketing and sales further into the article.
Website design and development will define the physical aspects and functionality of your website. You may choose to hire an outsourcing company to handle this part for you. However, the following are some factors that you need to consider:
Branding and corporate identity fall into the design aspect of your Ecommerce business plan.Take note of your brand promise, goals, and vision for your business. Consistently incorporate these into your logo, tagline, color palette, imagery, and tone of voice, as this will define your corporate identity.The goal is to know the distinct design you want your business to be known for.
In your Ecommerce business plan, decide on what platform you want to use. After that, look for a developer to hire to handle this for you because this will take a lot of time to execute.Some Ecommerce platforms are easy enough to use that you don’t need to know how to code to build your online store. However, Ecommerce websites require specific functionalities and requirements that only professionals can successfully execute.Hiring an outsourcing company will save you the hassle of finding and hiring an independent contractor or freelancer. Not to mention, Ecommerce development expertise can be challenging to find.Find out more about our Ecommerce Website Development Services. You can also click the button below for inquiries about our development services.Help Me Develop My Website
Essentially, website hosting services allow your website to be accessible on the internet. It’s like buying or renting a space for your business so that customers can visit your store.In your Ecommerce business plan, decide on what website hosting provider you will use. Some of the most popular hosting providers are GoDaddy, BlueHost, and InMotion.Additionally, you will need someone to handle systems administration. This will cover the management of all software and servers, and making sure that your online store is running efficiently.
UX/UI (User Experience / User Interface) is one of the most crucial aspects of website design that focuses on usability, functionality, and aesthetics. The goal of UX/UI design is to make your website as compelling and user friendly as possible.Include this in your Ecommerce business plan as one of the things you need to look for when hiring someone to design your website.You can also outsource UX/UI design to a graphic design service provider. Through an outsourcing company, you don’t have to worry about looking for someone and the quality of their work.
This is an important part of designing and developing your website because you can’t have a live site with a lot of bugs and errors. Otherwise, your customers will think your website is broken, which may leave a bad impression and cost you money in lost sales.Define how you will conduct website quality assurance in your Ecommerce business plan. This will determine your QA process in ensuring that your website is ready for launching.
The next thing that needs to be in your Ecommerce business plan is your Marketing and Sales plan. Pinpoint the strategies that you will use to market your business and your sales process.
Here are some of the most reliable marketing and sales strategies that you can use:
Ecommerce has grown to become one of the fastest-growing industries ever since the coronavirus widespread. This means that you will have a lot of competitors fighting for the top 1 of Google SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) work hand-in-hand in making your Ecommerce website known by your customers by making your website rank higher.If you don’t focus on SEO and SEM, you risk getting pushed to the lower ranks of Google SERPs, where your potential customers wouldn’t even bother looking.
PPC (Pay Per Click) is essentially a marketing strategy where you pay for every click your ads get. It’s a way for you to get website visitors without relying on organic traffic.There are a lot of PPC forms you can use for your online business. One of the most popular PPC strategies is SERPs, where you will “bid” on a particular keyword or set of keywords to rank higher on Google.Another form of PPC is through social media, where the platforms target your audience based on their recent searches or activity and feed them with relevant advertisements.PPC Marketing may or may not be an expensive investment. The prices of the bids are directly proportional to the level of competition. However, the main benefit of PPC is that the people who click on your ads are actually searching for businesses, products, or services like you.
Social Media Marketing uses social media platforms that your target customers use to build brand awareness, engage with customers, sell products or services, and drive traffic to your website.It basically involves distributing content across social media to build engagement, analyze data, and run advertising campaigns.What makes Social Media Marketing great is that it’s cost-effective, with the possibility of being totally free. However, without paid boosts, growing an audience through a social media page can be extremely difficult and time-consuming.
This type of marketing involves giving incentives or commissions to affiliates for every successful customer they brought using their marketing efforts.It’s like having a group of sales representatives to sell your products using whatever marketing and sales techniques they want to use.
Email marketing remains the most effective and cost-efficient marketing method for online businesses.You can use this to distribute advertisements, business updates, bonuses, and other relevant content to your send list. However, the most difficult part of email marketing is growing a big enough send list to produce significant sales.Some of the most popular email marketing tools include MailChimp, HubSpot, and GetResponse.
Inside sales are one of the most dominant sales models because of its reliability and effectiveness. For online businesses, they are the “human touch” that compels your customers to proceed with a purchase since speaking with a person builds stronger trust.Unlike telemarketers, an inside sales team can handle live chat, email, voice, and omnichannel tickets for faster transactions.
Business operations are the workflow you need to implement to run your store. If you’re writing your Ecommerce business plan for investors, you need to get into detail with every part of your operations.
Another thing you need to figure out is whether you will be having a third-party partner for some of these business operations. Especially now with COVID-19, you’re more likely to need more remote operations support than in-house.Here are some parts of operations that you can outsource:
If you’re planning on selling products through Ecommerce, you need to consider inventory management. It involves making sure you don’t overstock and run out of items by predicting your products’ demand.This can be time-consuming because it involves a lot of data analysis, inventory monitoring, and management. For this reason, most Ecommerce companies prefer to outsource inventory management.Inventory management outsourcing companies have the tools and expertise to do the heavy lifting for you. Their services may or may not include:
Like other outsourcing companies, you have the freedom to choose which part of inventory management you want to outsource. So, you don’t have to worry about relinquishing control over your products.
Product Information Management (PIM) involves data concerning your products, including product description writing and data entry. Therefore, this is another crucial aspect of product or retail Ecommerce.If you’re planning on selling a lot of products on multiple platforms aside from your website (e.g., Amazon, Home Depot), you’re going to need a strong workforce to distribute the data. Otherwise, PIM can be extremely time-consuming.You’ll need to make sure that all information is accurate, and that the data follows specific guidelines according to the platform you’re going to upload it to.Learn more about our PIM Services here, or click the button below and let’s talk about what you need.Help Me With Product Information Management
In the production process, decide if you want to be the one to wholesale, manufacture, or drop ship your products. If so, how long will it take to make your products? Can you handle the high-volume orders if your demand increases?To outsource your production, you can either have your partner manufacture the entire product (or products) or let them handle a part of the production process.Both of these options are more cost-effective than handling everything on your own since they already have the experience, equipment, and other assets ready.Hence, it will come down to who you choose as an outsourcing partner. Some of the questions you can ask are:
Customer support in Ecommerce can have various channels, like email and chat. Decide on the channel you will use for customer inquiries and determine your capabilities in terms of workforce.Regarding workforce capability, customer support is one of the most outsourced business operations in almost every industry. Therefore, looking for people wouldn’t be difficult. It then comes down to choosing an outsourcing company based on the following:
Another option you can do is building a customer support team overseas. The Philippines is one of the best countries to build remote staff because of their English communication skills. Plus, almost all outsourcing companies in the country are 24/7 capable so that they can work during your hours.Offshore Staffing is one of our expertise here at KDCI Outsourcing. We can handle recruitment, operations, and employee management for the job roles you want to build.For our capabilities in customer support staffing, you can check out how we reduced Wireless Emporium’s labor cost by 70%.
Previously, we focused more on the building process of website development. This time, for business operations, website development covers any need for improvement in your website’s capabilities and functionality.This will also include maintenance, which must be done regularly. Otherwise, your website can be at risk of hacking, bugs, and other errors that can interrupt your operations.
Your business plan is to serve as your guide to identifying and calculating your steps in starting and growing your online store. Creating a growth-driven Ecommerce business plan will serve as your roadmap for starting a new business idea or growing your existing business.If you need help with creating and executing your Ecommerce business plan, KDCI Outsourcing has the experience and expertise to assist you.Feel free to check out our Design and Marketing Services, Ecommerce Outsourcing Services, and Offshore Staffing Services for more information. If you have any questions, we’d be happy to help! All you have to do is contact us. After all, it’s free!Contact Us
Our current situation has generated a whole mix of emotions and related physical symptoms: stress, panic, sadness, sleep problems, and short periods of isolation within days. Practicing various self-care methods is just one of the ways we can do to cope with potential emotional and mental issues.
We often wake up after a night’s sleep dehydrated, which can cause us to feel sluggish the whole day. To start the day in a good mood, drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up.
Self-care doesn’t have to be expensive and fancy. Most of the time, self-care comes in just putting your phone away and sitting with your own thoughts for five minutes. Always remember that it is important to take time to breathe.
It doesn’t have to be a high-intensity workout. It could be just getting up off your bed or couch to get lunch or to take a stroll in the park. It is as good for your mental health as it is for your physical health. You can take three 10-minute strolls if you can’t do it all at once.
Always keep in mind that it is important to recognize our accomplishments at the end of the day. Yes, we may have a lot of items in our to-do list, but no matter how small it is (even just getting up in the morning and surviving the day is accomplishment enough), you deserve a pat on the back.
We are in a situation where we are faced with uncertainties. This crisis brought a lot of negative impacts on our well-being and with that, always remember to be kind to yourself. We are in a crisis; it’s okay if you’re not productive as the situation is hard enough for everybody.
With the ongoing difficulties around the world, remember to put yourself first with these self-care methods.If you're experiencing a decline in mental health, don't hesitate to reach out to your family, friends, or co-workers. Together, you can support each other during these uncertain times.
Creativity has become more important than ever. The engagement economy has cemented its role as critical to your success, drawing demand for creative resources. Now's the best time to get outside the box and consider outsourcing creative services.
The emergence of online channels and the volatility of market trends have strengthened the need for creative services. While you're managing your startup, it might become challenging to keep up.
Outsourcing is the answer to this demand. It can aid you when producing marketing collaterals, from web design and video editing to logo creation and stall design.Outsourcing companies have a wide range of services that can fulfill your needs. They usually house multi-skilled and talented specialists that can deliver quality output for both your business and your target market.
You might also be considering creating your in-house team.We're here to show you the benefits of outsourcing that can get you ahead over building your own team.
Your startup is growing fast. You have exceeded your monthly quotas in a row, and you know it's time to expand your business.However, you don't have the time to go through a recruitment process for an in-house team. Outsourcing your creative design can help.To meet any of your design needs, full-service design agencies provide a whole line of services.Say, you need to get your brick-and-mortar store online. Outsourced web designers already have the right skills to help you optimize your site into a user experience that puts the customer first.Meanwhile, if you need a hand for your upcoming social campaign, outsourced graphic designers can produce marketing collaterals for any social media feed.Full-services design agencies are not limited to digital outputs. They can also help you create a brand design for your new brick-and-mortar, from employee uniforms to your shopping stalls.While your outsourced team creates designs for your business, you can focus on other areas while it keeps growing.
Trends in the digital world are ever-changing. To support your business's growth, you'll need specialists who can keep up with every industry trend.Gone are the days when you had to cram skills like graphic design, copywriting, and web development into one job description for a marketing assistant. Outsourcing allows you to gain access to experts that have a specialization for each creative field.Outsourcing companies understand the challenge of hiring and training an in-house team, so they have done that for you instead. Once your partnership with them is all settled, your outsourced team can immediately start working, fully skilled and trained for the service you need.On top of that, most outsourcing companies are full-service creative agencies. They work as a one-stop-shop for all your creative projects, so they have a dedicated team of designers at your disposal.
There's no better way to think outside the box than to get out of the box.Consumers' attention span keeps getting shorter, and you'll need thumb-stopping creativity to stop your audience from scrolling for a second and capture their attention.Outsourcing creative services gives you a shot at developing this creativity. An external team can provide a fresh perspective from outside your business. They're more likely to relate to your target market and therefore help you determine which collaterals your audience enjoys.Moreover, you'll avoid getting stuck with an internal team whose ideas might eventually become old. Outsourced designers can give you various points of view, especially if they have previously worked in relevant industries.Say, you and your team can't figure out why your video is not getting any engagement on Facebook. An outsourced multimedia designer can help you determine what went wrong, how to improve your content, and how to create a more attention-grabbing video.Outsourced designers can provide an objective view of your brand and show you what you have been missing. This perspective can help you better understand your audience's views, especially when you want to expand your business.
In this age of instant gratification, speed has become a necessity. The faster you are than your competitor, the quicker your business can grow. And the more your business grows, the bigger the need to sustain your speed.Outsourcing can help you avoid coming in late to every industry trend. It can drive your business away from losing out a chunk of your market share.Usually, as part of the deal, outsourcing companies guarantee fast turnaround time and quality work—their designers understand the value of deadlines and time-sensitive goals.Whether it's for site development to accommodate orders for an upcoming sale or an engaging content to ride the waves of a trending topic, an outsourced team can keep you up to speed.These designers are used to high-volume production and short turnaround time, so you can get the triple guarantee of speed, volume, and quality when you outsource.
Based on a survey by Guidant Financial, one of the top challenges of small business owners is the lack of cash flow.With that said, outsourcing is a way to cut costs. It can keep your business from spending on recruitment, labor, training, equipment, and overhead costs.It's less expensive than having full-time employees on your team. After all, the true cost of an employee goes beyond their salary—you also have their benefits, office space, taxes, and equipment to consider.A survey by Deloitte shows that 59% of businesses are already outsourcing to lower their expenses.What's stopping you from doing the same?With outsourcing, you only pay for the project or contract fees. You'll only need to consult with an outsourcing company, tell them what you're looking for, and agree on the fees before you can start your partnership.Even better, with the savings you have from outsourcing, you can allocate more of your budget to research and development to grow your business further.Get 60% Savings in Labor and Operational Costs
Convinced of the benefits of outsourcing creative services?We can guide you into finding the right outsourcing partner to help you fulfill your design needs:
Full-service creative agencies like KDCI have everything you need—from graphic to print designs—and we can show you the valuable benefits of outsourcing.Partner with UsPublished: August 3, 2017Updated: June 3, 2020
Nowadays, people enjoy the convenience of shopping in the comfort of their home—just a few clicks and the transaction is complete. Seeing this growing market, businesses have taken this opportunity to sell online. A multitude of tactics can make online stores stand out, but one proves to be particularly useful—exceptional product imagery.
A survey by Weebly shows that more than 75% of online shoppers find product pictures influential when deciding if they want to purchase online. This should drive Ecommerce businesses to product photo editing: a marketing strategy to attract potential buyers with compelling photos of your products. With that said, here are five reasons why product photo editing is essential to your success as an Ecommerce business.
For Ecommerce websites, first visual impressions last. Upon clicking a link to an online store, consumers expect to see product photos. Plus, they're good at remembering pictures. Just add a photo to a piece of information, and they'll likely remember 65% of it. To stand out, every product photo needs corrections, touch-ups, and enhancements.
Product image editing can achieve alluring photos that can showcase more details and clarity to your online catalog. Changing backgrounds, adding shadows, removing objects, correcting colors, and adjusting exposure—these are just a few techniques used to achieve an appealing product image. These product photos can become even more visually striking if professionally edited by designers who have the right expertise. With these experts, you'll only need to send one photo and they can do virtually anything to make your product stand out. The final output can then captivate a site visitor's attention, potentially leading to a substantial increase in daily sales.
High-quality product images are the most influential factor when considering online purchases, according to 47% of US online consumers. For most, these are more important in their buying decisions than product information, description, or reviews. An Ecommerce site with mediocre images lowers the impressions on its branding, which can lead to a decrease in customers' trust and eventually, the decline of an online business. With that said, there's no denying that high-quality product photos boost a potential customer's confidence and trust. Photos edited to achieve the best quality can get better results if optimized to the right size, format, and name. SEO-wise, it can lead to a higher position in the SERP and generate a stronger CTR, and it won't be long before you see higher conversions, longer time on site, and lower cart abandonment rate.
Taking a good look at a product is more reassuring for your potential buyers. Unable to touch, try, and feel it, an online window shopper relies heavily on images to decide whether to make a purchase or not. These days, it's not even enough to feature one product photo. In the US alone, 51% of online consumers would like to see at least three pictures of a product first before purchasing. Aside from the quality of visuals, they value the number of product images available on your site. This is where product image editing comes in. A finely edited set of images gives potential customers an understanding and representation of what you have to offer. By editing your photos, you can guide your site visitors into seeing your products in the best light, no matter which angle they look at.I Want to Showcase My Products in the Best Light
One of the most essential assets in your organization is your brand. It makes your business memorable among your customers, and it develops your brand identity. In the populated Ecommerce industry, taking care of your branding has never been more important.
Product image editing is a key element of your branding. No matter how subtle you edit your product photos, you can make your brand shine. Bonus points if you follow a particular style of photo editing for your business, as this lets you establish brand consistency across your product line. This, in turn, can lead to better customer recollection, and they'll feel more confident when purchasing from your business. And for online window shoppers, seeing your edited photos consistent with your branding can build up awareness not only for your products but also for your Ecommerce business.
Recently, Facebook introduced Facebook Shops, a new feature that helps small businesses sell on Facebook and Instagram. With the growing list of Ecommerce platforms available today, there's never been a better time to explore beyond your current online store and bridge more channels to your audience. As you branch out to other online shopping platforms, you'll need product photos that suit well with each interface and deliver the best experience to your potential customers.
Photo editing can help you curate your product images for different Ecommerce platforms without losing the same quality that you have on your site. Better yet, with the right service provider for product image editing, you can guarantee that we have experts knowledgeable of every dimension and design suited for each platform.
I Want the Right Service Provider
Investing in outstanding product photos positively affects any online venture. From elevating an amateur image to a professional photo, image editing can boost a product's marketability and improve a website's branding and ranking—thereby securing its spot as one of the powerful tools in the world of Ecommerce.However, it can also be time-consuming, especially if you don't have the right set of skills or you lack the right resources. Lucky for you, Ecommerce service providers can give you a hand in navigating the intricacies of product photo editing.
Help Me With Product Image Editing
Published: November 3, 2017
Updated: May 27, 2020
With all the things going on in your home, being productive with the WFH setting can be difficult if you don’t know effective time management.Some members of our KDCI team attended a webinar called Time Management and Productivity in the Time of COVID. So, to share what we learned to everyone, here are the key takeaways of that webinar.
Create a dedicated workspace far from the busy areas in your home to avoid distractions, like the living room and kitchen. Additionally, create ground rules with your family about your work setting.To manage your time, create a list of daily tasks and schedule them based on priorities or deadlines. You can share this with your family as well, so that they’ll know when you’ll be busy.
Communicate expectations with your superiors, team members, clients, and other co-workers. Talk about your specific working hours, speed of email response, and your productivity tracking.If you’re a leader, communicate through scheduled team meetings and one-on-one sessions to check everyone’s performance and personal situation.
Calculate your time to complete your tasks so that you’ll be aware of how much time you spend per task.For leaders, calculate the speed of your team members to complete tasks so that you can see their speed and ability to complete tasks.
Check on the trends in your productivity, tasks, and schedule. Find the time where you’re most productive, and manage your time between work and personal matters.See what can be improved in your current set-up and how you can accomplish that.
Set a timer for 25 minutes and dedicate that solely to work, without distractions. When the timer rings, take a short break and repeat until your task is finished.
The most popular time management technique. All you have to do is create a checklist for daily and weekly tasks and cross items out once completed.
Set specific times for your tasks to create a reliable routine, especially for personal activities like household chores.
Start with your biggest or most difficult task so you can get it out of the way and be inspired in dealing with other, smaller tasks.
Stay away from things that make you linger on them, such as checking your social media accounts.
Based on your list of tasks, select which of your tasks must be finished immediately, can be delegated, or can be canceled to give way to other tasks.
Using these tips, you can balance your time with work, family, and yourself. If you’re having trouble with productivity, don’t hesitate to communicate with your immediate supervisor so that they can help you.If you want to watch the full webinar, visit this link.
Successful businesses rarely went through their path to success alone. Most — if not all — grew by knowing how to form a partnership with other companies to expand their capabilities and become more competitive. Amazon, Shopify, and Apple did it, so should you!This article will show you how to find the perfect partner, the cost of partnerships, and how partnerships in Ecommerce increase your profit. Let's start.
There are thousands of businesses out there, but only a few of them can provide the support you need to grow. Knowing how to choose the right partner out of so many will help you cherry-pick the best. Here’s how you can find the perfect business partner:
One of the goals of forming a partnership is having someone do the things you can’t do, can’t focus on, or expertise beyond your reach.Say your online business has been having an overflow of customer inquiries and you don’t have the time and office space for a customer service team. Forming a partnership with an outsourcing company that can handle customer support will help ease that load from you.Knowing what you need can trim-down your list of potential business partners almost instantly. This can also set clear expectations about their role in the partnership since you already know what they will be doing.
If you want something you can trust almost instantly, nothing beats asking people you already know.You don’t exactly have to connect with their business partners, or partner with your friend’s business. If you simply share your need for growth, they might recommend businesses you can partner with.Although seemingly ideal, try to steer clear of building partnerships with friends or family so that you don’t jeopardize your personal relationships. Otherwise, set an exit plan to prevent bitter endings in case the partnership doesn’t work out.
One way to see if they’re trustworthy and credible is to get to know their business. Do they have customer or client reviews? How long have they been in business? Can they give you what you need?Trust is the most vital part of a business partnership, so you have to ensure the credibility of your potential partner. If you’re having second thoughts or reservations about them, then you should probably trust your instincts. Better safe than sorry.
The key to finding the perfect business partner is to see if you’re both bringing something valuable on the table.If you want a partnership with a business that does product photo editing, their value is in their skills for editing. Meanwhile, you compensate them well for their skills as 83% of your customers rely on photos for their online purchasing decisions.Need help with product photo editing? We can help! Contact us.Now, while most of the give-and-take will involve value for money, it could also be the level of effort and passion you both put into the partnership. Working with someone with the same drive and commitment to grow can ensure that you both end up with the same success.
The cost of business partnerships will depend on your potential partner and the type of partnership you want to dive into. Although, you can expect online partnerships to be cheaper compared to other business partnerships because you don’t have to deal with taxes, legal fees, and other state-specific fees when forming a partnership.Since we’re talking about Ecommerce, we’ll show you the costs involved in building a business partnership online.
You will encounter this type of cost if you partner with an outsourcing company or a person for only a specific project. The cost will vary depending on the amount of work and/or level of difficulty of the project.For example, the cost of product description writing will depend on how many products you need descriptions for. Meanwhile, the cost of website development will be different from customer support services, since it requires a higher-level skillset.If you want to be more cost-effective, partner with an outsourcing company that has the expertise for most of the work that you need.Take KDCI for example. We can handle Customer Support, Digital Marketing, Graphic Design, Product Information Management, and Web Development. If you want to talk costs, we offer flexible pricing! We'd be happy to give you a quote for everything you need.Get a quote
A retainer fee is the amount you pay upfront for the service that you need and the minimum number of hours or months they will work with you. This serves as your insurance that your expectations will be met within the period you’ve agreed on.Say, for example, you partner with KDCI for Shopify website development and maintenance for 40 hours a month. You can expect us to dedicate 40 hours every month for everything you need for that service.
Offshore staffing is where an offshoring company handles the management of your remote staff, human resources, and operations on your behalf.Partnerships with offshoring companies can reduce your business operational costs by 60%. However, the fees for offshore staffing includes management fees and a one-time fee for the specific roles that you want for your remote staff.If you want to know more in-depth information about offshore staffing, check out our blog about the cost of outsourcing to the Philippines.
Commissions depend on what type of partnership you want to build. If, for example, you want to partner with online influencers for your products, then they may ask for a commission for every product they manage to sell.Should you partner with a business that provides staff leasing of sales representatives, then you may have to pay for commissions if they go beyond your quota.Of course, the cost of commissions will depend on your agreement with your partner.
The end goal of forming a partnership is to increase your profit and your partner’s. Here are some of the ways you can benefit from a partnership in terms of profit.
One of the best things about partnerships is that it brings you closer to a larger pool of experts that you may not have access to if you hire within your city. Not to mention, having access to more experts can also fast-forward your growth as a business.
Outsourcing and offshoring companies help you increase your profit by helping you cut expenses.Since their business is in a different country, you can take advantage of currency conversions. Plus, you don’t have to worry about taxes, building costs, and operational costs if you choose to expand your business by yourself.If you want to reduce your operational costs by 60%, we can help! Visit our Offshore Staffing Service page to find out more, or contact us.
Opportunity costs are the business opportunities that you have to let go to focus on other aspects of your business. Having a partnership with an outsourcing company will give you the freedom and time to finally explore other opportunities or advancements for your business.
Partnerships with Amazon has provided a way for online and brick-and-mortar stores to have a competitive advantage in a demanding industry. The same goes for other partnerships.If you partner with an expert in a certain field or skill, you give your business a competitive edge because of their knowledge of the industry. With their help, you can generate more ways to increase your profit.Partner with Ecommerce experts
Overall, you have to make sure that you’re comfortable with having a business partner. Ask yourself if a partnership in Ecommerce will help you achieve the goals you can’t do alone.Once you decide that it is, in fact, what you need, then don’t hesitate to form business partnerships with an outsourcing company like KDCI.With our Ecommerce expertise, we can help you face your store’s challenges head-on so you can grow your business further. Visit our Ecommerce Outsourcing Services page to find out more.
Meetings have become an essential part of business continuity. As professionals, every leader and employee must follow virtual meeting etiquette to maintain the best online experience for the whole team. Here are 5 key things you should remember.
Treat the meeting as if you’re doing it in the office. Be mindful of everyone’s schedules and try to join the meeting at least five minutes early. This makes it easier to start the meeting promptly and to stick to the allotted time.
Before you join the meeting, make sure all systems are secure -- check that your mic, audio, camera, and internet connection are working properly. Have mobile data ready in case your internet connection fails. You want the meeting to go smoothly and without any interruptions.
Always be camera-ready, even if your meeting isn’t specified to be a video conference. Make sure your background is work-appropriate, and maintain a professional appearance in both attire and in posture. This also applies to your desktop environment, especially if you’re going to be sharing your screen.
With everyone staying at home these days, your house can get pretty noisy unless you’re living alone. Muting your microphone when you’re not talking allows everyone to listen to the speaker without any unwanted background noise.
It may be tempting to do other things like check your inbox or even continue with your work, but don’t do it! Be present for the whole meeting. You might miss out on important points and lose your opportunity to give input and ask questions.Must Read: 10 Tips on How to Be Productive During Quarantine
Working from home can make it difficult to separate your home self from your work self. While virtual meeting platforms can help your experience, being professional yourself can help you adjust better as you act as if you never left the office.
With various operations essential to your Ecommerce business, you'll need all the help you can get. But expanding your business can get tricky--especially if you want to add new services to the mix. Outsourcing companies can provide the support that you need to cover the back office operations essential to you and your customers.
Still unsure if you're ready to outsource your Ecommerce operations? Watch out for these signs:
At first glance, it looks like a good problem.Your Ecommerce business is on the rise, and you have no choice but to keep up with the growing volume of work and still ensure customer satisfaction. As much as possible, you want to avoid any roadblocks when the opportunity for growth is within your reach.With the increasing need for new services to fulfill your customers' needs, ask yourself, "Do I have enough resources to sustain my online shop's growth?"Outsourcing is the best way to pave your way from a small shop to an Ecommerce store. Lucky for you, there is a variety of cost-effective and flexible outsourcing solutions, custom-developed to drive innovation and improve your online shop's efficiency.
Business operations keep a business afloat. This includes answering your customers' queries, advertising your online shop, and managing your product catalog online.When you were starting out, only you handled these activities. But as your online shop generates a wider reach, you'll need extra pairs of hands to keep the operations running so you'll have time to think strategically for your business.To get unstuck from the operation side of your business, you can consider outsourcing to support your day-to-day activities.Some outsourcing companies have Ecommerce services in their service list, from customer support to digital marketing, and product information management. Once you start outsourcing your back office operations, you'll have more time to develop your business and brainstorm new ideas.Help Me with My Business Operations
For any business, growth is essential--it's even crucial to your long-term survival.To sustain your growth, ideas propel your Ecommerce business to keep reaching new heights. They drive you to explore untapped markets, launch creative marketing campaigns, and innovate your existing product line.Ideas can mean additional revenue, but first, you must have the capability to turn your ideas into a revenue-generating machine.Finding the resources to develop these ideas gets more difficult the more your online shop grows. Good thing there are outsourcing companies that offer Ecommerce outsourcing services for back office operations.
According to Paycor, up to 70% of total business costs are labor costs. On top of that, operating costs can account for up to 20%.With these tremendous costs, wanting to save money is understandable--reducing your operational and labor costs opens up more opportunities for you to boost profit.As an Ecommerce business owner, you need to look for ways to increase your bottom line without giving up the quality of your products and services.With outsourcing, you can save up to 60% in labor and operational costs, compared to hiring in-house resources. Delegating tasks to experts will yield higher savings and even deliver better results.
A recent survey by ManPower Group states that 54% of global companies have talent shortages.Getting new people on board is a pain point for any business. Unfortunately, there are even times when you'll have incompetent people take over your back office operations.They might have a hard time managing your online shop or they might not be invested in fulfilling your customer service requests--these can drive you to start your recruitment process all over again.Outsourcing can help you solve your talent shortage problems. Better yet, offshoring will give you access to a large pool of highly qualified professionals for a lower cost.
Ecommerce provides a fast growth opportunity, but the risk of failure is high when you don't have the right people in your team.Out of these ten reasons why Ecommerce businesses fail, seven require people with the right expertise to help you avoid these pitfalls. Whether it's for SEO, site usability, customer support, or product information management, you'll need subject-matter experts to support your Ecommerce business.Outsourcing companies are the best place to find the right experts. They can provide access to well-versed Ecommerce specialists, who can drive you away from the pitfalls of navigating your online business.
If you're transitioning your offline store online, you'll see that customer service is different.At a brick-and-mortar store, you can directly engage with customers. But with an Ecommerce shop, your interactions are limited to calls, chat, and email, and it gets more difficult to feature that personal touch critical to the customer experience.With this shift, upgrading your customer experience can help you crush problems that customers might encounter while going through the buyer's journey online.Outsourcing can bring customer service specialists into your business--even better if you choose a one-stop-shop Ecommerce outsourcing company with customer support services.Get My Own Customer Support Service Team
Adapting your business to the growth of the Ecommerce industry is not an easy feat. When you want to expand your online shop, you'll soon encounter roadblocks while growing your Ecommerce business.Good thing you now know the signs to spot if you're ready to outsource your back office operations. In case you encounter any of them, we'll help you choose the right Ecommerce outsourcing partner for your business.
Living in a tropical country has conditioned us to deal with heat. Every time summer rolls around, we expect to beat the season like we always do. But every year, summer hits never-before-reached heat indexes and gets even hotter than the year before.
Working from home has removed us from the comfortable air conditioning of our offices, and having one at home would mean higher electricity bills.So, to help you manage the heat at home and save electricity at the same time, here are 10 things you can do:
Drinking lots of water sounds like the best way to get hydrated. Take it up a notch by adding lemon wedges or squeezing lemon juice into your glass of water for additional benefits like vitamin C, weight control, better skin quality, and kidney stones prevention.
Research shows that caffeine has mild diuretic effects, which can drive your body to produce a higher amount of urine and contribute to dehydration. But don't worry, coffee lovers -- if the caffeine temptation is too strong to resist, you can still have your favorite cup of coffee as long as you drink it moderately.
A spike in your body temperature will only make the heat feel worse. Prevent this by limiting your consumption of foods that take longer to digest. The more you eat, the more heat that your body will produce, so have smaller food portions to avoid slowing down your digestion.
A variety of cold foods available in the market comes with summer. With the quarantine still in place, you can resort to DIY creations that can cool you down. With the right ingredients and kitchen tools, go local and international with your dishes, from halo-halo, mais con yelo, and sago't gulaman to dalgona coffee, flavored milk tea, and fruit smoothies.
Here's a life hack to easily cool down -- your body's cooling points. Your neck and wrists are the most well-known. Aside from these, the insides of your elbows, knees, and ankles and the top of your feet are other common cooling points. Once you've determined the most convenient place for you, apply a towel-wrapped ice to this area to quickly and effectively cool down.
It might be hard to accept that even when staying inside the house, anyone is still susceptible to heat-related illnesses and emergencies such as heat stroke, heat rash, heat cramps, and heat exhaustion. Just in case all else fails, get one step ahead of them, and have the ability to recognize their symptoms. And if the worst occurs -- knock on wood -- you'll know what to do to best help the victim.
As much as you want to switch on your aircon all day every day, mounting electricity bills would be a slap of reality to that fantasy. It's a good thing that creativity can help you through tough times. If you have ice and a spare fan, you can already start your own aircon projects with other items at home, such as styrofoam and plastic soda bottles.
Most of us have a skincare routine that we stick to day and night. To add a twist to your regular routine, keep your skincare products inside the refrigerator. Once it's time to use your skincare products, experience a refreshing sensation and a soothing effect when applying your lotions, moisturizers, and creams.
It's easy to let the quarantine and the weather turn into excuses to stop exercising. But just because it's hot doesn't mean that you can't do your regular workouts anymore. Exercise early in the morning or later in the evening -- the weather during these hours is a little cooler. Plus, with thousands of fitness videos online, you can use them as a guide when doing your workouts at home.
Even pets are affected by this seemingly never-ending heat. Keep an eye for symptoms of heatstroke, which can go from rapid panting and drooling to seizures and coma. Prevention is still better than cure, and you can save your fur babies from this by giving them a well-ventilated space, always providing them fresh drinking water, and avoiding exercises under hot weather.
The overwhelming summer heat has caused many discomforts since the start of the season. These tips can help relieve the uneasiness brought by the hot weather.Are you working from home? Check out these tips to stay productive.
What started out as a few agents, has grown into an invaluable partnership with KDCI. With more than 40 team members, we are lucky enough to count as part of our Cedar Family. Thank you so much KDCI for making our Company better!
We have found KDCI to be a consistently reliable partner, always willing to ‘go the extra mile’ to ensure our valued customers receive the best possible service.
KDCI plays a very important role in our catalog and content operations. They are responsive, kind, and always willing to help us as much as possible. We have been working together for more than 4 years, and we hope our partnership will be even more fruitful in the future.
Having collaborated with KDCI.co for our creative needs, I can confidently attest to their unparalleled expertise and dedication. Their team consistently delivered innovative solutions that not only met, but often exceeded our expectations. Their professionalism and attention to detail are commendable.
KDCI were able to grow with us with any future requirements. We have a lot to do when it comes to our business, and everytime we come back, they're right there with us and able to deliver.
KDCI's team has been instrumental in helping us not only modernize our platforms but also increase the experiences for the customer, and to deliver on the tsunami of content that came their way.
We had a lot of difficulty finding qualified talent in the United States. Honestly, I don't think we had thought about outsourcing at all as a potential option, but we were very open to it once we heard about it. We love our KDCI team. They're just like a regular part of our team, it's just that they're thousands of miles away.
It's been five years since we started working with KDCI, and it just keeps getting better and better. We've grown together and achieved a lot of shared success. Overall, they're incredibly professional yet fun to work with. We are incredibly happy to have found them.
We're so glad we partnered with KDCI to develop a unique platform that delivers personalized customer experiences without compromising functionality or security. It was an amazing experience, I won't hesitate to start another project with them again.
