About to Start an Ecommerce Business? Know How to Overcome These Common Hurdles First

As the number of ecommerce startups increases, aspiring entrepreneurs face more challenges while establishing their own ecommerce business. There can be several factors that come into play, which decides the fate of the startup, such as lack of talent pool, unsustainable business model, scalability, etc.

An ecommerce startup needs to keep these challenges into consideration and tackle them proactively with right industry practices.

In this article, I have written about few hurdles faced by ecommerce startups that can prove to be fatal if not dealt with and tips on how to deal with them.

Not getting the attention of people

How do you establish that your ecommerce business is different from competitors? The answer is through branding.

In addition to setting you apart from competitors, branding also provides several other advantages such as fan following on social media, loyal customers, word of mouth marketing, and more.

Branding starts right from the brand’s name itself. Consider ecommerce platforms like Shopify, eBay, and YoKart, they all have one thing in common – fewer alphabets in their names.

Good brand names sticks to the user’s mind immediately and people are able to recall the brand easily. However, to really improve brand recall, special attention needs to be paid to ensure brilliant customer service.

Unable to get funding from VCs, and other strategic investors

An ecommerce business can be started from a small amount of money, but sustaining it requires funding. Factors like competition, scaling, bringing talent in your business, using 3rd party services, technology, and more are all valid reasons that you should be looking out for funding. However, not bringing in funds will definitely affect your ecommerce business’s health.

To get the attention of venture capitalists, make sure you have done your homework and know your target audience, competitors, etc. Knowing such points is important as the profitability of your idea depends on research work, and VCs will surely invest if they see potential in it.

Not able to see problems from different angles

Running an ecommerce business alone brings an entire new set of challenges. By not hiring resourceful professionals, you will miss out on the insights and creative edge that they can bring to your startup.

Having a team helps your ecommerce business with broader industry insight and deeper knowledge. Analyzing situations through different perspectives is essential to find out the most efficient solution, which can only come through team effort.

There are many places, where you can find reliable people for your business. Social media platforms like Quora, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. are few places, where entrepreneurs are on a constant lookout to build a great team. By going through what they are discussing with other people, you can know how motivated and passionate they are.

Not choosing the right technology

Not being aware of latest ecommerce related technologies can make you spend a lot more as operational cost. That’s why, for an aspiring entrepreneur, choosing the right ecommerce platform is of utmost importance.

Depending on your business requirements, you should evaluate different ecommerce platforms on factors like price, hosting, after sales services, etc.

If you have a moderate budget and want to test your business model, then YoKart’s Startup plan might be the right option for you. If you are planning to take your brick & mortar store online, then Shopify or BigCommerce are good choices. Similarly, for enterprise level ecommerce business solutions, Magento or GoCustom plan from YoKart.