In the world of online publishing, WordPress is big. Actually, it’s more than big. WordPress users create 70 million posts and generate 77 million comments, each and every month. If those numbers aren’t enough to impress you, consider this one: More than 409 million people will load up more than 20 billion WordPress pages this month. Some of those pages are attached to big names, too. Users include TED, CNN, Spotify â and even our own Merchant Maverick site.
With its reputation as a CMS (Content Management System), it might surprise you that WordPress is also a top choice for website building. In fact, you can use WordPress to get your small business website up and running, even if you don’t have a bit of coding experience. Especially if you’ve been using WordPress to host a blog, you easily can create a business site.
First Things First: Understanding WordPress.Com VS WordPress.Org
Before we go any further, it’s important to understand that when we talk about WordPress, we are talking about two distinct services:
WordPress.org is open-source software
WordPress.com is a hosting service
You can use either to build and maintain a website. But before you start, it’s important to understand the differences between the two.
What’s The Difference Between WordPress.Com & WordPress.Org?
Despite the name they share, WordPress.com and WordPress.org are quite different. WordPress.com is a service hosting WordPress websites. WordPress.org, on the other hand, is a platform for using the open-source WordPress software. You can download that software to run on your own computer and use it to create a website, if you’re comfortable coding.
Set up a self-hosted WordPress.org site, and you will need to find a site host before you can publish your website. Or use WordPress.com to create a fully hosted site. Though you can create a complete website using WordPress.com, you will need to pay to add some functions. With a WordPress.org site, the sky’s the limit â as long as you have the coding know-how.
How To Choose Between WordPress.Com VS WordPress.Org
It’s free to create a site using either WordPress.com or WordPress.org, so you can check them both out before you make your final decision. Either one can be a good option. Which is right for you boils down to your interest in coding. If you’re capable of using the open-source WordPress software to write code to create your website, WordPress.org may be the best choice.
If you’re less comfortable in the coding arena and want an easy solution to get your business website up and running quickly and with little fuss, check out WordPress.com. In fact, you can do more than check it out. You can keep reading and follow along as we create a WordPress.com website and show you just how easy it is.
What You’ll Need To Start Your WordPress Website
You won’t need much to start a WordPress website. Gather up these few things, and head to WordPress.com to get started.
Business name
Domain name, if you have one
Credit card
You won’t need that last item right away, but you may want it soon. WordPress does not offer a free trial period. So if you want to unlock advanced features and add eCommerce to your webpage, you will need to upgrade to a paid plan.
How To Build A WordPress Website
Once you’ve picked WordPress as your website solution, the next question is how do you actually build a WordPress website? Follow along with this step-by-step guide, and you’ll learn everything you need to know to set up a WordPress website.
Step 1: Create Your Account
Getting a WordPress website up and running is easy. Go to WordPress.com and click the blue button to start your website. You’ll need only an email address to get started, or you can use your Google or Apple ID if you prefer.
Screenshot of WordPress webpage, captured 9/24/2020
Step 2: Choose A Name & Domain
WordPress is a hosted solution, meaning that you won’t need to find â or pay for â a site host or domain name. In fact, as soon as you create your WordPress account, you’ll be prompted to put a name to your developing website and choose a domain name. If you don’t have a name ready, don’t worry. You can enter something now and change it later, or you can skip this step entirely for now.
Screenshot of WordPress webpage, captured 9/23/2020
Based on the name you entered, you will see choices for domain names, meaning the web address assigned to your site. There will be a free choice that includes a wordpress.com extension, and other possibilities without WordPress branding. Those come with a price tag that is waived if you sign up for a WordPress plan later.
Step 3: Create Your Style
Make your choice among 21 themes for your homepage layout as you start to build your website. Most of the themes are free to use, but a couple are included only in premium plans. You can customize or change your layout later. Next, you’ll get to choose the font you want to use on your site from about five options. You’ll be able to see how each font looks on your chosen page design, although you won’t be able to see pages yet with your own photos or text. Again, you will have a chance to adjust later if you like.
One nice feature: You can toggle between views to see how your template will look on desktops, mobile devices, and tablets. Although most website builders offer responsive designs, not all let you see the different view so early in the design process â that’s something that could help you in your early-stage choices.
Step 4: Add Features & Choose A Plan
You can set up a WordPress website without spending any money. However, if you’re open to considering a few expenditures, you can improve your site’s functionality. Plans start at $4 per month, and here are some of the options you can choose to add, depending on the plan you select:
Custom Domain
Store
SEO Tools
Plugins
Ad-Free
Image Storage
Video Storage
Priority Support
When you select any of these options and continue, you’ll see the price you will need to pay to access it. For example, if you want a custom domain, you can use the Personal plan, at $4 per month. If you want to add eCommerce, you’ll need to go up to a $45 monthly plan. You can sell subscriptions/recurring payments using the Personal plan and sell single items using the Premium plan, which costs $8 per month.
Screenshot of WordPress webpage, captured 8/24/2020
However, if you want to be able to set up an online store and conduct eCommerce, you will need the $45 eCommerce plan. That plan also lets you remove WordPress branding, gives you more customization options including plugins, lets you accept online payment for products and services, lets you integrate with shipping carriers, and more. Note that WordPress lists prices as a monthly expense, but the billing is done annually, so you’ll pay for a year upfront.
Unlike other website builders, WordPress doesn’t offer a free trial. So how can you be sure that you’re making the right decision before you have to put any money down? Unless you’re sure that spending $540 right now for an eCommerce enabled website is the right thing to do, don’t feel rushed to a decision. You can go back a few steps and play around with the website you just created.
Step 5: Revisit Your Site Menu
Hit the Back button on your browser, and you’ll arrive at your page admin. This is where you’ll see options for building and even launching your site, if you decide to stick with the free version. Midway down the page on the right side, you should see a menu titled Manage your site. That’s a great place to start.
Screengrab of WordPress webpage, captured 9/24/2020
From that menu, choose any option you like and dig in. If you click Edit homepage, for example, you’ll be able to add content (text and photos) and change the overall look and feel of the page using the WordPressblock editor. As you make changes, click the Preview link on the top right side of the page to see how viewers will see your page on different devices.
Click on each section on the page to bring up a menu of customization options. Although you won’t find a drag-and-drop editor, like some website builders include, it’s not too difficult to make the changes you want using the WordPress block editor. Don’t forget to Preview your page as you work.
Screenshot of WordPress webpage, captured 9/24/2020
Step 6: Add Pages
What does your website need next? You can add as many pages as you’d like. Design your own or, from your admin page, click Add a page to see some prebuilt page options, including:
About
Blog
Contact
Menu
Portfolio
Services
Team
Once you add a page, they’re easy to customize with the block editor.
Take Your Website To The Next Level With WordPress Plug-Ins
You’ve built a basic website, with the pages you need to get your business story out there. But is your website ready for business? Maybe not.
What’s missing? You may want to add some plug-ins to give your site better functionality.
What Are WordPress Plug-Ins?
Plug-ins are software that you can download to add groups of functions or features to your website. They are fully coded solutions that integrate with the WordPress software.
What kinds of plug-ins work with WordPress, and how can you access them? From your admin page on WordPress, you can see a link for Plugins on the left-side menu. Right away, you’ll see three categories: Featured, popular, and new plug-ins. That’s just the tip of the plug-in iceberg, however. Remember that the WordPress software is open-source, so that anyone with coding knowledge can use it. That has resulted in thousands of plug-ins that you can add to your site. You definitely won’t want to add them all, and the truth is you probably won’t want to add very many.
Here’s a good starting point, if you’re interested in selling products on your WordPress website: Search the plug-ins menu for “eCommerce,” then make your pick from the choices displayed. If you’re unsure, look into a few options until you find one you like. You will need to upgrade to a Business plan in order to add an eCommerce option, as mentioned above. The $45 monthly price tag gives you extra benefits, including the removal of WordPress branding, so you’ll have a more professional looking website.
Getting Your WordPress Site Up & Running
Because your WordPress website is built on open-source software, you’ll never stop seeing improvements and new plug-ins you can add. Don’t stop at eCommerce. Keep browsing the plug-in menu until you have added the functions you will need to operate your business website. That includes improving your website (staying on top of SEO capabilities and analytics) as well as building your knowledge around using CRM in eCommerce (customer relationship management).
If this website will be your first venture into eCommerce, you should continue to build your knowledge base in that area, too, and stay on top of developing trends. Once your website is up and running, you’ll be ready to learn how to increase your online sales and develop an online presence to build and strengthen your brand for continuing business success.
The post How To Build A Website With WordPress: The Beginner’s Guide appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
Here’s a tough question: Is your eCommerce website doing enough to bring in sales for your business?
Technology trends and standards change quickly, and many expert agree that you should overhaul your eCommerce site every two to three years to make sure you’re staying on top (in addition to regularly updating your site with product information, for example). However, if your site isn’t delivering the sales or the growth that you’ve been hoping for, the time to update could be right now.
Don’t worry. You don’t need to tear it all down and start from scratch. Take a look at these top design tips, identify areas where your site could use an update, and dig in to make a more navigable, appealing, and profitable online store!
Top 10 Design Tips For Your eCommerce Website
Start by taking a long hard look at your current website. According to Statista, these are some of the design elements online shoppers value most:
Good search function
Filter options
User comments/product ratings
Clear design
Good product placement
Limited advertising
Overview of recently view items
Help function
How does your site rate when you look at it with those elements in mind? Check out some of your competitors’ pages, noticing what positives jump out at you as well which elements turn you off.
How does your site compare in these key areas?
1. Improve Search Functionality
Imagine walking into a new store. Maybe you have an idea of what you’re looking for, or maybe you’re just in the mood to have a look around. In this case, it doesn’t matter why you went in, because all the shelves in the store are covered with cloth, so you can’t see what’s on them, and the aisles are blocked with locked gates. How likely are you to stay in that store, much less to make a purchase?
That’s a ridiculous scenario, right? No one would ever design a store that blocks would-be customers! The truth is, though, that too many eCommerce websites place obstacles in customers’ way. So how can you remove them?
When shoppers visit your online store, no one physically greets them and says with a smile, “What can I help you find today?” Customers may have to find what they want on their own, but you make it easier for them to find what they need and have a pleasant browsing experience. That’s what’s meant by the term search functionality.
It can be as simple as making sure you have a search box located at the top of the screen, so it’s easy to find. Or you can take it to the next level, by customizing the search function to match your products, like in this example from music licensing site Rhythm Couture, which allows browsers to search not only by genre but also by mood.
Screenshot of Rhythm Couture website, captured 7/30/2020
2. Let Satisfied Shoppers Help You Sell
When it comes to eCommerce, trust can be a barrier that’s hard to overcome. As new customers find you, some of them will wonder if they can actually depend on your and your products. Will you really deliver what you say you will? And on time?
A well-designed, professional-looking website does a lot to establish your credibility. But you can go one better by allowing new customers to see testimonials from those who have shopped before them.
If your eCommerce platform allows customer reviews, enable them. Then display them prominently. You can put snippets of good reviews on your landing page and on the product reviews on product pages. Don’t worry about the fact that you might receive some negative reviews. A negative review alerts you to a problem that you then have the opportunity to correct. When new customers see that you respond to problems or shortcomings, they focus not on the problem but on the way you handle it.
By the way, you should reply to positive reviews as well as negative ones. Acknowledge satisfied customers and thank them for their business! That adds a personal touch to a faceless transaction and helps online shoppers form a relationship with your brand.
3. Make Sure Your Site Is Mobile-Friendly
Is your eCommerce site designed to work best on a big screen, like a laptop or desktop computer? How well does it translate to the small screen of a mobile device? Grab the nearest mobile device and test it out. If you’re wondering how important this really is, you can stop wondering. Last year, according to Statista, U.S. shoppers spent more than $135 per online order placed via desktop or laptop computer. From tablets, the average order totaled almost $102, while smartphones averaged $95 per transaction. That means total sales from mobile devices, combined, were almost 50% higher than sales from traditional computers. In other words, if your website doesn’t look great on a small screen, you may be turning customers off and leaving sales behind.
The good news is that whether you worked with a web designer or built the site yourself using a web-builders app, your site probably looks okay on a mobile device. The most popular web builders automatically convert your site from desktop to mobile for optimal viewing. If your site’s a little older, you can test it using Google’s mobile-friendly test. Don’t forget that many phones will load your site more slowly than a computer will. So don’t overload your site unnecessarily with enormous images or video files.
Screenshot of Google Mobile-Friendly test, captured 7/30/2020
4. Don’t Visually Overwhelm Your Users
Online shoppers don’t tend to stay on any website for too long. Even for a giant like Target, Walmart, or Amazon, the average customer stays only 3.5 to 10 minutes, according to Statista. The average visit to your website may be of even shorter duration. It’s tempting to use the “kitchen sink” method and throw everything you have onto your landing page, in hopes of giving that customer the one thing they’re looking for.
Don’t give in. A cluttered landing page is one of the worst design mistakes you can make. It’s far better to use simple design elements to speak to your customers and entice them to dig in further. Take a look at this example, from real estate website Trulia.com.
Screenshot of Trulia webpage, captured 7/30/2020
What’s great about it? It uses a compelling image as a background, one that speaks to the target audience of people searching for a new place to live. It has a simple and appealing tagline: “Discover a place you’ll love to live.” And customers can easily see how to use Trulia’s search function to locate their new home.
5. Don’t Hide From Customers
Remember just above, where we talked about trust as a deterrent to online sales? You have another chance to build credibility by making your contact information not just available but obvious.
Why is that important?
Whether it’s a first-time visitor or a returning customer, anyone considering an online purchase from you seeks reassurance that it’s safe to do business with you. That’s true not only when a problem arises but also when you’re just starting a relationship. Let customers see from the outset that you’ll be there to back them up on the off-chance that something goes wrong, and you’ll be more likely to earn their business.
That doesn’t mean you need to splash your personal email and contact information across your website. Take a look at this contact page from PayPal. It’s clear and uncluttered and the most important information is right up front: “Tell us about your issue so we can help you more quickly.” That personal offer is followed by an FAQ list that allows customers in a hurry to help themselves by searching a database of common questions. Down below are other contact options, including instant messaging, a community board, and a link to a resolution center, for customers with serious concerns. Your contact page may contain different elements, but the message should be the same: If you trust us with your business, we’ll be there for you when you need us.
Screenshot of PayPal webpage, captured 7/31/2020
A couple of last thoughts on the trust issue: You won’t be able to resolve every issue customers have, and that’s OK. You can reassure them at the point of sale by acknowledging that sometimes things go wrong, and you’ll still be there for them. That means making your returns policy obvious too. If you’re not sure how â or why â to create your online store’s return policy, read our article on eCommerce return policies to learn all about it.
Finally, make sure you let customers know that your online store is a safe place to do business from a cybersecurity perspective, too. Post your SSL certificate on your website to give customers peace of mind.
6. Use Images That Sell
It won’t matter if you have the finest, most perfect products in the world. Post crummy images of them online and you’ll find that sales are hard to come by. Does that mean you need to shell out big bucks for professional photography? If you have money in your budget, that’s certainly not a bad idea! But it’s not strictly necessary, so long as you follow some commonsense rules. The photos on your sales website should share these qualities:
High Quality:Â Don’t post photos that you snapped on your phone. Find a good digital camera and learn how to use it.
Zoomable: You can find a widget at low or no cost that allows users to click or rollover zoom to see details in your online photos.If you use a website builder, it probably has this function built-in.
Plentiful:Â Don’t place one picture per product and call it good. Show the item from multiple angles. Show how it can be used. Studies suggest that customers respond well to up to five photos per product.
Uncluttered:Â There’s no one right way to shoot your product photos. It depends upon your product and your audience. You may find it’s best to shoot them on a neutral background or to show them in the setting where they’ll be used. Just make sure to keep the focus on the product, and not any extraneous items included in the photo.
7. Stick With Your Branding
Your eCommerce store is an extension of your business and it should represent you well. Make sure that it echoes and amplifies your branding decisions. That means you should use the same color scheme as you use on your business card and brochures, the same type of background as you use on your social media sites, and the same language you use when you talk to customers about your product. Feature your logo prominently, too, so you make a strong first impression.
8. Make An Offer They Can’t Refuse
When new customers click their way to your website, you may have only a brief window of opportunity to gain their business. Give them an opportunity to save money or gain something for free, and you’ll have captured their attention â and maybe the sale. Whether it’s a buy-one-get-one sale, free shipping if you spend $100, or a no-strings-attached download once you enter your contact information, a special offer can convert a looker into a customer.
9. Tell Your Story
Another way to personalize the online sales experience is to let customers know who you are or to see an example of what you do. Take a look at the Grammarly landing page, below. Although this is just a screenshot, if you visit the site you’ll see that the box on the right provides an actual example of Grammarly’s editing service in action.
Screenshot of Grammerly webpage, captured 7/31/2020
This is a great example of telling your story online, in a compelling way that grabs customers’ attention. You may not be able to include a demonstration of your product or service, but you can add an About Us button that gives customers a look inside your operations and motivations. That’s another key to building trust.
10. Ask For The Sale
Traditional sales revolve around The Ask. Salespeople are trained to ask for the sale multiple times, in multiple ways. An online sale is really no different, except that you won’t have a live salesperson standing in front of the customer to close the sale. Your website itself needs to do the work for you. This landing page for the online collaborative coding platform Glitch offers a great example. It’s an uncluttered page, with some graphic elements and a description of what the site does. Right below that is The Ask:
See that big green button? “Join Glitch,” it entices. “It’s free,” it adds. That’s a pretty unmistakable call to action. Does your website ask customers to buy in such a straightforward fashion? If not, you may be leaving sales on the table, simply because you didn’t ask the customer to buy.
Screenshot of landing page for online coding platform Glitch, captured 7/31/2020
Optimizing Your eCommerce Website
A lot of elements combine to create a great eCommerce website. Hopefully, this list provides a starting point as you look at your current website and think about how you can improve it. If you feel it’s time to start from scratch, you can find a great website builder that allows you to do it yourself, even if you don’t know how to write a single line of code. When you work with an online builder, you’ll find templates and tools that have already taken these design elements into consideration, and it won’t be as much work as you anticipate to create an effective website. Before you know it, you’ll have an up-to-date, improved website â and online sales to match.
The post How To Wow Your Customers With Your eCommerce Website Design appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
If you’ve looked into using a DIY website builder service to create a website for your business, it’s likely that you’ve come across Squarespace. Squarespace is a tool that allows you to create a great-looking and functional website without having to possess coding knowledge or hire a team of developers.
However, you may not be familiar with the particulars of how Squarespace works and how it stacks up against other website building software apps. That’s why we’ve set out to define exactly what Squarespace is and clarify how you can use it to benefit your small business. Read on for a full exploration.
What Is Squarespace?
Squarespace is a cloud-based SaaS (software as a service) website builder. You can try it out for free for 14 days without being required to enter your payment information. To continue with Squarespace after your trial period is up, you’ll have to choose from between Squarespace’s four subscription plans, each of which is offered both on a month-to-month basis and on an annual basis. Because the annual option is offered at a discount and comes with a free domain for a year, we recommend it over the monthly option.
A Squarespace subscription includes hosting for your website, SSL security, and 24/7 customer support.
Perhaps the main factor that distinguishes Squarespace from the competition is its commitment to elegant design. Squarespace’s templates look and perform better than just about any templates you’ll find in a DIY website builder, making Squarespace a particularly good website solution for artists, photographers, and others for whom sharp aesthetics are of paramount importance.
How Does Squarespace Work?
Like nearly every other website builder, Squarespace uses the SaaS model, meaning the software is cloud-based and that you won’t have to install anything. As I mentioned earlier, Squarespace is a paid subscription service with four different subscription plans. These plans run from $12/month to $40/month with an annual subscription. For more details on the cost of using Squarespace, including hosting and payment processing fees, read our Squarespace pricing article.
Squarespace brings together a wide array of elements and features that give freelancers and business owners the ability to create gorgeous and functional websites. Here is but a sampling of them:
Smart Image Handling: Squarespace gives you some nice tools to refine your custom images, such as optional Image Zoom, Set Focal Point (to ensure the best part of your image is centered in any thumbnail), galleries, automatic image scaling, automatic text wrapping, and display effects. Another feature photographers will appreciate is progressive image loading — enabling this will ensure that the images on the top of your website load first, speeding up loading times for visitors.
Device View: Squarespace lets you check out your site in three configurations: desktop, tablet, and mobile. As you build your site, this feature means you can make sure your site performs well on each device type.
Conversion Metrics: View your siteâs performance, learn about your siteâs traffic, and identify sticking points for your visitors.
SEO Features: Customize image file names, product tags, and meta descriptions.
Forms: Squarespaceâs editor gives you access to a number of attractive prefab contact forms. You can easily customizable these forms to fit your business needs. Add as many form fields as you wish, along with checkboxes, radio buttons, and the like.
Blogging: Squarespaceâs blogging system is one of the platformâs highlights. From the ability to schedule posts to the option to have multiple authors posting to the same blog, Squarespaceâs blogging capabilities are excellent. You can even host a podcast on a Squarespace blog. The commenting system is pretty sophisticated as well.
Sell Physical & Digital Products: Squarespace’s capable eCommerce system lets you sell and deliver digital content as well as physical offerings. You can also use your Squarespace store to accept donations.
Inventory Management:Â Track inventory for products and product variants.
Shipping Calculator:Â Use the real-time shipping calculator to charge precise shipping rates for USPS, UPS, and FedEx.
Subscriptions:Â Sell recurring and limited subscriptions.
Squarespace Commerce App: The Commerce App allows iOS and Android device users the ability to run their businesses from anywhere. The App includes an integrated barcode scanner, inventory management, discount creation, and the ability to process in-person sales.
Squarespace Point Of Sale: Squarespace just introduced its new Point of Sale system, which allows you to connect your Squarespace Commerce App with a Square Reader for magstripe, contactless, and chip transactions. The system connects to your inventory management, making it easy to manage a store with both in-person and eCommerce elements. Square POS is included with a Basic/Advanced Commerce subscription, and no Squarespace transaction fees are charged beyond the base cost of Squareâs payment processing.
The Benefits Of Squarespace
Squarespace’s appeal lies in the fact that it offers both accessibility and advanced functionality. While there are website builders out there that are even simpler and easier to use, just as there are circumstances that call for a more sophisticated solution such as a custom developer-built website or a WordPress site, Squarespace aims for the sweet spot that encompasses ease of use, sharp aesthetics, and utility.
What’s more, Squarespace is a relatively cost-effective website solution. While you will find website builders offering cheaper subscription plans, the differences aren’t huge, and the cost of hiring developers to build you a custom website with the kind of aesthetic precision Squarespace offers is going to be several orders of magnitude higher.
Excellent templates
Easy to use
Great for photography and blogging
Capable eCommerce system for online and in-person selling
Free 14-day trial — you don’t need to give your payment information until you sign up for a paid plan
The Drawbacks Of Squarespace
As I mentioned above, Squarespace isn’t the cheapest website solution out there. Many other website builders offer a bare-bones free plan, while Squarespace only offers a 14-day free trial. However, this lack of a free plan shouldn’t trouble most business owners — the free plans offered by the likes of Wix and Weebly are quite limited in the features they offer.
Another drawback: Although Squarespace can host a good online store and can even facilitate offline commerce with its new POS system, it still doesn’t quite measure up with the likes of Shopify when it comes to eCommerce. You simply won’t get access to as many merchant features as you would with Shopify. Furthermore, Squarespace only offers two payment processing options for online sales (and only one — Square — for offline sales).
Squarespace’s customer support comes in for its share of criticism as well, with many users noting the lack of phone support.
Limited integrations
Limited eCommerce features
No free plan
Limited customer service options
Who Should Use Squarespace?
Squarespace’s capabilities match up very well with the needs of artists, photographers, podcasters, bloggers, and freelancers in general. The software allows you to create a professional, elegant website without breaking the bank. It’s as simple as that.
Likewise, Squarespace’s eCommerce features make it a good choice for smaller eCommerce outfits as well as certain types of brick-and-mortar establishments. Larger, high-volume eCommerce businesses are better served by dedicated eCommerce services like Shopify or BigCommerce, however.
How Does Squarespace Compare To Wix, WordPress, & Others?
As I’ve said, Squarespace’s eCommerce chops don’t quite compare with the likes of Shopify. Read our Shopify VS Squarespace piece for more on this comparison. While smaller sellers will find a lot to like about Squarespace, more ambitious merchants will find even more to like about Shopify.
Another Squarespace competitor you’ve likely come across is Wix, which is currently the most widely used website builder on the planet. As we wrote in our Wix VS Squarespace comparison article, we give Wix the overall edge; it’s even easier to use than Squarespace, and it offers a much greater range of add-ons and integrations through its Wix App Market. However, that’s not to say that Wix is better for everyone. Squarespace’s superior aesthetics still make it a more fitting choice for art, photography, blogging, and podcasting.
Another Squarespace alternative we should discuss is WordPress. WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS), not a DIY website builder, so this isn’t quite an apples-to-apples comparison. However, a WordPress site can integrate with a much wider range of products and services than can Squarespace and is almost infinitely customizable. If you need a business website with more advanced functionality than Squarespace can offer and/or you want to retain the option of taking your site to a different web host should you grow dissatisfied with your current one, you should look into creating a website with WordPress instead.
That said, WordPress is nowhere near as user-friendly as Squarespace, and unless you possess some serious web development skills, you’ll likely need to outsource the creation of your site to a team of web developers and designers, thus making a WordPress site cost-prohibitive for smaller businesses and freelancers.
How To Get Started With Squarespace
Getting started with Squarespace is a cinch. First, you sign up — you don’t need to enter your credit card information at this stage, just your email address and a password. If you want to continue using Squarespace for free, you can do so for a period of 14 days. If you’re ready to purchase a subscription plan, you’ll be able to immediately buy a domain for your site from Squarespace. If you get an annual subscription, you’ll pay nothing for your domain for the first year. Domains cost $20-$70 each subsequent year when purchased through Squarespace. And if you opt to use Squarespace for free for the free trial period, you’ll get a temporary Squarespace-branded URL.
After answering some basic questions about the purpose of your site, you’ll be able to choose a template. You can narrow down your search by selecting a category (templates are organized into categories based on site purpose) or by simply typing your site’s purpose into the box provided (“To sell my artwork” for example). After choosing a template, you’ll be taken to the dashboard to start editing your site.
At this point, you’ll be able to add pages to your site and edit them to your heart’s content. Squarespace’s site editing system is fairly self-explanatory, and to the extent that it isn’t, Squarespace provides a knowledgebase, tutorial videos, webinars, and more to help you understand the editor.
At this point, you can edit your site and integrate some of the more basic tools on offer. For access to the more advanced features, including many of the eCommerce tools, you’ll need to sign up for a paid subscription. For a look at some of Squarespace’s best feature add-ons, read our post detailing Squarespace’s 8 best integrations.
Is Squarespace For Me?
Squarespace is an excellent tool for those who want to create a design-forward website for their business without spending a boatload and without having to learn code. Artists, photographers, bloggers, podcasters, and owners of smaller online stores are particularly well-positioned to take advantage of what Squarespace has to offer.
If you’re curious, give Squarespace a try and explore it thoroughly during your 14-day trial period. See if the template designs are to your tastes and if the editor works to your liking. If you find Squarespace to be a good fit for your business — or if you don’t — drop us a comment and let us know about your experience!
If you think another website builder might better fit your needs, check out our article on the 10 best Squarespace alternatives.
The post What Is Squarespace & Is It Right For You? appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
Dreaming about a new website? Whether it’s time to refresh an out-of-date site or create something brand new, you owe it to yourself to take a look at Wix. An all-in-one website builder that promises everything novices and pros alike will need, Wix offers a free and easy route to building your website.
Ultimately, Wix won’t be the ideal solution for everyone. However, more than 160 million users worldwide have relied on Wix for website creation. So the question is, will Wix prove to be right for you?
What Is Wix?
Wix is a cloud-based software company offering web development services. Its key appeal lies in both the base cost (free) and in an ease of use that lets even rookie web designers create a professional-looking site. You won’t need special knowledge or training to use the site’s drag-and-drop building options and free templates. More experienced users can add complexity, and users with deeper pockets can add options that include eCommerce, scheduling, and their own domain name.
Wix makes it easy to start with the basics and then add on later, if you choose to add complexity or increase functionality. If this is your first time designing a website, you won’t need to worry about becoming overwhelmed with options. Simply choose a template you like the look of, and then start adding your own text and images.
Read our full Wix review for more information.
What Is Wix ADI?
Wix has added a component that takes building a basic website from easy to, well, effortless. Use the Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) option and you can be up and running in minutes.
Simply answer a few basic questions about the site you want, allow access to your social media information, and then sit back and let the ADI build your site for you. Within minutes, and without any effort on your part, you’ll have a complete website built around your own images, video, and text content. It’s a completely automatic process that’s also very easy for you to edit and customize to make it look and function just as you want it to.
What if you do not already have a big online presence? The ADI also can search Wix’s huge database to come up with images and text that match the information you provide about your proposed website, placing them appropriately on your new webpage. In that case, you may need to spend some extra time customizing the content and images to more perfectly reflect your own unique situation.
The Wix ADI option is free to use, and if you don’t like what the ADI suggests for you, you’ll find it easy enough to backtrack, start again, and take another route to your ideal website.
How Does Wix Work?
With Wix, speed and simplicity work hand in hand to help users quickly create personalized websites, with no programming or technical skills necessary for success. Wix offers “off the shelf” templates that can be adapted for many different types of use (including blogs, self-promotion of products or services, online sales platforms, and more) and personalized to reflect your own individual needs and style.
In Wix’s case, “off the shelf” definitely does not mean that most of the end products look the same. You will find virtually endless opportunities to customize your content, including text, video, and images, within the large number of free standard templates available on the site.
Wix supports users before and as they build their sites through an in-depth Help Center that offers advice to assist as you:
Identify your website’s purpose (selling products, for instance, vs. bringing in new customers) and design it accordingly
Consider SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as you build your site, to drive traffic there once the site is live
Choose the tools you need to build the site that’s right for you
How Much Does Wix Cost?
You won’t pay anything to sign up for a Wix account, and you don’t need to enter any credit card information to create your website or to take it live. However, you may find it hard to say no to some of the add-ons that come with price tags.
For example, a basic no-cost Wix website shows Wix in its domain name. So, for example, instead of YourBusinessName.com, your URL will contain your Wix username followed by wixsite.com/YourBusinessName. Wix ads will appear on every page of your website, too. You’ll be limited to 500 MB of storage, which may not be enough if you intend to include lots of photos and videos. And a free Wix site won’t allow you to accept payments online.
Add a premium plan, and those issues go away. Now you can use your own custom domain name, get rid of the ads, increase your storage, and access better Wix support options. On top of those items, Wix premium plans offer these additional tiered benefits:
Combo:Â The least expensive plan will cost you $13 per month and bumps your storage capacity to 3 GB.
Unlimited:Â At $17 per month, this plan offers 10 GB storage and gives you access to a visitor analytics app. You’ll also receive $300 in vouchers for online advertising on Google Ads, Bing, and Local Listings and have access to an app that helps drive traffic to your website.
Pro:Â For $22 per month, this plan bumps your storage to 20 GB, adds an event calendar, and lets you use Wix’s logo tool to create a professional logo you can use on your site and elsewhere.
VIP:Â Your $39 monthly payment gives you priority access to a special customer service hotline and in the online help forum.
If you want to accept online payments and see sales analytics, choose one of Wix’s tiered business plans.
Business Basics:Â For $23 per month, this plan includes 20 GB storage, no ads, sales analytics, online payments, advertising vouchers, and visitor analytics.
Business Unlimited:Â Bump storage to 35 GB for $27 per month, gain access to the professional logo maker, and access handy tools like a subscription function, automated sales tax, and more.
Business VIP:Â At $49 per month, this plan adds priority support online and by phone.
Enterprise:Â Your $500 monthly payment gets you all of the above, plus additional security as well as professional development support and consultation. Request a call from Wix to discuss the details before choosing this plan.
If you decide one of the premium plans is worth its price, be sure to look online for Wix coupon codes that can knock a few bucks off your final cost. You can also save significantly by paying annually or for two or three years at a time. Note: At time of writing, Wix was offering a three-day sale that cut all prices in half.
The Benefits Of Wix
Wix templates may be free to use, but they don’t look cheap. On the contrary, even a basic free Wix plan will give you a fresh and functional website that you can be proud of. And it’s so easy to use that you can start building your site and launch it on the same day.
No cost for a basic website
No expertise or experience needed to build an attractive, functional, customized website
An array of features and functions available for those who want to pay for them
Can be used on Mac or Windows platforms
Sites automatically adapt for optimum viewing on computer screens and mobile devices
The Drawbacks Of Wix
While Wix offers a satisfying array of customizable templates, if you’re looking for something absolutely unique, you won’t find it here. Any other business, even a competitor, could design a site that resembles your own. And if your main concern is cost, you may find that the free and lowest-cost options don’t satisfy you.
Phone support is prioritized only for the top-tier plans
Creating and editing currently not possible on mobile devices
Free plans incorporate Wix advertising and include only limited storage
Functions such as analytics, online sales, and calendars are available only with subscription plans
Who Should Use Wix?
It’s hard not to like Wix. It’s easy to use, affordable, and fast. Anyone looking to establish or burnish their online presence will find what they need at Wix.com. Freelancers and independent contractors, bloggers, nonprofits, activists, vendors, and everyone in between can build a basic website and go live today — even if they know nothing about website design.
Bottom line: Wix is a great starting point for anyone who needs a decent website fast, but doesn’t have the expertise or the budget to build a truly customized site. Wix can deliver quickly, with very little effort on your part and at no or relatively low cost.
How To Get Started With Wix
Wix makes it easy to dive into website creation. Simply visit Wix.com and sign up for a free account. All you need is an email address, though you will need to respond to a confirmation email to establish your account. You won’t even be asked to enter any payment information unless you decide to sign up for a premium plan.
Once you’re on the site, check out the help center for some useful tips and information. You can view others’ Wix sites to gain inspiration, read tutorials, or even watch some videos that will help you get started.
All you need is your own vision of your ideal online presence and purpose. Wix will take care of the rest.
Our Wix review tells a fuller story if you’re interested in learning more.
The post What Is Wix & How Does It Work? appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
When it comes to online selling, it can be difficult to keep up with new developments in the market. eCommerce is an ever-expanded industry, with new players entering the game every year. And with new competition and technology come new ways of marketing, selling, and fulfilling orders.
In this article, we’ll break down a few of the major trends we’ve noticed in 2020. We’ll explain each trend, demonstrate its popularity, and then give you some actionable steps to implement it in your own business model. Take advantage of these new ideas to stay up to date with emerging selling strategies and make sure your brand is always keeping up with the competition!
Here are the 10 biggest eCommerce trends for 2020.
1) Increase In Online Sales
Fortunately, one of the most important trends of this year is the steady increase that we will continue to see in online sales! According to data from Statista, in Q4 of 2019, eCommerce’s total share of the US retail market increased by 11.2% compared to the previous quarter. We expect online sales to continue increasing, with total annual sales projected to reach $419.9 billion, up from $365.2 billion in 2019.
.attn p {font-size: 20px !important; color: #181818 !important;}
The Covid-19 pandemic has only served to cement the notion that online sales are the future of our economy. Many businesses have been forced to sell and accept payments online, or set up online ordering and delivery services just to stay alive during the shelter-in-place orders and social distancing restrictions. We have an entire hub of small business resources for people struggling to survive the coronavirus intact. There, you’ll find information about keeping your staff on with PPP loans, reaching customers virtually through social media and email marketing, setting up a webstore for the first time, and more.
These are encouraging projections for online sellers! eCommerce sales have been increasing steadily for years, and you want to make sure your business gets a cut of the pie. So, keep looking for ways to increase the impact of your online marketing. Test new promotions, create motivating email marketing campaigns, and optimize your site for web traffic. For more recommendations on increasing online sales on your own store, try our article 7 Strategies To Increase Your eCommerce Sales.
2) Household Goods Are Up In Sales
During the current coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, we’ve witnessed a change in the way people shop. Many customers now express feelings of anxiety around a typical grocery store trip, comparing preparing for a shopping trip to suiting up for battle.
Some customers are now choosing to avoid the grocery store altogether, opting instead to order their household products online. According to a study by Ipsos from March of 2020, 23% of U.S. respondents said they were buying more of their household purchases online instead of in-store. For comparison, 42% of respondents said there had been no change in their online shopping habits, 12% said they had made fewer online purchases, and 23% never made online purchases of these goods at all.
The takeaway here is particularly relevant to those who already sell household products: if you haven’t begun selling online, now is the time to start. For those who do not yet sell household goods, you might consider stocking and advertising in-demand products–cleaning products, self-care products, and other non-perishable items. Make sure your customers know that they can look to you for the products they would typically buy in-store.
3) Mobile Shopping Is Preferred
Since the development of smartphones, mobile devices have had a growing impact on eCommerce. For many years, customers preferred to browse on mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), but they returned to a desktop or laptop computer to make their final purchase. In 2020, however, it is possible that mobile purchases will outnumber computer purchases for the first time!
We’ve known that mobile traffic has played a large role in eCommerce for years. As of Q1 2019, 64% of all online shopping traffic came from mobile devices. What is surprising is that this same quarter, mobile purchases accounted for 46% of total eCommerce orders, for the first time on par with purchases made on a computer!
With this in mind, it is absolutely crucial that your online store is mobile-friendly (meaning that it adapts to screens of all sizes). It should be easy to browse on a small screen, with simple headers, search tools, and filtering features.
What’s more, your mobile checkout needs to work seamlessly–complicated checkout can cost you sales! According to one study by the Baymard Institute, out of a pool of customers who had abandoned an online sale in the last months, 21% had abandoned the purchase because the checkout process was too long or complicated. Make sure your checkout only asks customers for the key information: name, email address, and shipping and billing information. You can create a membership/login process, but it’s vital that you allow people to check out as guests as well. Keep the full checkout process to as few steps as possible, and snag those mobile sales!
4) Subscription Purchases Are Trending
You’ve likely seen plenty of subscription boxes advertised online. The Dollar Shave Club, FabFitFun, and BarkBox are just a few examples of popular subscription services. These subscriptions make customers feel like they’re buying themselves a gift, and it works. AÂ 2019 survey from Clutch shows that 54% of respondents who shop online say they are members of a subscription box service.
It isn’t hard for your business to jump on board with this trend. Many online stores are naturally suited to starting up a subscription service. If you sell wine, a wine of the month club would be a natural application. If you sell cosmetics or beauty products, try compiling your own surprise subscription boxes. These boxes are a great way to introduce customers to new products, move some older inventory, and ensure regular purchases.
But even businesses that don’t sell glamorous products can benefit from creating subscription offers. If you sell consumable products that customers purchase regularly–think toiletries, natural cleaning supplies, or pet food–you have a great market for subscription purchases. Customers will appreciate the automatic re-ordering process, especially if you give them the flexibility to start and stop shipments at any time.
Finally, if you choose to set up subscription boxes as an option on your site, make sure you have a payment method with recurring billing features. Take a look at our full article on recurring billing for more information.
5) Ethical & Sustainable Consumerism Is On The Rise
This year, retailers should expect consumers to become increasingly conscientious in their purchasing habits. Today’s consumers are more careful than ever in their purchasing, favoring products and businesses with ethical and sustainable practices. According to a Nielson survey in 2018, 81% of global respondents feel strongly that companies should help improve the environment.
As you consider implementing better environmental practices in your own business, I suggest you start by rethinking your packaging. How you package your products and shipments can leave your customers with a big impression, either positive or negative. Good environmental practices include using recycled plastics and cardboard, as well as packaging your products in the smallest boxes possible. Shipping your products in smaller boxes not only uses less cardboard, but it also takes up less space in a delivery truck, meaning it takes less gas to deliver.
Whatever environmental and ethical practices you decide on, make sure you advertise that information. Of course, it’s always good to be environmentally responsible; but, it’s only going to increase your sales if you let customers know how you’re reducing your footprint.
6) Free Shipping Is A Must
The words “free shipping” are every customer’s favorite phrase and every online seller’s biggest challenge.
Retail giants like Amazon and Walmart have made free shipping an expectation for many customers. The National Retail Federation’s Consumer View report in January 2019 showed that 75% of consumers surveyed expected free shipping, even on orders under $50. What’s more, 29% of interviewed consumers had abandoned a purchase because two-day shipping wasn’t free.
This is a huge burden for smaller online retailers. As all online sellers know, “free shipping” is never free, and offering free shipping on the wrong orders can completely eliminate your profit margins (sometimes even causing you to lose money on a sale!).
That’s why it’s important for sellers to be strategic about the ways they offer free shipping. You might choose to set order totals that customers must reach in order to earn free shipping (i.e. “Free shipping on orders over $50!”). Or, you could offer free shipping on every purchase, but then raise their product prices to account for the shipping costs. Alternatively, you could offer free shipping as a limited-time promotion when customers sign up for your newsletter. There are many options to consider! For more recommendations, take a look at our articles 8 Hacks For Saving On Shipping Costs and 7 Strategies To Increase Your eCommerce Sales.
7) Social Media Marketing Impacts Shopping
In the past two years, we’ve seen a sharp rise in the popularity of social media marketing. Instagram influencers, social media managers, and professional YouTubers have changed the game when it comes to online marketing.
And that shift to social media has also made an impact on online sales. Now customers aren’t just learning about brands and products on social media–they’re purchasing them on social media too! In 2019, social commerce accounted for $22 billion in sales, and that number is projected to rise to $29.3B in 2020.
If you haven’t started selling yet on social media, it’s time to get started! Look into selling on a Facebook store, via shoppable posts on Instagram, or through buyable pins on Pinterest. You should also consider beefing up your social media marketing methods. Define your brand, discover your audience, and consider hiring a social media manager. For more recommendations on creating a successful social media presence, check out our Guide To Social Media Marketing.
8) Users Want Personalized Customer Experiences
Personalization is not new in eCommerce. For years, online sellers have been using personalization in their email marketing campaigns, and with great success! Research shows that emails that use a customer’s first name in the subject line have a slightly higher open rate, and when you use a customer’s name in the body of the email, you gain a higher click-through rate!
Now online sellers are applying personalization to their online storefronts. The most popular method of personalizing your customers’ shopping experience is through product recommendations. Recommending the right products can make a big impact on your bottom line. According to data from Barilliance, sales from product recommendations account for up to 31% of a seller’s eCommerce revenue. That’s not a small amount! Be sure you list recommended products on your site, whether those recommendations are based on your customers’ browsing history, past purchases, or the items currently in their shopping cart.
Personalization can make a big impression on your customers. Do your best to personalize your shopper experience in any way you can!
9) Chatbot Customer Service Is Popular
A chatbot is an artificial intelligence software that is designed to answer common customer questions within a chat window.
Chatbots are quickly becoming a popular option for large businesses to easily handle large volumes of customer inquiries. According to statistics from eMarketer, in 2019, 40% of survey respondents had previously used chatbots to engage with retailers. And fortunately, it seems that most of those interactions go well. A 2018 study by Sumo Heavy showed that 72% of people who had interacted with a chatbot found the experience to be helpful and informative
For many small businesses, creating a chatbot may seem like a complex and overwhelming task. Fortunately, there are many software add-ons available that can take away the technical hassle of creating a chatbot. For Shopify users, you can find a number of Facebook Messenger chatbot applications in the Shopify App Marketplace.
For those who don’t use Shopify, there are many other chatbot programming software apps to which you can subscribe to in order to create your own solution. For example, a software called ChatBot lets you create question-and-answer flowcharts that you can easily turn into a chatbot’s programmed responses. Chatfuel lets you create a chatbot for your Facebook Messenger, and Kik also allows you to build your own chatbot (although Kik does require you to work with their API to do so).
Fortunately, building your own artificial intelligence doesn’t have to be hard. There are many options that you can take to simplify the process of setting up your own customer support chatbot.
10) Augmented Reality Can Lead To More Purchases
Augmented reality is a type of virtual imaging software that allows you to overlay pictures and videos of reality with a digital image. You may have seen augmented reality used in mobile games like Pokemon Go, when a digital creature seemingly appears right in front of you! Using augmented reality (AR), customers are able to “place” your products in their own homes, walk around them to view them from all sides, and even “try on” accessories and cosmetics.
While AR may seem like just a gimmick, studies show that AR can lead to more purchases! According to data from Tractica, global revenue from mobile augmented reality apps (including social media, games, eCommerce, and more) is expected to increase 89.5% from 2019 to 2020, resulting in $6.2 billion in global revenue in 2020.
AR can have multiple applications in your eCommerce business. You can use AR to let your customers view your furniture in their home, get up close to a new camera, or try on a pair of earrings.
Fortunately, enabling AR on your site doesn’t have to be complicated. Shopify users can take advantage of the new Shopify AR, which uses Apple’s AR Quick Look to enable AR experiences for Safari users. Sellers on other platforms should look into AR tools like Augment, and Marxent 3D Commerce. These apps do the hard part of creating an AR experience. Often, all you have to do is import multiple product images to get started!
Leveraging Trends For Your eCommerce Business
In an ever-evolving industry like eCommerce, it can be difficult to keep up with the new developments and trends in the market. However, this year you can keep up with the competition by using the steps we’ve included in this article.
As you consider your approach for this 2020, think about the steps you’re already taking to stay in line with current trends. Where are you racing ahead, and where are you falling behind? It might be a good approach to pick one or two areas in which your business is beginning to get outdated, and start by improving those areas. It’s best to make sure your site is up to date with all of the current best-practices before you try to get on the cutting edge of online selling.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there, review your current practices, and see which of this year’s eCommerce trends you want to tackle. You’re going to do great!
Here’s a quick reminder of how to get started:
Review your online marketing strategy
Look into selling household goods
Make sure your site works seamlessly on mobile
Create subscription products for your store
Consider sustainability in how you package and ship products
Offer free shipping when you can
Sell on social media
Use product recommendations to create a personalized shopping experience
Program a chatbot with add-on applications
Use an augmented reality tool to help customers envision your products
The post Top 10 eCommerce Trends For Small Businesses In 2020 appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
Have you always had an affinity for furry (or scaly) things? Have you ever needed money? If you answered yes to both these questions, you may want to consider starting a pet-sitting business.
But before you pick up the leashes and pooper-scoopers, it’s a good idea to sit down and plan out the trajectory of your business. If that sounds overwhelming, don’t fret. Below, we’ll lay out the steps you can take to start a pet-sitting business.
Decide On A Location
Since you’re going to be dealing with people’s pets, you’ll need to take into account your proximity to your clients. If they’re dropping their pets off with you, you’ll want to be located somewhere easily accessible to most of your customers, and one that can accommodate animals. Depending on where you live, this can be tricky as the space necessary to accommodate animals will usually be cheaper in less centralized locations.
On the other hand, if you’re going to your customers, you’ll need to take into account the amount of time you need to spend with each client’s pets, the costs of commuting to the job, and how animal-friendly/animal-hostile the infrastructure in your service area is (dog parks, etc.).
Register Your Business
Why should you register your business? Depending on your local laws, you may actually be required to register your business in order to legally pet-sit. But even in jurisdictions where it isn’t compulsory, there are some advantages to doing so.
The first is that you can do business under a name other than your own. So instead of Martha Swearingen, LLC, you can do business as Baron Bark’s Pet Pampering Service (you can have that one for free).
The default configuration for businesses is a sole proprietorship (or a partnership, if you’re starting it with someone else). This essentially means that you’ve started a business with your own name or, if you file a DBA (Doing Business As), a name of your choice.
Sole proprietorships have the advantage of being cheap and easy to start. Your taxes will also be easier to file (and lower) than they would generally be with other forms of incorporation. Keep in mind, however, that for liability purposes, sole proprietorships and the individuals behind them are essentially one and the same.
Other forms of incorporation will require a bit more work and come with their own advantages and disadvantages. Most pet-sitting companies aren’t going to be interested in forming C-suites for governance, so you can probably ignore S-Corps and C-Corps for now. You may, however, want to consider forming an LLC to provide some separation between your personal finances and liabilities and your business ones.
Here are the most popular ways to incorporate:
Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs): If you’ve seen LLC after a corporation’s name, you’re dealing with this type of company. LLCs offer limited liability protection for their owners without the full complexity of a corporation. Each state has its own rules for how to start and maintain an LLC, and you don’t necessarily have to register your LLC in the state where you’re doing business (although you’ll generally want to). LLC owners report their business earnings and losses on their personal taxes.
C-Corp:Â This is the “basic,” default form of incorporation. Shareholders are considered the owner(s) of the company and receive limited liability protection; however, the business decisions are made by corporate officers who may or may not be shareholders. The corporation is taxed separately and shareholders pay income tax on dividends. To form a C-corp, you’ll file articles of incorporation with your state.
S-Corp:Â S-corps are similar to C-corps in most ways, but come with a few additional restrictions: you have to have fewer than 100 shareholders and they have to all be U.S. citizens or residents. Unlike C-corps, profits and losses are reported on personal taxes, not unlike an LLC. In addition to filing articles of incorporation, you’ll also need to file IRS Form 2553.
Get Business Insurance
As a pet-sitter, you’re not just dealing with property, you’re dealing with animals whose owners often view them as part of their family. In other words, if something goes wrong, things could get ugly.
Depending on your local laws, you may be required to carry certain types of insurance.
The type of insurance that will probably be of most interest to you is general liability insurance. This protects you in the event of a lawsuit or accident, whether it’s an accidental injury to the animal or if you accidentally damage property within a client’s home. It doesn’t only protect you, however; it also makes you look like a safer option than a business that isn’t covered.
There are other, more specialized types of insurance that are worth taking a look at depending on the specifics of your business. These include:
Property Insurance: Protects the property needed to run your business (as opposed to damages you cause to clients’ property).
Business Interruption: Covers costs related to unforeseen events that make your business unable to function.
Professional Liability (Error and Omissions): Covers the costs of defending your company in lawsuits in cases where your business caused a financial loss.
If you aren’t sure where to look, we can help you.
Invest In Business Software
While not absolutely necessary, you can save yourself and your customers some hassle with strategically chosen business software. For pet sitting, there are probably three types most worthy of consideration.
Payment Processing
Doing business with cash can be convenient when you’re first starting out, but as you grow, you’ll probably be missing out on clients if you can’t accommodate other forms of payment.
Recommended Option: Square
Best Overall Mobile POS
Review Visit Site
Highlights
No contract or monthly fee
Instant account setup
Retail upgrade available
Restaurant upgrade available
For iOS and Android mobile devices
2.75% per in-person card swipe
Retail POS:Â Free trial ($60/mo value)
Â
Restaurant POS: Free trial ($60/mo value)
Â
Square POS: Always free
If you have an iOS or Android device, Square offers an extremely convenient way to accept mobile payments while on the go via a small add-on you plug into your device. It’s also a very scalable service; if you’re running a retail location, there are even more features and service options you can take advantage of.
Best of all, there aren’t any monthly fees to worry about. Square charges between 2.75Â – 3.5 percent per transaction (depending on whether you swipe or key in the info), so you’ll want to factor those costs into your expenses.
Scheduling Software
As you add clients, it will get harder to remember their particular preferences, not to mention more difficult to fit them all into your schedule. With booking or scheduling software, you can track your time, note customer needs, and efficiently plan your days’ work. Many of these offer their basic features free of charge.
Accounting Software
Most businesses can benefit from accounting software. What you don’t want is to spend money unnecessarily on one. Wave offers most of the features you need at no cost.
With no monthly fee, you’ll get invoicing, estimates, contact management, expense tracking, accounts payable, and inventory tracking.
Seek Funding
Pet-sitting, especially, if you’re going to your clients, doesn’t have a lot of overhead when you’re first starting out. In the event that you do need to scare up some money to cover starting expenses or equipment, there are a number of options available to you.
Personal Savings
If you can avoid taking on debt, it’s usually a good idea. It may hurt to part with some of your rainy day funds, but you won’t be accumulating expensive interest and fees.
Tap Your Support Network
If you do need money from an outside source, you can often get a better deal from your support system than you can from a private lender.
Keep in mind that this comes with its own risks. You may stress your relationships, especially if you aren’t able to pay back these so-called friendly loans quickly. One way to avoid this is to formalize any agreements you make with friends and family so that everyone fully understands what they’re getting into and what the expectations are. You may even want to draw up a formal contract that outlines any expected payments and return on investment.
Credit Cards
For the relatively low expenses you will encounter when you start a pet-sitting business, credit cards can probably suffice for most of your needs.
The general rules of thumb when it comes to using credit cards effectively are these:
Use credit cards for expenses that you can pay off within their interest-free grace period.
Pick a card with a reward program that matches your spending habits and needs.
Do not take out cash advances on your credit card.
If you follow these rules, you can actually save money by using your credit card to make purchases.
Recommended Option: American Express SimplyCash Plus
SimplyCash Plus Business Credit Card from American Express
Compare
Annual Fee:
$0
Purchase APR:
14.49% – 21.49%, Variable
Required credit: Good, excellent
Bonus offer: None
Purchase intro APR: 0% for the first 9 months
Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
Foreign transaction fee: 2.7%
Rewards:
5% cash back at U.S. office supply stores and on wireless telephone purchases, up to $50,000 per year
3% cash back on a category of your choosing (airfare, hotel rooms, car rentals, gas stations, restaurants, advertising purchases, shipping, or computer hardware, software, and cloud computing), up to $50,000 per year
1% cash back on all other purchases
Notable perks & benefits:
Expanded buying power â buy above your credit limit with no penalty fees
Employee cards available
Extended warranty & purchase protection
Car rental loss & damage insurance
More card details (click to expand)
Hide
Amex’s SimplyCash Plus offers one of the best cash back programs available without an annual fee. You’ll get 1 percent back on generic purchases, 5 percent back on wireless telephone purchases and office supply stores in the U.S. But it’s the middle tier that’s most interesting. You can select a category of your choosing (airfare, hotel rooms, car rentals, gas stations, restaurants, advertising, shipping, or computer hardware) to get 3 percent back.
It also carries an introductory 0% APR for the first nine months, which can be helpful if you’re just starting out.
Recommended Option: Amazon Business Prime American Express Card
Amazon Business Prime American Express Card
Compare
Annual Fee:
$0
Purchase APR:
16.24% â 24.24%, Variable
Required credit: Good, excellent
Bonus offer:Â $125 Amazon.com gift card upon approval (if you have an eligible Amazon Prime membership)
Purchase intro APR:Â N/A
Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
Foreign transaction fee:Â None
Rewards:
If you have an eligible Amazon Prime membership:Â 5% back or an extra 90 days interest free on purchases at Amazon Business, AWS, Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market
If you do not have an eligible Amazon Prime membership: 3% back or an extra 60 days interest free on purchases at Amazon Business, AWS, Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market
2% back on purchases at U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations, and on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers
1% back on other purchases
Notable perks & benefits:
Employee cards available
Employee purchase control with multi-user accounts, shared payment methods, approval workflows, and spending limits
Purchase protection, extended warranty, and travel coverage
Access to Amex Offers
More card details (click to expand)
Hide
This one’s a little more niche. But if you find yourself buying supplies and random pet-related doodads on Amazon frequently, you can get a lot of value out of the Amazon Business Prime American Express Card.
If you have a Prime membership, you’ll earn a whopping 5 percent back on purchases made at Amazon.com, Amazon Business, AWS, and Whole Foods Market — or an extra 90 days interest-free grace period for purchases made at those places. Even if you’re not a Prime member, you’ll get 3 percent or 60 days, respectively. You’ll need to spend around $6,000 to recoup the cost of a $119 Prime membership with points alone, but that’s without factoring in money saved through Prime’s programs (shipping, deals, etc).
Personal Loans
If you need more money than you can safely put on a credit card, or need longer to pay it off, you should consider getting a personal loan that can cover business expenses.
There are some disadvantages to taking this route, namely that you’re on the hook rather than your business, but if your credit is good, it’s not the worst option out there.
Recommended Option: Lending Club Personal Loans
Review
Check Rate
Time in business: N/A
Business revenue: N/A
Personal credit score: 600
Credit history: 3 years
Borrower requirements for personal loans (click to expand)
Hide
Lending Club is a good option for individuals who may not have the strongest credit, but have a good debt-to-income ratio. The borrowing range is fairly narrow at $1k to $40k, but when you’re just starting out, you don’t want to go too deeply into debt anyway. You’ll have three-to-five years to pay it off, which makes it fairly manageable.
Recommended Option: Lendio
Review
Visit Site
Time in business: 6 months
Business revenue: $10,000 per month
Personal credit score: 550
Borrower requirements (click to expand)
Hide
If you’re just entering the alternative loan market for the first time, it can be pretty overwhelming. Lendio takes some of that burden off of you by allowing you to effectively apply to their whole network of lenders with one application.
Need more options? Check out our feature on startup loans.
Create Contracts
If you’ve just been watching your friends’ pets, you’ve probably had an informal agreement about the services you’d provide and the expectations of safety and liability involved. And that was probably enough.
When you’re dealing with strangers in a professional capacity, however, it’s smart to formalize these elements in a contract. This can save you a lot of headaches, if not legal troubles, down the road. You’ll want to include critical information about the pet (when and what they eat, how they are with strangers, pertinent medical history, etc.), what’s included in your services, and the client’s expectations for how their home will be treated under your care (if applicable). You’ll also want to include your fees and rates.
If you can, have a lawyer look it over to make sure it checks out legally.
Market Your Business
Getting the word out is always one of the most challenging parts of getting a business off the ground. The easiest place to start is through word of mouth. Are you already looking after the pets of a family or two? Let them know you’re looking to take on more clients, along with your friends, family, and social contacts.
At some point, you’ll probably want to expand outside the reach of your current contacts, which means advertising. It doesn’t have to be fancy. You can post flyers on bulletin boards and leave business cards in places trafficked by pet owners. Online classified sites like Craigslist can also cover a large audience in your area.
Bolster Your Web Presence
When it comes to promoting small business, the internet is one of those things that’s easy to both over- and underestimate. On the one hand, simply buying an ad and hoping for the best likely won’t yield amazing results. On the other, you do need an internet strategy to grow your business.
It doesn’t have to be fancy, but you’ll probably want a website that details your basic services and contact information. Don’t overthink it. There are a lot of great tools available that can help you build a website.
Remember, too, that social media isn’t just for sharing pictures of your dinner with your friends. You can use to communicate with customers, make engaging content that makes them keep your brand in mind, and announce special deals and service changes.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, everything we covered doesn’t look too intimidating. If you’re good with animals and don’t mind turning that love into a source of revenue, you can get a pet-sitting business up and running in no time!
Having second thoughts about pet-sitting but are still looking to open a business? Check out our other beginners’ guides.
The post How To Start A Pet Sitting Business: The Complete Guide appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
If you’ve arrived at our comparison of Shopify and Etsy, I’m guessing you’re an online seller (or an aspiring one) of the “artsy” or “craftsy” variety. Perhaps even “artsy-craftsy.” Whichever identifier you prefer, you’ll be pleased to know that both Shopify and Etsy can help you sell all sorts of unique, handcrafted, and/or vintage items.
I’ll admit that in some respects, it’s a little unfair to compare Shopify and Etsy head-to-head. Shopify is a shopping cart platform/website builder you can use to create and manage your own, standalone ecommerce store. The Shopify brand itself operates almost completely in the background from your shoppers’ point of view. (If you build your store correctly, no one will know that it’s really powered by Shopify.)
By contrast, Etsy is an online marketplace that allows you to set up shop directly alongside other ecommerce vendors, all with a similar artsy and/or craftsy vibe. All the while, Etsy’s involvement in the whole operation is directly front and center for your shoppers.
You could also argue that a direct comparison between Shopify and Etsy is quite fair and appropriate. People often wonder 1) which of the two software platforms provides the best starting place to sell online, 2) under what circumstances it makes sense to use one or the other (or both), and 3) at what point a seller might need to transition from Etsy to Shopify.
Plus, the introduction of Pattern by Etsy a few years ago made the comparison between Shopify and Etsy even more apropos. For a monthly fee, Pattern makes it possible for Etsy sellers to maintain a standalone, inventory-synced site of their own. Sites built with Pattern can even offer additional products and services that don’t meet the handmade/vintage/craft supply restrictions of normal Etsy shops.
Pattern aside, a huge draw of Etsy in its original form is the built-in traffic and existing customer base from which you can directly benefit as a seller. (You don’t get that with a standalone Pattern site.) The downside, of course, is that you must share your customers with similar stores.
So, with Pattern thrown in, can Etsy compete directly with Shopify? Does the magic combination of Etsy and Pattern render Shopify completely unnecessary for some Etsy-type sellers? You can already tell from our chart at the top of this article that we are still fans of Shopify, but we think all sellers should understand precisely how these two services stack up on all the important dimensions. Ultimately, the right fit is up to you.
Shopify’s eCommerce Options
Mobile
POS
Online
Social Media
Mobile App + Free Card Reader
Point of Sale
Online Store
Social Media Selling
Get Started
Get Started
Get Started
Get Started
Low-cost POS for iOS and Android with free hardware
All-purpose POS integrated with all sales channels
Build a store or integrate with your current website
Sell on Facebook and other platforms
Starts at $9/month
Starts at $29/month
Starts at $29/month
Starts at $9/month
Free Trial
Free Trial
Free Trial
Free Trial
Pricing
Winner: Tie
Despite some overlap, there’s no getting around the fact that Shopify and Etsy have very different pricing structures. The differences are significant enough that we can’t call a clear winner for cost.
Here’s a very generalized way to compare the two:
Sellers who are just getting started, are very concerned about cash-flow, and simply can’t afford a monthly subscription fee will find an initially cheaper option in Etsy.
Once you have a moderate and fairly predictable stream of transactions and need a full website for your store, Shopify starts to become more cost-effective.
That’s the condensed version of our pricing comparison. For the full breakdown, strap in and keep reading!
When comparing these two platforms, you should first wrap your mind around the main categories of fees involved. It will also help to keep the following overarching difference in mind: Shopify’s main charge is a monthly fee for using the service, while the main component of Etsy’s cost is a fixed 5% transaction fee charged on every sale that occurs on the platform.
Here are the different categories of costs you should keep in mind when comparing Shopify and Etsy:
Monthly Fee: Subscription fee for using the platform.
Listing Fee: Cost of listing a product (or group of products that make up one listing) in your shop.
Transaction Fee:Â Percentage commission per sale charged by Etsy or Shopify itself.
Payment Processing Fee: Not the same as a transaction fee! This is a per-sale fee (usually a percentage and a dollar amount) charged by your credit card processor/payment gateway. While this entity is usually a third-party company, it turns out both Etsy and Shopify have an in-house, pre-integrated option that most sellers use (Etsy Payments and Shopify Payments, respectively).
Standalone Website:Â Cost of having your own, hosted website with a customizable theme template.
Let’s take a close look at the numbers, shall we? All prices will be shown in USD.
Shopify Pricing
Shopify plans have a monthly fee, no listing fee, and a variable transaction fee that only comes into play if you do not use Shopify Payments as your credit card processor. Starting at the $29/month level, you get your own store website. This involves choosing a free Shopify template or purchasing a premium template from the Shopify theme store. As you look through Shopify’s five pricing plans, remember that you can completely avoid Shopify’s extra transaction fee if you use Shopify Payments as your credit card processor.
Shopify Lite PlanÂ
Monthly Fee: $9/mo.
Transaction Fee:
If Using Shopify Payments: None
If Using External Gateway: 2.0%
Payment Processing Fee (Online)
Shopify Payments: 2.9% + $0.30
External Gateway:Â Varies
Standalone Website: Unavailable. Sell on an existing website, Facebook, or in-person only.
Basic Shopify Plan
Monthly Fee: $29/mo.
Transaction Fee:
If Using Shopify Payments: None
If Using External Gateway: 2.0%
Payment Processing Fee (Online):
Shopify Payments: 2.9% + $0.30
External Gateway:Â Varies
Standalone Website: Included. Templates are $0-$180/ea.
Shopify Plan
Monthly Fee: $79/mo.
Transaction Fee:
If Using Shopify Payments: None
If Using External Gateway: 1.0%
Payment Processing Fee (Online):
Shopify Payments: 2.6% + $0.30
External Gateway:Â Varies
Standalone Website: Included. Templates are $0-$180/ea.
Advanced Shopify Plan
Monthly fee: $299/mo.
Transaction Fee:
If Using Shopify Payments: None
If Using External Gateway: 0.5%
Payment Processing Fee (Online):
Shopify Payments: 2.4% + $0.30
External Gateway:Â Varies
Standalone Website: Included. Templates are $0-$180/ea.
Shopify Plus: Custom pricing. Reserved for enterprise-level customers.
With each bump in subscription level, Shopify sellers have access to additional features, as well as more staff accounts for their stores. Check out our full Shopify review, or our quick guide to Shopify pricing, for a more complete breakdown of features by plan.
Basic
Shopify
Advanced
Monthly
$29.00/mo
$79.00/mo.
$299.00/mo.
Yearly
$26.10/mo.
$71.10/mo.
$269.10/mo.
2 Years
$23.20/mo.
$63.20/mo.
$239.20/mo.
3 Years
Same as above
Same as above
Same as above
Etsy Pricing
Etsy has two main plans — Standard and Plus — and a Premium plan that will launch sometime in 2019. Most Etsy sellers use the Standard plan with no monthly fee, whereas the Plus plan is $10/month. Other components of Etsy’s cost include a fixed listing fee, as well as 5% transaction fee on every sale. There is no avoiding this 5% fee, even when you use Etsy Payments as your credit card processor.
Also, keep in mind that your only web presence is your shop page within the Etsy marketplace. If you’d like your own store website separate from (but synced to) your Etsy shop, you can create and maintain a Pattern site for an additional $15/month.
Here are the plans:
Etsy Standard
Listing Fee: $0.20/ea.
Lasts 4 months
Charged when listing is first published or when renewed
Standalone Website: None, or $15/month with Pattern. Pattern site templates are free.
Etsy Plus
Monthly Fee: $10/mo.
Other Costs Same As Above
Additional Features:
A monthly budget of credits for listings and Promoted listings ads
Access to a discount on a custom web address for your Etsy shop
Restock requests for shoppers interested in your items that have sold out
Advanced shop customization options
Access to discounts on custom packaging and promotional material like boxes, business cards, and signage
Etsy Premium
Launching 2019
Will include premium customer support and advanced management tools for businesses with employees
One final note about pricing before we sum up this section: if you want a standalone site built on Pattern, you’ll also need to purchase and/or connect a domain name. The annual cost varies, but should be comparable to purchasing a domain for a Shopify store. Of course, if you stick to just selling on Etsy and not on Pattern, you don’t need your own domain URL.
Again, this is one of those comparisons you’ll have to decide the winner of for yourself. You can see that once you have a steady flow of significantly-sized transactions, avoiding that 5% Etsy fee on every sale and ponying up $29/month for Shopify instead (and using Shopify Payments to have the Shopify transaction fee waived) starts to make more sense.
Hosting
Winner: Tie
Shopify and Etsy stores are both fully-hosted solutions based in the cloud. You don’t need to download or install anything to use either. If you create an Etsy-connected website using Pattern, your site’s hosting is covered by your $15/month Pattern subscription. Similarly, Shopify store hosting is covered by the monthly fee.
Specific Size Of Business
Winner: Shopify
Shopify deserves the win in this category for accommodating a much wider range of business sizes. For just $9/month, you can start selling on Facebook with no additional transaction fees (beyond payment processing itself) if you use Shopify Payments. From there, Shopify scales all the way up to enterprise-level merchants. Etsy, on the other hand, is better geared toward small to mid-sized operations and doesn’t scale nearly as well. That said, for those who just want to test the ecommerce waters and dabble in selling a few handmade or vintage products, Etsy is ideal.
Hardware & Software Requirements
Winner: Tie
No special hardware or software is required to open and manage a shop on either platform. You do have the option to add hardware (like card readers) if you wish to sell in-person.
Ease Of Use
Winner: Etsy
Shopify usually earns our top rating for ease of use in the ecommerce software category, and with good reason. In this case, however, I’m awarding Etsy the narrow win. As a marketplace with a uniform structure across all web shops on the platform, the whole Etsy setup process is much less open-ended, so it’s easier to start selling right away. Once you fully dive into the admin dashboard and start manipulating individual features, however, I think the two platforms are equally easy to use.
Let’s peek inside the setup process and backend structure of each system, so you can see what I mean.
Shopify Setup
Shopify offers a two-week free trial of the platform — all you need is an email address. You’re free to test the software to your heart’s content, short of making actual sales.
Shopify Dashboard
Once you’ve started a trial account, you’ll gain immediate access to your store’s admin panel. The Shopify dashboard is quite streamlined, with daily operation menus contained in the left sidebar. There are even a few tips to get started setting up your store in the center area:
Shopify — Add A Product
Listing your first product is typically one of the first tasks inside Shopify, but it doesn’t have to be. Adding a product involves completing a simple interface:
In addition to configuring products and setting up the rest of the backend of your store, you can work on customizing your online storefront at the same time. We’ll have more on this process in the Web Design section.
While Shopify is easy to use, you are ultimately responsible for locating and configuring all the settings (shipping, tax, billing, etc.) to get your store going.
Etsy Setup
The cookie-cutter look of Etsy shops is no accident — it’s achieved through a simple, highly-controlled system behind the scenes. In fact, Etsy guides your hand to such a strong extent that by the time you’re taken through the basic setup process, you already have a store that’s up and running.
Unfortunately, there is no free trial of Etsy. Instead, you must enter a product, your bank account routing number, your credit card info, and other personal/business details before you can even enter the admin dashboard. Coming from the land of ecommerce software where no-credit-card-required free trials abound, I find this system annoying. However, I can’t deny that it is also very effective.
From my personal Etsy account, I’ve used to make Etsy purchases in the past, I simply clicked “Sell on Etsy.” I was then taken through a very detailed setup wizard, all the way from setting my country, to listing my first product, to inputting my billing and payment methods. As you can see from the dots across the top of the wizard interface, it’s a five-step process:
Etsy Dashboard
When you finally make it to the main admin panel (called Store Manager), you’ll find it’s actually fairly similar to Shopify. In my own testing, I could find all the menus and features I was looking for in the left sidebar:
Etsy — Add A Product
The most detailed piece of the store setup wizard is step three: adding products (a.k.a, listings). As I mentioned, you’re forced to list at least one item before you can even complete the Etsy signup process and see your main dashboard. Below is the third screen from the setup wizard. Yep, it’s long. Click it to enlarge, if you dare.
This may seem like a lot of work, and it kind of is. Mercifully, Etsy makes it all extremely straightforward. You just need a touch of patience. As part of this process, you’re actually also setting up a shipping profile that can then be reapplied to other products. And, once you choose the type of product you’re selling, Etsy is very good about predicting the type of attributes and variations you might need for that product. I walked away from the processing thinking, “Wow, Etsy knows its sellers and their products really well.”
Side note: Once you finally make it to your dashboard, you can load additional products with a similar interface:
As soon as I was (finally)Â done with the initial setup wizard, my shop was online and ready to sell. I received so much guidance steering me directly to the goal that I almost felt like I was tricked into suddenly having an active store. In a good way, I guess!
I’ve focused on getting a store up and running in this section as an illustrative example — there are lots of other components of each platform to consider. As you’ll see in our Feature section below, though, Etsy has fewer features than Shopify overall. This makes it easier to quickly get a handle on the entire software platform’s capabilities and scores Etsy another point for user-friendliness. Still, the ease of going from zero to ready-to-sell is what really puts Etsy on top.
Features
Winner: Shopify
Let’s acknowledge right away that comparing the features of Etsy and Shopify is hardly an apples-to-apples endeavor. One is an online marketplace including multiple sellers, while the other is a platform on which to build a website that you ultimately own. Etsy has a specific target market of crafters, vintage resellers, and the like, while Shopify’s merchant pool is much wider. The feature sets of each platform work really well for sellers within their specific contexts. Once we add Etsy’s Pattern to the mix, the comparison gets a little closer, but it’s still slightly unfair to both systems.
I do think the best “features” of Etsy have already been highlighted — it’s very easy to get started selling, and you’ve already got a built-in traffic base. Beyond these important advantages, there’s not a lot you can do on the back or front end of your Etsy and/or Pattern shop that you can’t do with Shopify. And, if the core Shopify platform doesn’t have a specific tool you’re looking for, I can almost guarantee you’ll find a solution in the immense app store (more on that later).
All in all, I’m giving Shopify the win because I think it’s a more advanced system for ecommerce. Shopify adds several features that Etsy and Pattern are missing, like checkout on your own domain (customers are redirected back to Etsy if they purchase through your Pattern site), manual order creation, a built-in POS system, and bulk product import/export/editing. In addition, many of the features the two platforms share in common are more robust or flexible with Shopify (I’m thinking of their respective discount engines, abandoned cart recovery systems, SEO tools, etc.).
Despite their core differences, Shopify and Etsy/Pattern still have a lot of great things in common. Thus, I’d like to end this section with a list of some features both platforms share:
Sell unlimited products
Sell physical or digital products
Free SSL certificate (with Pattern)
Built-in blog (with Pattern)
Social media sharing
Automatically calculate shipping & tax
Purchase/print shipping labels
Shipping discounts
Inventory & order management
Create discounts & coupons
Abandoned cart recovery
Guest checkout
Analytics & reports
SEO tools
Mobile store management app
Web Design
Winner: Shopify
Shopify easily wins this category, even after you throw Etsy’s Pattern software into the mix. Shopify’s frontend template options have Pattern’s beat on all counts — the sheer number of options, the variety of styles, and the overall quality of designs. Not to mention that once you’ve chosen a theme, Shopify gives you much more flexibility to perform further customizations. Allow me to illustrate!
Shopify Design
Shopify offers 70 templates, most with 2-4 style variations. Ten themes are free and supported by Shopify developers, while the remaining third-party themes are offered at $140-$180 as one-time purchases.
I think most of the free themes from Shopify outshine Pattern themes, but we’ll get to Pattern in a moment. For now, you should know that Shopify has tools to adjust fonts and colors (via the Theme Editor), and to drag-and-drop page elements up and down your layout (via the “Sections” tool) — all without touching any code. You can also make further adjustments with code if you have those skills, but this is not necessary for the average user.
Here’s a quick screen-grab of Shopify’s visual, non-coding editor:
For more information on how these tools work, check out our full Shopify Review.
Etsy Design
Your Etsy shop comes with just one design template that’s the same as everyone else’s on the marketplace. You already saw the default store layout that popped up when I initially created my store. In the backend admin panel, you can customize your homepage by adding a banner image, your logo, a featured area to highlight products, an About section, and a few other basic elements. Each piece is fixed in place, though — no drag-and-drop tool to be found. Anywhere there is a little “+”, you can add a specific element:
With the $10/month plan, you have a bit more flexibility in your design. For example, you can insert a rotating image carousel in lieu of a fixed banner image across the top. And yet, there’s still no dragging nor dropping allowed.
If you decide to create a standalone website with the Pattern feature (remember, that’s another $15/month), you can choose from 10 possible templates. Pattern will recommend an option for your shop depending on your current Etsy store, but you can easily swap it out later:
Once you’ve chosen a theme, you have the option to customize your colors, fonts, text, and images — but again, all with pre-defined placement: Here’s the interface after I added a logo and header:
You can also add a few select pages to your site, like an About or Contact page. You just have to be okay with your layout being completely fixed for each page. Even if you wanted to try tweaking the template code, it’s just not an option.
Sorry, Etsy. Shopify has some of the best designs and editing tools of all shopping cart platforms on the market, so I’m not surprised that Etsy is completely overshadowed in this area. Pattern is only ideal for the most basic of websites. Fortunately, it does offer a 30-day free trial of a live site (once you’re already signed up for Etsy) if you’d like to test the site builder for yourself.
Integrations & Add-Ons
Winner: Shopify
Etsy and Shopify each offer a collection of free and paid add-ons to integrate with your shop. The big difference is in the quantity. Etsy’s selection of a couple dozen apps just can’t compete with Shopify’s approximately 2500 offerings. If you’re worried about the quality of these Shopify add-ons, you have access to thousands of user reviews in the app store. You’re likely to find anything and everything you need to expand your store beyond the core Shopify platform.
A large selection is certainly great, but with the important caveat that the vastness of it all could end up becoming too overwhelming, costly, and unnecessary for small sellers. I was happy to see that Etsy at least offers a few well-known accounting and tax integrations (e.g., Quickbooks, Wave, TaxJar, TaxCloud) and email marketing apps (e.g. AWeber, or MailChimp if you use Pattern). You’ll need to decide if you will ultimately need the store expansion capability that Shopify provides, or can settle for Etsy’s offerings. If you set up a Pattern store, you’ll definitely want to add a good SEO integration.
Payment Processing
Winner: Shopify
Payment processing is a complicated and nuanced topic, so we’ll just cover some basic comparisons. Your mileage on this verdict in favor of Shopify will vary depending on your location, currencies, risk level, etc.
We’ve already mentioned that Shopify and Etsy both have their own self-branded payment gateways. Do note that Shopify Payments is actually built on Stripe’s infrastructure, while Etsy Payments is largely powered by Adyen, another big payment gateway company.
At any rate, most sellers on either platform end up using these pre-integrated options. Why? Well, even though you have over 100 processor options with Shopify, recall that you’re penalized with a separate transaction fee (usually 2%) if you don’t pick Shopify Payments. Meanwhile, Etsy Payments (formerly Etsy Direct Checkout) is essentially your only credit card processor option with Etsy. The only reason you wouldn’t use Etsy Payments is if it’s not yet available in your location. If you’re not operating from one of the approximately three dozen approved countries, you can only accept PayPal or manual payment methods (like check or money order) that you arrange separately with your buyers.
Etsy Payments allows you to accept credit and debit cards, Etsy gifts cards and credit, PayPal (pre-integrated), a few bank transfer services, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Shopify Payments offers similar options but adds Amazon Pay and Shopify Pay to the mix. Meanwhile, Etsy Payments does allow you to accept a few more currencies than Shopify Payments (Danish or Norwegian krone, anyone?).
Below is a quick look at the processing fees for Shopify Payments versus Etsy Payments (shown in USD). As you’ll see, Shopify Payments it the better processing deal, especially as you climb the subscription ladder. Of course, you need to factor this into the larger picture of costs we discussed earlier.
Shopify Payments:
$9 Lite Plan
2.9% + $0.30 Online (including manual entry)
2.7% In-Person
$29 Basic Plan
2.9% + $0.30 Online
2.7%Â In-Person
$79 Shopify Plan
2.6% + $0.30 Online
2.5% In-Person
$299 Advanced Plan
2.4% + $0.30 Online
2.4% In-Person
Etsy Payments:
3% + $0.25 Online
In-Person (with Square integration only):
2.75% Swiped/dipped/NFC
3.5% + $0.15 for manually-entered online transactions
+ $0.20 for any Square product not synced with your Etsy store
An “in-house” payment processor can really streamline this aspect of your business, so it’s nice that both platforms offer one. Neither is a 100% perfect processor for everyone, as you’ll see when we discuss user reviews later. Nevertheless, Shopify Payments comes out ahead because it offers better rates, more payment methods for shoppers, and a native system for in-person transactions. Plus, if Shopify Payments doesn’t work for you, you’ve got plenty of other gateways from which to choose. Not so with Etsy.
Customer Service & Technical Support
Winner: Shopify
This particular contest was closer than I expected. Both platforms offer 24/7 email and phone support, but Shopify adds a third contact channel via 24/7 live chat. That’s really the main reason for Shopify’s win here. I know a lot of online sellers prefer this option over email and phone, since it works like a nice blend of the two. Etsy does offer a callback option when waiting on hold, which is very handy. On the flip side, I’d like to see Etsy’s contact number and ticket system more easily accessed from the help center page — it’s much too buried for my taste at the moment.
While both platforms also offer great self-help resources such as blogs, forums, knowledgebase articles, and videos, the information for Etsy sellers is mixed in with support resources for Etsy shoppers. This can feel a bit cluttered and confusing at times.
I will say that Etsy does go beyond the support of a typical ecommerce platform in a unique and specific way. As a marketplace that gathers lots of merchants together in one place, sellers are automatically part of a built-in community. There’s even an opportunity to join Etsy Teams — groups of sellers in the same location, selling the same types of products, or with other unifying aspects to their stores. Some teams even meet up in real life or organize special events together. While Shopify users can tap into the strong community of developers and merchants offering mutual support in forums, the overall camaraderie can’t compete with Etsy’s community vibe.
You also may have more access to seller protections as part of a marketplace, but this can heavily depend on the specific situation. Etsy aims to look out for its shoppers as well!
User Reviews
Winner: Tie
Because Etsy is a marketplace full of buyers as well as sellers, buyer complaints abound. When something goes wrong with a sale, it’s more accessible and more public for a shopper to point a finger at Etsy than the actual seller, even when the seller was primarily at fault. Shopify mostly operates behind the scenes from a shopper’s point of view, so it’s easier to isolate feedback about the platform that’s specifically from store owners.
For these reasons, Etsy’s reputation on review sites can be skewed quite negatively, so I can’t make a truly fair comparison with Shopify. Nevertheless, I’ve teased out some seller-specific feedback, just so you can get an idea of the common threads that appear.
First, the good. Not surprisingly, Etsy sellers like how easy it is to set up shop. They enjoy access to an existing customer base and the effective site search tools that make it easy for shoppers to find their products. Some users have mentioned their positive experiences with Etsy’s customer service, and the help they’ve received resolving disputes with customers (or even other sellers).
Of course, some Etsy sellers mention bad experiences with customer service, saying the marketplace isn’t taking enough responsibility for regulating seller behavior. I found several complaints that Etsy gets away with being a “neutral” party, shifting blame to its users on either end of transactions. At the very least, people are confused about Etsy’s role.
Other Etsy shop owners contend that the marketplace is too saturated with similar sellers, and that competition is simply too tough to sustain their shops. Still others have issues with payments or chargebacks or claim their shops were suddenly closed without warning. I’ve also seen plenty of sellers lament the increase in Etsy transaction fee from 3.5% to 5% in mid-2018 — that wasn’t so popular.
On the Shopify side, the top accolade is typically its ease of use. Sellers also like the opportunity to add functionality and scale their stores using add-ons from the app store. Shopify’s web design is highly praised, especially among those who appreciate the ability to easily customize their sites without code.
Like with Etsy — and many other large software companies — Shopify’s customer support receives mixed reviews. Other common Shopify complaints include the added cost of integrations and the extra transaction fees if you can’t use Shopify Payments. Sellers do sometimes have problems with the payment system itself as well — their funds were held, or their Shopify Payments accounts were terminated due to various factors.
If that all sounds a bit scary, understand that a lot of the problems that pop up for Etsy and Shopify are common across the ecommerce world. The good news is that the research you’re doing now will help protect you against some of the more avoidable issues!
Security
Winner: Tie
Etsy and Shopify are both PCI complaint systems, offering site-wide SSL certificates for data encryption. If that all sounded like nonsense and jargon, don’t worry. You should know, however, that part of the reason Pattern websites meet security requirements set out by the data regulatory folks is that your shoppers are directed back over to Etsy checkout pages to complete their transactions. This kind of ruins the illusion that your site was actually your own site, but it does at least help with security. With Shopify, your customers can check out directly on your site with the same level of security in place.
Final Verdict
Winner: Shopify
Shopify won this battle handily, coming out ahead in most of our individual comparison categories. And yet, I’ll be the first to admit that the one-sidedness of our comparison does not do the key selling points of Etsy justice. The main advantages to Etsy — the ability to get a shop up and running quickly on a shoestring budget, and built-in access to the traffic of an entire online marketplace — are absolutely huge for beginning sellers. If you’re not ready to go whole-hog into selling online and would prefer to test the waters first, Etsy is definitely the way to start. For first time sellers, it’s akin to setting up your craft booth at an established craft fair, versus plopping your stall on a street corner in the middle of nowhere.
This is all to say that Shopify only really wins if you’re ready to take responsibility for maintaining and drawing traffic to your own website. You’ll need to learn and implement an effective SEO and marketing strategy, for example. This is no small feat for the budding online seller and should not be taken lightly. If done well, however, any customers you obtain are your own, and this is the big reward that accompanies your efforts with Shopify. Your sales and growth will not be limited by super-direct competition with other sellers within a marketplace. You’ll completely sidestep this major downside to Etsy.
When we start talking about actual ecommerce features and web design, Shopify is a more powerful ecommerce tool. Specifically, we’ve seen that Etsy’s Pattern software can’t compete with the standalone storefront-building capabilities of Shopify. For most sellers who are ready to launch their own websites, I’d suggest skipping over Pattern and heading for Shopify. Yes, a Pattern subscription is cheaper than Shopify, but it seems like too much of an intermediate, half-way step that won’t get you fully where you want to go. Besides, there’s no reason you can’t keep your Etsy shop open in the meantime as you grow your Shopify-based store — and, you could ultimately connect an app to sync up your inventory between the two. Etsy could then become one marketing channel of many for your main online store’s top products. Something to consider!
I think if you’ve made it this far, you’re probably ready to at least test the capability of Shopify with a free 14-day trial. Of course, if you’re already an Etsy seller, you can also play around with Pattern’s tools for free before even connecting a domain and going live with your site. Since you’ve got nothing to lose with either platform in that respect, why not set up your own mini-showdown between Pattern and Shopify?
Let us know how it goes in the comments. Happy artsy, craftsy, or artsy-craftsy selling!
Shopify’s eCommerce Options
Mobile
POS
Online
Social Media
Mobile App + Free Card Reader
Point of Sale
Online Store
Social Media Selling
Get Started
Get Started
Get Started
Get Started
Low-cost POS for iOS and Android with free hardware
All-purpose POS integrated with all sales channels
Build a store or integrate with your current website
Sell on Facebook and other platforms
Starts at $9/month
Starts at $29/month
Starts at $29/month
Starts at $9/month
Free Trial
Free Trial
Free Trial
Free Trial
The post Shopify VS Etsy appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
Have you ever looked around your local bar and thought, âI could run a place like thisâ? For many, itâs easy to get caught up in the excitement of potentially opening a bar, but for a select few, this is more than just a fleeting idea. These aspiring entrepreneurs want to make this dream a reality.
Opening your own bar or sports pub seems like a fun and exciting experience. After all, who doesnât love gathering with friends and family to watch the big game with a cold drink in hand and appetizing snacks on the table? Behind-the-scenes, though, itâs a little different. While it may seem exciting to become a small business owner and call the shots, thereâs also a lot of planning and work involved in starting a profitable business.
If opening a little corner pub sounds like a dream come true but you donât know quite where to begin, youâre in the right place. In this article, weâll share our top tips for starting the exhilarating and lucrative path to owning your own bar. Weâll go over what you need to legally open a bar, expenses to start and maintain your business, and the importance of a business plan. Weâll also help you decode one of the biggest pieces of the small business puzzle: getting financing for your new business.
If youâre ready to stop dreaming and start doing, keep reading!
Begin With Branding
One of the first things you need to do before you take off running is to visualize a name, a theme, and an overarching concept for your bar. Do you picture yourself running a neighborhood pub where all of the locals gather? Or maybe youâd rather open a thriving nightclub where young club hoppers from around your city come to dance the night away?
Evaluate your different options, considering the type of patrons youâd like to attract as well as where you plan to open your bar. For example, if you want a younger crowd, a nightclub in a trendy part of town makes sense. If you want to attract an older, more sophisticated crowd, consider opening a wine bar, martini bar, or cigar bar in a thriving downtown area. You could also target sports fans by opening a sports bar or draw in foodies with a new gastropub.
Speaking of your barâs name, it goes without saying that youâll need one. Because itâs your bar, youâre free to name it anything you want. However, you want to make sure that you choose a name that reflects your concept. âJohnâs Neighborhood Barâ may incorporate your name, but it doesnât stand out. When brainstorming ideas, think about the audience you want to bring in and pick a moniker thatâs attention-grabbing — a name that lets customers know what to expect when walking through the doors of your bar.
Find A Location
One of the most important first steps in opening your own bar is choosing a location. There are a few options you have at this stage of the game:
Purchase an existing bar
Start from scratch
Buy a franchise
There are advantages and disadvantages for each option. If you purchase an existing bar, you inherit the existing clientele and may see immediate income. However, you could pay a steep premium if the bar is extremely successful at the time of sale. You may also rack up high costs if the bar doesnât mesh with your vision and you have to pay for renovations.
If you start from scratch, youâll be able to see your vision through from start to finish. However, it may take many months (or even a year or longer) to open your doors, and the costs can really rack up if you have to completely renovate a space or build a new bar from the ground up. With this option, careful planning, budgeting, and at least some knowledge of the bar and restaurant industry are needed for the highest chance of success.
Finally, you could purchase a franchise. This option could shield you from some of the mistakes you’d almost certainly encounter if you attempted to go it alone. However, you wonât be able to fully showcase your creativity with a franchise.
Finding a location takes planning and a dedicated eye on financials. Sure, putting your bar in a trendy and popular neighborhood could help your business become your cityâs next hotspot, but real estate costs may be prohibitively high. Before you put down money on a location, make sure to do your market research and understand the costs.
Create A Business Plan
Every successful business starts with a solid business plan, and a bar is no exception. Not only will your business plan act as a blueprint for starting, operating, and growing your business, but itâs also a necessity if you plan to apply for business loans from a bank or other lender.
No two business plans are exactly alike, but there are some standard sections you should have in yours. This includes:
Executive Summary: Basic information about your business and why it will be a success
Company Details: Specific details about your business
Organizational Chart: Outline of your company structure
Marketing Strategy:Â How will you market your business?
Financial Projections: Show the financial outlook of your business
Your business plan should showcase the goals of your company and serve as a map for you to follow, keeping your business on the right path. Lenders will want to see a business plan that demonstrates thought, intelligence, research, and reasonable plans for success in the future.
Register Your Business
Before you open your bar and begin serving customers, you have to register your business. First things first: register the business’s name with your state. This can be completed via the county clerk’s office in the state where youâll operate.
Next, youâll need to determine your formal legal structure. Do you plan to be a limited liability company or a corporation? Your business structure will determine how much you pay in taxes, what paperwork needs to be filed with the government, and your personal liability. If youâre unsure of which structure is right for your new business, consult with an attorney, accountant, or business counselor.
Your business will also need to be registered with the state revenue office and the Internal Revenue Service. Because your business will have employees, youâll be required to apply for an Employer Identification Number. Youâll also need a sales tax permit.
Finally, youâll be required to obtain the proper licenses and permits to legally operate your business. Because your bar will serve alcohol, a liquor license is required. If your bar serves food, youâll need a license from the health department. You can find out more about the requirements in your area by contacting your state Department of Commerce.
Obtain A Liquor License
In the previous section, we touched on acquiring the right permits and licenses. One of the most important things you need to open a bar — if not the most important thing — is a liquor license. This license makes it legal for you to sell alcohol in your business. This should be a top priority, as getting approval from your stateâs Alcohol Beverage Control agency typically takes at least one month. In some cases, it may take up to six months to get approved.
The steps required to obtain your liquor license vary by state. In all states, though, you will be required to fill out an application. You may be required to submit additional documentation with your application, such as a certificate of incorporation, your proposed menu, and the certificate of title for your bar. You may also be required to pay a processing fee.
Once your application is reviewed and approved, youâll have to pay for your license. Fees vary by state and range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. Your license will last for at least one year, and you must pay a fee when itâs time to renew.
Even though getting your liquor license is a hassle and can get very expensive depending on your state, this is a critical step that canât be overlooked. To learn more about the process, fees, and type of license required for your business, contact your state ABC agency.
Seek Funding
Business licenses. A construction loan or lease. Renovations. You havenât even stocked your bar, and the expenses are already piling up. Unless youâre already a successful entrepreneur with plenty of money in the bank, these expenses may seem completely overwhelming.
Very few small business owners have the resources to launch a business on their own. Instead, they turn to lenders for money to fund startup costs. Even after you launch your business, there will always be a need for more capital, whether an emergency has popped up, you need to expand, or a slow period has affected your day-to-day operations.
Even if your credit history is blemished, youâre a startup with no business history, or you face other challenges, thereâs funding out there if you know where to look. Start with these options.
Personal Savings
Many new business owners have at least a little bit of money put away in their savings accounts. If youâve been socking away pennies for a rainy day, now may be the opportunity to put these savings to use. By using your own money, you wonât be indebted to a lender (or at least not as much). You wonât have to worry about making scheduled payments, and there wonât be interest or fees to worry about. On the downside, if your business is unsuccessful, you lose part — or all — of your savings.
Loans From Friends & Family
If you have a friend or family member with extra money to invest, pitch them your business idea to see if theyâre interested. But be careful! Even though you have a more personal relationship with this person, donât just have a casual conversation asking to borrow funds. Instead, give them your business plan and present your pitch just as you would with a bank or other lender. Show them why you think your business will be a success, and give them a good reason to invest in you.
If you come to a loan agreement, get everything in writing, including the total borrowing amount, rates, and terms of the loan. Put your personal relationship aside and make sure you follow all terms of the loans just as a responsible borrower should.
Personal Loans For Business
Getting a startup loan from a bank or other lender can be tough. Sure, there are options, such as Small Business Administration loans, but these loans can be very difficult to receive — especially if you have a short time in business or low annual revenue. However, if you have a solid personal credit profile, more low-cost loan options are available to you.
Instead of going directly for a business loan, try applying for a personal loan for business. With a business loan, lenders consider your time in business, personal and business credit histories, and annual revenues. But with a personal loan, your personal credit score and income are used to determine if you qualify.
By going this route, you may be able to avoid many of the high fees and interest rates of alternative business loans. Depending on your credit history and the lender you select, your cost of borrowing could be much lower with a long-term, low-interest personal loan.
Recommended Option: Upstart
Review
Visit Site
Time in business: N/A
Personal credit score: Minimum 620
Business revenue: N/A
Borrower requirements (click to expand)
Hide
You may qualify to receive a personal loan of between $1,000 and $50,000 through Upstart. These loans have competitive interest rates starting at 7.74% and going up to 35.99% based on your creditworthiness. Repayment terms of 36 or 60 months are available. The application process is quick, easy, and completely online.
To qualify for an Upstart personal loan, you must meet a few basic requirements, including having a valid email address, verifiable personal information, a source of income, and a U.S. checking account. You also have to meet the lenderâs credit requirements, which include:
A credit score of 620 or above OR 580 or above for California residents
A solid debt-to-income ratio
No bankruptcies or public records
No delinquent accounts or accounts in collections
6 or fewer inquiries on your credit report over the last 6 months
Lines Of Credit
A more traditional financing option is a flexible line of credit. The one drawback with a line of credit is that business performance is typically a qualifying factor. If you havenât made any sales, you wonât qualify, so this isnât a good financial option if youâre not in business yet.
As you build your business, though, a line of credit can be very useful. It can be used to purchase supplies, inventory, or cover that emergency that pops up when you least expect it. You can also use your line of credit to cover payroll or daily operational expenses.
When you receive a line of credit, a lender provides you with a credit limit. You can make as many draws as you need against the line of credit up to and including the credit limit. Once you initiate a draw, the lender will transfer the money directly to your bank account, giving you access to the money you need. Over time, youâll make payments that are applied to the principal (the amount youâve borrowed) and any fees and/or interest charged by the lender.
A line of credit is a revolving account, so as you repay the lender, money becomes available to draw again.
Recommended Option: Fundbox
Review
Visit Site
No time in business requirements, but must have used a compatible accounting or invoicing software for at least 2 months, or a compatible business bank account for at least 3 months.
Business revenue: $50,000 per year
No specific personal credit score requirement
Borrower requirements (click to expand)
Hide
You may qualify to receive a line of credit of up to $100,000 through Fundbox. Fundbox lines of credit have no restrictions and can be used to cover any business expense. Once approved, youâll be eligible to make draws immediately and receive funds as quickly as the next business day.
The Fundbox application process takes just minutes, and itâs easy to qualify. The lender focuses on the performance of your business — not your business or personal credit history — so even borrowers with credit challenges can qualify. You do, however, have to meet the following requirements:
Own a U.S.-based business
Have a business checking account
At least 3 months of transactions in your business bank account or at least 2 months of activity in a supported accounting software
At least $50,000 in annual revenue
Once you make a draw on your line of credit, automatic drafts are made weekly from your linked business checking account. If you do not use your funds, you do not pay. Repayment terms are 12 or 24 weeks and fees start at 4.66% of the total borrowing amount.
Business Credit Cards
Business credit cards work just like the personal credit cards in your wallet, only theyâre used to pay business expenses. Business credit cards are great for emergency expenses or any time your cash flow is a little short. You can also make recurring payments, such as your utility bills, using a business credit card. This is especially beneficial if you have a rewards card that gives you cash back or other rewards simply for making qualified purchases.
When you apply for a credit card, your lender will set a credit limit if youâre approved. You may spend up to and including this credit limit with one or multiple transactions anywhere credit cards are accepted. Each month, youâll make a payment that is applied to the principal, interest, and fees charged by the lender. As you pay down your balance, funds will become available to use again. If you donât have a balance, you wonât pay any interest, although you may have to pay annual fees depending on the card you select.
Recommended Option: Chase Ink Business Unlimited
Chase Ink Business Unlimited
Apply NowÂ
Annual Fee:
$0
Purchase APR:
15.49% – 21.49%, Variable
Required credit: Good, excellent
Bonus offer: $500 cash back if you spend at least $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
Purchase intro APR: 0% for the first 12 months
Balance transfer intro APR: 0% for the first 12 months
Foreign transaction fee: 3%
Rewards:Â
Unlimited 1.5% cash back rewards on all purchases
Notable perks & benefits:
Employee cards at no additional cost
Travel and purchase coverage
More card details (click to expand)
Hide
If you have an excellent credit score of at least 740, you may qualify for the Chase Ink Business Unlimited credit card. This is a rewards card that provides you with unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases made for your business. As a new cardholder, you will also be eligible to receive a $500 cash back bonus if you spend $3,000 within 3 months of opening your account.
The Chase Ink Business Unlimited card comes with a 0% introductory APR for purchases and balance transfers for the first 12 months. After the introductory period, the card has a variable APR of 15.49% to 21.49%. This card comes with no annual fee. You can also receive additional cards for employees at no extra cost.
Rollover For Business Startups (ROBS)
Do you have a retirement account? If so, you can legally leverage these funds to pay your startup costs without facing tax or early withdrawal penalties. With a Rollover for Business Startups (ROBS) plan, you can put your retirement account to work for your new business.
It’s possible to access your retirement account funds with no penalties in just a few easy steps. First, create a new C-corporation. Next, create a qualified retirement plan for the corporation. Then, the funds from your qualified retirement account are rolled over into the new retirement plan. Finally, the funds that were rolled over can be used to purchase stock in the corporation, giving you access to the capital you need to start or grow your business.
Throughout the process, you do have to remain compliant and follow legal guidelines. For most new business owners, the process can get confusing, which is why ROBS providers are available to help. A ROBS provider will set up your ROBS plan to ensure everything is by the book. To get started, youâll need to pay a setup fee, then pay a monthly maintenance fee for maintaining your account.
The great thing about ROBS plans is that you are using your own money, so you wonât have to pay interest on a loan. You will, however, have to pay a monthly fee to maintain your account. You also risk losing your retirement funds if your business is unsuccessful.
Recommended Option: Benetrends
Review
Visit Site
Varies based on the type of financing you seek.
Must have a personal credit score of 660 or above.
Borrower requirements (click to expand)
Hide
Benetrends is a pioneer of ROBS, launching its Rainmaker Plan in the 1980s. This visionary-plan is the longest-running ROBS plan, and Benetrends offers many benefits that outshine its competitors.
With just four easy steps, Benetrends can get the capital you need from your qualified retirement plan. With the Rainmaker Plan, you can have your funding is as little as 10 days.
To qualify, you must have an eligible retirement plan with at least $50,000. Most retirement plans are eligible, with the exception of Roth IRAs, 457 plans for non-governmental agencies, and distribution of death benefits from an IRA other than to the spouse. There are no time in business, annual revenue, or personal credit score requirements.
To get started with Benetrends, youâll be required to pay a setup fee of $4,995. After paying this fee, your C-corporation and ROBS plan will be set up. After your plan is set up, youâll be required to pay a monthly maintenance fee of $130. This fee covers ongoing support and services including legal support, audit protection, and compliance.
Purchase Financing
Paying your vendors will be an ongoing expense for your business. You have multiple options available to pay your vendors. You can pay out-of-pocket, you can use a credit card or line of credit, or you can take advantage of purchase financing.
With this type of financing, your vendors are paid immediately, while you get more time to pay. A lender pays your vendors up front, then you repay the lender over a set period of time. The lender will add fees and/or interest to your loan balance for paying your expenses upfront.
By using purchase financing, youâre able to pay your vendors immediately to receive the supplies, inventory, or services you need for your bar. Then, you can spread out your payments over time to make these purchases more affordable for your business.
Recommended Option: Behalf
Review
Compare
No specific time in business, revenue, or credit score requirements.
Borrower requirements (click to expand)
Hide
Behalf offers purchase financing of up to $50,000 for qualified borrowers. Repayment terms of up to 180 days are available. Behalf charges fees of 1% to 3% of the borrowed amount per month for using this service. There are no additional fees. You can repay on a weekly or monthly schedule.
Behalfâs financing can be used to pay merchants for inventory or services. However, there are some restrictions. You canât pay bills, cover payroll, or pay other existing debt through Behalf.
Behalf analyzes the performance of your business when making its approval decisions. There are no time in business or business revenue requirements. Behalf does not have a minimum personal credit score for approval, although your credit history will be considered during the application process.
Create Your Menu
Before you open your bar, you need to know what food and drinks you plan to serve and what equipment is needed to properly prepare each menu item.
When planning your menu, think about your theme and the type of customers you plan to attract while also keeping your budget in mind.
Decide what type of drinks youâll serve. Most bars serve a variety of wines, beers, liquors, and mixed drinks, but what you serve may be different based on the theme of your bar. For example, in a sports bar, your drink menu may feature a wide selection of beers. If you open a nightclub, you want to have a variety of liquors and mixers on hand to create many different types of drinks. If you have a cigar bar, wines and craft beers may make up the bulk of your menu. Again, the type of bar you want, the theme, and your target audience can help you determine what you serve.
If your bar will serve food, think about the types of food youâll serve. In a neighborhood bar, appetizers like fried cheese sticks or nachos may be enough to keep your customers happy. If you have a gastropub, meals made with high-quality ingredients should make up your menu. Remember, creating the perfect menu takes careful planning, so take the time to brainstorm your ideas.
Itâs also wise to start off small and add new items as your business grows. If you have a huge menu that features every type of food and beverage you could think of, your bar will require more equipment. More equipment equals more expenses. Working with a smaller menu can also ensure that your bartenders and kitchen staff arenât overwhelmed and can focus on creating high-quality food and drinks. As you draw in customers to your bar, you can tweak your menu based on what customers are ordering, what gets rave reviews, and what falls flat.
Once youâve determined what your bar will be serving, youâll need to talk with suppliers to get estimates of costs. As you approach opening day, youâll place your order with your selected suppliers.
Still stuck on your menu? Check out our tips for creating a great menu.
Purchase Your Equipment
Once youâve secured a location and have moved further into the process of building your bar, itâs time to think about the equipment and fixtures that you need. What your bar needs depends on the theme youâve selected and what youâll be serving, but some items you may consider include:
Bar & barstools
Benches
Tables & chairs
Industrial ovens & other kitchen equipment
Coolers, refrigerators & ice bins
Blenders & other bar equipment
Big-screen TVs
Sound system
Microphones & other audio equipment
Beer taps
After youâve leased, purchased, or built your building, itâs important to create a detailed layout of your business. You want to ensure that you have enough room for everything required to run your bar, while also leaving enough space for seating, a dance floor, and other features that will be important to your customers. As you grow your business and need to add or update equipment, consider equipment financing to make these expenses more manageable.
Lender
Borrowing Amount
Term
Interest/Factor Rate
Additional Fees
Next Steps
$2K – $5M
Varies
As low as 2%
Varies
Visit Site
$5K – $500K
24 – 72 months
Starts at 5%
Yes
Compare
Up to $250K
1 – 72 months
Starts at 5.49%
Varies
Compare
Select Your POS System
Gone are the days when most businesses just needed a cash register or two for their customers. With the rising use of credit cards, debit cards, and mobile payments, businesses — especially bars — need a more advanced system for accepting payments.
A point of sale (POS) system is one of the most important pieces of equipment youâll need for your new bar. A POS system combines software and hardware to create a centralized point for business operations. Through this system, youâll be able to take orders and accept payments, but thatâs not all.
Some of the most advanced POS systems come with features beneficial to bars. This includes built-in tipping systems, inventory management that allows you to track your stock levels, and an open ticket system for creating bar tabs.
Your POS system plays an important role in your business, so itâs important that you know what to look for before making your purchase. Check out our top picks for POS systems for bars and nightclubs.
Lightspeed Restaurant
ShopKeep
Toast
TouchBistro
Breadcrumb
Lightspeed Restaurant
ShopKeep
Toast
TouchBistro
Breadcrumb POS by Upserve
Visit SiteÂ
Review
Visit SiteÂ
Review
Visit SiteÂ
Review
Visit SiteÂ
Review
CompareÂ
Review
Monthly fee
$69+
Get a quote
$79+
$69+
$99+
Cloud-based or Locally Installed
Cloud-based
Hybrid
Cloud-based
Locally installed
Cloud-based
Compatible credit card processors
Cayan or Mercury in US; iZettle in Europe
Shopkeep Payments & some others;Â contact your processor to see if they are supported
Toast only
TouchBistro Payments, Square, PayPal, Moneris, Cayan, Chase Paymentech & more
Upserve Payments only
Business size
Small to medium
Small to medium
Small to large
Small to medium
Small to large
Hire Employees
To make sure your bar is a success, you need to have the right employees working for you. If you havenât done so already, you need to apply for an Employer Identification Number for tax purposes. Next, you need to determine how many employees you need and what their roles will be in your business.
Youâll need at least one bartender that prepares and serves drinks in your bar. You will need to add additional bartenders based on the number of bar areas you have in your business, as well as the number of customers you have to serve.
If your bar will serve any type of food, you will also need a kitchen staff. This includes at least one cook, but you may also need prep cooks, dishwashers, and other staff as your business grows.
Youâll also need servers to distribute food or pass out drinks to customers not seated at the bar. The number of servers you have is based on the size of your bar and how busy it gets.
While your servers may be able to handle cleaning tables at first, as your business grows, you may want to add a busser or two, who are responsible for cleaning off tables for new customers.
You may also require additional staff. For example, you may hire a doorman that checks IDs before customers enter the door. A security guard may also be a staff member you hire to handle tempers that flare from customers whoâve had one too many.
You also need at least one manager to oversee the staff. A managerâs role may include hiring employees, firing employees, training, making schedules, and making sure that all staff members are doing their jobs properly.
Before you start seeking job applicants, make sure to create an in-house organizational chart to know exactly who you need to hire. You also need to do your research to figure out what salaries you will offer, as well as any benefits.
Unsure of where to hire new employees? You have a few options. First, post a job ad on online job boards or classified ads to find potential employees. This is an inexpensive (or even free) way to find candidates.
You can also ask for referrals. If you know someone in the industry, ask if they have any new hires to recommend. Donât know anyone in the industry? Ask other colleagues, family, and friends for recommendations.
Bolster Your Web Presence
After completing all of these steps, youâll be that much closer to opening your bar. However, you want to make sure to spread the word about your business, and thereâs no better way to do that than with the internet.
One of the easiest ways to get the word out about your business is through social media. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are just a few of the ways you can reach your target audience, and Yelp For Business is a must. Best of all, these accounts are free to use. As you grow, you may consider moving past the free advertising you get through your posts and pictures and invest in advertising on these social platforms.
You also need a good website. Keep your barâs theme in mind when you design your site. Make sure that your website reflects the image you want to project. There are many small business website builders you can look into if you want to create your website yourself. These make it easy for you to create a professional website with no prior web design experience required.
Service
Pricing
Hosted or Licensed
Templates & Themes
Compatible Credit Card Processors
Next Steps
$14 – $179/month
Hosted
Excellent
Many
Go to Site
Free – $29.90/month
Web-Hosted
Excellent
Many
Go to Site
Free – $25/month
Web-Hosted
Average
Many
Go to Site
$0/month
Hosted
Good
Square Payments
Go to Site
Make sure that you include your address and phone number on your website. Information about your bar including dress code and hours of operation are also extremely useful for customers. You can also include your menu, photos of your establishment and patrons, and news and updates on your website.
Also, remember that word-of-mouth is one of the best forms of advertising for a bar. If your customers love your drinks, food, service, and atmosphere, theyâll tell others. If they dislike your bar, theyâll also tell others ⦠who will make sure to avoid your establishment. Whether your bar is brand new on the block or youâve been in business for some time, keep customer satisfaction high so that customers online and off will have nothing but positive reviews for your business.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, creating a bar where everyone gathers to have a great time takes a lot of hard work. But just as Theodore Roosevelt said, âNothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty.â Running your own bar means planning, budgeting, and always being ready for growth. While your bar wonât make you an overnight millionaire, you can become a successful entrepreneur with this potentially-lucrative venture if you put in the work.
The post Want To Open Your Own Bar? Top Tips To Get You Started appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
WooCommerce and Shopify are both wildly popular software systems that can help you build a thriving online store. Behind-the-scenes, however, the two platforms work quite differently from one another. Before we jump into comparing these juggernauts of the ecommerce software realm, let’s quickly get oriented on the basics of each.
At its core, Shopify (read our review) is a SaaS (software as a service) online shopping cart platform. Starting at just $9/month, you can upload products to an online catalog and sell them on Facebook, or post them on an existing website of your own via embeddable “buy” buttons. You can even sell your products in-person with the Shopify POS app. Then, beginning at $29/month, Shopify facilitates the creation and hosting of a fully-fledged ecommerce website.
By contrast, WooCommerce (read our review), is a free and open-source ecommerce shopping cart plugin that was created specifically for installation inside the WordPress dashboard. The WooCommerce plugin turns a WordPress website or blog into an ecommerce storefront. In other words, WooCommerce has no actual website-building capabilities of its own — WordPress handles that part.
To understand WooCommerce and how it works, you need a little familiarity with WordPress itself. To put it simply, WordPress is a website builder/CMS (content management system) that exists in two forms: WordPress.org and WordPress.com. WordPress.org is the self-hosted version, whereas WordPress.com uses the same basic software as WordPress.org, but provides web hosting for your site as part of its services. Either WordPress version can actually be combined with WooCommerce, but each setup has different implications for cost, site maintenance, etc.
For the purposes of our Shopify versus WooCommerce comparison, we’ll focus on combining WooCommerce with WordPress.org, the self-hosted option. Most ecommerce sellers are attracted to WooCommerce because they already use WordPress.org for their websites, and/or they like the WooCommerce plugin’s “free” price tag in conjunction with WordPress.org. While the WooCommerce plugin itself is always free, you can only add plugins to the dot-com version of WordPress if you’re on the $25/month WordPress.com subscription.
Now that you know the basics, we’ll break down the two platforms into their various components — usability, features, comprehensive cost, and more. It’s basically the same old compare-and-contrast essay we were all forced to write in middle school. The stakes are a bit higher with this particular essay, however. By the time we’re done, you’ll hopefully have a good sense of which ecommerce platform (if either) is best for your online business.
Pricing
Winner: WooCommerce
You might be tempted to think WooCommerce immediately takes this category without contest. After all, both the WooCommerce plugin and the WordPress.org software download are free, whereas Shopify automatically involves a monthly subscription. In reality, you need to invest in a few services (e.g., web hosting) to get a WooCommerce + WordPress.org ecommerce store off the ground. The bottom line is, WooCommerce may be a bit cheaper at the outset, but it’s not 100% free. Just wanted to clear that up first!
Before we run a more detailed cost comparison of the two platforms, here’s a quick look at why WooCommerce wins this category:
You can launch an online storefront up for well under $29/month, which is the starting price for a full online store with Shopify.
All WooCommerce features are included with the free plugin. You don’t automatically need to jump to higher subscription levels for additional features or staff accounts (you just may need some add-ons as time goes on). In other words, you pay only for exactly what you need.
Neither WordPress nor WooCommerce charge any additional transaction fees per sale, beyond those charged by your credit card processor. Shopify only waives its extra transaction fees (that start at 2%) if you use Shopify Payments as your credit card processor, and not everyone is eligible for Shopify Payments.
WooCommerce is the budget option of the two, but only if you have the skills to run your own website and don’t need to hire extra help for web development, site maintenance, security, backups, etc. If you do need lots of extra help, you could still end up paying more with WooCommerce + WordPress in the long run. Fair warning.
That’s the summary explanation. Now, here’s a more detailed pricing breakdown if you’re interested:
Shopify Pricing
Monthly Subscription Fee: $9 (no standalone storefront), $29, $79 or $299/month.
Domain: Unless you want your store URLs to end in “myshopify.com” (and you probably don’t), you’ll need to purchase or connect a custom domain. Domains from Shopify start at $11/year, or there are lots of third-party options.
Web Hosting: Included
SSL/TLS Certificate: Included
Additional Transaction Fees:Â 0.5%-2.0% depending on your Shopify subscription — unless you use the in-house payment processor (Shopify Payments), in which case these extra fees are waived. Note: these transaction fees are on top of regular credit card processing fees you must pay per sale with any processor.
Additional Cost:Â Primarily add-ons from the marketplace, and perhaps a one-time purchase of a premium theme.
WooCommerce + WordPress.org Pricing
Monthly Subscription Fee: None if you set up a free WordPress.org site. The WooCommerce plugin itself is always free.
Domain:Â Varies, but can start at less than a dollar per month from third-parties.
Web Hosting:Â Rock-bottom hosting can cost as low as around $3/month, but most people end up paying at least $10 per month, depending on the size and traffic levels of their stores.
SSL/TLS Certificate:Â Often included with your hosting or domain provider, but may need to be purchased separately. Basic certificates cost just a few dollars per month.
Additional Transaction Fees:Â None. Neither WooCommerce or WordPress charge a commission per sale.
Additional Cost: Add-ons, themes, and any web development and ongoing site maintenance if you’re not taking care of all that yourself.
Sample WooCommerce + WordPress.org hosting
Cloud-Based Or Locally-Installed
Winner: Tie
As we’ve mentioned, a major difference between Shopify and WooCommerce is that your Shopify subscription includes web hosting. No downloads or installations are required. To use WooCommerce, however, you first must download the WordPress.org software and install it on a web hosting server. Then, you add the WooCommerce plugin to that setup. Some web hosts do offer preloaded WordPress + WooCommerce packages or “one-click” installations.
Is the Shopify or WooCommerce method better? This one really comes down to personal preference and ability. The self-hosted setup of WooCommerce requires more hands-on involvement and skill from the user, but you may be just fine with that.
Specific Size Of Business
Winner: Tie
Both WooCommerce and Shopify are scalable, working for small to enterprise-level businesses.
Shopify has predetermined subscription brackets. While none of these put hard limits on your revenue, number of products, bandwidth, or storage, the implication is that you’ll increase your subscription as your store grows. The exception is the jump to Shopify Plus, which is required if your revenue reaches over $1 million per year. These plans cost a couple thousand a month to start, but it can be worth the investment in return for a service that’s tailored specifically for enterprise-level merchants.
You will also need to change your Shopify subscription as you add more staff accounts to your store. For example, the $29/month plan accommodates two admin seats in addition to the owner’s account, while the $299/month plan gives you 15 spots.
WooCommerce also has the potential to grow with your store, but the system is much more fluid. You have 100% flexibility to expand your operation (and perhaps employ more help with your site) in a piecemeal fashion, exactly when and how you see fit. As your site traffic increases, for example, you’ll want to adjust your hosting service accordingly to accommodate more bandwidth.
Hardware & Software Requirements
Winner: Shopify
As a fully-hosted, SaaS platform, Shopify takes care of nearly all technology requirements on your behalf. All you really need is an internet connection and an up-to-date web browser.
With WooCommerce and WordPress.org, most of the hardware and software requirements are functions of your hosting environment. Your server needs to support specific versions of PHP and MYSQL, for example. You’re responsible for staying on top of the evolving requirements for both WooCommerce and WordPress.org when you set up a WooCommerce store. This includes installing updates of both the Worpress.org and WooCommerce software as they are released. Plugins are available to help automate some of these steps for you, but you’re still ultimately responsible for finding and updating those plugins!
Because dealing with hardware and software issues with WooCommerce is more nuanced and requires more vigilance from the user than Shopify’s arrangement, we award Shopify the win.
Ease Of Use
Winner: Shopify
It’s hard to beat Shopify in terms of user-friendliness. Even compared with other all-in-one SaaS platforms designed with the complete ecommerce novice in mind, Shopify usually comes out on top. Open-source software like WooCommerce, on the other hand, is not generally known for its ease of use. You’re trading some degree of ease and simplicity for increased flexibility and customization.
It should be noted, however, that WooCommerce actually isn’t all that bad when it comes to ease of use, especially compared with most open-source solutions. For starters, many folks are already somewhat familiar with WordPress, which gives them a head start in navigating WooCommerce. (Keep in mind that the reverse will apply if you’re not already familiar with WordPress — you’ll be learning two systems at once.) Once you get everything installed and up and running, day-to-day operations and manipulation of features are all pretty straightforward with WooCommerce.
WooCommerce offers to install some additional free plugins (like Jetpack and WooCommerce Services) from the get-go that help bring the system more in line with a fully-hosted solution like Shopify, but you still end up with a sort of cobbled-together setup that is more difficult to manage than an all-inclusive platform.
Have a look at our full Shopify and WooCommerce reviews if you’d like more information on the topic of ease-of-use, but I’ve included just a quick peek at the dashboards of each platform, as well as what it’s like to add a product.
Shopify Dashboard:
After signing up for a free 14-day trial, you’re taken to a clean and easy-to-navigate dashboard, with all your major functions in the left menu, and a few tips to get started in the center:
Shopify — Add A Product:
Shopify has a super-simple product interface. All fields are completed simply by scrolling down the page.
WooCommerce Dashboard:
Below I’ve shown a WordPress dashboard with WooCommerce already installed. If you look closely at the left menu, you’ll see that WooCommerce is just one item of many. I haven’t even expanded its own menu yet, nor the “Products” menu right below. In the center of the dashboard, I’m faced with additional suggested configurations and plugin choices. Do I need them all? Should I set them up now? Just “Dismiss?” It’s certainly all doable, but I find it bit cluttered and overwhelming to get started. Plus, this is all after I completed the setup wizard.
WooCommerce — Add A Product:
Once you scroll past the plugin suggestions, adding a product is quite straightforward with WooCommerce. If you’ve ever used WordPress, it’s a lot like creating a blog post. You’ll just need to configure ecommerce settings like price and inventory levels.
Another aspect to consider is that you won’t be able to test WooCommerce (like you can test Shopify with its free trial) unless you have a host and server already set up to install WordPress.org. Ease of use is always a bit subjective, and it’s hard to get a good feel for usability without testing the software yourself.
Features
Winner: Tie
Although one is software-as-a-service and the other is open-source, both Shopify and WooCommerce actually take a similar approach to features. The basic components to get a store launched and managed on a day-to-day basis are included with the software, but you’re expected to add a few extensions and integrations to either platform in order to tailor your store to your exact specifications.
With Shopify, this occasionally even means bumping up your subscription level, whereas with WooCommerce, features are always expanded through separate add-ons. WooCommerce has also been known to test new features by treating them as extensions first, and then eventually incorporating the features into the core offering once all the kinks are worked out by users. It’s really a community effort with Woo.
However you slice it, a common complaint about both platforms is that extra plugins can cause extra cost and extra headaches. Each system is kept as simple (yet functional) as can be from the outset, so that new users are not immediately overwhelmed by all that’s ultimately possible with these powerful software programs.
Let’s do a couple of quick sample feature comparisons. WooCommerce lets you add unlimited product variations, sell digital products, and incorporate product reviews without separate extensions, while Shopify requires (free) add-ons for each of these functions. Meanwhile, Shopify already includes abandoned cart recovery, invoice creation, and pre-integrated shipping software (Shopify Shipping). You’ll need extensions for these features in WooCommerce.
I’m tempted to give Shopify the win because I feel it comes with a slightly more well-rounded ecommerce feature set out-of-the-box without any plugins. And yet I also don’t want to overlook the enormous capability that comes with an entire WordPress.org ecosystem at your fingertips, nor dismiss the potential to customize each feature to your liking in an open-source environment. There are just too many factors at play to declare a clear winner here. The best advice I can give is to check for the features you need, as well as how they are obtained with each platform.
Web Design
Winner: Tie
I know this makes our compare-and-contrast essay less exciting, but it’s difficult to call a winner in this category as well. Each platform has advantages and disadvantages, and your own perception of what actually qualifies as an advantage or disadvantage will differ depending on your situation.
Below is a quick summary of each system’s approach to the design and customization of your storefront, along with some screenshots to help illustrate.
Shopify Overview:
67 total templates, most with 2-4 style variations
10 templates are free and supported by Shopify developers
Remaining third-party themes cost $140-$180
Built-in theme editor with drag-and-drop capability
Additional customization available with HTML, CSS, and Shopify’s own theme coding language (Liquid)
Shopify Theme Marketplace:
Shopify Theme Editor:
The Shopify theme editor consists of two elements: “Theme Settings” (for changing fonts, colors, etc.) and “Sections” (for dragging and dropping widget blocks up and down your pages).
WooCommerce Overview:
Access to thousands of free and commercial/supported WordPress.org themes (over 900 show up when filtering for “ecommerce” in the marketplace)
WooCommerce recommends its free “Storefront” theme for foolproof compatibility and web ticket support
14 Storefront “child” themes available (two free, premium are $39 each)
Theme editor allows color changes and placement of widgets (but without drag-and-drop)
Storefront expansion bundle ($69) allows further customization without coding
Theme modification also possible with HTML and CSS (no proprietary coding language involved)
Add a free plugin (such as Elementor) for drag-and-drop design editing of WordPress.org pages without code
WordPress.org’s new Gutenberg editor provides additional non-coding customization for your overall WordPress site
WooCommerce Storefront Themes:
WooCommerce Theme Editor:
Below, I’ve shown the portion of the built-in theme editor where you can choose widget blocks for various spots within your pages.
So, how do WooCommerce and Shopify stack up when it comes to web design? Does Shopify win for having a drag-and-drop theme editor and font tweaking built-in, or does it lose for making you learn a proprietary coding language if you want to do further template customizations? The new Gutenberg block editor for WordPress enhances your theme editing capabilities without code, and lets you easily place WooCommerce products wherever you’d like within your larger WordPress site — so that’s another factor to consider going forward. It’s issues like these that make this category a toss-up depending on your point of view.
Integrations & Add-Ons
Winner: WooCommerce
Even though I’ve already spoiled the winner of this category, we need to highlight the fact that Shopify also has an amazing app marketplace with around 2500 integrations at your disposal. With Shopify, you have the opportunity to connect with many of the most popular third-party software platforms associated with ecommerce (think shipping, marketing, accounting, and the like). Thousands of developers have invested in creations for the Shopify extension ecosystem. In most ecommerce software battles, Shopify easily wins this category.
All that said, open-source systems like WooCommerce + WordPress.org typically offer more integration possibilities than even the most well-connected SaaS platforms. The whole point of an open-source platform is for users at large to jump head-on into the codebase to customize and build connections. In the open-source world, WordPress has a particularly enormous and active community of developers extending the platform. As a WooCommerce user, not only do you benefit from hundreds of WooCommerce-specific extensions, but also from the over 50,000 plugins available in the WordPress.org marketplace. Even Shopify can’t fully compete.
Some argue that because many WooCommerce integrations are one-time installations, it works out cheaper in the long run, or point out that more WooCommerce plugins are free. In truth, integrations can add to your monthly cost with either Shopify or WooCommerce — especially if your integrations are to third-party software platforms with their own monthly subscription fees (and not just one-off feature installs). Be cognizant of the potential for ballooning add-on costs with either system.
Payment Processing
Winner: WooCommerce
The complete freedom WooCommerce offers to choose a payment processor and associated pricing model that best suits your particular store’s needs is the reason we award the open-source plugin the win in this category.
While Shopify technically offers more pre-built payment integrations than WooCommerce in its respective marketplace, you are actually penalized with an extra 0.5% to 2.0% Shopify commission on every sale if you don’t select the in-house Shopify Payments option. This percentage — 2% for most merchants starting out — is applied on top of the fees charged by your payment gateway itself. Trust me, that extra 2% adds up fast.
Shopify Payments has its own advantages and disadvantages, but for starters, some merchants don’t even qualify to use this processor in the first place. While Shopify Payments definitely works well when it works, a lot of merchants end up stuck in no-man’s land when it comes to payment processing with Shopify. Caught between an extra fee and a hard place, as it were. (Insert your own, better metaphor here.)
While you may need to pay a one-time fee to integrate your favorite processor with WooCommerce (Stripe and PayPal come as free, built-in options), you can ultimately select an option that fits perfectly with your risk level, sales volume, and transaction size. You can also select for any customer support and feature requirements you may have for your payments system.
Customer Service & Technical Support
Winner: Shopify                 Â
Both WooCommerce and WordPress have produced a plethora of self-help resources and documentation. Moreover, both boast thriving communities of developers and merchants working with the software who readily share problem-solving advice via forums. This is all very good and helpful.
WooCommerce can’t compete with Shopify when it comes to personalized support, however. A “help desk” is offered with WooCommerce from which you can submit a web ticket for specific purchased items, but a personal response is not always guaranteed.
Meanwhile, along with great self-help resources and community forums of its own, Shopify offers 24/7 phone, email, and chat avenues for contacting live representatives in real time. This is part of the all-inclusive nature of the Shopify platform, and part of the reason you pay that monthly subscription fee.
Now, this is not to say you couldn’t potentially receive personalized assistance from your hosting provider if your site goes down, for example. The quality and availability of this sort of third-party tech support will vary widely by company, though. Not to mention, things can get complicated very quickly regarding exactly who holds responsibility for whatever’s gone horribly wrong with your online store in the middle of the night. Once again, our point is that neither WooCommerce nor WordPress.org has a team of service reps standing by waiting for your distress call. You’re largely on your own.
User Reviews
Winner: Tie
Shopify and WooCommerce each have devoted followings of satisfied users, and both platforms tend to score very highly on user review websites. Shopify merchants love the user-friendliness of a powerful SaaS platform where most things are taken care of for you, while WooCommerce devotees appreciate that most things are not taken care of for you — it gives these users the flexibility and control they desire.
Of course, neither ecommerce platform is perfect. Here are a few of the complaints that arise most often:
Shopify
Extra transaction fees when not using Shopify Payments
I’m still calling this one a draw. One platform does not dramatically outshine the other when it comes to real user feedback.
Security
Winner: Shopify
Shopify wins this category because all Shopify stores are automatically PCI compliant out-of-the-box and come with a built-in SSL certificate. With WooCommerce, your store’s security falls more directly upon your own shoulders. You’re ultimately responsible for choosing a secure and PCI-compliant web host and payment gateway, obtaining an SSL certificate, performing Woodpress.org and WooCommerce plugin updates, and staying on top of the latest security patches. As WooCommerce reminds you in its own documentation, “a given WooCommerce site is overall exactly as secure as the WordPress installation itself.”
There’s no doubt that a WooCommerce store can be just as secure in as a Shopify store, as long as all the right pieces are in place and carefully managed. There’s just a higher chance for site security to go (horribly) awry due to mismanagement or innocent mistakes.
Final Verdict
Winner: Shopify
This was a tight race, folks. Shopify and WooCommerce have both earned their popularity in the ecommerce world, even if for different reasons and for different segments of online sellers. Based on our experience, as well as our sense of the needs of our Merchant Maverick readership overall, we’re still more likely to recommend Shopify over WooCommerce.
The majority of online sellers will have an easier time with Shopify right out-of-the-box. Shopify is much more “foolproof” and all-inclusive than WooCommerce, with technical aspects like installation, hosting, updates, and security all handled on your behalf. This allows you to expand your focus beyond just building and maintaining your store, even as an absolute web-beginner. The opportunity for 24/7 personalized customer support with Shopify is also a huge factor in our verdict.
All Shopify gushing aside, we firmly maintain that this SaaS platform is not a magic bullet solution for all online merchants, and WooCommerce may be just the alternative you seek. As an open-source software plugin combined with WordPress.org’s vast ecosystem, WooCommerce offers a degree of ownership, control, and flexibility that isn’t possible with Shopify. It’s the perfect platform for the technically-inclined among us who have the time and skill to tinker with code, updates, and integrations to customize their stores at a finely-tuned pace. The freedom to select your own web host, as well as a payment processor that works best for your specific country and risk level without financial penalty (hello, Shopify’s extra transaction fees) is also a big draw for a lot of business owners using WooCommerce. The power truly is in your hands if you go this route.
As the old adage goes, however: with great power comes great responsibility. If you choose an open-source platform like WooCommerce, you should definitely heed this nugget of graphic novel-based wisdom.
Have you worked with Shopify or WooCommerce? Let us know if the comments — particularly if you have experience with both!
The post WooCommerce VS Shopify appeared first on Merchant Maverick.
For many aspiring entrepreneurs, opening a boutique seems like a dream. After all, how many people can say theyâre making the world a little more stylish all while bringing in an income? In the past, boutique owners faced lots of challenges, such as finding retail space and acquiring necessary business licenses, but the internet has made opening a boutique easier than ever.
Of course, it still takes hard work and a little know-how to successfully set up, fund, and operate an online boutique. Whether youâve delved into the world of online business before or youâre new to entrepreneurship, this post is for you. Weâll break down the critical steps to setting up an online boutique, explore how to secure funding for your new business, and give other tips for running your online store. Letâs dive in!
Decide What To Sell
In order for your online boutique to be a success, you have to make sales. Obviously. However, before you can start bringing in money, you need to first decide exactly what your boutique will sell. In other words, you need to find your niche.
It may be tempting to go overboard and carry a little something for everyone. However, especially in the early stages of starting an online boutique, itâs wise to start small and hone in on one particular area. If your focus is on designer clothes, plan to carry only womenâs clothing or only children’s clothing. Or maybe you want your boutique to feature custom jewelry and accessories. In that case, don’t muddy the waters with random sweaters and leggings.
Once youâve got a broad overview of the customers you want to attract, itâs time to narrow down your niche further. For instance, do you want to carry affordable yet trendy styles for the 13-18 crowd, or would you rather sell high-end, classic pieces for professional women? Remember, you want to start small. If your boutique becomes a success and you see a demand for other products, add them. For now, though, take the time to find out whatâs a hit ⦠and whatâs a miss.
Deciding what to sell will not only help you determine what inventory to keep on hand and what products to promote, but it will also help you determine your branding strategy, from the colors you use on your website to the design of your logo.
Create A Business Plan
Whether you operate a traditional retail store or an online boutique, thereâs one thing all businesses need: a good business plan. Think of a business plan as a map of your business, outlining your goals and the steps youâll take to reach those goals. A solid business plan is critical for new businesses seeking financing from investors or traditional lenders like banks and credit unions.
Your business plan should include information such as:
Executive Summary
Company Description
Market Overview
Sales & Marketing Strategy
Operating Plan
Organization & Management Team
Financials
Source Inventory
With your niche selected and your business plan in place, youâre getting closer to opening your boutique. However, before you launch your website and begin to make sales, you have to find and purchase inventory that will be used to stock your online store.
There are a few ways to source inventory. One of the most common ways to source your inventory is by using a wholesaler. Through a wholesaler, you can purchase items in bulk at a reduced rate. Typically, the more you purchase, the more you save. Wholesale suppliers can easily be found in the U.S. and overseas with a quick online search.
Keeping your niche in mind, search online and create a list of possible wholesalers to use for your business. Keep an eye on available items, pricing, minimum order requirements, and shipping costs to determine which wholesaler will be the best partner for your business.
One of the biggest benefits of purchasing from a wholesaler is that you will have more control over shipping your products to customers. Youâll be able to control how products are shipped, as well as the packaging that your customers receive. This offers a better opportunity for branding your business.
However, purchasing your inventory through a wholesaler also has its drawbacks. This option may be more expensive based on minimum purchasing requirements. Packaging and shipping your own items could add on to your expenses. You may also incur additional overhead costs for the storage of your inventory.
If you donât want to work with a wholesaler, dropshipping is another option to consider for your boutique. With dropshipping, a third-party supplier fulfills the orders of your customers. Your customer places an order, the order is manually or automatically sent to your supplier, and the supplier is responsible for packing and shipping the order to your customer.
There are a few drawbacks associated with dropshipping. The supplier or manufacturer handles packaging and shipping, so you wonât be able to personalize the packaging and branding of your shipped orders. You may also encounter some issues with inventory. If you house your own inventory, youâll be able to better account for whatâs in stock. A miscommunication with your dropshipping supplier could result in canceled orders or backorders, which could lead to unsatisfied customers.
Also, you have to consider that if something goes wrong, you are ultimately the face of your brand and you will be liable. If the wrong item is sent or thereâs another issue with an order, this reflects poorly on you, even if itâs the supplierâs fault.
No matter what route you take, itâs important to properly vet any supplier youâre using for your boutique. Request samples to check out the quality of products, find out if youâll have a dedicated contact to reach when there is a problem, and work with reputable businesses with a history of success in their industry.
Register Your Business
Before you start peddling boutique items, youâll need to register your business. For an online boutique, the process isnât too difficult.
Choose Your Business Structure
When you start your business, youâll need to select your business structure. For an online boutique, your best options are to operate as a sole proprietorship or limited liability company (LLC). An individual can operate as a sole proprietorship without having to file paperwork. However, itâs often wise to take a few extra steps to set up an LLC, which will protect you in most cases from being held liable for your business’ debt. You may also opt to operate as a corporation, which may be a good idea if you plan to bring on outside investors.
File State Paperwork
To form an LLC or corporation, youâll file paperwork with the state. For most business owners, this will be the state where you live and the business is formed. Youâll not only file documents within this state but also pay a filing fee, which varies by state.
Take Care Of Finances
Before you start making money, you have to obtain a federal tax ID number from the Internal Revenue Service. If youâre a sole proprietor or single-member LLC, you can use your Social Security Number.
If you donât have one already, you also need to open a business bank account to keep your business finances separate from your personal finances.
Meet Sales Tax & Licensing Requirements
As an online seller, youâll have to collect and pay sales tax for transactions that occur within your state. You can learn more about the requirements in your area by calling your state tax department.
You should also consult with city or county authorities to find out about business license requirements in your area.
Choose An eCommerce Platform
To boost your odds of running a successful online boutique, itâs important to choose the right ecommerce platform. Your shopping cart software serves as a storefront for your customers while also providing you with the backend tools you need to keep your business operating smoothly.
Most entrepreneurs opt for a Software as a Service, or SaaS, platform. The benefits of a SaaS platform is that you donât have to download, host, or install anything on your own server. Instead, you pay a monthly subscription fee that covers hosting and software updates.
There are multiple platforms to choose from, and you can narrow down your choices by considering what factors are most important to you, such as pricing, add-ons and features, ease of use, and design options.
Unsure of which ecommerce platform is right for you? Take a look at our picks for the best ecommerce platforms for your small business.
Shopify
BigCommerce
3dcart
Ecwid
Wix
Review Visit Site
Review Visit Site
Review Visit Site
Review Visit Site
Review Visit Site
Monthly Cost
$9 – $299
$29.95 – $249.95
$19 – $229
Free – $99
$25 – $40
Core Features
Great
Excellent
Excellent
Good
Good
App Store
Very Large
Large
Moderate
Moderate
Small/Moderate
Ease Of Use
Very Easy
Easy
Moderate
Very Easy
Easy
Web Design
Great
Good
Good
OK
Excellent
Customer Support
Great
Great
Good
Good
Good
Build Your Website
What do you think when you walk into a brick-and-mortar store thatâs cluttered and disorganized? Does it make you want to spend hours shopping there, or do you immediately run for the door? The same principle applies to your online boutique. No customer wants to browse a website thatâs a complete mess.
The good news is you donât have to be an experienced web designer to get a professional-looking website. There are plenty of great website builders available online. You can even set up your store in just minutes with your ecommerce software.
Platforms like Shopify have tools that make it easy for anyone to build their online store, even if they have no design experience. With SaaS platforms, you can take advantage of features including drag-and-drop interfaces, mobile optimization, color and font customization, and your choice of store theme.
When building your website, keep in mind your branding and your audience. You want your website to reflect the type of items you sell in your boutique. If you cater to the professional male, a pink floral theme will completely miss the mark.
You want to make sure your website is user-friendly. Categorize your products so theyâre easy to find. Add in high-quality photos of your products and detailed descriptions. In a brick-and-mortar store, customers are able to touch, try on, and inspect items before they purchase. With online shopping, customers have to rely on photos and descriptions to ensure theyâre making the right purchase. Make sure your customers know exactly what theyâre purchasing to keep customer satisfaction high.
Another important step in creating your website is selecting the right domain name. There are a few key points to remember here. First, you want to make sure your company name is front and center. You also want to keep your domain name as short as possible. Avoid adding numbers and hyphens. Keep it simple to make it easier for customers to find you.
When setting up your website, youâll also need to determine how youâll ship your orders. Will you offer only domestic shipping, or will you ship internationally? Do you plan to offer a flat rate, or will you charge by weight? Will customers be able to choose from several shipping options (such as next day), or will you offer just one option?
You also need to set up your payment processor. This allows your customers to pay for the products in their shopping carts. Many ecommerce platforms come equipped with tools for shipping and payments, including shipping calculators, built-in payment processors, and dropship integration.
Finally, make sure that your contact info is prominently featured on your website. If your customers have questions about your products or have a problem with an order, they need a way to get in touch with your business. Include your business phone number, email address, and links to your online boutiqueâs social media websites. You may even consider adding additional features such as a live chat option as your business grows.
Before you go live with your boutique website, test it out. Make sure all links are working and there are no broken images. Hire a proofreader (or take on the job yourself) to make sure there are no typos in your copy or product descriptions. Take the time to make sure your website looks professional and is easy to navigate. Now, itâs time to go live and unveil your boutique to the world!
Secure Funding
Starting an online boutique is more cost-effective than opening a brick-and-mortar store, but it doesnât come without its costs. Sure, you donât have to lease commercial space or purchase a point-of-sale system, but your business will have startup and operational costs.
Unfortunately, as a new online business, youâre going to run into some obstacles when it comes to loans and other financial products. Traditional financing routes like bank loans will be unavailable to you because of time in business and annual revenue requirements. This doesnât mean youâre stuck funding everything out-of-pocket, though. Read on to learn more about the funding options for your online business.
Personal Savings
While you donât have to pay for your startup costs out-of-pocket, you certainly can by tapping your personal savings. By going this route, you donât have to worry about paying interest to a lender or being stuck on a repayment schedule. You also don’t risk going into default if you donât pay back the loan. Using your personal savings isnât without its risks, though. If your business fails, youâve lost your savings.
Friends & Family
Pitch your online boutique to a friend or family member with money to invest in a new business. Just because you know this person, however, doesnât mean that you should just casually ask for money. Instead, prepare your pitch and have your business plan ready. If you decide to move forward with a loan, make sure to have a contract with all details in writing. All parties need to agree to all terms of the contract before signing.
What stands out about this option is that you are able to work out the borrowing amount and repayment terms that work best for you. And, of course, it goes without saying that you treat your friend or family member as you would any other lender by following the terms of the contract and repaying your loan.
ROBS
If you donât want to go the traditional loan route and want to bypass paying interest or making monthly payments, consider a Rollover for Business Startups plan, also known as a ROBS. If you have a qualifying retirement account, you could leverage these funds to finance your startup expenses.
Taking out your retirement savings early could result in financial penalties, but a ROBS offers a way to avoid paying these penalties. A ROBS can help you get the funding you need in just four easy steps:
Create a new C-corporation
Create a qualified retirement plan
Roll over the retirement funds into the new C-corp plan
Access your funds by purchasing stock in the corporation
Using a ROBS to fund your business is legal if done correctly. This is why business owners who choose this type of financing hire a ROBS provider to ensure everything is done by the book. With a ROBS provider, you typically have to pay a setup fee, as well as a monthly maintenance fee.
Be aware: You wonât have to repay a lender or worry about interest charges, but if your business is unsuccessful, you do risk losing your retirement savings. Think carefully before moving forward with this option.
Recommended Option: Benetrends
Review
Visit Site
Varies based on the type of financing you seek.
Must have a personal credit score of 660 or above.
Borrower requirements (click to expand)
Hide
Benetrends is a ROBS pioneer, launching its innovative Rainmaker Plan in 1983. With this plan, you can cash in on your retirement plan to get the funding you need for your online boutique.
To qualify for a ROBS Rainmaker plan, you must have an eligible retirement account with at least $50,000. Most accounts qualify. However, Roth IRAs, 457 plans for non-governmental agencies, and distribution of death benefits from an IRA other than to the spouse do not qualify. There are no time in business, annual revenue, or credit score requirements.
Because this isnât a loan, there are no interest rates or repayment terms. However, to set up a ROBS Rainmaker plan, a setup fee of $4,995 is required. Youâll also pay a monthly maintenance fee of $130, which covers audit protection, compliance, and other features.
Personal Loans
If you have at least a fair credit score, you may qualify for a personal loan that can be used to cover business expenses. Because this is a personal loan — not a business loan — you wonât have to worry about your business credit score, time in business, and annual revenue requirements. Instead, approval will be based on your personal income, credit score, and credit history.
Recommended Option: Lending Club Personal Loans
Review
Check Rate
Time in business: N/A
Business revenue: N/A
Personal credit score: 600
Credit history: 3 years
Borrower requirements for personal loans (click to expand)
Hide
Through Lending Club, you can borrow $1,000 to $40,000 with repayment terms of 3 or 5 years. Interest rates start at 5.32% and go up to 30.99% based on your personal credit profile. An origination fee of 1% to 6% of the total borrowing amount is deducted from your loan. No collateral is required to receive a Lending Club personal loan.
To qualify for a Lending Club personal loan, you must:
Be at least 18 years old
Have a solid debt-to-income ratio
Have a credit history of at least 3 years
Have a credit score of 600 or above
You can receive funds as quickly as 3 days after applying. However, there may be delays if additional documentation or information is required during the application process.
Lines Of Credit
As you get your online boutique off the ground, youâll encounter recurring expenses — think web hosting, SaaS subscriptions, and inventory. While your incoming cash flow should cover these expenses, itâs not uncommon to come up a little short. When this happens, having a flexible line of credit in place will give you a financial boost when you need it.
How does a line of credit work? Itâs simple. A lender provides you with a set credit limit, similar to a credit card. When you need additional cash, you can make draws from this credit limit. When you initiate a draw, the money is deducted from your available funds and transferred to your business bank account. With many lenders, you can receive funds as quickly as the next business day. Youâll repay the loan each week or month, along with interest and/or fees. As you repay the loan, funds will become available to use again.
A line of credit is a good thing to have because you can initiate draws as needed. If an emergency expense pops up or you have a sudden influx of orders that deplete your inventory, youâll have on-demand access to the cash you need for your business.
Recommended Option: Fundbox
Review
Visit Site
No time in business requirements, but must have used a compatible accounting or invoicing software for at least 2 months, or a compatible business bank account for at least 3 months.
Business revenue: $50,000 per year
No specific personal credit score requirement
Borrower requirements (click to expand)
Hide
Through Fundbox, you can receive a line of credit up to $100,000. Repayment terms are 12 weeks or 24 weeks. Fees start at 4.66% of the draw amount. You only pay for the funds that you use, and remaining fees are waived when you pay your balance off early.
Itâs easy to qualify for a Fundbox line of credit. All you need to be approved is:
A business checking account
Business bank statements from the last 3 months
At least $50,000 in annual revenue
You can be approved just minutes after filling out Funboxâs application, and you can initiate draws immediately once approved.
Purchase Financing
If you need extra time to pay your vendors, consider applying for purchase financing. With purchase financing, you can get the money you need to purchase inventory, equipment, or other business necessities immediately while breaking the total amount into smaller, flexible payments.
With this type of financing, the lender sends a payment directly to your vendor. Youâll then repay the lender the balance — plus any fees and/or interest — on a weekly or monthly repayment schedule. You wonât have to pay the total amount upfront, and paying over a longer period of time may be more financially feasible for your new business.
Recommended Option: Behalf
Review
Compare
No specific time in business, revenue, or credit score requirements.
Borrower requirements (click to expand)
Hide
Through Behalf, you can pay your eligible vendors between $300 and $50,000. You will have up to 6 months to repay your loan, and you can make payments on a weekly or monthly basis. Monthly fees start at 1% and are based on your creditworthiness. There are no hidden fees, no maintenance fees, and no costs to apply.
To qualify for financing through Behalf, there are no time in business or annual revenue requirements. Although the lender does not have minimum personal credit score requirements, credit history is taken into account and a hard pull will be performed to determine your eligibility.
Vendor Financing
If you make sales on a platform like Shopify or PayPal, you may qualify for vendor financing. With vendor financing, the performance of your business is the most important qualifying factor. Often, there are very low or no personal credit score requirements, so this may be a good option if you donât have a solid credit history.
With vendor financing, youâll receive a lump sum of money based on the performance of your business. In exchange for receiving the loan right away, youâll agree to give the lender a portion of your future sales until the loan plus fees and/or interest is repaid.
The only drawback to this option is that you must be making sales in order to qualify. If you need financing for startup costs and havenât yet made any sales, youâll need to explore one of the other options discussed in this article.
PayPal Working Capital
Review
Compare
Time in business: 3 months
Business revenue: Minimum $15,000 per year if you have a PayPal Business account, or $20,000 per year if you have a PayPal Premier account
Personal credit score: N/A
Borrower requirements (click to expand)
Hide
If you accept PayPal payments, you may qualify for PayPal Working Capital. Through PayPal Working Capital, you can receive a loan of up to 35% of your annual PayPal sales. Repayments are based on a percentage of your future sales. Repayments are made daily when you have sales. If you donât have sales, a payment will not be made.
However, you must pay a minimum of 5% or 10% of your loan amount every 90 days to remain in good standing.
Youâll pay just one fixed fee for receiving your loan. Your fee is determined by:
Amount of your loan
Repayment percentage
PayPal sales history of your business
PayPal Working Capital does not perform a credit check, and you can pay your loan off early with no prepayment penalties. You must be a PayPal seller to qualify for this loan program.
Recommended Option: Shopify Capital
Review
Visit Site
Shopify monitors your account and extends a financing offer if your business is eligible. To qualify, you must:
Be located in the United States
Have Shopify Payments enabled
Have a profile that is considered low-risk
Process a certain amount of gross merchandise volume (GMV)
Borrower requirements (click to expand)
Hide
Shopify users may qualify for the Shopify Capital program. Through Shopify Capital, you can receive a merchant cash advance (MCA).
Shopify Capital is available by invitation only to qualified Shopify users. Once you receive an invitation, youâll be able to view your funding options. You can receive up to $500,000 through this loan program based on the performance of your business. Once you select the amount youâd like to borrow, youâll receive the loan, which is repaid through a fixed percentage of your daily sales until the loan plus fees are repaid.
There are no minimum credit score, annual revenue, or time in business requirements, but you must receive an offer from Shopify in order to apply.
Business & Personal Credit Cards
A business credit card is a flexible financing option if you want access to financing without having to wait for a lenderâs approval. Once youâre approved, youâll receive a credit card with a set credit limit. You can then use your credit card anywhere itâs accepted to purchase inventory, software, or pay for other business expenses.
Once youâve used your credit card, youâll repay the borrowed portion of the funds, plus interest, on a monthly basis. As you pay down your balance, it will once again become available to use again. Some credit cards come with 0% introductory rates, bonus offers for new cardholders, and rewards programs, which can provide you with cash and other benefits just for using your card.
When applying for a business credit card, youâll need to include information about your online boutique, including your business name, federal tax ID number, and annual revenue. If youâre just getting started or donât yet have your business set up, you can apply for a personal credit card. With a personal credit card, youâll sign up under your name using your own income — no business name or annual revenue required.
Recommended Option: Chase Ink Business Cash
Chase Ink Business Cash
Apply Now
Annual Fee:
$0
Purchase APR:
15.49% – 21.49%, Variable
Required credit: Good, excellent
Bonus offer: $500 cash back if you spend at least $3,000 in the first three months of opening your account
Purchase intro APR: 0% for the first 12 months
Balance transfer intro APR: 0% for the first 12 months
Foreign transaction fee: 3%
Rewards:
5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable, and phone purchases each account anniversary year
2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year
1% cash back on all other purchases
Notable Perks & Benefits:Â
Employee cards at no additional cost
Travel and purchase coverage
More card details (click to expand)
Hide
If you have excellent credit, Chase Ink Business Cash is a card you should consider. With Chase Ink Business Cash, youâll receive 5% cash back for the first $25,000 spent on internet, cable, and phone services and office supply purchases each year. Youâll receive 2% cash back for the first $25,000 spent at gas stations and restaurants each year. Youâll also receive 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Chase Ink Business Cash has no annual fee and an introductory APR of 0% for the first 12 months. After the introductory period, the card has a variable APR of 15.24% to 21.24%.
Final Thoughts
With careful planning, strategic financing, and a little hard work, you can start and operate your own online boutique. Take the time to learn about local regulations, build your brand and website, and curate a collection of high-quality products, and youâll soon be on the road to becoming a successful entrepreneur.
If you want to learn more about starting an online store, download our free ebook, The Beginner’s Guide to Starting an Online Store. Then, when you’re ready to scale your business, take some helpful tips from The Advanced Guide to Growing Your Online Store.
The post How to Start And Fund An Online Boutique appeared first on Merchant Maverick.