Gone are the days when you had to set up a physical location somewhere just to drive sales to your business. Today, a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs have gone into eCommerce. But with this shift, they also started to wear multiple hats at once.
Therein lies the problem. Trying to do many things on your own prevents you from becoming fully effective in any of your adopted roles. That’s why at some point, you’ll have to create your own team.
Just don’t forget to choose a business phone option that is appropriate for your purposes. Since your business exists entirely online, you want to improve your accessibility options. Having a phone option that is suited to your needs will help a great team under talented leadership (that’s you!) maximize the potential of your business.
If you do things right, generating revenue becomes much easier. And it all starts with your team. If you want to learn more about this topic, keep reading.
Why Should You Establish an eCommerce Business?
Before we delve into the specifics of what your team should have, let’s first answer this crucial question. After all, purpose dictates your response. By knowing the value of an eCommerce business to you and your consumers, you’ll be able to understand better why you need certain talents in your corner.
The main reason it’s a great idea is because of the demand. Since the internet became a constant staple in our lives, consumer behaviors have shifted as well. People now prefer buying online because it’s:
- Hassle-free
- Convenient
- More transparent (you can check out reviews)
Having an eCommerce business helps business owners provide all the conveniences to their consumers. If you already have a brick-and-mortar business, expanding in eCommerce is a great way to develop your market. You’ll be able to improve your sales numbers, expand your market, and scale up more easily.
But this isn’t just due to establishing your business presence online. eCommerce businesses have access to rich and valuable data and analytics, all of which can be used to improve their offers and processes further to obtain better results from their efforts.
Of course, this won’t be possible without a talented team that works to make it happen. Platforms and tools are necessary for growth, but without capable people using them, they’re not going to be very effective.
What Are the Main Roles That Need to Be Filled?
In the end, what you’ll need will depend on various factors such as capital, expected sales, priorities, and your skills. You should not hire more people than you can afford; what’s important is that there are people filling the key roles so that your eCommerce business has the best chance to succeed:
Web Engineer and IT
In eCommerce, your online presence is your store. So, unless you have the skills and expertise to handle this on your own, you may need a web engineer. Your specialist will take on various tasks such as:
- Building your web infrastructure
- Creating a good user experience
- Ensuring data security
- Integrating third-party software and tools
- Other tasks that need their technical expertise
Even if you’re running your store through an eCommerce platform, you’ll still need an expert in your corner later on. As your eCommerce business grows, a lot of factors will have to be controlled to maintain the same level of service to your clientele.
Marketing
Getting the word out there is one of the most important things that you must do for your eCommerce business to thrive. Because your store is online, it’s impossible for someone to accidentally walk into it and check out what you have to offer.
The employees assigned to marketing will take care of getting people to give you a second look and buy your products. This will include assessing various data from consumers and your competition, as well as formulating strategies that will help widen your market.
Depending on what your needs are, you may require other employees, such as a social media manager or a PR specialist, but don’t worry about these for now! You can always add them later on if you see there’s a need for them.
Content Creation
An empty website is no good at all. That’s why you need to populate it with relevant content, most of which is taken care of by a graphic designer and a content writer.
Usually, your content creation team will work with marketing. For example, the marketing team may create brand guidelines to which content creation will have to adhere. Meanwhile, the content writer creates engaging texts that will help convince visitors to purchase.
Chances are you’re going to need them permanently on the team, so it will help if you set up content creation standards from the start. This way, any change in staff will not result in having to start again from scratch.
Human Resources
Human resources are in charge of managing your staff. From talent acquisition to hiring, to performance management, to training selection, and even to payroll, they’ll be managing it all.
If you’re willing to invest a lot right away in forming your perfect team, you may want to hire an HR specialist first. They will be very helpful in determining your staffing needs. A good one will make your dream team a reality.
Logistics and Inventory
Your logistics person will be in charge of making sure you have the physical resources necessary for your store. For example, if you’re selling products at a markup, they’ll make sure that you don’t run out of stock. They’ll also be taking charge of quality control and shipping issues.
Meanwhile, your inventory staff will keep track of everything that’s coming in. They’ll also ensure that your website accurately reflects what you have on hand.
For startups, these two functions may be combined in just one role because the inflow and outflow of goods aren’t that great yet.
Customer Support
The customer experience wouldn’t be complete without your CS team! For returns, complaints, and other customer concerns, you’ll need customer support to help you out. They may be available through text, call, live chat, email, or other methods you deem relevant.
But apart from just opening up communication lines, it’s also important to give them the power to handle refunds and returns as well. Other concerns that they normally face will have to go through customer support, too.
Accounting and Finance
You’ll need someone to handle the financial side as well to ensure that:
- You’re complying with relevant laws.
- You have a clear picture of how the business is doing.
- Your budget is being efficiently allocated.
A lot of eCommerce businesses outsource this instead of hiring full-time staff. But again, what will be the right move for you depends on many factors.
The Screening and Selection Process: Tips on Building Your Very Own Super Team
Once you’ve figured out which roles to prioritize, it’s time to form the team. You can get the best partners for your success by following these tips:
1. Assess the Merits of Both In-House and Outsourcing
There are many arguments that you can make for hiring an in-house staff. They’re often more reliable since the longer they stay, the more familiar they become with your business. Also, you don’t have to worry about their unavailability since they’re under your employ.
Meanwhile, outsourcing provides a lot of flexibility which is important if you’re working on a very limited budget. It can also be considerably cheaper, especially if there isn’t a lot to do yet.
What you’ll need is most likely going to be a mix of both in-house and outsourcing. Ideally, priority roles will be in-house because of how reliable they can be for you. But again, as the leader of your organization, you’re in the best position to see which approach will be the best.
2. Remember That Cheap Can Be Expensive
Especially when you’re just starting out, it can be tempting to simply spend the smallest amount needed to have a team. But unless you’re a hundred percent sure that you’re simply getting a good deal, chances are you’re sacrificing something to try to cut costs.
Think of it this way. Knock-offs may be convincing at first glance. But in terms of quality, they can’t match what the original can provide. It’s the same with talent.
But this doesn’t mean that you need top-tier talent right away if you can’t afford it. Just recognize that you have to balance quality and price. After all, how well will you be able to harness the talent of a top IT specialist if you haven’t even gotten your first sale on a Shopify store?
3. Base Your Decisions on Your Strategy
By having a solid game plan, you’ll be able to determine better which roles you need to fill in first. For example, if your goal is to build the and you already have a following, getting an IT specialist should be your top priority.
In the same way, if you want to overhaul your site content to match your rebranding efforts, you’ll definitely want to get started with a content writer. Aligning your actions with your strategy is the best way to win.
So, if you haven’t gotten around to creating a strategy yet, now’s the time to do so. If your efforts are directionless, it will be harder to track your successes and failures.
4. Make Sure They’re the Right Fit
Beyond talent, it’s also important to ensure that their working habits are the same as those of the rest of the organization. This will prevent new hires from experiencing culture shock when they go in.
Let’s say that the colleagues that you have on board so far are really into meetings and daily updates. A talented candidate who’s used to working independently may not do very well or not stay long.
But this doesn’t mean you should close off the doors to anyone you think is not the perfect fit. The more important thing here is setting out clear expectations on what the culture is like. This way, you can assume that anyone who expresses interest in any position will be willing to work in the existing environment.
5. Make Hiring Collaborative
Instead of the decision sitting solely with the HR specialist or with you, why not get everyone involved? After all, they’ll be working with the entire team.
Taking this approach with hiring is a great way to incorporate input from others that you may miss. This is very important if you don’t consider yourself knowledgeable about the position that you’re hiring for.
Having subordinates or superiors ask questions is a great way to generate useful responses that will give you a deeper profile of each candidate.
6. Allot Enough Time for the Hiring Process
Mistakes can be costly. And if you’re outsourcing and are bound under a contract, you may not be able to get out of it completely. If you want the best possible results from your hiring process, it’s best to get on it ahead of time.
This way, you don’t have to rush into hiring because you desperately need someone. More importantly, you’ll be able to adjust your hiring requirements and compensation if you’re not getting the quality of candidates that you’re expecting.
Even with everything going perfectly, it can take some time to screen and interview applicants. And by going with the first one that fits the requirements because you’re in a hurry, you may miss out on more talented candidates out there.
Bottom Line: Your Vision and Your Team Should Come Together
An eCommerce team can only truly become productive if each member is doing their part well. Of course, there should be strong leadership to set the direction too!
The key here is constant monitoring and assessment. By looking at how the business is progressing, you’d be able to determine which skills you need to achieve your latest goals. We wish you success!
