Published on May 30, 2008 How many staff do I need to run an online store?
Every business is different, but there are many examples of thriving Internet-based businesses that have been run on only a small number of staff, often between 1-4.
Can a successful online shop be run from home buy yourself? Of course it can. It will take commitment to making your business a success. It does not mean just because you have a website that people will come. And when they do come it does not mean they will buy just because you are there. Just like a physical shop, you need to put in the time to promote your store, and when customers do buy give them an outstanding customer experience. If you do that well, that will often mean being available to answer questions, sending out products promptly and managing returns. It is really hard to do this and have a full time job as well, so if you are serious about an online store, you will usually need to be doing it full time – or hire at least one staff member full time to work on these things.
As your business venture takes off, you will usually need more staff – particularly handling items such as accounting, chasing up non payments, answering customer questions, sending out your products and managing any returns.
Luckily, selling online does not mean that you need to have an army of staff. That is one of the benefits of an online shop – lower overheads than a physical shop. If you have a physical shop, opening an online shop is an excellent way to utilise your existing staff and reach out to new customers, especially in times business in your physical store is slower than usual.
While we’re on the subject of staff, Ozcart, our shopping cart since 2006, allows you to have unlimited staff accounts with all plans.
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