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ArticlesFrom Brick and Mortar to Selling DigitallyOver the past decade an increasing number of businesses have moved towards an online presence and digital distribution business model. Some have closed their doors completely and others continue to take advantage of both types, brick-and-mortar and online, in efforts to capture maximum earnings. However, there are still many businesses and organizations that have not taken a step in this direction, potentially missing out on some big bucks. Why is this? Do they not like money? Is it because they think it’s difficult to sell online? Or is it that they just aren’t sure where to begin? According to a number of clients we’ve worked with, it’s all of the above—except for the part about not liking money.As more businesses become digitally accessible buyers will realize this and know they no longer have to get in their car and head to the local video store, for example. Today’s buyers are much different from buyers 10 years ago. They were more patient, didn’t demand as many options, and they definitely did not shop online as much. The world of buying and selling is much faster paced now and buyers realize that if they can’t find what they need in one place or when they need it, they will easily be able to find it in another. For this reason, it’s important to provide your customers with options to satisfy their needs. A good way to accomplish this is to have a presence online. And, it doesn’t have to be difficult to expand into this market. A common misconception of running an online business is that it is difficult to get started and will require a technologically skilled person to manage it. Being technologically skilled is always a bonus, but not necessarily a requirement considering all the tools available these days to help people manage online businesses. In most cases, running a business online can be much easier to manage than a traditional brick-and-mortar business in the sense that it can be done with much fewer resources—no physical facilities or utilities to worry about, physical inventory to manage, packaging costs, large staffs, or the time it takes to manage all of these. Not only can it be easier from a business operations and management standpoint, but your customers are getting what they paid for almost instantaneously when you offer them a download or online membership, rather than paying for something and then having to wait a week to get it. That means happier customers that will buy from you again, maybe much sooner than they would if they had to wait for products to be shipped or had to go to your store to get them. Let’s look at what’s generally needed to go from brick-and-mortar to getting your products and services online and digitized. There are a few items that I would put in the category of necessity when talking about running a business online. Basic requirements:
You’re probably saying, "Well, I don’t know how to build a Web site, take payments, create reports, or how to market my products online." Guess what, you don’t have to. There are companies that specialize in helping emerging businesses do all this and they already have the systems in place so you don’t have to worry about building them yourself. All you really need to do is have an idea and a goal of where you want your business to be in the next six months to a year. It’s just a matter of choosing the company that can help you in your specific situation. What are the features you will need in order to run your business as efficiently and effectively as possible? What tools will you need when your business starts to grow, or better yet, what tools do you need to grow your business now? If you aren’t sure of the answer to these questions, keep reading and add them to the next list I give you. With that said, here’s my suggestion on how to get started. Write down a list of the things you want to accomplish with your business. Whether it’s the ability to accept certain payment methods, automatically renew your customer’s memberships, or simply being able to get a report on the day’s sales—write it down and call a few e-commerce providers to find out which one has what you need to help your business grow and succeed and then choose the one that fits best. If the companies you call just try to sell you on what they have and aren’t really interested in what you are trying to accomplish with your business—move on to your next choice. It’s important that the company you’re working with understand your goals so they can give their best suggestions on how to help you accomplish them. Once you find someone that understands your vision and explains how they will help you move toward it, go with them! TJ Waldorf is the Sales Manager for EC Suite; a leading provider of credit card processing, affiliate management, wholesale bandwidth, content protection and complete e-commerce solutions. 
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