Shift4Shop eCommerce Blog | Starting a Business (5)

The novel coronavirus has created a serious health problem for the entire world and for the economy, with many small businesses caught in the crossfire.

In addition to peoples' lives, businesses large and small are also becoming a victim of this global pandemic. Thankfully, there are resources for help and assistance via debt relief grants, loans, and even nonprofit and private funding options.

While approximately 30 million American small businesses are facing some serious uphill battles in[...]

When you've got a great idea for an eCommerce website, you want to make sure that every detail is in place when you're ready to launch. Before you decide how your website should look and function, you need to find a reliable hosting solution.

Tax Day is the due date for filing federal income taxes in the United States. Since 1955, Tax Day takes place on April 15 with a couple of exceptions — if April 15 is a Friday, taxes are due the following Monday, April 18. If April 15 is on Saturday or Sunday, taxes are due the following Tuesday. The date is also different for anyone who files a US tax return but lives outside the US, receiving an automatic 2-month extension that moves their deadline to June 15. Despite these variables, though,[...]

Let’s face it; accounting is never the most exciting part of running a business unless, of course, you’re a trained accountant or enjoy playing about with numbers. From tracking your expenses and income to calculating your business taxes and employees’ salaries, there are plenty of reasons why most business owners find accounting tasks boring.

Unfortunately, it’s practically impossible to succeed in entrepreneurship if you cannot manage your business finances properly. What this means is that[...]

As a project manager, you will face a lot of challenges in your career. Especially when you are running an online startup, there will come a time when your business grows to the point where things seem like they might start falling apart. You will be facing multiple project timelines that you need to align and accomplish. There will be resources that you need to handle, as well as budgeting needs that need to be met.

While you’ll occasionally meet a business or business owner that is perfectly content with zero percent growth, embracing a “why rock the boat” kind of attitude, almost everyone else will be scrambling to find ways to grow quickly and sustainably. After all, growth is the key to continued success in all areas of life – especially business.

One of the best things about being in business today is that it has never been easier to stay in touch with your co-workers, team, and clients. Thanks to modern technology, we can organize meetings on the fly, host virtual meetups, and keep everything running smoothly from almost anywhere in the world. Today, one of the easiest and most popular ways to keep everyone within your business in touch is with conference calls. Not only are they easy to set up, but they allow for real-time interaction[...]

Whether used as a part of a broader marketing strategy or as the only source of revenue, online courses can be a gold mine for your business.

Learning effective team communication can feel overwhelming.

After all, there are numerous books out there claiming to offer best practices. Entire university degrees are available on the topic.

With so much information out there, is it realistic for any team to learn how to communicate in the most effective way possible?

One of the hottest topics in the eCommerce world for a while now has been dynamic pricing. Even though this concept isn't new and it's been used since the '70s by the airline industry, nowadays it has found its place across the whole market. One of the main reasons for this is the rise of digitalization, which gave many companies the opportunity to become more responsive to their pricing strategies.

This pandemic of this year has only accelerated a trend that has been slowly occurring for a number of years. In a matter of months, traditional offices were forced to shut down and move their operations to a remote setting. For both employers and employees, this chaos proved difficult enough at the moment. 

Many people consider the months-long period of the winter holidays to be the most stressful time of the year. Others might contend that the period immediately afterward can feel even more hectic. For one thing, at least the intensity of November and December can be relieved by Thanksgiving, assorted holy days, and New Year’s Eve. For another, the first three-and-a-half months bear the weight of a most important date with even higher stakes: Tax Day.

Every year, the eCommerce industry sees new progress and developments that has business owners and their teams working on new strategies and adapting to the current landscape. Not only is technology advancing at a rapid pace, but customers are also evolving and changing what they want to see from businesses. To keep you up to date and ahead of the curve this year, we asked more than 20 business professionals what their 2020 eCommerce essentials are and what they predict will change in the[...]

When we start a subscription to a paid website builder or host service, we hope that it serves it’s intended purpose and that we won’t ever have the need to cancel it. Unfortunately, there can come a time where your chosen service doesn’t meet your needs anymore or ends up not delivering on what you thought it would. At that point, it may come time to cancel your subscription and look for a new option.

Services can sometimes make it unnecessarily difficult to cancel paid subscriptions in an[...]

Businesses large and small depend almost entirely on their phone systems.

These business phone systems support more than just a large network for inbound and outbound calls. Most of these systems are VoIP-based phone systems with cloud hosting options. This enables a more affordable and scalable solution that supports collaboration between employees. This collaboration can also be done through several applications. It also provides you and your employees with the capacity to work outside of the[...]

More and more people are using the internet to buy nowadays. Not having to go out to buy anything is among the many things that contribute to the preference of eCommerce businesses over others.

Entering the potentially lucrative world of eCommerce is easier than ever before. Anyone interested in entering this field can find a variety of eCommerce platforms, on which they can build and run their own online store. Of course, all these platforms are quite different from each other. Business owners need to think carefully about which one would be best for their needs.

Although you may have an official website, having a presence on a separate platform where you can showcase your products and services is an added advantage. Online marketplaces make it possible for you to concentrate on improving your business, leaving the platform operator with the responsibility of handling logistics and processing all transactions. A shoppers’ preference survey by Statista shows that more people are inclined to make repeat purchases from online marketplaces than any other[...]

It seems that every day, more states and countries are legalizing marijuana for medicinal or recreational use. As cannabis commerce becomes less restricted, opportunities are growing and business is booming. The expansion of eCommerce platforms coinciding with the advent of cannabis legalization means that you have the ideal outlet for selling CBD oil and related merchandise beyond your local dispensary. If you want to start your own cannabis online store, keep reading for tips on building your[...]

Looking for passive income ideas? Smart move.

Robert Kiyosaki, the businessman and author of Rich Dad Poor Dad once said, “To obtain financial freedom, one must be either a business owner, an investor, or both, generating passive income, particularly on a monthly basis.”