Why and how you should hire a Shopify Expert in 2020 [Complete Guide]

upqode | Sep 11th, 2020

When you’re creating or reforming your online store, some of the most immediate questions that you might come across, time and again, are going to be on the lines of how do I do this and how do I do that? The answer is quite simple – hire a Shopify expert!

An online store is a necessity today. Your brick-and-mortar store isn’t the only source of steady revenue for you anymore. Due to the ongoing pandemic, millions of stores, all across the world have been forced to either shut down or have their operational timings restricted.

Millions of shop owners have suffered but millions of others have thrived better than ever before as well. Even after the lockdown restrictions have been lifted in many countries, worldwide, online sales are continuing to surge.

Even people who’ve never shopped online before were found to be shopping online. There was no other way to purchase the goods or items they required. Chances are, they are going to continue to do that. Therefore, giving you an even bigger market to cater to.

If you have one already but you haven’t been paying much attention to it, now is the time to do so. 

(Check out our step-by-step guide for building an eCommerce website)

What Is Shopify?

Shopify is one of the most popular and useful eCommerce platforms available on the market. Whether you’re a startup, an established business, a small or a big retail store – Shopify is well-suited for all your eCommerce needs.

shopify expert website screenshot

They even have a B2B only platform with the name of ‘Shopify Plus’ to help you with your B2B business.

Nowadays, making and running a website or an eCommerce store has become exceedingly easy because of platforms like Shopify. They provide you with eCommerce branding solutions and online store building – equipped with all the right tools that you’ll need to create an online store that is perfect for you.

Moreover, they provide some of the best shopping and payment solutions for you as well. The user interface is also very well-thought-of. It allows you with ease to browse through and navigate around your store without any problems.

There are many other online ecommerce platforms that you could use as well. Like, WooCommerce, Wix, BigCommerce, Magento, Squarespace, etc. 

But the best option is Shopify because of the number of features and tools that it provides.

Shopify provides you with the best value for your money. If you don’t believe me, check it out for yourself on our WooCommerce vs. Shopify or Shopify vs. Squarespace posts. 

Why Do You Need a Shopify Expert?

You might be thinking that if Shopify is so easy to navigate through, why do you need a Shopify expert? Well, let me break it down for you.

Running a store or an online store isn’t devoid of challenges or many obstacles. It’s just a prolonged process of ticking off all the boxes on your to-do list and some more. If you’re the owner of the store, you can’t be its accountant, marketer, IT support specialist, graphics designer, or customer sales representative, all at the same time.

Sure, you could do it. It’s going to be extremely difficult for you to manage but there is a chance that you could do it. But would you be doing a good job in all of these roles, simultaneously, every single day? It’s unlikely.

Moreover, think of the burden it’s going to cause you. If you’re the owner of the store, there are so many other things that you need to be doing – dealing with your suppliers, handling your supply chain, managing your procurement, dealing with your employees, focusing on the upscaling of your business, etc.

Would you know why UX design matters for search engine optimization? The chances are slim. Therefore, long story short – you need help.

But then again, if you’re a brand-new retail store, you might not have the luxury of employing the services of a great web design coordinator as they can be quite expensive. So, what do you do?

The Usefulness of a Shopify Expert

It’s simple — Hire Shopify experts. They are your best bet to achieve all your eCommerce goals and they will understand your needs and provide you with solutions to many of your problems so that some of the burdens can be lifted off your shoulders.

You need to be thinking about your business in the long-term. It’s not easy to establish an online store. Many online stores or businesses in general, go bust within the first year of their establishment. It’s because they underestimate the importance of thinking long-term.

If you expect to turn into a million-dollar business within a year of your store’s or business’ existence, you’re in for a very big, shocking surprise. It just doesn’t happen.

In order for you to scale up and survive past the first year and to turn into an established business, you need to start planning from the beginning. You need to have a business plan that is devoid of any errors and miscalculations. It should be solid.

Come up with operational plans to understand what tasks need to be done and what the best way would be to do them before you go into the execution mode. Come up with quarterly, semi-annual or annual goals and plans and make sure you give yourself room to pivot.

This is where the usefulness of a shopify expert would come in. Once you’ve got all of your plans ready, you need to find a shopify expert who has bonafide experience under his belt. It is a huge undertaking to trust someone to help you put those plans of yours into action. Therefore, you need to find someone who has done it before and done it well.

Your screening process needs to be very well-thought of. The onboarding process needs to be glitch-free and the training process should be given a lot of time as the more you help the shopify expert understand everything about your business and your plans, the better he/she is going to be at doing their job.

The Benefits of Hiring a Shopify Expert

1. Guaranteed Results

When you hire a Shopify consultant or expert, they will always put their best foot forward and provide you with work that justifies their reputation. Their work is stupendous. After taking all your demands into consideration, they will come up with something that is going to both, surprise and please you.

They will think outside the box and give you results that are not only going to make you happy but also increase the quality of your online store. All of this happens because of how much importance they place on delivering quality work to their customers.

Whether you want to get your online store customized or get some digital marketing and SEO work done for it – they will always come through and provide you with great work.

2. Efficiency

The best way to make sure that all your work gets completed in the shortest amount of time possible, without making any compromise on the quality, is to delegate the tasks to others. Just like I said in the beginning of this article, you don’t have to do everything by yourself.

By dividing up your tasks and distributing them amongst the best people, according to their expertise, not only will you get everything done quicker, but you’ll also ensure that great work is being done.

This is where a shopify expert comes in. Their expertise and experience allow them to deliver on their word. There are no compromises and your work will be done in the best way possible.

For example, the importance of web design can’t be overstated, and to do a good job at it within a limited timeframe, it would be wise to delegate and divide the task amongst a few skilled people.

3. Enhanced Customer Experience

In any B2C business, it is imperative to satisfy the needs and demands of your customers. The customer is always king. Their queries and concerns need to be a priority for the business if you wish to enhance your own standing in the market. Moreover, customers always appreciate businesses that don’t let their concerns fall on deaf ears.

This is where shopify experts come in. They have the ability to turn all your business plans and ideas into workable solutions in order to give the customers a better experience. They do it with the help of years of experience and data. Tried and tested methods are what they use to further strengthen the invisible thread that binds your business to the customer.

The only thing that you need to do is convey your customers’ demands to them so that they can work their magic. They are going to take the best customer-oriented strategy to help you accomplish the task.

Not only will this help you enhance the experience of your customers but it’ll also generate a lot of good will for your business amongst them.

4. Expert Advice

There are going to be many instances where you’ll feel stuck at a certain stage of your business. Sometimes you’ll know what to do and sometimes, you won’t. It’s normal as you can’t really be expected to know everything about everything, all the time.

Shopify experts are going to be your biggest asset at times like these. They will make sure that you understand the problem that you’re facing and they’ll do everything that they can to make sure that those problems not only get resolved, but that in case something like that ever happens again, you’ll know exactly what to do.

Their experience is invaluable. Therefore, the fact that they are available for you 24/7 should be a huge sigh of relief for you. Their continuous support and coordination are a huge asset for you.

This will help you update your shopify services constantly, without ever going through any massive problems and help you strengthen and grow your business uninterruptedly.

Having a shopify expert on standby for you is a huge privilege as it will give you all the support that you need to hit the ground running.

When to Approach a Shopify Expert?

Whether you’re just starting to think about launching your own business or if you’re already in the process of doing so, you can approach a shopify expert whenever you want. Of course, there are pros and cons on both ends of the spectrum but the former outweighs the latter by a huge margin.

Let me explain.

Let’s suppose you’re just starting to think about starting your own business. There are so many things that you’re going to have to do: business plan, market analysis, segmentation, pricing, financing, etc. Your focus is going to be on these things. Therefore, an addition of web design, app, or website development duties are going to drain you.

Why not let a professional handle that area? Get a shopify expert – whether it’s regarding your website, web development, or app development. A web or app developer is going to be a great asset for you. Tell them what you need and they’ll get it done for you.

Similarly, if you’re an established business and you’re just starting to think about putting more of your attention towards the ecommerce side of your business, instead of a trial-and-error method, you could easily hire a shopify expert to save you time.

Hiring a shopify expert does, however, come at a cost. How much does a shopify expert cost? Well, it varies. Whenever you acquire the services of any seasoned professional, their price tags aren’t exactly going to be cheap. Therefore, you should be ready to spend some money.

When you’re planning and plotting ideas for your business, it would be wise to put aside some money specifically for the services of a seasoned shopify expert. This will help you understand the budget that you have and its limitations.

A shopify expert will add instant value to your business but it will be foolish to sign a contract with them without knowing how much you can afford to pay them because in the end, it won’t be worth it if you end up going bankrupt.

Stick to your budget.

How to Find and Hire the Perfect Shopify Expert?

1. Ask Around

When you’re starting out, the best way to find a reliable, experienced, and tried-and-tested shopify expert would be to ask around. There must be some fellow entrepreneurs, friends, family members, or even acquaintances that have gone through the same process as you and have found a shopify expert that has helped them achieve their goals.

If you still don’t have any luck, go to your local business hubs and ask around. Chances are, you’ll find more than a couple of good shopify developers or shopify designers.

Hiring a shopify expert should be given a lot of thought but once you’ve made up your mind and set aside a chunk of money for it, you need to be very careful with your choice. A solid way to make sure that your money is spent well would be to go with trusted, experienced shopify experts.

But just because someone has recommended one, doesn’t mean they’ll be a right fit for you. You need to outline the goals and objectives that you have for your business and then look at those shopify expert options to see if they are a good fit for what you want to achieve or not.

The best way to do that would be look at their credentials and their past experiences. See their past work, see if it’s something that you like or if it’s up your alley or not. Seek their past clients’ feedback as well, if possible. That will give you some insights into how the person is to work with.

2. Shopify Experts Directory

shopify experts website screenshot

If you’re unable to find someone good from referrals that feels right to you, you could always go and try the Shopify experts directory. The Shopify experts directory is an easy way for you to find someone with the right skills, experience, and even location.

Shopify experts directory is a huge plus if you want to hire a local expert. There many types of businesses that can be termed niche or a certain segment-specific or country-specific. Therefore, it would make a lot of sense to hire a Shopify expert locally who’ll understand the finer nuances of what you want to achieve, while giving you their own valuable input.

You could use the directory to filter your searches down to a name, city, or a keyword. Moreover, you can also adjust the filter for price points and experience, so that you can find the best fit for your business.

3. Evaluation

The aforementioned two ways were solely about where you could find the perfect shopify expert for your business. Whether it’s through referrals or through the shopify experts directory.

But whoever you choose must be evaluated.

Evaluation, in this scenario, means that you need to make sure that the person you’re thinking of hiring is the right fit for you and your business. You could interview them and discuss ideas, strategies, and how you’re thinking of going forward with them. The interviewee’s responses and participation or interest, coupled with their knowledge and experience, will give you a fairly good understanding of whether their thoughts align with yours or not.

The interview doesn’t have to be too in-depth or as detailed as a regular job. You can get an idea of where the other person stands with the right amount of questions. But it depends on whether you’re convinced or not.

Therefore, it might be a good idea to meet the person face-to-face. You could arrange a meeting on video call but this job requires a great deal of collaborative effort. Therefore, it would be wise to get to know the other person and their skillset in person.

This would also help you differentiate the real talent from the money-hungry scammers. The real experts know what they’re talking about. You need to establish a professional relationship that is mutually beneficial.

Lastly, always remember to be wary of potential shopify expert collaborators who give you unrealistic guarantees. Sure, making the deadlines is great but not at the expense of good work. Be flexible with your deadline if the work and the expert demand it.

The Outline

In order to get the best results out of your agreement with a shopify expert, you need to make sure that you have a great outline for what you aim to achieve. Whether it’s the amount of work you want done, the deadlines that they must keep, the money that they’re going to charge, and the finer details.

A great outline will help you stay focused and make sure that you don’t make any mistakes. It’s perfectly understandable if you don’t have any prior experience with something like this. It would be wise to ask the Shopify expert to help you out with your outline.

Their experience and skills will allow them to give you, perhaps, some insights into things that you may not have accounted for. The right Shopify expert will smoothen your whole experience.

If the person or the agency that you’ve hired isn’t being much cooperative with the outline and helping you see the things that you’re perhaps oblivious to, you may want to go back to the drawing board and look for alternatives.

The agency or person that you hire needs to be able to meet your expectations and help you understand the scope of your project so that the best work can be done in the most collaborative way possible.

A good way to get a feel for this would be through your first meeting with your chosen candidate. It will set the tone for the rest of your collaboration. Let them know exactly what it is that you want and ask them for their opinions and suggestions. If you don’t understand something, ask questions.

Asking questions is going to help you understand your project and your candidate’s skills better. If they can answer everything and help you make sense of things, they are solid. If they can’t, you’d know better than to waste any more of your time.

Communication

For any relationship to thrive, good communication is key. Whether it’s personal or professional. In order to make sure that your project’s development is hassle-free, an uninterrupted flow of communication needs to be encouraged.

You can use apps like Slack to enable seamless communication.

slack website screenshot

Expectation setting is an important factor in achieving this. Be upfront with your expectations and deadlines. Tell them your priorities and how they need to be done. Set milestones and come up with a timeline. Help them understand the importance of these things and why certain things need to be done in a certain way if that’s what you prefer.

Furthermore, let them know that you’re there to help them out, in case they need it. Whether they’re confused about a certain aspect of the project or if they have some suggestions. Always be ready to listen to them as that is going to help you get your work in the best way possible. It will help you save time, energy, and money.

As the work progresses, try checking in with your expert at different stages of the project, every now and then. Provide suggestions, feedback, and even tips, if need be. It is your project. Hence, it is essential that you get the opportunity to make sure that your vision is turning into a reality.

Always have room for changes. Perhaps, at the start of your collaboration, you had a different vision and now, after many months, you want to change certain aspects and incorporate some other elements. Having room for changes like this will make sure that you don’t have to start everything from scratch, every time you want to add or remove things.

You can strengthen your communication with the Shopify expert by providing any screenshots, pictures, links to websites, etc. This will help them understand what you want in a more precise way. It would be a perfect representation of your imagination.

End of Project

After months and months of hard work, it’ll feel so exciting to finally have a finished product. Don’t let that excitement make you complacent, though.

Have an “end of project” checklist to make sure that you finish your tasks. Double-check everything so that no mistakes are there.

Hiring a Shopify expert might seem like a complicated thing initially, but it might just happen to be the best decision for your business.

Filed under: Marketing Ecommerce

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