Thinking about starting a webshop or just getting started? Here's our guide with recommendations for trusted partners to help you along the way.
Stepping into unfamiliar territory can be challenging, and it’s not always easy to know where to begin. While it’s helpful to seek advice from others, what works for one person may not necessarily work for you.
Ready to Convert? Check Your Webshop!
Once you have your product or service sorted, the next step is to create a website where customers can find you and see what you're offering.
Once you've reached this point, you'll need a payment solution to receive payments from your customers. This consists of two parts: an acquirer and a gateway. Some companies have chosen to combine these into a single solution, and pensopay does this as well.
You’ll also need to choose which payment methods you want to accept through your payment solution. Learn more about how to set this up here. With this in place, you can display your products and start receiving payments when customers make a purchase.
Accounting System
Additionally, it's often a good idea to integrate with an accounting system.
It’s a program like Dinero, e-conomic, etc., that automatically records all your webshop orders.
This way, you avoid double work and having to enter data in multiple places, as everything is consolidated in one system. It’s a smart solution and definitely something to consider, depending on the size of your business.
The biggest pitfall is definitely your suppliers and partners.
Where Are the Pitfalls?
It may seem pretty straightforward, and it is. Starting a webshop isn’t as complicated as it might seem, but there are some choices to be made. Unless you plan to be a one-man army trying to become an expert in every area, it may be necessary to hire specialists or outsource certain tasks.
There are many different providers for most things, so you need to find the ones that suit you best. When choosing suppliers and partners, it's important to set clear expectations. It’s been a while since it was concluded that cheap isn't always the best. I’m not here to tell you what makes someone the best or not. On the contrary, I simply want to provide some helpful guidelines for selecting the best solutions for your business.
I’ve done some research and gathered a few tips on what to look for. I’m definitely not an expert, but I’m lucky to be surrounded by knowledgeable colleagues, each an expert in their field. So, I believe I can offer some helpful advice on finding the right partners for your business. You’ll need to rely on others for parts of your business, and it’s essential to feel confident in those choices. It’s not always easy, but I’ll try to make the process a bit smoother for you.
Need Help with Marketing?
While it would be great to handle everything on your own, it's rarely possible, so you’ll need to go out and find some reliable partners.
Like your payment solution – that’s something you’ll need to rely on others to handle.
If you want success, you shouldn’t be afraid to delegate some tasks to experts.
It’s both easier and faster than trying to do everything yourself.
What We Recommend
Another area where we especially believe it makes the most sense to team up with experts is in marketing.
Our top recommendations are Lazzaweb, Plutonic, and Ackermann. They specialize in handling the more complicated aspects, such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and email marketing, which can be challenging to navigate alone.
We use these companies as suppliers ourselves and are extremely satisfied with being able to entrust these tasks to them.
Ensure Your Decision
Before you sign any agreement with a supplier or partner, there are a few simple steps to consider:
- Check their Trustpilot reviews
- Check their annual financial statements
- Check the information they provide
- Reach out and speak with them directly.
How can these four simple steps make a difference? People are far more likely to share negative feedback than positive. It’s almost instinctive to complain when something doesn’t meet expectations. This also gives you a quick insight into the company’s biggest challenges.
If you feel you can accept what’s written in the reviews and it doesn’t scare you off, make sure the business is financially stable. Check whether it generates an annual profit or has a solid reason for any losses. Not all businesses need to turn a profit—but it’s generally a good indicator that they’re not on the brink of bankruptcy. Some businesses operate with healthy losses for years without issues, but in such cases, it’s worth digging deeper into the numbers to assess their financial health.
Next, make sure the information provided on their website aligns with what customers are saying. Clarify anything you don’t fully understand so you can get answers before entering into a partnership. Finally, give them a call. Get a sense of what kind of interaction you can expect from the company and its employees. See if they can address your questions and make sure it feels right for you.
Have a Strategy
Even if you’ve followed the steps we outlined and found the best suppliers and partners for your needs, it’s essential to have a backup plan. Your suppliers and partners should have one too.
Unexpected challenges can always arise, and how a company handles them says a lot about its reliability. Have a plan ready for what to do if a supplier suddenly can’t deliver or a partner faces difficulties. Likewise, make sure your partner has a plan for you, so you’re clear on what to expect if something goes wrong.
You owe it to yourself, your customers, and your partners to have a backup plan in place for every scenario. That’s how we can all support each other and maintain strong collaborations.
Need a Website? Get Our Recommendations
It’s a great idea to get professional help when creating your website. It’s one of the first things your customers will encounter, and having a professional website adds credibility to your business.
At pensopay, we’ve had great experiences with aveo.dk, experts in WooCommerce, and grafikr.dk, specialists in Shopify. We highly recommend them. If you have any doubts, just give them a call—they are extremely professional and can answer most inquiries.
Already have an online store and just need a payment solution? You can learn more about our payment solution at www.pensopay.com.
If you’ve already read enough, give us a call at +45 77 344 388 or email support@pensopay.com, and we’ll work together to find the best payment solutions for your business.
Team pensopay
