Top 5 Tips on Becoming a Champion Managing Website Budgets and Timelines

We're often asked "how long does it take to build an Ecommerce-enabled website?" Well the answer is a tricky one, but is easily answered by looking at your own team and the solution provider you go with. After 15 years of building websites, it's very rare that we've come across two clients that have requested the same project. Sure, the basics are all there such as the need for a powerful Ecommerce solution, maybe some web design and training, but from there, the project can have several different paths towards success. Our 15 years of success with small 1-person companies to several Fortune-500 companies have taught us a lot, so we're going to spell out some of our trade secrets to help your next project be a successful one. 1. You will get what you pay for With the advent of the shopping cart, there has been many interations of programming languages, best practices and a lot of "freebie" or open source apps. This has been a terrific value to companies such as Submerce as it allows small companies to test the waters, but also presents a lot of risk for those small companies that may not have access or experience with the level of support or lack of support that comes along with going this route. If you do need to start off small and keep costs low, we recommend shopping carts such as Nexternal and Yahoo. Both of these providers have low startup fees and provide ample support and wide range of customers and industries. Lastly, be sure that both your short term goals and long term goals are going to be met with the solution of your choosing. What you need today is easy to list, but also take into account your company's growth projections. Will you quickly outgrow the system or worry about system reliability or integrations with 3rd party systems and services? 2. Select a solution provider that has experience in your industry. There's no doubt that there are thousands of "shopping cart" software solutions out there, but one note we will caution is to select a provider that has experience in your industry. Just as Submerce has had great experience in the wine industry, it also continues to push the envelope in others. "We find that it's equally benefical for our staff to gain experience in a variety of industries so that we can be sure that we continue to seek out improvements in both our toolset and our technology" says Jonathan Elliman, CTO for Submerce. Submerce has worked with a variety of clients such as specialty retail, automotive, banking, software and much more. 3. Preparing for a website project Preparation is key for any project, but pay extra close attention on website projects as they tend to change over the course of the project. The more you prepare before you meet with web designers, solution providers and consultants will save you a lot of time, lost weekends, long nights and in the end a bundle of money. If you need a site design, be sure to provide at least 8-10 examples of sites from companies that are in your immediate industry or area that you like and ones that you don't like. And be detailed about what you don't like as the more info you provide, the better the web designer will have an idea for your own website. Do you like the colors, the pictures, the font, the background, the buttons, etc. If you are planning on migrating your site, be sure to outline all the assets and data that you would like to include in your new site. Do you want your orders to be moved into the new system? Your customers? Your products? Your content. There are all very important factors when determining a budget and if it's at all possible as many systems do not provide export capability. If you can export your data, what format is it in? Do you need to do some datascrubbing such as cleaning up addresses, phone numbers, de-dupe customers, etc. There's some great services out there such as Peach Tree that provide this service. They can even find missing information to complete your database such as a work phone, email address or delivery address. 4. Be realistic with your budget and timelines As we mentioned earlier, there's plenty of solutions that cost virtually nothing, but be sure to understand the total cost of ownership or TCO. As with many of these freebie apps cost you nothing with regards to the software, but be sure to factor in the cost of hosting, support, maintenance and upgrades. Before you know it, you'll soon start to realize that hosting your own application will quickly become an overwhelming feat let alone another set of skills that may not be worth your time. Submerce offers unbelievable Ecommerce solutions for as little as $2499 and monthly hosting fee of $250. These are very competitive and include access to more than just the software. You get access to a professional-grade user manual, knowledgebase, tech support and so much more. Just remember as the old adage says "you get what you pay for" and software is no different. Timelines are one of the most controversial subjects for projects such as websites since they are typically never an "evergreen" project- meaning that once it's built, the project should continue long after the "launch." Getting companies up on Submerce can take as little as a couple of days, where other complex projects can take months while being refinded over a course of the year. We always like to plot out a 2-3 phase approach when launching a new customer. This can cover what you expect to have at launch time and 6-12 months out. These are especially important to cite when you are in a crunch to get a new solution or switch to another solution provider. Just be sure to cleary outline what your immediate needs are and what your long term goals are and make sure that your long term goals are achievable with your available time and budget. Don't forget that you have a day job when planning or scheduling a project such as a website as this can easily become your day job and your existing day job can turn into your night job. Be sure to set aside 1-2 hours a day managing your web project all the way through launch and at least a couple of weeks post launch as some minor issues may come back or feedback from your customers may come about that would need to be addressed in a timely manner. Quality of life and balance is key to making it through any project of this scale, so be sure that you plan your time wisely to include some time away from the project. Our designers have come up with some of the best ideas by just stepping away from a project for a couple of days and letting the creative fluids flow naturally. 5. Training, Training and more Training The last and most of the time, the most important tip towards becoming a champion is making sure you know your system up and down so you can get the most out of it. This can come from a couple of different avenues. From hands-on training, webinars, user manuals, knowledgebases, blogs and more. Submerce offers some of the most comprehensive opportunities when it comes to switching to Submerce. Our team of experience professionals can offer a myirad of levels of support. From turn-key site migration and startup to reviewing business data and workflow for areas of duplication and opportunity for efficiency. Each week we send out our Submerce Tip of the Week that provides not only helpful Submerce-related information on how to get the most out of your solution, but also industry insights and ways to make your company more efficient and boosting profitability. From small to complex megabrand projects, Submerce will lead your team to success without breaking the bank. So back to our original subject of how long? Well we typically project small projects to be anywhere from 30-45 days which would include site design, migration and training. For more complex projects where more training or customizations are required, we recommend at least 4-6 months at a steady pace. This article was written by Jonathan Elliman who is the founder and CTO for Submerce. Jonathan has hundreds, if not thousands of projects under his belt from working all over the globe. Jonathan has a passion for technology and working closely with clients to deliver the best solution. You can follow him and experience his adventures by following him on Facebook.