Is It Time For Your Small Business To Pivot Away From Facebook And Instagram?
The feeling of panic was palpable when Facebook and other social media platforms under its control, including Instagram and What’s App, experienced an outage earlier this month. The outage lasted less than a day, but it was long enough to make people realize how much they depend on these platforms to stay socially connected. Admittedly, having to wait until tomorrow to find out whether the people with whom you shared a sorority house twenty years ago were impressed by your most recent humblebrag is the very definition of a First World problem, and late-night talk show hosts are not about to let you forget it. For small businesses that provide products and services to customers nationwide, or even worldwide, and who have no physical store locations, though, a social media outage that lasts almost a whole business day is no laughing matter. Businesses that rely exclusively on Facebook, Instagram, or What’s App for communications with customers and for payment processing must now rethink their strategy after it has become all too obvious that prolonged disruptions of the platforms they use to do business are a real possibility. In other words, the ecommerce food and clothing businesses that thrived during the pandemic while neighborhood boutiques and bakeries struggled do not necessarily get to have the last laugh. If the great Facebook outage was a wake-up call that your small business needs to become less dependent on Facebook, a small business lawyer can help you rethink your business strategy.
Diversifying Your Ecommerce Strategy
Offering just one kind of product and doing it exceptionally well is a winning strategy for a business, especially one that is just starting out; the fact that Krispy Kreme only sells donuts or that Moby Dick’s only sells kabobs has worked to the advantage of these businesses, and the same is true for ecommerce stores. When it comes to ways that customers can reach you, though, the Facebook outage showed us that you should not put all your eggs in one basket.
Facebook is user-friendly, and running a business on Facebook is inexpensive, but the events of this past month have shown us that even the smallest businesses need their own websites. It means that you will have to learn to put together your own website, or, even better, hire a website designer. Getting a functional, professional-looking website requires a small investment of time and money. It means dealing with vendors, and you must use your good business sense to create an enforceable agreement with them that will be fair to both parties. You might even need a business grant or business loan to expand and diversify your online presence. A small business lawyer can help you develop and implement your plan.
Reach Out to Us Today for Help
Running a business, even an online business, requires you to expect the unexpected, and a Washington DC small business lawyer can help you conclude business agreements that enable your company to cope with whatever life brings. Contact Tobin O’Connor Concino P.C. for help today.
