Valentine's Day

By Rieva Lesonsky

It’s Valentine’s Day, and love is in the air. We can’t avoid seeing ads for gifts, flowers, chocolates, jewelry and so much more, intended to help us keep the love alive in our personal relationships.

But if you’re an entrepreneur, you likely devote more time to your small business than anyone or anything else. And that can lead to some frustrations. So Valentine’s Day seems like a good time to examine our relationship with our own businesses.

ShipStation’s Vice President of Marketing Robert Gilbreath believes it’s important to “fall in love with our businesses all over again” and shares some tips to help you rekindle the spark you had during the startup stages: 

Rebrand Your Business. Big change is sometimes necessary to inspire employees, gain new customers and grow your business. Rebranding is one way to do that. Whether that means changing your logo, designing a new webpage or streamlining your company’s name, it’s important the message you are sending about your business is clear and consistent. Even making small adjustments can help remind you how passionate about you were at the start and will allow you to refocus your goals and priorities.

Take Back Your Schedule. Let’s face it, owning your own business is a lot of work and means jam-packed days. Small business owners are always on the go, so being able to access your business and orders wherever business takes you should be a priority. Accessing orders on your phone, tablet or laptop is key for peace of mind.  Ensure that you are always able to manage, ship, track from your phone or table is a game changer.

Keep Learning. No matter how long you’ve been in business, there’s always something new to learn. It’s important to know about new trends in your industry and how you can incorporate them into your business. Things change quickly today. Attending trade shows, reading industry news daily and talking to other merchants can help you stay in-the-know and engaged with your business.

Expand Your Business. While most businesses sell on their own websites and one other larger merchant, there are hundreds of sales channels out there to help you gain more business. Unfortunately, adding those into the mix often means manually sorting orders, copying and pasting to create shipping labels, etc. Choose a fulfillment software that is fully integrated with all the most popular shopping carts and marketplaces. The ability to see all your orders in one place saves online retailers time and prevents headaches.