The companies you choose to link your business to can either make your life easier or more difficult. Honestly, one company that works great for you may not work as well for me and vice-versa. It takes a lot of trial and error to find a great setup when you have multiple needs. Here are a few companies that have made life easier for us and our business.
Weebly
- we use Weebly hosting for our farm website and online store. The easy to use platform allows for easy website design and store management. The customer service is easy to deal with and fast to fix problems, in my experience. The inventory management in the store is a really nice feature. They also have a few other great features but they will cost you a bit extra. Check out Weebly Promote as well, I love the ability to send newsletters and hot deals directly to customers.
https://www.weebly.com/r/EDJUPM
Shippo
- has become my right-hand man in shipping needs. Easily linked to my Weebly store for online shipping needs as well easy to use on manually accepted orders. The shipping discounts through the USPS cannot get any better. They have three plans even a free option for those just starting out. Just pay 5c per label + the cost of shipping. The plan that is right for you will depend on how much product you ship. They are not just USPS you can link UPS, FedEx, DHL, and more. Tracking all your shipments from one platform has never been so easy.
Square
- Square is by far the easiest credit card platform I have dealt with. I am sure there are cheaper options but I enjoy the amazing online invoicing that comes with Square. It is also easily linked to my Weebly store, making checkout easy for our patrons. Money is deposited quickly into the business account within a day or two of purchase. They have a great referral program as wel, when someone uses your referral link to sign up you get $1000 in free processing and so does the person who signs up!
https://squareup.com/i/MILLERMIC1
PayPal
- Let’s be honest how many times have you sat down to do a bit of online shopping and thought “crap I don’t want to get up and get my credit card info?” Well, it must be a lot of us! Half our sales are paid through PayPal. PayPal was also easily linked to our Weebly store for customer convenience. Giving customer another great secure checkout option.
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/referral/paypal-business-account
Just remember to check out any companies your thinking about extensively! Making sure each company is legit and does what they say. Sometimes you will find changing companies from times to time will help you stay on top of the times and acquire great new customer deals. Companies always seem to give the new guy the best deals, loyal patrons are not always regarded as heavily.
You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Website&Store, and Twitter.
Grit Magazine, Mother Earth News Magazine, Community Chickens Blog, Homestead Hustle Blog, Chickens Magazine, Hobby Farms Magazine, and The New Pioneer Magazine
