3 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Buying Tech for Your Business
It’s #BlackFriday and #CyberMonday and there are deals, deals, deals to be made and done for you and your business. However, when we go shopping for tech for ourselves or business, we may be swayed more by the reduced-price tag than the purpose of the product or platform and end up with something that is not right. So, what can we do? Well, here are 3 common mistakes to avoid whilst shopping the tech sales:
1. Don’t identify the
business need – when starting out in
business we are told to ‘boot strap’ so bargain hunting seems the most
‘logical’ thing to do. However, by standing back and shifting the mindset from
‘I want this’ to ‘does my business need this right now or in the near future’ may
end up helping us save time and money. For example, take email marketing. There are
great paid for email marketing platforms that you could use. However, if you
are new to developing e-newsletters and building up your email list, as you are
at an experimental stage, you maybe better off using a freemium platform or
a ‘try before you buy’ to get familiar with the its unique and quirky
ways and evaluating what works to see whether it works for you and your audience. By test driving a platform or
piece of tech this way, you can build up a picture of what your business needs
now and/or in the future; and then move over to a paid service.
2. Don’t do the
research – the short sale end date may bring out FOMO, but we don’t
want to be left with a tech dodo. So, make Google Search and YouTube your best
friend by doing your research. Read the spec, read the reviews , reach out to
your business community to ask what tech and platform they are using and ask
the 5W’s:
- Why did they buy it?
- What does it do?
- When do they use it?
- Where and how do they use it?
- Would they buy it again? If not, why not?
3. Don’t consider the budget – a piece of tech or platform may have a reduced monthly payment plan for 6 months to a year which makes if affordable now. However, when it reverts back to its ‘original’ price have you accounted for that? Website Design packages are a case in point. We may get a package at a reduced rate for 3-6 months but if your business website is not up by then and/or making money then It is not paying for itself. Therefore, is this a good return on your investment?
Want to know more?
Get up to speed on the tech information that you need before you buy a website design package at the 3Cs Digital Etsy Shop here #LetsDoDigital
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3Cs Digital is a web marketing service dedicated to helping women in business set up and develop their online presence. Through coaching or consultancy services in web design, copywriting and social media marketing. 3Cs Digital equips women in business with the digital know how and skills to start and grow a successful small business online.