Top 5 Challenges in Ecommerce Business for 2020

Running a business is tough. Running a business when you don’t have a finance background and aren’t technologically savvy seems nearly impossible. In today’s online world, sites such as Amazon Business, Shopify, and Etsy have made it possible for anybody to own their own business.

However, running an e-commerce site might be even harder than running a traditional business. There are the regular challenges of running a company such as how much inventory to buy, account payables, cash flow, etc, but with an e-commerce site you have additional considerations such as Shopify payables, Amazon’s fees, and how to navigate the platform you sell on.

Some of the biggest hurdles that e-commerces owners run into are:

Weekly Cash Flow Forecasting

A lot of e-commerce business owners buy inventory in bulk because it is cheaper. However, a lot of cash is spent when they buy bulk inventory that can be worth at least a month of sales. In order to keep track of how fast the business is recuperating cash and determine its ability to pay off invoices that are due soon, many businesses want weekly cash flow forecasts.

However, manually generating a weekly cash flow forecast is a tedious and time consuming process that leaves an owner with less time and energy to focus on other important business operations. 

Whom to Trust in Finance

It can be challenging for a business owner to decide who to trust with sensitive financial information regarding their business. These days there are a lot of scams on the internet. Most financial services ask for platform logins in order to have all of a business’s data in one place and have a full picture of its financial situation. Handing over all the business’ sensitive financial information can be scary. 

Limited Cash Availability

Capital management is one of the most challenging parts of running a business. Small businesses, such as most e-commerces, have a limited budget, and cannot afford to hire  a CFO to handle their financials.

However, despite their limited budget, business owners are forced to spend thousands of dollars on financial and accounting services, which handle their accounting and cash flow management, forecasting, and financial modeling. Furthermore, their limited funds are strained even more when these companies assign them a personal CFOs by the hour in order to carry out more complex analyses, but their hourly rate is higher, so small businesses try to avoid using them as much as possible. 

If you don’t have the cash to keep a CFO around all the time, how are you supposed to handle your finances?

How Brightflow AI helps in Tackling E-Commerce Finance Problems

If this article has freaked you out a little bit about getting into e-commerce or made you scared about your e-commerce site, don’t worry because Brightflow AI is here to help!

Brightflow AI is an online cash flow management tool for small businesses, which allows all business owners, even those without any financial background, to effortlessly manage their business’s finances. It syncs your financial information (Shopify, Amazon, QuickBooks, Facebook, and Google) and automatically generates cash flow forecasts for your business.

The basic plan starts at less than $40 a month, so you could get a top rated financial service without breaking the bank. 

Brightflow AI also uses military-grade encryption to protect all of your data, so none of your information will be distributed to the public, now or ever, and all financial documents will remain absolutely confidential. It is also trusted by many e-commerce businesses such as The Flex Company and Happy Wax (a BootStrap Brands brand). 

Brightflow AI makes cash flow forecasts simple and easy by consolidating the 15 different confusing excel sheets into an easy to read dashboard with all your company’s financial information. You can stop worrying about confusing financial terms, calculating your cash flow, and struggling to aggregate all your data.

You can schedule a free consultation with Robbie Bhathal, a financial expert and the Founder & CEO of Brightflow AI, to get a free personalized financial dashboard for your business!