Are you having trouble keeping up with the fast-paced world of marketing? Growing your small business and maintaining your equestrian brand can be challenging when you’re constantly navigating the ever-changing digital landscape. Installing numerous apps to manage your marketing efforts may seem like the simple solution, but it can quickly become overwhelming. Making changes to your strategy and analyzing data shouldn’t add more stress to your already packed schedule. Instead, explore efficient and effective ways to streamline your marketing processes that won’t eat up your precious time.
If you have an Shopify Store, you are probably aware of the vast sea of apps available to help your store run smoothly. If you are a WordPress site, apps are the same as plugins. For the purpose of continuity, we’ll refer to them as Apps for this post, but the same advice can be taken for WordPress Plugins.
As a small business owner, you may have downloaded various apps to help you manage your business, but have you noticed that these apps are taking up more and more of your time? It’s ironic that they are marketed as time-saving strategies, yet sometimes they seem to do the opposite. Whether you are updating, changing content, initializing sales, or changing customer flows, the time spent on these tasks can add up quickly. This is especially true for equestrian brands, which may have a smaller staff and need to rely heavily on technology to keep things organized. While apps can certainly be helpful, it’s important to evaluate how much time they are truly saving and whether that time could be better spent elsewhere in your business.
The Shopify App store is a little overwhelming….
With so many apps available and a bit of a wild west feel in the app store, you want to make sure you are adding an app that integrates easily with your theme and can be easily removed. Nothing like trying to delete an app and finding out you’ve got to remove the code yourself. This can become costly if you aren’t familiar with website code. Thankfully, Shopify 2.0 has more options and clarity for app installations and customizations. If you aren’t sure whether and app is right for you, reach out to the developer before installing, and don’t forget to make a copy of your website so if you don’t like the app, you can move on without worry.
What you need to know about adding Apps to your website….
- They can slow down your site.
- Some apps don’t work well together and you may not get the result you’re hoping for.
- Apps are time consuming!
Why is my site slower than it used to be?
If you’re running a small equestrian brand on Shopify, it’s important to consider the impact of adding additional apps to your site. While these apps can enhance the functionality and design of your site, they can also significantly slow down your website load time. This can be particularly detrimental to small businesses, as customers are more likely to abandon slow-loading pages and move to a competitor’s site. Therefore, it’s important to carefully consider the necessity of each app before adding it to your site and regularly monitor your site’s load time to ensure optimal performance.
Some Apps don’t like each other…
As a small business in the equestrian industry, it can be tempting to download every app that promises to improve your workflow or boost your social media presence. However, installing too many apps can sometimes result in unexpected problems. When different apps don’t work well together, your customer experience can suffer. For example, conflicting sales and inventory tracking systems could lead to a mix-up with an order that leaves your customer feeling frustrated and confused. By being mindful of the apps you install and taking the time to test them before integrating them into your business, you can provide a seamless experience for your customers and avoid any unexpected issues that could damage your brand’s reputation.
No one told me Apps are time consuming!
As an equestrian brand, running a small business can be a challenging endeavor. Shopify Apps can be both a blessing and a curse for entrepreneurs who crave efficiency and productivity. While these apps provide plenty of opportunities to tailor content and implement innovative sales strategies, they also demand a significant amount of time and effort in order to be truly effective. As such, editing content for sales, new product drops, discount codes, and other updates can consume hours of unexpected work time – especially for small business owners who may already be stretched thin. However, by leveraging a well-curated selection of Shopify Apps, entrepreneurs can streamline their workload and ultimately increase their bottom line.
I don’t want you to walk away from this post thinking that you don’t need any apps for your store. There are so many great apps out there to help your business flourish and stand out! Just do your research. Understanding the apps strengths and limitations will help you curate a website that suits your customer’s needs and your time.