by Ariful | Jun 1, 2020 | E-Commerce
TITLE: The Essential Guide to Bookkeeping for Your E-Commerce Business
Bookkeeping is one of the many accounting terms often discussed by successful businessmen. Bookkeeping in an e-commerce business, however, can be a confusing and intimidating concept that requires professional explanation. Even then, bookkeeping is not a term that everybody will fully understand. For such a complex and difficult concept, you might think it’s an obsolete process that doesn’t need to be used anymore – given technological advancement and available resources. Yet, bookkeeping remains widely implemented whether a business is big or small.
Bookkeeping in an E-Commerce Business is Essential
So why exactly is bookkeeping a crucial process in every business? What goes on in bookkeeping and what else needs to be understood? Read on to find out.
1. Why is Bookkeeping Important?
Bookkeeping is an important yet often neglected process in every business. Organising your income tax records, financial statements, ledgers, and journals are key to a successful business.
These documents each have their own advantages and their visibility helps you understand everything you need to know about your company and how it’s performing as a whole – based solely on numbers.
2. What is an Income Statement?
One of the many important financial statements that needs to be prioritised in bookkeeping is the Income Statement. Income statements are used to analyse a company.
It indicates the company’s expenses, revenues, and overall profitability. It is a required process that ensures your business is growing and indicates the actions that need to be taken in order for it to scale or grow to be more successful.
3. What is a Balance Sheet?
Balance Sheets, like cash flow statements, are vital documents that can be presented to provide potential lenders and investors an overview of the company’s financial condition.
Balance sheets also indicate the company’s assets and liabilities as well as its equity at a given moment.
4. Do I Need to Learn Accounting to Understand All These?
Succinctly, both yes and no. As a startup business and entrepreneur, balance sheets and income statements are some of the bookkeeping documents you have to understand. It is often complex and confusing, especially for someone who just recently started a business.
Many business owners admit to not knowing much about preparing their company’s balance sheets. Coming up with one requires proficiency and expertise in accounting. But you don’t have to do everything yourself.
That’s why most businesses have an in-house accountant – to manage their accountancy and its processes for them.
5. How Can I Easily Manage My Bookkeeping Documents?
Professional bookkeeping services will help you reduce your worries when it comes to bookkeeping and other accounting-related tasks. A proficient Amazon Accountant can be delegated to manage your balance sheets along with other documents to assist you in your business’ growth and development.
The accounts manager allocated to your company will monitor and keep track of your business’ assets, liabilities, and equity so you can concentrate on your business’ growth without the fear of it declining.
Customised packages are also available that will ease your whole bookkeeping process. These services provide an efficient way of keeping track of your company’s profitability, revenues, and expenses, as well as other necessary documents like bank reconciliation.
Professional bookkeeping management is a profitable business venture that is guaranteed to provide years of success and financial rewards. The documentation of your important information is guaranteed safe and managed.
by Ariful | May 30, 2020 | EU VAT Updates
What are some violations of Amazon Sellers that got them banned?
Around 200,000 sellers are selling in Amazon Europe and the platform won’t go easy on violations of Amazon Sellers. Some of them, unfortunately, get their accounts flagged. While it can sometimes be from their own mistake or wrongdoing, sometimes it’s just a small policy that they neglected and then paid the price for it. After talking to a few sellers who got their accounts banned, we found out the top 3 reasons why this happens:
1. Violation of Amazon TOS
Following the applied terms and conditions is vital in every endeavor, and the Amazon marketplace is no exception. If a seller is found to be breaking the laws specified by Amazon, they will be blacklisted – and their products are completely removed from Amazon.
Many sellers take desperate measures like black hat SEO methods or abuse the Amazon Reviews and Feedback system to get more sales. If caught, Amazon can put your account down – which leads to a lot of stress and loss in your business.
To prevent this, avoid using these methods as much as possible. Be a genuine seller – Amazon will help you grow.
2. Forbidden Products
Many sellers do not do legal and market research properly. As a result, they only find out about the regulations later on. But Amazon, due to its policy, terminates the accounts leading to severe issues.
So, get a proper legal check done by an expert before finalising the product you are planning to launch on Amazon. Any item that can be potentially suspicious for the Amazon algorithm or a product that’s associated with a potential risk of getting flagged by consumers should be avoided at all costs.
Also, the law varies according to the country you pick, so make sure your products follow the code specified by the government of that particular country.
3. Poor Customer Service
Customer service is the key to a buyer’s heart. If your aftersales support is competent and satisfactory, you will gain a lot of customers for your business.
Many sellers ignore this simple fact and won’t reply back to the emails or won’t pick up the calls – this leads the customers to publish negative reviews. Amazon is very sensitive to the reviews posted by customers.
A lot of negative reviews and feedback can lead to the suspension of the seller’s account. This is a very vital part of every business, yet most people do not pay attention to this and suffer later in their business. If you have further inquiries on how to manage your customer service better, contact us at Sterlinx Global and we will provide you with expert customer service solutions.
While the first and second reason listed requires you to take precaution and proper research — a task that can only be performed only by the seller — we are here to help you with the third issue – Customer Service.
STERLINX provides the most professional customer service solution to help you cater to the needs of your buyers. Our Virtual Office with Call Answering Service allows you to have your own customer support agents to take calls for you. We will reply to your customer queries to guarantee that your customer support ratings go higher and higher. We are confident that our world-class support will lead your business to more sales and a safe account for your eCommerce business.
by Ariful | May 22, 2020 | Business
Amazon is the biggest eCommerce platform in the world. With a lot of factors to consider, it is no surprise to see Amazon businesses fail.
Top Reasons why Amazon Businesses Fail
It’s the preferred platform of many entrepreneurs. Even though there are countless sellers who can attest to eCommerce as a fundamental factor in their increased profit, many still fail to operate their businesses successfully.
A large fraction of eCommerce business failures consists of micro-businesses. Owners of these businesses are usually forced to face a disheartening predicament once they realise that their company isn’t earning as much as it should.
But why exactly do businesses fail despite the accessibility of eCommerce platforms? Read on to find out.
Low Competition
The biggest challenge for a business is competition. With so many other companies selling the same products and offering the same services, it can be difficult for you to stand out. One solution to this is to expand your services and market your products in Europe.
Amazon is available to 250 million people in five of the biggest European countries alone.
This makes Europe an ideal place to market your products because not only is it home to a growing population, but Europe is also only seeking services from 200,000 sellers. It is a significantly small portion of the total number of sellers worldwide — which is estimated to be around 2 million.
Most entrepreneurs shy away from expanding to Europe as they think that sticking to the Western market is a better option. Since the United States and the rest of North America are bigger countries, many believe that it’s home to a greater population — which they believe can help them sell their goods more successfully.
However, companies who expand their business in Europe are proven to be thriving more in terms of profit compared to those who remain to sell in the US and its neighbouring countries.
One thing that needs to be considered before expanding to Europe is the cultural difference between the US and the European market. Customers and their expectations and terminologies vary from one country to another. There are minor differences in the language and traditions that should be addressed.
If you plan to sell sneakers in the UK, labeling them as “trainers” would be more suitable as it’s the common and more recognised term – these small details have a significant effect on the sale of products.
Customer Service
It may seem unimportant to many business owners, but customer service can significantly grow your brand in many ways.
Even if you are selling a unique or excellent product, there are still instances where some of the customers will face a problem regarding it – and it’s the responsibility of your customer support to get those issues resolved efficiently; because of the lack of customer support can tremendously affect your reputation.
Poor customer service can get you negative reviews. The Amazon algorithm is prompted when it receives weak feedback regarding your products, which can result in the platform stopping the promotion of your listings – this is detrimental in terms of being ranked organically, or defeating the PPC competition.
If your product is not listed on Amazon organically, it will never show up in the searches made by customers for a similar product. Therefore, the chances of your product getting sold decreases instantly.
Product Reviews
It is evident that many failed businesses on Amazon have poor ratings given to them by customers. Customer feedback is paramount to your business because over 90% of people buying on Amazon wouldn’t purchase an item with less than a three-star rating.
Having great customer service gets you an immense amount of excellent feedback which can positively impact on your sales. This can result in Amazon promoting and prioritizing your products which can get you more views.
Statistics show that the buyers are more interested in spending on a product that comes on the first page of their search than the others.
Every entrepreneur aspires to own a successful industry. With the availability and accessibility of selling on Amazon and other eCommerce platforms, it’s vital that you provide your customers with a convenient way to know more about your products. Because providing this type of service can give you positive reviews in return.
In Conclusion
While it may seem like a daunting task to answer every inquiry from everyone, companies like Sterlinx have found a solution that can aid in the improvement of your customer service.
Sterlinx can help your business grow as an eCommerce seller because they provide your business with its own virtual call centre. Check Sterlinx Global to get all the best solutions to help you grow your business. Your virtual call centre can answer phone calls and respond to emails sent to you by your customers. You no longer have to check them one by one just to make sure that you will receive great feedback – because Sterlinx ensures that you do.
by Ariful | May 10, 2020 | EU VAT Updates
For businesses, it is important to venture out to new markets to gain more profit. In expanding your business, you should consider selling on Amazon in Europe.
Why must any business consider selling on Amazon in Europe?
Expansion is crucial for any business.
It is evident that companies who choose to expand their services display growth. Thanks to the rise of technology and its influence on our daily lives, e-Commerce platforms are acting as a gateway to the internationalisation of businesses.
Europe has been proven to be one of the biggest marketplaces for countless businesses. E-Commerce Platforms like Amazon provide an excellent opportunity for every merchant to broaden their customer base in countries covered by Europe. But apart from internationalisation, there are other benefits that come with having your products and services available on Amazon and its Marketplace.
There are many reasons why expanding your business in Europe with the help of e-Commerce platforms is a great option. Here are a few of them.
Low Competition
The biggest challenge for a business is competition. With so many other companies selling the same products and offering the same services, it can be difficult for you to stand out. One solution to this is to expand your services and market your products in Europe.
Amazon is available to 250 million people in five of the biggest European countries alone.
This makes Europe an ideal place to market your products because not only is it home to a growing population, but Europe is also only seeking services from 200,000 sellers. It is a significantly small portion of the total number of sellers worldwide — which is estimated to be around 2 million.
Most entrepreneurs shy away from expanding to Europe as they think that sticking to the Western market is a better option. Since the United States and the rest of North America are bigger countries, many believe that it’s home to a greater population — which they believe can help them sell their goods more successfully.
However, companies who expand their business in Europe are proven to be thriving more in terms of profit compared to those who remain to sell in the US and its neighbouring countries.
One thing that needs to be considered before expanding to Europe is the cultural difference between the US and the European market. Customers and their expectations and terminologies vary from one country to another. There are minor differences in the language and traditions that should be addressed.
If you plan to sell sneakers in the UK, labeling them as “trainers” would be more suitable as it’s the common and more recognised term – these small details have a significant effect on the sale of products.
Increased Potential for Profit
Another advantage of marketing your products on Amazon is you can target the European audience which can give you the opportunity to sell at a higher profit.
Because Brexit has brought a big change in the markets of the UK and the rest of Europe, the retail sales profits have increased sharply in all the European markets — in the UK, Amazon was the most used platform.
A recent study shows that an average shopper in the UK tends to spend more annually compared to US shoppers – which makes Europe a great place to expand because a customer base that’s 230 million greater than the US is evidently a bigger market.
That’s also why Amazon is the preferred e-Commerce platform because it can show you the true potential of your business with its worldwide coverage.
A Growing Market
Since the fall of the US market in recent years, merchants have been seeking a change that can guarantee a steady profit.
This makes the European market a great alternative because aside from the United States’ decline, there has also been a steady growth rate of 18% in the UK and European online markets; this clearly proves the potential that the Amazon market has.
Stepping into a growing market is always beneficial. Selling your goods to a demographic that’s still developing is an excellent strategy that can help you increase the value of your brand.
One of the ways that you can get a competitive advantage in the online marketplace is to gather reviews from your customers. Selling your products before the market fully flourishes gives you the advantage of getting better reviews than your competition – which increases your chance of selling exponentially.
Amazing Amazon Support
Amazon is known worldwide for its reliable and efficient support for both merchants and customers. That’s why it is the most popular e-Commerce platform all over the world.
Amazon offers a lot of tools and round-the-clock support for merchants to help them establish their business online. This is vital for every company that sells online because the assistance provided by Amazon can help scale the business quickly and more effectively.
For customers, 24/7 support means reliability and trust. As online shopping is still not trusted widely, only valid customer service will make customers feel less reluctant to place an order.
This is something that Amazon prioritises, and they are always willing to help the business and provide a smooth transaction as often as possible.
Most sellers currently have a fear of worldwide expansion when they think about cultural barriers, extra taxes, technical complications, and other legal obligations. These factors may look intimidating, but companies like Sterlinx can provide a wide range of services from our Professional Lawyer and Amazon Accountants that can help you with your worries when it comes to expansion.
If you wish to start expanding your business so you can sell and offer your services and products to the European market without all the trouble that usually comes along with it, contact Sterlinx so you can book a consultation that can address your concerns.
by Ariful | May 10, 2020 | UK Accounting
TITLE: Why Your Business Needs an EORI Number: A Complete Guide
The Key Benefits of Having an EORI Number
An EORI number, or Economic Operators Registration and Identification number, is a unique identifier that grants your business legal recognition for trading activities. In European countries, this registration is a fundamental requirement that authenticates your business operations, regardless of your company’s size.
The EORI system was established to implement the security measures introduced by Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 648/2005 of the European Parliament and Council. The European Commission notes that traders themselves have been calling for a standard numbering system that is unique to each individual. This system was also designed to serve as proof that your business is valid throughout the European Union.
Understanding What an EORI Number Is
An EORI is a unique number used when dealing with customs and authorities. If you plan to sell your products in any of the European nations, you need an EORI number to import your items into those countries. This number is obtained from the customs office of your country before starting business operations in Europe, signifying your eligibility for trade and commerce within the region.
Whether it is an entry or an exit summary, you are required to lodge a customs declaration, especially if you are a brand or an authorised economic operator. Without an EORI, completing the entry and exit of your products from the EU becomes extremely difficult, as your goods will be held by the customs department of the concerned nation instead.
This is not a wise business practice as it can lead to significant financial losses. That’s why many entrepreneurs who wish to protect their business from legal complications make it a priority to secure an EORI before launching their e-Commerce business on the Amazon Marketplace.
Important Details About EORI Registration
The EORI number is issued by the European country where you are importing your products, and it is honored anywhere in Europe. Even though the UK has exited the European Union, the EORI remains effective there. Regardless of whether you have a VAT or not, you can apply for an EORI number, and the process can be completed online. However, the application requires proper attention.
It is crucial to keep your application free from any mistakes because even the slightest errors can lead to rejections. This is where Sterlinx can assist you.
Sterlinx is known for its team of trained professionals, including Amazon Accountants and Lawyers, who are at your service for every task you need to complete. We help keep your business running smoothly while you focus on planning your expansion to Europe.
Contact us today to work with our experts, who have experience filing thousands of EORI and other registration documents and can help you avoid common errors.
