One of the easiest ways to start a business these days is to use various services like dropshipping, marketplaces, and so on to help facilitate different logistics processes. For example, if you don’t want the hassle of manufacturing products and shipping them globally, you could just dropship. Similarly, if you don’t want to buy shirt blanks and print on them yourself, you can hire a middleman to do it for you instead.

While these are fantastic options for getting started, one of the first things you should aim to do is move on from these services to make your own business–and here are a handful of reasons why.

Creating your own online store isn’t difficult anymore

Thanks to affordable web design and a plethora of services that range from payment processing to Security, it’s actually surprisingly easy to create your own online store nowadays. Sure, you’re technically still relying on another service to sell products, but there are fewer limitations and more benefits as we’ll explain below.

So if the idea of creating an online store is daunting then don’t worry–there are lots of services that can make it easier to manage.

Less fees means more savings

When you stop relying on marketplaces to sell for you, you’ll find that you actually save a lot more Money on each sale since nobody is really taking a cut. Instead, you’ll probably be paying a monthly subscription fee or service fee for something like a web host. These costs are predictable and often inexpensive even for a startup.

The great thing about these savings is that you can pocket them as bonus profit, or you can pass them on to your customers in the form of discounts and lowered costs. Either way, it’s a win-win situation to save more money.

Establishing your own brand identity

Another good reason to create your own website is to establish and strengthen a brand identity. If you’ve been selling through Amazon, eBay, or another marketplace, then chances are your store is directly tied to those services. People don’t recognize your seller name, and there’s a small chance they even know who you are!

So if you’re serious about advancing your business, it’s vital that you learn to establish your own brand identity–and it all starts with breaking away from those marketplaces!

More control over the customer experience

Using some kind of marketplace means that you have very limited say in how the customer experience goes. You have to use the support systems offered by those marketplaces, and you don’t have much say in terms of returns, refunds, and so on. So by creating your own website and moving away from those services, you have far more say in the customer experience.

For instance, it’ll be much easier to get in touch with your customers, and you’ll also be able to set your own returns policies and warranties. While this comes with a bit more responsibility, it also offers more control, meaning you can fine-tune the customer experience so that it aligns with your business and its goals.

Originally Published on https://www.breakfastleadership.com/

Michael Levitt Chief Burnout Officer

Michael D. Levitt is the founder & Chief Burnout Officer of The Breakfast Leadership Network, a San Diego and Toronto-based burnout consulting firm. He is a Keynote speaker on The Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting and Burnout. He is the host of the Breakfast Leadership show, a Certified NLP and CBT Therapist, a Fortune 500 consultant, and author of his latest book BURNOUT PROOF.