Over the last year I have had the challenging task of launching a new retail website. It has been a long rode that has bordered on self mutilation and overwhelming exhilaration. I realize now that when I was approached by my boss about being in charge of putting us on the web that I had no idea of what I was getting myself into. Absolutely no idea. It sounded cool though, and for the most part it has been a very cool experience.
One of my first frustrations that I was meet with was time. When I started working on the website it was in addition to my other responsibilities within the physical store. Those responsibilities consumed the majority of my work week as it was and combining that with helping customers on the sales floor there really wasn't a lot of time to devote to the development of the site. I had to fight very hard for anytime and was constantly being pulled away from it. However, perseverance and dedication along with being a slight bit stubborn (some would use a stronger word here) I was able to slowly shift responsibilities and resources to allow for me to devote close to 100% of my energy on the site. Plus, the amount of work required to launch a retail and informative website is a lot to fall on only one person especially when that person is little old Travis.
The second frustration that I encountered was direction. We had a vague idea of what we wanted from the website, but we weren't really sure how to get there. Therefore, there was a lot of trial and error. Sometimes we would discover that we worked for a long time on something that was unimportant, unnecessary, or that could have been done a lot faster if we had only known. Also, we changed direction several times and each time we did that we starting back almost at square one.
The last frustration that I will mention having was training and knowledge. While I am a computer savvy hip dude I do not have formal training in web development, web design, or computer science. So, all of the html, AspDotNetStoreFront, blah, blah, and blah was completely foriegn to me. Therefore, I had to spend the majority of my time learning before I could ever start working. This was probably my biggest frustration because it was the biggest limiter of productivity and efficiency.
On the positive side each time I made a big jump in progress or learned how to accomplish the task at hand or reached a goal that was set it was hugely rewarding because it took so much dedication, learning, and time. It was very long process that I have been extremely attached to emotionally. And when the site launched I didn't know what to do. I had a feeling of being lost and not knowing what my place or roll was anymore for the store. However, since the launch my work load has not decreased, and in fact it has increased. The task of managing a site is different then developing on so responsibilities are again completely foreign and I am struggling to keep up with the work load and learning process.
My biggest fear now is that people (other then my mom!) will actually start buying from the site!
In the end I am left with a website that I am extremely proud of and that I think is unique within the industry. I feel that it is truly a resource for the locals and the tourists and I think we are selling some cool stuff too. I am excited for the next batch of products to be uploaded and to see where this long road will ultimately end.
Posts
