Let me tell you about my platform journey (it's been... squiggly).
Like most creative service providers, I started on Squarespace. It was fine, but I kept bumping up against design limitations. You know that feeling when you have a vision but the platform says "sorry bestie, not possible"? Yeah, that.
So I made the switch to Webflow. The design freedom was chef's kiss, but behind the scenes? My business systems were held together with digital duct tape.
Here's what my tech stack looked like:
- Webflow for my website + some digital product sales
- Thrivecart for my higher-ticket offers
- Flodesk for emails
- Zapier trying to make everything talk to each other
- Airtable for forcasting + reporting
- My sanity? Leaving the chat 👋
Money was coming in from multiple places, making revenue forecasting a nightmare. Every new offer meant setting up another complicated Zapier automation (cha-ching!). It worked, but it wasn't sustainable for where I wanted to take Coming Up Roses.
Enter: The Great Pivot of 2024
When I decided to shift from 1:1 services to more scalable, productized offers, I had a thought: Why not use a platform actually built for selling products at scale?
Plot twist: I moved everything to Shopify.
Yes, the platform typically used for selling physical products. Yes, as a service provider. And you know what? It kind of makes sense!
The Good Stuff:
- Everything lives in one place (bye, complex tech stack!)
- Built-in analytics that actually help you sell more
- All money flows through one platform
- Made for scaling (which is exactly what we're doing)
- Cheaper than my previous Zapier-threaded system
The "Fun" Challenges:
- Split payments are... interesting (we had to hack a subscription app called Appstle to make it work)
- There's nothing quite like Thrivecart's easy payment plans
- You might need some apps to get everything working just right
- The learning curve is real (thank the lord for my developer!)
Was it worth it?
For where Coming Up Roses is headed? Absolutely. The ability to have everything in one place, with real-time analytics and scalable systems, is exactly what we needed.
But here's the thing – this isn't a "everyone should move to Shopify!" post. It's a "choose the platform that matches where your business is going, not just where it is" post.
Sometimes the unconventional choice is the right one. And sometimes the platform typically used for selling sneakers is perfect for selling services 🤷♀️
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