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Our Story

After graduating UCF in 2008, I was promoted to store manager for an independent brick and mortar retailer in Florida. Within a year the housing bubble popped, they closed their doors, and I was out of a job.

Agencies Were Confusing

I found a niche drop shipping TV wall mounts on eBay. After expanding into furniture I needed my own online store, so reached out to several Magento agencies for help. The quotes ranged from 10k to 100k. I was left feeling confused and overwhelmed.

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Freelancers a Headache

So I hired on Odesk (now Upwork), but there were always issues. The freelancers would log on late or not at all, we had communication issues, lack of quality control, and caught a few milking the clock. I spent more time micromanaging than growing my business. Plus problems with my Magento store and a low conversion rate. You get what you pay for.

Why the Philippines

The only bright spot was my Filipino freelancers. They worked hard, spoke perfect English, and I got just got along with them. In 2012, I received a proposal to open an office near Manila and hire an in house team. I was hesitant, but knew I could never scale my business relying on freelancers and accepted the offer.

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Why the Philippine

An Important Pivot

The e-commerce business didn’t go as planned, but a contact faced similar issues with freelancers and couldn’t afford an agency. We did some work for them, and they referred us to another client, which quickly led to yet another referral.

I realized we were serving a different niche and made the transition from selling products to services. Now I help SMB’s who struggle to find top talent and/or a dependable agency. Our business model enables clients to see tangible results and ROI.

An Important Pivot

The e-commerce business didn’t go as planned, but a contact faced similar issues with freelancers and couldn’t afford an agency. We did some work for them, and they referred us to another client, which quickly led to yet another referral.

I realized we were serving a different niche and made the transition from selling products to services. Now I help SMB’s who struggle to find top talent and/or a dependable agency. Our business model enables clients to see tangible results and ROI.

Always Open Commerce I.T. Solutions Team

If you are interested in becoming a new client and have read this far, thank you! Would
love to hear your story and see if we are a good fit for your company.

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Steve Berke

Founder/Accountant Manager

Schedule a meeting with me and put “The Best Story Wins” in the notes section. Will provide 2 FREE high quality SEO targeted blog posts for your site!

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