Here are 5 challenges that are useful for aspiring entrepreneurs to know before getting into the thick of developing a B2B marketplace:

1. Chicken-and-egg problem

2. Shifting the mentality behind legacy processes

As much of the industrial world is still very much entrenched in dated methods of running day-to-day operations, many of the businesses are still relying on paper order requisitions, hand-written inventory counts, phone calls and a scribble on a notepad. 

3. Getting the word of your marketplace out there

4. Larger stakes involved in decision-making

Unlike the decisions made in B2C or C2C marketplaces, choices made in B2B bear heavier responsibility, as it can affect the lifeline of the company. Stakes are higher, too. A simple decision by an employee can extend beyond an individual impact to wider implications on the department and even the entire company.

5. Lower adoption rates and slower process behind buying and selling