Entrepreneurship is not just about pursuing upside potential; it's also about managing risks effectively. When it comes to scaling e-commerce brands with minimal capital, having a robust supply chain strategy is crucial. In this blog post, we will explore the insights and expertise shared by Dayu Yang, founder of EcommOps, on how to master ecommerce supply chain strategy. With a focus on the target audience of e-commerce brand owners, we'll delve into the strategies and best practices that can help businesses thrive in a competitive market. Time Stamps 0:00:00 | Exploring Fast Fashion Strategies and Supply Chain Flexibility with Daiyu Yang of Ecom Ops 0:02:39 | Discussion on Risk Management and Maximizing Risk-Adjusted Upside in Entrepreneurship 0:04:40 | "Exploring the Benefits of a Profit Share Model for Risk Management and Agility in eCommerce" 0:07:04 | "The Benefits of Fast Fashion and the Risks of Private Label Manufacturing" 0:10:29 | Discussion on the Business Model of Shein and Its Impact on Traditional Retailers 0:11:49 | Exploring the Benefits of Fulfilling from China for E-Commerce Businesses 0:15:46 | "The Importance of Choosing the Right Shipping Lines for Ecommerce Fulfillment" 0:18:48 | "The Importance of Consistent Standards in the DTC World: A Discussion on Freight Shipping Mechanics" 0:20:35 | "The Benefits of Working with a Local Fulfillment Center in China" 0:24:19 | Heading: Bridging the Gap Between Western and Chinese Businesses Through Ecommerce Fulfillment 0:26:41 | "The Complexity of Efficient and Cost-Effective Fulfillment at Scale" 0:28:31 | Exploring the Benefits of Outsourcing Fulfillment and Supply Chain Management 0:29:59 | Exploring the Benefits of a Strategic Supply Chain Strategy 0:32:41 | Exploring Strategies for Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Business 0:34:07 | Conversation with Diode, Founder of Ecomm Ops: Exploring the Benefits of Building a Profitable Business 0:35:54 | Heading: Conversation with Fulfillment Expert on Minimum Order Requirements and Leveraging Chinese Strengths 0:38:28 | Interview with Daiyu Young of Ecom Ops: Exploring Strategies for Building a Successful Ecommerce Business Fast Fashion and the Power of Iteration One of the most successful case studies in the realm of supply chain strategy is the rise of fast fashion brands. Zara, for example, revolutionized the fashion industry by adopting a strategy that emphasized fast turnaround times and smaller batch sizes. By closely following trends, minimizing stockholding, and iterating their product offerings frequently, they became a force to be reckoned with. Today, brands like Shein have taken this model even further, achieving massive success by shipping directly from China and scaling rapidly based on demand. We'll explore how embracing smaller batch sizes and faster iteration can be advantageous for e-commerce brands seeking to stay ahead of the competition. Ensuring Consistency and Reliability in Shipping Reliable shipping is a vital aspect of any successful supply chain strategy. For e-commerce businesses, it's essential to choose shipping lines that offer consistent delivery times. We'll delve into some recommended shipping lines, such as Yunexpress, 4px, CNE, and UBI, which have proven to be reliable and recognized by Amazon. These partners, along with expert intermediaries like EcommOps, help manage customs clearance and ensure smooth operations throughout the shipping process. Efficiency and Communication in Fulfillment Efficient fulfillment is a critical component of a well-executed supply chain strategy. By optimizing communication and collaboration between Chinese factories and fulfillment centers, e-commerce brands can streamline operations and reduce turnaround times. We'll explore how ongoing communication plays a crucial role in overcoming capacity constraints, avoiding mistakes, and ensuring timely order fulfillment.

39m

May 29, 2023

Spending money on advertising on the social media websites can be incredibly valuable. Or you can waste a ton of time and money. In this episode we’ll help you dial up the former, and avoid the latter. Let’s start with a short-list of the sites we’re talking about. What you’ll learn The 3 “Big Goals” of paid social media advertising. Techniques for achieving each of the 3 big goals. The 6 Stages of the Loyalty Ladder How to work with influencers to accelerate your goals.

39m

May 26, 2023

In this blog post, we will explore the concept of Fulfilment FBM China and its benefits for e-commerce brand owners looking to scale their businesses with minimal capital. We'll delve into the insights shared by Dayu Yang, founder of EcommOps, and gain valuable knowledge on how to leverage Fulfilment FBM China effectively. Time Stamps 0:00:00 | Exploring Fulfillment Solutions for Amazon Sellers with Daiu Yang of Ecom Ops 0:02:26 | Conversation with [Name], Former Product Manager and Boston Consulting Group Consultant, on Repositioning Business Using the Boston Consulting Group Matrix 0:04:27 | Exploring the Benefits of Direct Fulfillment from China: A Conversation with [Name] 0:05:58 | Exploring the Benefits of China Fulfillment for Businesses 0:08:10 | Exploring the Benefits of Utilizing China Shipping for Amazon FBM Listings 0:10:17 | Exploring the Benefits of International Shipping for Western Amazon Sellers 0:12:13 | Exploring the Benefits of Long-Term Shipping for Western Brands 0:17:24 | The Benefits of Establishing a Strong Brand: Lower Risk and Working Capital 0:18:47 | Benefits of a Hybrid Supply Chain Model for FBA Sellers 0:21:00 | Discussion on Logistics Chain and Inventory Management 0:24:18 | Benefits of Fulfilling from China for US and EU Markets 0:25:53 | The Benefits of Shipping Parcels from China to the US and EU 0:29:56 | Conversation on Solving VAT Problems for Amazon Sellers in the EU 0:31:18 | Balance Sheet Management: A Simple Tool for Risk Reduction and Capital Allocation 0:33:05 | Exploring Cash Flow Strategies for Ecommerce Business Growth with Dia from EcomOps Dayu's Background and the Rise of Fulfilment FBM China Dayu Yang's journey began in the video game industry, where he learned the importance of acquiring users at a loss initially to maximize profits later. After obtaining an MBA and consulting in the retail and e-commerce sector, he started his own company, which was featured on Shark Tank. Dayu gained valuable experience in the end-to-end supply chain of e-commerce, specifically in dropshipping from China. Fulfilment FBM China emerged as a new approach, allowing businesses to ship products directly from China and retain control over the supply chain. Advantages of Fulfilment FBM China Why do brands choose Fulfilment FBM China? One primary reason is the significant time reduction in shipping products. While traditional freight can take months, Fulfilment FBM China allows for shipment in as little as three days. Additionally, the cost aspect is favorable, with end-to-end shipping costs, including CF air freight, customs, and last-mile postage, typically being comparable or even cheaper than alternative options. Competing with Chinese Sellers As an e-commerce brand owner, it's crucial to understand the competitive landscape when selling alongside Chinese sellers. While there may be challenges, Fulfilment FBM China provides an opportunity to compete effectively. By reducing inventory risk and planning for shorter lead times, businesses can maintain a healthy balance sheet. The ability to test additional markets without holding inventory in those regions offers a cost-effective way to expand internationally. Fulfilment FBM China for DTC Brands For brands with a Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) focus, Fulfilment FBM China can serve as a backup when facing out-of-stock situations. While selling through FBM may result in a slight decrease in performance compared to FBA, it allows brands to continue generating sales and maintain visibility. Moreover, for Amazon sellers looking to venture into DTC, Fulfilment FBM China offers a smoother transition and ensures fulfillment continuity. Successful Case Studies and Unique Product Considerations Shein, a fast-fashion online player, stands as a prime example of a successful brand leveraging Fulfilment FBM China. With their direct shipping from China, they have achieved remarkable growth and surpassed competitors like Zara and H&M.

35m

May 22, 2023

Paid search traffic is a terrific place to start your advertising efforts online. It flows logically out of your organic search efforts and can help you create a short-cut to success. People are looking for solutions and you have the opportunity to present your product as the solution. In this episode we dig into the value proposition of Google Adwords. In the 2nd episode in this conversation, we’ll focus on Amazon Advertising. You’ll learn Why search based marketing beats interruption based marketing, aka why Google Ads are better than social media ads. How Jason got a $40,000 a month Google Ad Grant Why use Google Text Ads Why use Google Retail / Shopping Ads The pros and cons of taking the DIY approach versus hiring someone to run your ads for you Why Google Shopping Actions create a powerful set of options. How Google is stepping into the E-commerce space Resources mentioned Google Shopping Actions

45m

May 19, 2023

Poor Branding in e-commerce Effective branding is crucial for e-commerce businesses on Amazon. As an owner of a 6- or 7-figure e-commerce business, it's critical to identify signs of poor branding. You then need to work out their underlying causes. Only then can you improve your brand's performance. In this post, we'll explore common red flags of poor branding on Amazon. Understanding the Metrics Evaluating Branding Performance To assess branding effectiveness, monitoring key metrics is vital. Let's explore these essential indicators of poor branding. Conversion Rate: This metric shows the percentage of visitors who buy. A low conversion rate can show poor branding. That suggests a gap between your brand's promise and customer perception. Customer Reviews and Ratings: Feedback from customers shapes your brand's reputation. Negative reviews or low ratings might signal poor branding. This can crater conversion rates! Repeat Purchase Rate: This rate reflects brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. A low repeat purchase rate may suggest poor branding. Happy customers are more likely to come back to your brand. Brand Search Volume: The volume of searches for your brand name on Amazon reflects customer awareness and interest. Low search volume may show weak brand recognition and ineffective branding efforts. Price Premium: A premium price compared to competitors can be a sign of strong branding. A lack of a price premium may suggest that your brand is not perceived as distinct or valuable. Case Study: Conversion Rate and Poor Branding (RavPower) Let's explore RavPower, an electronic accessories seller on Amazon. RavPower observed a low conversion rate despite receiving many visitors to their product pages. They discovered that their product images were poor at showcasing features. Their product descriptions lacked clarity. To change this, RavPower invested in professional product photography and improved descriptions. As a result, their conversion rate improved, leading to higher sales. Poor Branding vs Market Choice - which is driving the bad metrics? It's a must to recognize branding limitations, especially when it comes to market choice. Entering a hyper-competitive market can present challenges in establishing a strong brand presence. Thorough market research is essential. The Star Principle, aka the BCG growth matrix, teaches the critical value of being the market leader. It's mission-critical to only go into markets where your products can be the market leader. If one or two big players dominate your market, move on! Case Study: Element26 and Overcoming Market Challenges Element26, specializing in weightlifting belts, is as an inspiring case. The brand won market share in a highly competitive industry. Element 26 had high expertise, total commitment and enough funds. Jason Franciosa's business partner had a PhD in physiotherapy. They were and are obsessive cross-fit enthusiasts. And they had solid funding. As a result, Element26 differentiated their brand and emerged as market leaders. This is not normal. It is very hard to do this! Unless you are as expert, fanatical and funded as these guys, don't do it! Common Root Causes of Poor Branding Identifying the underlying causes of poor branding is crucial to addressing them effectively. Let's explore some common root causes. Inconsistent or Confusing Messaging. When your brand has an inconsistent or unclear message across different channels, it's confusing. Customers struggle to understand and connect with your brand. Lack of Brand Identity and Differentiation. Without a distinct identity and value proposition, your brand will not stand out from competitors. This makes it hard to capture customers' attention and establish long-term brand loyalty. Poor Product Quality: Product quality is the foundation stone on which all brands are built. If your brand delivers subpar or mediocre products,

23m

May 17, 2023

As an e-commerce brand owner, you may find yourself struggling to scale your business with minimal capital. One of the key challenges you may face is optimizing your advertising to sales ratio (A/S) for Amazon. In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of Amazon advertising optimization, and provide you with actionable strategies to help you stop the leaks and boost your sales. Welcome to our topic on Amazon advertising optimization. In this post, we will cover the importance of maintaining a balanced A/S ratio for business success and provide you with key strategies to optimize your A/S ratio. The A/S ratio is a key metric that measures the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns in generating sales. It is calculated by dividing your ad spend by your total sales. Maintaining a balanced A/S ratio is crucial for business success, as it ensures that your advertising campaigns are generating a positive return on investment. Key Strategies to Optimize Your A/S Ratio Improving ad targeting and keyword selection Using relevant keywords is key to optimizing your A/S ratio. You can use tools and techniques for keyword research and choose between long-tail and short-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords may drive more profits with lower sales volume, while short-tail keywords may drive more sales but require monitoring profitability. Adjusting advertising budget Evaluating ad spend efficiency is crucial for determining your advertising budget. Although Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is a good metric, it is important to monitor your ranking organically for each keyword. Scaling up or down based on performance and allocating budget across different campaigns can also help you optimize your A/S ratio. Enhancing product listings and optimizing for conversions High-quality product images, compelling product titles and descriptions, bullet points, and A+ content can enhance your product listings and optimize for conversions. Price is also an important factor to consider in optimizing your product listings. Utilizing promotions and discounts to drive sales Running limited-time promotions, offering discounts or bundling products, and leveraging Amazon promotions tools can help you drive sales and optimize your A/S ratio. Monitoring and adjusting A/S ratio over time Continuously reviewing ad performance, making data-driven decisions for optimization, and periodically reassessing A/S ratio goals can help you monitor and adjust your A/S ratio over time. Tips for Balancing A/S Ratio Optimization with Other KPIs Identifying other crucial KPIs for your business Identifying other crucial KPIs for your business, such as profit by product line and identifying your biggest profit-driving products, can help you manage your business with great focus and avoid micromanaging less high-performing products. Striking the right balance between A/S ratio and other KPIs Striking the right balance between A/S ratio and other KPIs, such as conversion rate and price, is important for business success. Importance of a holistic approach to business success Taking a holistic approach to business success, where the bottom line is the bottom line, is key to achieving long-term success. In conclusion, optimizing your A/S ratio is crucial for scaling your Amazon e-commerce business with minimal capital. We hope that these key strategies will help you stop the leaks and boost your sales. Thank you for reading our blog post on Amazon advertising optimization. We invite your feedback and suggestions for future topics. Don't hesitate to reach out to us on social media or via our contact information.

31m

May 17, 2023

Expanding your business globally is a great way to scale your e-commerce brand. However, this process can be challenging, especially for small businesses with minimal capital. As an e-commerce brand owner, it is important to find ways to validate your products in different markets before investing a lot of money. In this post, we will discuss how to maximize your international Amazon expansion using surveys and image testing. Time Stamps 0:00:00 | "Exploring International Expansion with PickFu Co-Founder Justin Chen" 0:02:31 | Exploring International Markets on Amazon: A Discussion on Selling in Germany, the US, and Canada 0:03:53 |"Testing Branding and Product Names for International Markets" 0:05:18 | Exploring Cultural Considerations for Brand Names and Product Packaging 0:07:22 | Exploring Cultural Differences in Marketing Strategies 0:10:15 | "Exploring Different Cultural Mindsets for Ecommerce Marketers" 0:12:19 | "Maximizing International Market Opportunities: Advice for Selling on Amazon in Germany" 0:13:30 | "Understanding the Benefits of Demographic Targeting on Amazon for Increased Sales" 0:15:21 | "Exploring International Targeting Options with PickFu" 0:18:53 | Exploring International Expansion: Validation and Price Pressures in Different Countries 0:20:19 | Exploring International Expansion Strategies for E-Commerce Sellers 0:23:37 | "Exploring Cultural Differences in DIY: A Conversation with PickFu's CEO" 0:24:41 | "Exploring the Benefits of PickFu for Market Research" 0:26:41 | Interview with Justin Chen of PickFu : Validate Your Product Ideas Early for Stress-Free Scaling Market Validation for Products When expanding your business internationally, it is essential to validate your products in different markets. This process involves testing your products with potential customers in the target market to understand their preferences and buying habits. This is where surveys and image testing come in handy. What Should You Test? It is important to note that when conducting surveys and image testing for international Amazon expansion, you should not just test your main image. Other factors, such as your brand name and logo, should be tested too. You should also consider adjusting your brand messaging and positioning to appeal to the local audience. For instance, it is essential to ensure that your brand name is not offensive in the local language. Additionally, it is important to understand the local culture and their buying habits. For example, there may be differences in shopping habits between the USA and the UK. Even brand colors can have associations that may not translate well in different cultures. Product Packaging Testing Product packaging is also an important factor to consider when expanding your business internationally. You need to test how the information is presented and whether bold marketing claims are effective. It is essential to be more factual by listing features instead of making exaggerated claims. You can use open-ended questions to gather more information from potential customers. For example, if you are targeting a German audience and selling teapots, you could ask what is important to them when buying a teapot. By doing this, you can understand the local preferences and tailor your product accordingly. Understanding the Culture Before jumping straight into testing your main image, it is essential to understand the local culture first. You can ask conversational questions to get into their mindset. For instance, you can ask about the important shopping milestones of the year or what German moms care about in their schooling. Demographic Targeting When conducting surveys and image testing for international Amazon expansion, you can target specific demographics to get more accurate results. The basic targeting options, such as age and gender,

27m

May 15, 2023

Paid search traffic is a terrific place to start your advertising efforts online. It flows logically out of your organic search efforts and can help you create a short-cut to success. People are looking for solutions and you have the opportunity to present your product as the solution. In this episode we dig into the value proposition of Google Adwords. In the 2nd episode in this conversation, we’ll focus on Amazon Advertising. You’ll learn Why search based marketing beats interruption based marketing, aka why Google Ads are better than social media ads. How Jason got a $40,000 a month Google Ad Grant Why use Google Text Ads Why use Google Retail / Shopping Ads The pros and cons of taking the DIY approach versus hiring someone to run your ads for you Why Google Shopping Actions create a powerful set of options. How Google is stepping into the E-commerce space Resources mentioned Google Shopping Actions

23m

May 12, 2023

Welcome to our blog post, "Unveiling the Secrets: What the Advertising to Sales Ratio on Amazon Reveals About Your E-commerce Business." In this post, we will delve into the importance of understanding the Advertising to Sales Ratio (A/S) on Amazon and how it can provide valuable insights for e-commerce brand owners. With the objective of helping you scale your brands with minimal capital, we will explore the significance of the A/S ratio and how it can optimize your business on Amazon. Understanding Advertising to Sales Ratio To make informed decisions about your advertising campaigns, it's crucial to comprehend the concept of the Advertising to Sales Ratio. This ratio represents the relationship between your advertising spend and your total sales on Amazon. By calculating the A/S ratio (Ad Spend / Total Sales), you gain insights into the efficiency and effectiveness of your advertising efforts. This knowledge is particularly valuable for e-commerce sellers on Amazon. Reality of E-commerce In today's competitive e-commerce landscape, clear communication and strategic planning are vital to success. Just as miscommunication during the Charge of the Light Brigade led to tragic consequences, poor communication and planning in e-commerce can hinder growth and profitability. Understanding and leveraging the A/S ratio is one of the keys to overcoming these challenges and scaling your business effectively on Amazon. Interpreting Your A/S Ratio To harness the power of the A/S ratio, it's essential to interpret its implications accurately. Evaluating your A/S ratio involves examining the relationship between your ad spend and organic sales. A low A/S ratio indicates efficient ad spend and strong organic sales, highlighting a healthy advertising strategy. Conversely, a high A/S ratio suggests inefficient ad spend or low organic sales, indicating the need for optimization and adjustment. Benchmarking your A/S ratio against industry standards and competitors is another valuable practice. By understanding how your ratio compares to others in your niche, you can identify areas for improvement and strive for excellence. Additionally, consider the role of the product lifecycle in interpreting your A/S ratio. Different stages of the lifecycle may require different advertising strategies, and understanding this relationship empowers you to make data-driven decisions. III. A/S Ratio as a Component of Overall Business Health While the A/S ratio is a critical metric, it should be viewed as part of the bigger picture. Balancing the A/S ratio with other key performance indicators (KPIs) allows for a comprehensive evaluation of your Amazon e-commerce business. Key metrics to consider alongside the A/S ratio include conversion rate, customer acquisition cost, and customer lifetime value. Analyzing these metrics collectively provides a holistic view of your business's health and performance. In conclusion, understanding the Advertising to Sales Ratio on Amazon is crucial for e-commerce brand owners looking to scale their businesses with minimal capital. By analyzing and interpreting your A/S ratio, you can make informed decisions about your advertising strategies, optimize your campaigns, and drive business success on Amazon. We encourage you to continue monitoring and optimizing your A/S ratio as an ongoing practice to stay ahead of the competition and achieve long-term growth. Next Episode: Tactics to Optimize Your A/S Ratio In our next blog post, we will dive into practical tactics to optimize your A/S ratio. We will explore strategies such as improving ad targeting and keyword selection, adjusting your advertising budget, enhancing product listings for higher conversions, utilizing promotions and discounts, and continuously monitoring and adjusting your A/S ratio over time. Stay tuned for valuable insights and actionable tips to take your e-commerce business to the next level.

28m

May 10, 2023

If you're an e-commerce brand owner, you know that product validation is crucial to the success of your business. By validating your product early on, you can ensure that it will resonate with your target market and save money on expensive late changes. This is where PickFu comes in. In this article, we'll dive into what PickFu is and how to use it for product validation. Time Stamps 0:00:00 | "Exploring Digital Focus Groups with Justin Chen of PickFu" 0:03:10 | "Exploring PickFu: A Simplified Market Research Tool for SMBs" 0:05:18 | Exploring the Benefits of Consumer Research for Amazon Sellers with PickFu 0:08:44 | "Product Validation: Leveraging Helium Ten to Ensure Your Product Resonates with Your Target Market" 0:10:00 | "Product Validation: Using Pickfu for Early Feedback" 0:11:41 | "The Benefits of Early Validation in Product Development" 0:14:35 | "Using PickFu to Validate Product Offerings for Market Success" 0:16:01 | "The Benefits of Image Split Testing for Product Validation" 0:19:45 | The Importance of Image Testing in Marketplaces: A Discussion on Seeking Genuine Feedback 0:23:50 | "Using PickFu to Test Product Variations and Gather Public Opinion" 0:27:07 | Split Testing Images and Copy for Ecommerce Validation 0:28:44 | "Exploring the Benefits of AI Writing Tools for Business-to-Consumer Marketing" 0:30:07 | "Exploring the Benefits of PickFu: A Conversation with [Name]" 0:31:40 | "Exploring PollsPlus: An Overview of the Platform's Features and International Expansion Opportunities" 0:33:50 | "Product Validation with Justin from PickFu: A Discussion on International Expansion" What is PickFu? PickFu is a digital focus group that allows you to get consumer feedback on any aspect of your market. It's a survey tool that lets you gather consumer feedback on your product or idea, and then filters through the data to provide you with the results. PickFu brings enterprise market research to SME businesses and has been used by self-publishing authors on Amazon to validate their book titles, as well as e-commerce brands to optimize their main product images. Using image split-testing (PickFu) for Product Validation The co-founders of PickFu, Justin Chen and John Li, are software engineers who were working on a website redesign and needed feedback. They wanted to validate their ideas through real-world feedback, so they went to coffee shops and asked people what they thought. They quickly realized that there was a need for a tool that made it easy to get this type of feedback, and PickFu was born. Product validation ensures that your product will resonate with your target market as early in the process as possible. Early changes are easy and cheap, while late changes are hard and expensive. Product validation comes in two forms: open-ended surveys and split testing. How to Use PickFu for Product Validation When it comes to split testing, you can use PickFu to test hypotheticals, variations against each other, and variations against the competition. For example, if you want to go into the infusion teapot market, you can create 3D renders of your product and put an image up against the top 2-3 competitors in the market, potentially testing price and title as well. This will help you determine if you can make a dent in the market. It's important to compare with the competition before you compare your own images. The marketplace is visual, and people will only stop and click on things that are visually appealing. People aren't often searching by brand, so it's important to ensure that your product stands out. PickFu can also be used to compare marketing copy, actual product concepts and images, product variation testing, and even bundles and pricing. For example, you can test the pricing of a bundle, such as offering 1 at x price or 3 at y price.

34m

May 08, 2023

How do you make decisions wisely and profitably? One of the most important things you can do in business is to get good at decision making. It may feel at times that all that matters is action. Certainly, action counts for a huge amount. Without action, nothing happens in your business. But that can lead to a big delusion: that what matters is just following a playbook. Do certain things in a certain order and hey, presto! A business that works. In reality, actions that matter are preceded by clear, high-quality decisions. The question then becomes how to make such good decisions. It could be Jeff Bezos’s famous “Type 1 and Type 2 Decisions” differentiation. It could be clarifying the nature of the goals is you’re pursuing. It could be getting clear on the deceptively simple question “What do I really want?” Whatever the principles you follow,  the way you approach decisions can have a powerful impact on the actions you and your team take. Which in turn changes the results you produce. What you’ll learn What all decisions force you to do The more important decision than “How do I make money online?” Jeff Bezos’s two decision types The 5 money goal types Jason has identified What “Return on Luck” is and why it matters Why momentum matters more than the perfect playbook Resources mentioned Greg McKeown: Essentialism Greg McKeown: Effortless  Principles by Ray Dalio  Atomic Habits by James Clear The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt

23m

May 05, 2023

As an Amazon seller, you’re always looking for ways to grow your business while keeping your expenses in check. One way to achieve this is by speeding up your cash conversion cycle using good debt. In this episode of the "Protect Your Amazon Profit" series, we'll explore how you can optimize your accounts receivable and payable to increase profitability. Managing accounts receivable and payable is essential for e-commerce brand owners, especially Amazon sellers. Efficient cash management can help to reduce working capital, minimize risks, and grow a business organically. In this episode, we will discuss how you can make more profit from the same capital by speeding up your cash conversion cycle using good debt. Importance of Managing Accounts Receivable and Payable for Amazon sellers As an Amazon seller, managing your cash conversion cycle is critical to increasing your profitability and business growth. The cash conversion cycle formula is a measure of how long it takes for a company to convert its investments in inventory and other resources into cash flows from sales. In this episode, we'll explore how you can speed up your cash conversion cycle using good debt, negotiate favorable payment terms with suppliers, and optimize your accounts receivable and payable. This episode is to provide Amazon sellers with practical strategies for optimizing their cash conversion cycle, reducing working capital, minimizing risks, and increasing profitability using good debt. Why This Matters Reduce Working Capital By optimizing your cash conversion cycle, you can reduce your working capital needs, freeing up capital for other investments or reducing your need for external financing. Minimizing Risks  By improving your accounts receivable and payable management, you can minimize the risks associated with inventory stockouts, delayed payments, and other supply chain disruptions. Grow Organically By reducing your working capital needs and increasing your profitability, you can grow your business organically, without the need for external investment or loans. More Sellable Business By optimizing your cash conversion cycle, you can increase the value of your business and make it more attractive to potential buyers or investors. More Investable By improving your profitability and reducing your need for external financing, your business becomes more investable and can attract higher valuations and better returns on equity. More Lendable If you do need external financing, optimizing your cash conversion cycle can make your business more lendable and improve your cash flow. What We Want Negotiating Favorable Payment Terms with Suppliers Negotiating favorable payment terms with your suppliers can help you manage your cash flow more effectively and reduce your working capital needs. For example, you can negotiate longer payment terms, such as 60 or 90 days, or ask for discounts for early payments. Leveraging Supplier Credit Using supplier credit can help you reduce your working capital needs and improve your cash conversion cycle. By using supplier credit, you can delay payments for inventory until after you have sold it, reducing the need for upfront capital. Classic Mistakes to Avoid Poorly Negotiating Payment Terms with Suppliers If you don't negotiate favorable payment terms with your suppliers, you may be forced to pay upfront for inventory or make payments before you receive payment from your customers. This can strain your cash flow and increase your working capital needs. Having No Cashflow Projections Without accurate cash flow projections, you may not have a clear understanding of your working capital needs or be able to plan for future investments or financing needs. Ignoring Cash Flow Projections Even if you have cash flow projections, ignoring them can be just as damaging.

30m

May 03, 2023

Starting an E-commerce business on Amazon can be a lucrative venture for entrepreneurs. The Amazon platform offers a ready-made audience for online sellers, making it easier to reach a larger customer base than starting a standalone e-commerce website. However, starting an e-commerce business on Amazon requires a lot of planning, education, and capital. This article will outline the key factors required to start an e-commerce business on Amazon. Time Stamps 0:00:00 | "Starting a Profitable Ecommerce Business on Amazon: What You Need to Know" 0:04:07 | "Getting Started with Amazon FBA: What You Need to Know" 0:05:01 | Exploring the Amazon Automation Industry: Vetting the Right Place to Invest Capital 0:06:30 | Heading: Questions to Ask When Partnering with an Amazon FBA Company 0:10:54 | Exploring the Benefits of Amazon Automation for Business Growth and Investment 0:14:29 | "Exploring the Relationship Between Ecommerce and Alternative Investment Opportunities" 0:15:31 | Exploring the Benefits of Licensing for Businesses Selling on Amazon 0:17:55 | "Understanding the Value of Licensing Agreements in Wholesale Businesses" 0:19:07 | Heading: Exploring Unique Investment Opportunities with Ascend Cap Ventures 0:20:55 | Exploring International Markets for Amazon Businesses 0:22:44 | Interview with Will from Ascend Cap Ventures: Exploring Monumental Growth in the National Market Factors Required to Start an E-commerce Business on Amazon Time Starting an e-commerce business on Amazon requires a considerable amount of time investment. One must invest time in research, sourcing products, setting up an Amazon seller account, and creating product listings. It is also essential to spend time analyzing data and adjusting strategies to improve sales. Money Starting an e-commerce business on Amazon also requires a significant financial investment. You need to invest in inventory, product listing fees, and advertising to increase visibility and drive sales. Additionally, you may need to hire experts in areas such as product photography, copywriting, and SEO to optimize product listings. Patience Starting an e-commerce business on Amazon requires patience. It takes time to gain traction and build a loyal customer base. It is essential to be patient and persistent, even when facing setbacks. Acceptance of Failure Starting an e-commerce business on Amazon involves a significant risk of failure. Accepting that failure is possible and that not all products will generate profit is crucial. Being willing to pivot strategies and try new approaches is critical to long-term success. Bringing in the Right Third-Parties One of the most crucial factors in starting an e-commerce business on Amazon is bringing in the right third parties. There are several third parties you may need to work with to run a successful Amazon business. You Need a 3PL Partner for Scalability To scale your e-commerce business, you need a third-party logistics (3PL) partner. A 3PL partner will help you manage your inventory, store, and fulfill orders. However, finding a 3PL partner that does not cut into your profit margin is challenging. You can start by prepping your products out of your garage or having your suppliers pre-prep them for Amazon, but that takes a lot of work. Education To start an e-commerce business on Amazon, you need to educate yourself. There are plenty of resources available, including books, blogs, and courses. You should take advantage of these resources and learn about different sourcing strategies, scaling techniques, and how to optimize your Amazon business. Scaling Requires More than One Person Scaling an e-commerce business on Amazon requires more than one person. You need a team of experts to handle different aspects of your business, including product sourcing, marketing, inventory management, and logistics.

24m

May 01, 2023

What are first principles? And are there any for e-commerce sellers? In this episode we’ll explore that topic and explain how e-commerce first principles apply to your business in a powerful way. What you’ll learn The 3 Parts Of 1st Principles Thinking Applied To e-commerce. They are: 1.Identify and define your current assumptions. 2.Break down the problem into it’s fundamental principles. 3.Create new solutions The 5 Questions To Ask Yourself To Apply 1st Principles To E-commerce. They are: 1.What Am I working on right now? 2.What assumptions do I have about how this will help me? 3.Why do I think it will add business value? 4.How much am I spending in time or money? 5.Which basic economic or psychological principles involved? What Elon Musk Says about 1st Principles Thinking. Resources Mentioned The Goal, Eliyahu Godratt E-myth Revisited Blue Ocean Strategy Marketing Warfare (Al Reis & Jack Trout)

26m

Apr 28, 2023

Welcome to the fifth episode of our "Protect Your Amazon Profit" series. In this episode, we'll be discussing how to maximize your profit with the cash conversion cycle formula. As an e-commerce brand owner on Amazon, it's essential to scale your brand with minimal capital. Optimizing your cash conversion cycle is one way to achieve this goal. This post aims to provide you with the necessary information and tips to improve your cash conversion cycle and scale your brand successfully. Importance of optimizing cash conversion cycle for Amazon sellers Optimizing your cash conversion cycle is critical for Amazon sellers. It's a metric that measures how long it takes for your company to convert resources into cash flow. The faster you can convert your resources into cash, the more profitable your business will be. Helping you maximize your profit with the cash conversion cycle formula. We'll discuss its importance, why it matters, what we want, classic mistakes to avoid, and five to ten talking points to help you optimize your cash conversion cycle. Why This Matters Direct impact on profitability Optimizing your cash conversion cycle has a direct impact on your profitability. The faster you can convert resources into cash, the more capital you'll have available to invest in growing your business. Grow faster By improving your cash conversion cycle, you can grow your business faster. You'll have the capital available to invest in inventory, marketing, and other growth initiatives. Improving business sustainability Optimizing your cash conversion cycle can improve the sustainability of your business. It ensures that you have the capital to meet your financial obligations and invest in growth. Lower investment for same profit! By optimizing your cash conversion cycle, you can achieve the same level of profit with lower investment. E. Lower or no debt for same profit You can achieve the same level of profit with lower or no debt by optimizing your cash conversion cycle. F. More sellable business! By optimizing your cash conversion cycle, you'll have a more sellable business. Investors and buyers value businesses that have a strong cash conversion cycle. What We Want Quicker inventory turnover To improve your cash conversion cycle, you want to achieve quicker inventory turnover. You should aim to keep your inventory moving as quickly as possible. Faster accounts receivable collection You should aim to collect accounts receivable as quickly as possible to improve your cash conversion cycle. Efficient accounts payable management Efficient accounts payable management is critical to optimizing your cash conversion cycle. You should aim to pay your suppliers as slowly as possible without hurting your relationships with them. Classic Mistakes to Avoid Overstocking inventory Overstocking inventory can tie up your capital and hurt your cash conversion cycle. You should aim to keep your inventory levels as lean as possible. Poorly negotiating payment terms with suppliers Poorly negotiating payment terms with suppliers can hurt your cash conversion cycle. You should aim to negotiate payment terms that are favorable to your business. Having no cash flow projections Having no cash flow projections can hurt your cash conversion cycle. You should aim to create cash flow projections to help you plan and manage your business. Ignoring them! Ignoring your cash conversion cycle can hurt your business. You should aim to monitor and improve your cash conversion cycle regularly. Main Body: 5-10 Talking Points Accurate demand forecasting Accurate demand forecasting can help you optimize your inventory levels and improve your cash conversion cycle. Smart inventory management techniques Smart inventory management techniques, such as just-in-time inventory management, can help you keep your inventory levels lean and improve your cash Get a free Amazon profit audit Get a free audit from me, Michael Veazey,

28m

Apr 27, 2023

The current political climate and global health crisis have disrupted many aspects of the supply chain, including sourcing from China. For ecommerce businesses, this means finding alternative sourcing solutions outside of China. One potential solution is sourcing from Latin America, which offers a growing consumer market and proximity advantages. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of sourcing from Latin America, how to start sourcing from the region, and other potential sourcing options outside of China. Time Stamps 0:00:00 | "Exploring Sourcing from China with Will Bastard of Ascend Cap Ventures" 0:03:05 | Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities of Sourcing from Latin America with Will 0:03:38 | Exploring the Benefits of Manufacturing in Latin America for Businesses 0:07:06 | Exploring the Benefits of Sourcing from Latin America for US Businesses 0:09:07 | Exploring Opportunities in Latin America: Networking Strategies for Business Owners 0:10:03 | Exploring Alternatives to China for Sourcing and Manufacturing 0:14:13 | Discussion on US-China Relations and Dependence on China in Asia 0:15:39 | Interview with Will Bastian of Ascend Cap Ventures: Global Sourcing and Starting an Ecommerce Business on Amazon in 2023 and Beyond The Challenges of Sourcing from China China has been a dominant force in the global manufacturing industry for decades, with many businesses relying on China for their sourcing needs. However, recent events have highlighted the potential risks and challenges of relying solely on China for sourcing. Geopolitical tensions between China and other countries, such as the United States, can lead to trade barriers, tariffs, and other disruptions. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused logistical and supply chain issues, such as factory shutdowns and delays in shipping. Sourcing from Latin America As China sourcing becomes more challenging, many businesses are turning to Latin America as an alternative. The region offers several advantages, including a growing consumer market and proximity to the United States. Tampa Bay in Florida, for example, is a popular location for businesses sourcing from Latin America due to its proximity to ports and transportation infrastructure. While labor costs may be slightly higher than in China, other factors, such as reduced lead times, can offset this cost. Other potential sourcing locations outside of China include Southeast Asia and India. Vietnam, in particular, has emerged as a strong alternative to China, with a growing manufacturing sector and a relatively stable political climate. Starting to Source from Latin America If you’re interested in sourcing from Latin America, it’s important to know the right people. Networking events, trade shows, and conferences can be valuable resources for making connections with potential suppliers and partners. One way to start building relationships is to attend industry events in Latin America, such as the eCommerce Summit in Buenos Aires or the Latin American Ecommerce Forum in Santiago. These events can provide opportunities to meet with local suppliers and distributors and learn about the region’s ecommerce market. It’s also important to have a clear understanding of the regulatory and legal requirements for sourcing from Latin America. This may include understanding customs regulations, import/export requirements, and taxes and tariffs. Mitigating Sourcing Risk One of the challenges of sourcing from outside China is the potential risk of supply chain disruptions. To mitigate this risk, it’s important to diversify your sourcing options and avoid concentrating your supply chain in just one region. This may involve sourcing from multiple countries or regions, or even sourcing from different suppliers within the same region. Additionally, it’s important to have contingency plans in place to address any supply c...

17m

Apr 24, 2023

What are first principles? And are there any for e-commerce sellers? In this episode we’ll explore that topic and explain how e-commerce first principles apply to your business in a powerful way. What you’ll learn The 3 Parts Of 1st Principles Thinking Applied To e-commerce. They are: 1.Identify and define your current assumptions. 2.Break down the problem into it’s fundamental principles. 3.Create new solutions The 5 Questions To Ask Yourself To Apply 1st Principles To E-commerce. They are: 1.What Am I working on right now? 2.What assumptions do I have about how this will help me? 3.Why do I think it will add business value? 4.How much am I spending in time or money? 5.Which basic economic or psychological principles involved? What Elon Musk Says about 1st Principles Thinking. Resources Mentioned The Goal, Eliyahu Godratt E-myth Revisited Blue Ocean Strategy Marketing Warfare (Al Reis & Jack Trout)

25m

Apr 21, 2023

Starting a wholesale sourcing business for Amazon can be a lucrative venture, but like any business, it requires some initial capital investment. Ascend Capventures is a company that builds and runs Amazon businesses for people. They offer services covering market and product choices, logistics, Amazon account management, and various business models such as direct from manufacturers, direct from wholesalers, and developing products. In this article, we will discuss the capital required to start a wholesale sourcing business for Amazon, the minimum working capital, and the factors that affect profit margins. Time Stamps 0:00:00 | "Welcome to the Ten K Collective Podcast: A Conversation with Will Bastard of Ascend Cap Ventures on Building and Running Amazon Businesses" 0:03:12 | "Exploring the Capital Requirements for Starting and Scaling a Custom Product Business" 0:04:03 | Conversation on Estimating Capital Requirements for Wholesale and Direct Manufacturer Business Models 0:05:51 | Heading: Benefits of Investing with Our Company 0:07:27 | Exploring the Benefits of Working with a Wholesale Management Partner 0:11:06 | Exploring Margin Changes in Ecommerce Business Models 0:14:25 | Exploring the Benefits of Private Label and Custom Product Sourcing on Amazon 0:16:10 | Private Label Business: Sourcing Manufacturers and Developing Products 0:16:59 | "Reflecting on the Benefits of Bulk Sourcing with Will Buster of Ascend Cap Ventures" 0:18:53 | Exploring Private Label and Wholesale Sourcing for Amazon Businesses with Will from Ascend Cap Ventures Starting an Amazon Wholesale Sourcing Business: Required Capital Starting a wholesale sourcing business for Amazon can be a lucrative venture, but like any business, it requires some initial capital investment. Ascend Capventures is a company that builds and runs Amazon businesses for people. They offer services covering market and product choices, logistics, Amazon account management, and various business models such as direct from manufacturers, direct from wholesalers, and developing products. In this article, we will discuss the capital required to start a wholesale sourcing business for Amazon, the minimum working capital, and the factors that affect profit margins. Understanding Infrastructure Fees and Working Capital Minimums Ascend Capventures offers infrastructure fees that start at $20,000, which includes access to their warehouse facilities in the USA and their team of hundreds of employees. This is similar to a franchising cost, and they also offer customized plans for aged businesses. However, in addition to the infrastructure fee, they also require a minimum working capital of $15,000. Why is the working capital set at $15,000? According to Ascend Capventures, this amount enables them to get the best initial deal from a good supplier and negotiate the minimum order quantity (MOQ) down as low as possible. This is based on their internal data and experiences, and they guarantee a sell-through in 90 days or refund the client. If the working capital is less than $15,000, building a business from scratch will lead to very low margins. For instance, if you pay $20,000 for infrastructure with a low $15,000 capital, you will only get a 20% margin on $5,000. Therefore, it is crucial to have enough working capital to generate strong profit margins. Product Sourcing: Essential Working Capital Minimums The minimum working capital required for products is also essential. Ascend Capventures recommends a minimum of $10,000 to $15,000, depending on the product and supplier. This will enable you to purchase the products in bulk, negotiate better deals with suppliers, and have enough inventory to meet the demand. Maximizing Profit Margins: Key Factors to Consider The profit margins in a wholesale sourcing business for Amazon depend on several factors, including the supplier,

21m

Apr 17, 2023

In this episode we get a real-time update from Jason – he’s in the middle of managing a 5 day challenge for e-commerce sellers. Anyone wanting to develop their Amazon business with a customer challenge, or thinking of running a live event, whether to sell products or training, should have plenty to learn from Jason’s experiences this week. He’s got 400 participants – in this episode we’ll find out how it’s going, what behind the scenes lessons he’s learned, and even mistakes he’s made (and how he’s recovering from them). What you’ll learn What an online challenge is – and why consider managing one. Considerations for how long to run a challenge – the duration question. The goals and priorities of online challenges The psychology behind challenges How the Penny Gap applies to challenges How Clickfunnels can be used for online Challenges Resources for Amazon SEO Keyword Research/Keyword Ranking Taki Moore Book recommendation: $100M Pedro Adao is the expert on challenges

25m

Apr 14, 2023

As an e-commerce brand owner, you know that product development is crucial to the success of your business. However, developing a new product from scratch can be a daunting task. In this article, we will discuss some product development hacks that can help you scale your e-commerce brand with minimal capital. Timestamps 0:00:00 | "Developing a Skin Care Brand: A Step-by-Step Guide" 0:02:51 | Exploring Options for Developing a Skincare Product 0:04:16 | Exploring the Radical Path of Formulating Skincare Products at Home 0:08:13 | Exploring Radical Business Practices in the Skin Care Industry 0:13:08 | "Exploring the Benefits of Building a Brand vs. Private Labeling on Amazon" 0:14:15 | Exploring the Benefits of Having a Complimentary Team for Product Development 0:15:46 | Heading: Understanding the Basics of Website Design and Influencer Marketing for Entrepreneurs 0:17:21 | Conversation on Understanding Products and Hiring the Right People 0:19:04 | "Understanding the Necessity of Outsourcing and In-House Specialists for Business Success" 0:21:09 | Conversation Summary: Balancing CEO and COO Roles in a Small Business 0:26:28 | Conversation on Setting Clear Expectations for Employees and Establishing Long-Term Relationships 0:28:39 | Conversation on Product Development: Process, Results, and Time Management 0:30:12 | Exploring Strategies for Faster, Better, and Cheaper Product Development 0:31:36 | "Exploring the Benefits of Researching Competitors' Products and Services" 0:33:22 | Exploring the Mindset of Product Analysis and Customer Experience 0:36:13 | Exploring the Benefits of Meticulous Research: A Conversation with [Name] 0:37:50 | "The Benefits of Thorough Product Testing: A Conversation with [Name]" 0:39:25 | Interview with Jake from Crete Brand: A Passionate Entrepreneur's Journey to Success 0:41:26 | Conversation on Crete Club and Business Advice 0:42:15 | Interview with Jake Rosenberg of Crete Club: Achieving Success Through Hard Work and Thoroughness Finding Your Niche/Brand The first step in product development is finding your niche/brand. Your brand should be something that resonates with you personally and solves a problem. Jake, the founder of Scare, had a mark on his nose from a skiing accident and was using whatever shampoo smelled nice. He realized that there was a gap in the market for men’s skincare products that were easy to use and efficient. This led to the creation of Scare, a skincare brand for men that only takes 30 seconds to use. Appealing to a Specific Set of Values and Behaviors It is essential to have a specific set of values and behaviors that you appeal to when developing your brand. Scare is centered around the idea of efficiency and saving time. Most men don’t want to spend 30 minutes in the bathroom, while some women actively enjoy the experience. Scare’s 30-second skincare routine appeals to men who want an easy and efficient solution to their skincare needs. Fast Wins Every product that you develop should give your customers a fast win. Scare’s products are designed to give customers a positive experience in the first minute of use. This is important because people are more likely to continue using a product if they see results quickly. A gym membership, for example, can be challenging to stick to because people don’t see results immediately. Scare’s products give customers a fast win, which keeps them coming back. Value Equation The value equation is a critical component of product development. The value equation is the dream outcome multiplied by the perceived likelihood of achievement divided by the time delay and effort and sacrifice. Scare’s products deliver a fast win, which increases the perceived likelihood of achievement. The 30-second skincare routine is also easy to use, reducing effort and sacrifice. Credibility of Your Promise It is essential to establish credibility with your customers.

43m

Apr 10, 2023

In this episode we get a real-time update from Jason – he’s in the middle of managing a 5 day challenge for e-commerce sellers. Anyone wanting to develop their Amazon business with a customer challenge, or thinking of running a live event, whether to sell products or training, should have plenty to learn from Jason’s experiences this week. He’s got 400 participants – in this episode we’ll find out how it’s going, what behind the scenes lessons he’s learned, and even mistakes he’s made (and how he’s recovering from them). What you’ll learn What an online challenge is – and why consider managing one. Considerations for how long to run a challenge – the duration question. The goals and priorities of online challenges The psychology behind challenges How the Penny Gap applies to challenges How Clickfunnels can be used for online Challenges Resources for Amazon SEO Keyword Research/Keyword Ranking Taki Moore Book recommendation: $100M Pedro Adao is the expert on challenges

28m

Apr 07, 2023

In the world of e-commerce, finding a niche and building a strong brand is crucial to success. One way to do this is by identifying a gap in the market and creating a product that fills that gap. For Jake, the founder of a successful unisex skincare brand, this meant creating a product that was efficient, fast, and appealing to a broader range of men and women. In this article, we will explore how Jake identified a niche, created a unisex skincare brand, and used fast wins and efficiency to build a valuable e-commerce brand. Timestamps 0:00:00 | Interview with Jake Rosenberg, Founder and CEO of Crete Skincare Company 0:02:23 | Conversation on Skincare Company and Market Response 0:04:00 | Exploring the Shift from Male-Focused Skincare to Unisex with Crete Founder, David Lim 0:07:36 | Exploring Masculine and Feminine Niches for Customer Experience Vibes 0:09:02 | Exploring the Value Proposition of 1 Minute Skincare 0:11:52 | Discussion on Aspirational Outcomes and Fast Wins in Product Development 0:13:41 | Exploring the Psychology of Product Use: How to Create a Positive User Experience 0:17:48 | The Benefits of Delivering Fast Wins for Business Success 0:19:24 | Product Development: The Key to Capturing and Sustaining Attention in the Age of Attention Identifying a Niche: Creating a Unisex Skincare Brand Jake's brand was born out of his own need for a skincare solution that was both effective and efficient. After suffering a skiing accident that left a mark on his nose, Jake realized the importance of skincare but found that the existing options on the market were either too time-consuming or too gendered. He wanted to create a skincare solution that would appeal to a broader range of men and women and would take no more than 30 seconds in the bathroom. Efficiency: The Key to a Successful E-commerce Brand Jake knew that the most precious resource for his target audience was time. To create a successful e-commerce brand, he had to design a product that was efficient and easy to use. This meant creating a product that would provide fast wins – positive experiences in the first minute of use – and consistently deliver results. Fast Wins: Building Credibility and Creating Value for Your Brand Fast wins are crucial to building credibility and creating value for your brand. For Jake's brand, this meant creating a product that would give users positive experiences in the first minute of use. This approach helped his brand stand out from the competition and gave users the confidence to continue using his products. The value proposition of his brand was clear – it was a unisex skincare solution that was fast, efficient, and consistently delivered results. Conclusion Finding a niche and building a strong brand in e-commerce requires a deep understanding of your target audience and their needs. For Jake, this meant identifying a gap in the market and creating a product that was efficient, fast, and appealing to a broader range of men and women. By focusing on fast wins and consistently delivering results, Jake was able to build a credible and valuable brand that has achieved great success in the competitive world of e-commerce. What services do you offer? CTA 1 Check out https://krete.club/ for USA/Canada CTA 2 Email Jake for mentoring or consulting about DTC business development or product development jake@krete.club or krete.club

21m

Apr 03, 2023

Borrowing money to sustain or expand your business is one of the most controversial business decisions we all have to make. To Debt Or Not To Debt, That Is The Question & In this 2-part episode we’ll explore the issue, share personal insights and lessons, and encourage you to dig deeper with recommendations and resources. You’ll learn  7 Things Smart Business Owners Do When It Comes To Debt & Borrowing Tips on where to find effective funding in both the U.S. and U.K. The 2 factors banks use to evaluate your credit worthiness The #1 Skillset most top e-commerce sellers master and how it relates to debt The levels of risk appetite The riskiest financing moves you can make Recommendations for those considering using debt to grow Resources mentioned Reid Hoffman Lecture At Stanford: Entrepreneurship: A High-risk Investment Facing Competition through Innovation Live Life in Permanent Beta E-commerce and Business Books mentioned  Growing A Business, Paul Hawken

24m

Mar 31, 2023

Chase Climber, co-founder of Electric.I, joins the podcast to discuss optimizing ecommerce stores. He explains that many Amazon sellers struggle to optimize their own store, and even sellers who are only on direct-to-consumer sites face similar issues. Electric.I creates Shopify powered sales machines from their sites with a strategic design approach and intelligent development decisions. He also hosts the Honest Ecommerce podcast with honest advice to increase sales and grow businesses. The key message of this episode is that to grow profits, sellers must cut waste and increase profitable sales, and the Quick Assessment at Amazonprofitquiz.com can help identify the biggest profit killer.   Timestamps 0:00:00 | Optimizing Your Ecommerce Store with Chase Climber of Electric. 0:02:28 | Heading: Optimizing Existing Store: Is It Possible to Be Good at Both Amazon and Shopify? 0:04:22 | Conversation on the Necessity of Specialized Heads for Ecommerce and Amazon Businesses 0:06:08 | Analysis of Direct-to-Consumer vs. Reselling on Amazon: A Case Study 0:07:42 | Analysis of Ecommerce Opportunity for Private Label Products 0:12:22 | Heading: Strategies for Finding Product Market Fit 0:13:24 | Analysis of Drop Shipping and Private Label Business Product Profitability 0:16:03 | Exploring Strategies to Increase Average Order Value (AOV) 0:17:48 | Case Study: Moving from Amazon to Direct Consumer with Limited Success 0:20:59 | Conversation Summary: Building an Online Channel vs. Selling on Amazon 0:22:49 | Optimizing a Shopify Store for Increased Conversion Rates 0:26:06 | RO Retainer: A Case Study on Increasing Average Order Value by 25% 0:30:55 | Exploring the Journey of Ecommerce with Honest Ecommerce Podcast 0:31:55 | Interview with Chase Clymer: Discussing Electricy IO, Marketplace vs. Direct to Consumer, and CRO 0:33:28 | Interview with Chase Climate of Electric Eye: A Crash Course in Brand Scaling for Amazon Sellers Every week I interview an amazing founder, and I'm basically trying to get the founder story in a sense of like, where did the idea come from? I think a lot of entrepreneurs out there want to start a brand, but figuring out what to do and just how the ideation worked is always curious. So I always ask them, where did this idea come from? And then I asked him kind of, what did they do next? How did they go from idea to either testing, which is what you should do, everybody, to then finding this product market fit, and then kind of like, okay, what's next from there? So a lot of our listeners are kind of in the scale from doing eight plus figures to just getting started. Right. So I kind of ask what the journey is about with all these founders. And then I also do bonus episodes every once in a while where I have subject matter experts on about things that are way smarter than me. So I'll have other agency owners in the ecosystem on, I'll have consultants, freelancers perhaps I'll have Michael on in the future talking about Amazon. We better cut to the bit where you obviously, I can feel your passion for conversion optimization and I love it because that's what makes more money for people. And I love that kind of work with clients for the same kind of reason that you do, I think, which is like, there's the thrill of the chase. How can I find the information I need? How can I make it better? You see, the numbers come out. But of course, you're giving money back to the consumer or the customer, or the client in this case, which is a beautiful thing. So a couple of things to point people to. First of all, you've got your Honest Ecommerce podcast. The math behind Ecommerce comes down to three KPIs, right? It's average order value, conversion rate and sessions. So this is on your own website on like, a shopify store.

35m

Mar 27, 2023

Borrowing money to sustain or expand your business is one of the most controversial business decisions we all have to make. To Debt Or Not To Debt, That Is The Question & In this 2-part episode we’ll explore the issue, share personal insights and lessons, and encourage you to dig deeper with recommendations and resources. You’ll learn  7 Things Smart Business Owners Do When It Comes To Debt & Borrowing Tips on where to find effective funding in both the U.S. and U.K. The 2 factors banks use to evaluate your credit worthiness The #1 Skillset most top e-commerce sellers master and how it relates to debt The levels of risk appetite The riskiest financing moves you can make Recommendations for those considering using debt to grow Resources mentioned Reid Hoffman Lecture At Stanford: Entrepreneurship: A High-risk Investment Facing Competition through Innovation Live Life in Permanent Beta E-commerce and Business Books mentioned  Growing A Business, Paul Hawken

23m

Mar 24, 2023

Chase Clymer, co-founder of Electric Eye and host of the Honest Ecommerce podcast, joined the Ten K Collective Podcast to discuss the transition from Amazon to Shopify. He recommends that if someone were to start an ecommerce brand today, they should use Amazon, even though they would need to learn a lot about the platform. He believes Amazon has a built-in audience and can help increase sales. He also recommends taking advantage of the Amazon Profit Quiz to help identify areas of waste and how to address them. Timestamps 0:00:00 | Exploring the Benefits of Selling on Amazon vs. Shopify 0:03:51 | Exploring the Benefits of Starting a Brand on Amazon vs. Building an Owned Audience 0:05:22 | Product Market Fit: Finding the Right Balance for Ecommerce Success 0:07:14 |  Exploring the Transition from Amazon to Building Your Own Channel: A Discussion on Revenue and Product Strategy 0:08:36 | Understanding Commodity vs. Average Order Value in Ecommerce 0:11:22 | Exploring the Possibility of Transitioning to a Direct-to-Consumer Model 0:12:37 | Exploring the Benefits of a Small Product Catalog for Ecommerce Stores 0:14:34 | Discussion on Achieving an Average Order Value of $75+ with a 40%+ Profit Margin 0:17:56 |  Understanding the Necessary Numbers for Successful Paid Media Advertising 0:19:23 | Heading: Examining the Benefits of a Profitable Product Line 0:20:51 | Conversation on Optimizing Existing Stores and Electric Eye Services 0:27:48 | Heading: Electrici IO Shopify Diagnostic for Amazon Seller 0:29:01 | Exploring Shopify vs. Amazon: A Conversation with Chase Climber of Electric Eye Highlights I try to get a little more technical and nerdy. I know people like to learn the specifics and stuff, but that's the majority of the show is those interviews with Brand founders and then we do a lot of bonus episodes as well where I'm interviewing subject matter experts, other agency owners or freelancers or consultants in the industry, people from apps or people kind of on the other side of the field.. Perhaps Michael will be on talking about Amazon soon. But yeah, the show is pretty fun. You can check it out. Absolutely. The number one way to increase your return on ad spend, which is constantly going up, well, the cost per ads is constantly going up. So the return on ad spend is constantly going down because your products probably aren't going up in price to match it. But back to what I was saying is like, the best way to increase your return on ad spend is to increase your average order value and to increase the conversion rate on your website, which is basically what CRO does. We're learning about the frustrations, the uncertainties, the reservations that their customers have through nerdy stuff like heat maps, scroll maps, customer interviews, building hypotheses onto as why they're not selling things or things are getting in their own way, where's the friction points of the website and making the website better. Right. We're doing kind of more traditional CRO stuff kind of within those things is we believe maintenance is kind of CRO as well. And so we kind of have a nice fluid retainer relationship with our clients where sometimes we do need to tackle something that's not as fun, but we'll get it done for them. In general, we're shopify experts through and through. We're not just saying it. We live it, breathe it, do it. It's all we do. So basically it comes down to two things. At Electric Eye, we are usually either migrating brands from a legacy platform over to shopify. We've done a few transitions or help people get set up from Amazon as well. I'll be very blunt with you about whether or not I think that's a good idea. And then so building that new stores, helping people with their themes, building, like, new designs for existing shopify stores.

30m

Mar 20, 2023

As an entrepreneur, it's important to not only focus on building a profitable business but also to consider the potential for a future exit. In this blog post, we'll discuss some key factors that appeal to buyers and how you can increase your potential multiple for exit. We'll also take a look at the "Exit DNA" course by Mac Lackey, which offers valuable insights into the exit process. Time Stamps 00:00 | "Delegating Your Way to a Sellable Business: A Conversation with Yoni Kozinski" 03:30 | "The Benefits of Building a Business with a Clear Plan" 04:41 | "Maximizing Your Exit Potential: Strategies for Achieving a Successful Acquisition" 06:41 | "Strategies for Selling a Business: Understanding Aggregators and Prospective Buyers" 08:24 | Exploring Strategies to Maximize Exit Value for Businesses 14:00 | "Understanding the Challenges of Selling an Ecommerce Business" 14:54 | Discussion on Setting Financial Objectives for Business Success 16:45 | Exploring the Process of Preparing to Sell a Business: A Discussion 19:54 | "Maximizing Your Business Multiple: A Step-by-Step Guide" 21:56 | Heading: Considerations for Building Toward an Exit in Ecommerce 23:26 | "The Importance of Budgeting and Inventory Management for Building a Sellable Business" 29:05 | Exploring Growth Strategies for Ecommerce Businesses with South Coal 32:28 | Discussion on Ecommerce Business Investment Criteria 33:43 | "Exploring the Benefits of Working with a Consultant Who Has Skin in the Game" 34:55 | Heading: Exploring Southcool Co's Ecommerce Valuation Tool with Yannie of Southcool Co 36:51 | "Interview with Yoni Mazor: Building Business Value and Evergreen Skills" Understanding Your Ideal Buyer To build towards a successful exit, it's essential to understand who your ideal buyer is. This requires looking years out and considering the types of businesses that would be interested in acquiring your company. For example, if you're in the e-commerce space, you might be looking to sell to private equity or strategic acquirers. Assessing TAM & Competitor Position Investors always look at TAM (Total Addressable Market) with an eye towards growth opportunities. Consider the level of competition in your niche and whether there is an opportunity for you to take market share. Is there a private equity or strategic acquirer in the niche? If so, building towards a market-leading position in that niche could make your business more appealing to buyers. Why Start in the USA? Starting a business in the USA offers a significant advantage due to the large population of 350 million people, with 50% of e-commerce sales happening on Amazon. This provides a vast TAM to penetrate and build market share. While other markets like Australia may offer less competition, the smaller population makes it harder to achieve meaningful scale. Maximizing Multiples To increase your potential multiple for exit, it's essential to have a clear distinction between getting ready for exit and maximizing your multiples. This requires identifying areas of the business that are critical to the multiple, such as SOPs, training videos, and documentation. Automating and delegating to people who are better than you are at certain tasks is also crucial. Building Relationships with Suppliers Building strong relationships with suppliers is also essential to building a sellable business. Aggregators and other buyers are interested in businesses that are operationally sound and can continue to grow even without the founder's involvement. Having clear SOPs, training videos, and documentation helps ensure that acquirers can understand how the business works and can integrate it into their operations. Inventory Planning and Budgeting Inventory planning and budgeting are also critical to building a sellable business.

38m

Mar 13, 2023

Growing a Business to Sell on an e-commerce business can be a challenging task, especially in the current market. Yoni Kozminski, Founding Partner of South Col, shares insights on the current state of the market, the aggregator business model, and South Col’s approach to investing in e-commerce businesses. Time Stamp 00:00 | "Welcome to the Ten K Collective Podcast: Accelerating Ecommerce Businesses to Exit with Yoni Kozminski" 02:34 | Michael Krakaris: Exploring Ecommerce, Digital Marketing, and Process Improvement Management Consulting 04:22 | Heading: South Coal: A Joint Venture to Invest in Ecommerce Businesses 05:59 | Exploring the Business Model of an Aggregator: A Discussion with South Coal 08:03 | The Benefits of Working with an Equity Investment Firm for Ecommerce Businesses 14:13 | Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities of Aggregator Business Models: A Discussion with Michael 15:08 | The Impact of Rapid Growth on Businesses: A Discussion 20:50 | Heading: Navigating the Venture Capital Environment as an Entrepreneur 22:40 | Heading: The Cost of Venture Capital Investment 25:08 | Exploring Sustainable Business Opportunities for Entrepreneurs 26:11 | Exploring Strategies for Accelerating Business Growth: A Discussion on Selling vs. Owning a Business 31:12 | Discussion on Accelerating Growth and Exiting a Business 32:35 | Understanding the Current State of Ecommerce Business Exits 34:28 | "Strategizing for Intentional Business Growth: Advice for Amazon Sellers" Who is Yoni Kozminski? Yoni Kozminski is a founding partner of South Col, a growth fund focused on accelerating e-commerce businesses to exit. He has a background in digital marketing and has worked with well-known brands such as Sony, Mastercard, and Mercedes-Benz. Kozminski grew a brand to 5 million in 12 months and later founded services such as EScala, which provides consulting services to systemize, scale, and exit e-commerce businesses. He also founded Multiplymii, which provides executive search and HR functions. Growing a Business to Sell : South Col's Business Model South Col invests in e-commerce businesses, focusing on growing them and maximizing their exit value. Unlike aggregators, they aim to keep the founder in the business and invest millions of dollars in it. South Col builds a two-year roadmap and works on removing the founder from the aspects of the business they hate, such as PPC, inventory, logistics, 3PL, and IP lawyers. The founder can then focus on new product development, building out the next ten products, and expanding the brand into new regions. South Col is committed to the outcome and sees upside when the founder does. Aggregator Business Model Issues Yoni Kozminski was approached by many aggregators and brokers who wanted to buy e-commerce businesses. However, he did not feel good about this because the brokers' goal is to buy the brand at the lowest price, which conflicts with the owner's aim of getting the highest price. Growing a Business to Sell : Lessons from the Aggregators' Tales It is hard to scale any business at speed, and this is never wise. Spreadsheet jockeys saw the immense demand for aggregators and drove up multiples from 1.5x to 7-9x EBITDA. There was a lot of market confidence in early 2020, and the pandemic's duration impacted it significantly. Entrepreneurs' decisions are affected by the venture capital model, where they are there to force the outcome, but only 1 in 10 or 1 in 20 will succeed. South Col is a possible alternative for those considering taking on VC. Why Sell an E-commerce Business? The business model affects the decision to sell. In a service business, you can typically build healthy margins once you get to critical mass, yielding around 300K a year for you and being independent of you. On the other hand, e-commerce businesses require more cash requirements, making them more stressful to grow. Unless you have seriously high margins,

36m

Mar 06, 2023

How do you know whether a new product is a good idea on Amazon? In this week’s Tip Of The Week video we discuss five decision making criteria you can use to evaluate a product on Amazon.

19m

Mar 03, 2023

If you are running an e-commerce business, chances are you want to rank high on Google. But why is it so difficult to convert traffic into sales? And what can you do to increase your chances of success? One strategy that could help you is topical mapping. In this blog post, we'll take a closer look at what topical mapping is, how it can help you rank higher on Google, and how you can use it to convert more sales. Time Stamps 0:00:00 | Unlock Your Ecommerce SEO Potential: How to Rank Your Website and Make Money with Ashley Pearce from Future State Media 0:02:38 | Exploring SEO Strategies for Ecommerce Websites with Ashley Pearce" 0:04:21 | Exploring Google Knowledge Graph: Maximizing Opportunities and Diversifying Platforms 0:06:35 | Exploring Risk Mitigation and Concentration Risk Mitigation for Amazon: A Conversation on SEO Strategies for Increased Revenue" 0:09:57 | Exploring Opportunities for Expanding Product Lines Through SEO 0:13:15 | Exploring the Benefits of Niche Marketing for Business Growth 0:15:06 | Exploring the Power of Authority Building in the Online World" 0:16:05 | Exploring Opportunities to Convert Website Visitors into Customers 0:19:49 | Exploring the Possibility of Selling Digital Products on a Blog 0:22:00 | Exploring the Possibilities of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) 0:25:01 | Optimizing Lead Magnets for Search Intent: Maximizing Conversion Rates" 0:26:52 | Exploring Lead Capture Strategies for Ecommerce Sites" 0:29:13 | Maximizing Your SEO Budget for Maximum Conversion Rates" 0:31:09 | Heading: SEO Projects Showing Impressive ROI Results 0:32:38 | Understanding the ROI of SEO: A Discussion on Building an Asset to Sell" 0:35:21 | Exploring the Benefits of Long-Term Investment in Businesses for Exit Strategies 0:37:00 | Exploring Long-Term Strategies for Building Authority and ROI in Ecommerce" 0:38:34 | Exploring SEO Strategies for Ecommerce Operators: A Guide to DIY and Outsourcing Solutions" 0:40:00 | Unlocking the Power of Organic Traffic: A Conversation with Ashley on SEO Strategies" 0:41:33 | Interview with Ashley Pearce of Future State Media: Strategies for Staying Focused on Your North Star What is Topical Mapping? Topical mapping is a strategy that involves mapping out the topics that are most relevant to your business and your customers. By doing so, you can create content that is more targeted and relevant to your audience, which can help you rank higher on Google. Topical mapping takes a longer-term perspective, which means that you should focus on topics that are relevant to your business in the long run, rather than just trying to rank for one single keyword. From an SEO perspective, topical mapping is important because it helps validate that your content is topically relevant. When Google sees that your content is focused on a specific topic, it's more likely to rank it higher in search results. This can help drive more traffic to your site, which is essential for e-commerce businesses. Why Aren't We Converting More Sales from Traffic? One reason why businesses struggle to convert traffic into sales is that the first content to rank on Google tends not to be the most commercially driven pages. For example, if you sell dog products, ranking for "Why does my dog follow me everywhere?" may not result in many sales. Instead, you should focus on bottom-of-the-funnel pages with high buyer intent. When Do We Start Making Money from E-commerce SEO with Topical Mapping? To make money from e-commerce SEO, you need to compare yourself to your competitors. Look at how widely they've covered a topic, their ranking, and what their particular income looks like. You should also look at the traffic to commercial pages and make assumptions about conversion rates. Once you have this information,

1h 4m

Feb 27, 2023