Read the 14 things I’d do very differently in my next ecommerce venture

I’ve just officially exited my eCommerce business, iland co. and have been enjoying some downtime to rest and recoup after the rollercoaster that has been the past few years.

I know I’ve been quiet here and on socials while I take a minute to breathe, and if I’m honest I’ve been feeling quite burnt out.  Running a business, deciding to close a business, and then reopen it in order to sell. 

I’ve also been reflecting on my 9-year journey and thinking about what I would do differently in my next eCommerce brand because boy it has been a journey, a steep learning curve of all things business, people management, money management and self-development.

I’ve broken down my reflections and things I’d do differently into four categories - Products, People, Marketing and Money and I’m going to share them with you now in case they help you in your current eCommerce journey no matter where you might be in it.

Products

1. Find great manufacturers at a low cost - the per unit and landed cost will make or break the success of your business.

2. I’d consider a different product strategy. While I LOVE fashion it is a hard model where it’s dependent on seasons and there’s an expectation to continually create new styles and designs for your customers.   Next time, I’d consider products that were evergreen, not so seasonal and that didn’t consist of so many SKUs.

3. If you do go for fashion, plan and place orders a year ahead so you can utilise sea freight and reduce the final landed cost. 

People (including me)

4. I would hire and manage staff very differently.  I would hire based on skills, attitude and work ethic and I would raise issues immediately as they occur. I would also let go of people more quickly if they weren’t a good fit (and not lose weeks or months of sleep over it). I wouldn’t be so concerned about staff not liking me, but rather running an efficient and profitable business.

5. Hire a great bookkeeper and accountant and get frequent advice on what’s working and what’s not when it comes to your finances.

6. Self-development is crucially important in your business journey.  Developing self-awareness and arming yourself with stress management tools will help you build the resilience you need to succeed and grow your business.  And as you start to hire team members digging deeper into uncovering old patterns that might need correcting, and overcoming negative self-talk and imposter syndrome becomes even more crucial so that you can be the manager and leader you need to be.

7. Work with an eComm coach - especially in the beginning, that has actually had their own eCommerce store - not just a marketing coach, a mindset coach etc. Someone that can advise you on all aspects of owning an online product-based business. There are so many moving parts and when you are starting out you need help with all of them.

Marketing

8. Master FB ads - as they will be the main driver of sales if you are an online store.

9. Create an Instagram corner and learn photography basics so that I can DIY product photos and social media content cheaply and easily.

10. Have a handful of key influencers for brand reps that you can work with for every new collection.  Not only will they promote the product to their followers, but they will also create awesome content you can hopefully reuse in your own marketing.

Money (remember to consult your accountant or financial advisor about your financial circumstances - this is simply my reflection of my own journey)

11. Leave cash in the bank and also have access to finance such as inventory finance or PayPal capital, because you will need it if you sell a physical product.  Having to pay tens of thousands of dollars months before you have the product ready to sell is a very challenging business model that ultimately caused me a great deal of anxiety.

12. Pay GST/BAS and PAYG monthly. Don’t wait for quarterly bills that turn up and break your heart and smash your cash flow. History tells me I’m not a great saver. If there’s money in an account I can see, I will spend it.  Because of this, I should have been paying my tax weekly or monthly straight to the tax office.  Putting it aside thinking I won’t use it got me into hot water many times when a $35,000 bill would turn up every 3 months.

13. Start with small runs to determine what your customers want. Don’t go all in on something not yet proven.  Just because you love it or your friends love it, doesn’t mean it will sell so make a small minimum number of pieces in one or two colours first. You can always make more next time.

14. Allow a good chunk of marketing dollars in your profit margin - up to 50% for new brands. Gone are the days of $10 marketing costs to get one sale. These days it’s more like $50 on a $150 product, and that doesn’t include product photography.