Learning from 700k to 4m to 18m (hopefully)

Hey! I thought a great first edition would be to speak about some of the things I've learned while growing our eCommerce holding company from 700k in year 1, to 4m in year 2, and (hopefully) around 18m in year 3.

Lesson 1 - Start with the end in mind  

When I first got in the game, I just hated my job and wanted to make internet money. The concept of selling a business was foreign to me... And now that we are in the process of selling one of our brands, it's become clear we fucked up by not "beginning with the end in mind" because have done (or not done) a lot of things that have negatively contributed to our multiple. Now when we start a new concept we begin with the end in mind and ask the following questions:1. How long do we want to hold onto this business (forever, 2 years, 10 years)?2. Who do we want to sell to (there might be a company with distribution who is willing to pay a premium for your idea - e.g P&G bought Moiz Ali's Native for way overs because they have already have the distribution)3. What revenue & EBITDA can this business get to? (look at competitors to gauge)4. What's going to be our "edge" - in our case it's usually paid ads and more efficient acquisition 5. What's the ideal outcome & will we need outside capital to achieve it (we've always bootstrapped, but if you want a large outcome you may need outside funding)

Lesson 2 - Become competent in each area of your business

So important. Have been working in a co-working space and there are other founders I've spoken to who don't understand paid ads, don't understand copy or web design or whatever and it significantly holds them back. You don't need to be an expert, but you do need to be able to "call bullshit" on a bad hire or shit agency.

Lesson 3 - Understand your "edge"

When you go into opportunities, you need to figure out what your "edge" is - something where you're better than OR have a leg up over 9/10 people. For us it's paid & customer acquisition. It could literally be anything for you - maybe you have connections to get you into retail shelves, maybe you are amazing at google ads, you could be a brilliant product designer, great at understanding trends... Figure out what it is and lean into it. If you don't have one then you need to find it.

Lesson 4 - Understand whether it's an arbitrage or long-term opportunity

This is huge - figure out will this be an aribtrage (short-term opportunity where the window to profit closes) OR a long-term opportunity where it snowballs. Obviously long-term opportunities are more optimal but arbitrages can be great, the issue comes from where you get stuck in between and treat a long-term opportunity like an arbitrage or treat an arbitrage like a long-term opportunity.

Lesson 5 - Begin SOPing from the start

One thing I wish I did. Just loom yourself doing each task in your business - when it's time to hire they can watch your looms and write their own SOPs. Genius!

Lesson 6 - Hire generalists first, then specialists

Pretty simple. Your first hires need to be generalists - usually young, able to solve problems on their own, hungry to learn and don't mind being thrown into the deep end. We made the mistake of hiring for specific roles early and there was always not enough work for them to do in their immediate area and there was resistance to taking on things outside of their role because that wasn't communicated to them, and people most often aren't comfortable with that.

Lesson 7 - Get a gun video editor/content person

In 2022 we view our eCommerce business as a "media company" - so make sure you put a lot of time into finding a great video editor or content person (or people). They are nearly your most important person.

Lesson 8 - Keep OpEx low & fire fast

Run lean, use overseas wage arbitrages, try to have around 500k-1m revenue per employee, forget the fancy office... This is how you beat well-funded companies that lose money each month and take 5 designers to create a logo. Also... if your gut feel says fire, then fire. I have always regretted keeping staff on where I had that gut feel, and haven't regretted firing anyone.

Lesson 9 - Focus > Going wide

Focus anon. Focus. Focus.

And that's it. Hit me up with a reply and let me know where you're at, and what you want me to write about next (can be anything).And if you got anything out of this, make sure to pass it to your friends!