This episode is a "live coaching call" with Brad Bernhart, owner of an online business selling hardwood kitchen utensils. The hosts delve into Brad's business, which generated $405k revenue in 2016 with 40% net margins, primarily through Shopify. They discuss his biggest challenge: scaling a plateauing business while managing in-house production. This episode offers a direct look at real-world ecommerce challenges and initial strategic considerations for growth.
Key takeaways
Analyze your current sales channels: Brad's business was 98% on Shopify, with Amazon just restarted. Understanding channel contribution is crucial for identifying growth opportunities and diversifying risk.
Prioritize challenges: Brad's main challenge was scaling production to match potential growth. This highlights the importance of identifying and addressing operational bottlenecks before aggressively pursuing new sales.
Understand your business's financial health: Brad's 40% net margin provides a strong foundation for reinvestment and growth, but understanding the cost implications of scaling production is key.
Be open to strategic pivots: The discussion implies a need for strategic thinking about next steps, moving beyond the current plateau. This could involve new marketing, product expansion, or operational changes.
We're excited to do something new at the EcomCrew Podcast! We want to make EcomCrew a better and more awesome resource for ecommerce business owners like you and today marks the start of that endeavor. Today we are releasing a brand-new podcast segment which we believe will tremendously help you wherever you are in your ecommerce journey. The segment is called Under the Hood, where we call one of our listeners and talk about their businesses for at least one hour. It is essentially a free coaching call--we will take a look at their businesses, provide honest feedback, offer our best business advice, and answer whatever questions they have. In exchange for the free coaching, we will turn the call into a podcast episode so that our community can benefit as well. It's a win-win! If you're interested in becoming an Under the Hood guest, just sign up at ecomcrew.com/underthehood. For our pilot Under the Hood episode, we interview and coach Brad Bernhart, owner of an online business sellling hardwood kitchen utensils. Below are the details of his business: 2016 revenue: $405k Net margins: 40% Channels: 98% on Shopify website, just recently re-started on Amazon Biggest challenge: Scaling a plateauing business and keeping up with production if the business grows (he manufactures his own products) The first part of the coaching call consists of me getting a better idea of Brad's business and understanding his current pain points. After that we discussed the following: The "cha-ching" Shopify alert (yes, some of us are guilty of not turning that off) If I were on Brad's shoes, what would I do next? In part 2 I elaborated on why I would do what I told him I'd do if I were in his shoes. I even asked him to get a pen and paper because we talked about pretty high level stuff (I hope we did not make Brad's head explode with all that informati
What does this episode say about shopify & ecommerce platforms?
Analyze your current sales channels: Brad's business was 98% on Shopify, with Amazon just restarted. Understanding channel contribution is crucial for identifying growth opportunities and diversifying risk.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Prioritize challenges: Brad's main challenge was scaling production to match potential growth. This highlights the importance of identifying and addressing operational bottlenecks before aggressively pursuing new sales.
What does this episode say about supply chain & operations?
Understand your business's financial health: Brad's 40% net margin provides a strong foundation for reinvestment and growth, but understanding the cost implications of scaling production is key.
What does this episode say about shopify & ecommerce platforms?
Be open to strategic pivots: The discussion implies a need for strategic thinking about next steps, moving beyond the current plateau. This could involve new marketing, product expansion, or operational changes.
