This episode offers an honest review of an ecommerce business's 2018 Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs), detailing successes, partial achievements, and unmet targets. It provides valuable insights into the realities of goal-setting in a dynamic market, covering product development pivots, the challenges of international Amazon expansion, and the importance of adapting strategies based on real-world outcomes. Ecommerce operators can learn from the transparent assessment of growth (40% revenue increase) despite not hitting all initial targets, and the emphasis on maintaining a healthy cash balance.
Key takeaways
Be prepared to pivot product development plans based on evolving market conditions, even if it means not hitting initial quantity goals.
Carefully evaluate the ROI of international marketplace expansion; setting up infrastructure doesn't guarantee anticipated success, and resources might be better allocated elsewhere.
Regularly review and reflect on ambitious goals (BHAGs) to understand what worked, what didn't, and why, using these insights for future strategic planning.
Prioritize healthy financial metrics like cash balance, as business growth (e.g., 40% revenue) can still be successful even if specific revenue targets are missed.
Continuously optimize marketplace listings (like Amazon) to improve visibility and conversion, learning from previous efforts in this ongoing process.
For every new international market you enter, analyse if the infrastructure is good enough to meet your expected ROI. If not, it is better to spend money elsewhere or optimize other existing marketplaces.
It's goals time. Before I go into this year's list, revisiting the 18 goals I've set up for myself and my company is definitely a must. These were meant to be BHAGS (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) for myself personally and for the company. And in this podcast, we're going through each of them of them - the ones we achieved, the ones we didn't, and the ones where we got halfway. Before reading through this latest and final goals update, here are the links to all the previous ones to get you up to speed. E109: My 2018 Goals E134: 2018 Goals Quarterly Review E162: 2018 Goals – The Half-Way Mark E193: 2018 Goals – The Home Stretch 2018 was a mix of ups and downs. While there were many challenges, there were plenty of wins as well. We may not have reached our target revenue due to a number of factors but we were still able to grow by 40% and start the year with a healthy cash balance. So, here goes. 1. Develop 50 new products We were on our way to hit this but current market conditions made it necessary to change course and put a halt on more product development. We ended up with over 25 new products instead of 50. 2. Launch on Amazon Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and eventually, Australia We did this but it did not go nearly as well as we thought. We will continue doing this as everything's already set up. If we sent that time doing something else, we probably could have yielded more from our business. 3. Optimize our Amazon listings
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Be prepared to pivot product development plans based on evolving market conditions, even if it means not hitting initial quantity goals.
What does this episode say about product & merchandising?
Carefully evaluate the ROI of international marketplace expansion; setting up infrastructure doesn't guarantee anticipated success, and resources might be better allocated elsewhere.
What does this episode say about amazon & marketplaces?
Regularly review and reflect on ambitious goals (BHAGs) to understand what worked, what didn't, and why, using these insights for future strategic planning.
What does this episode say about supply chain & operations?
Prioritize healthy financial metrics like cash balance, as business growth (e.g., 40% revenue) can still be successful even if specific revenue targets are missed.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Continuously optimize marketplace listings (like Amazon) to improve visibility and conversion, learning from previous efforts in this ongoing process.
