E407: The Year of Uncontrollable Circumstances in Ecommerce

Ecommerce sellers have dealt with one uncontrollable circumstance after another over the past several years.

Today, Dave and I will catch up and talk about our businesses, and how 2021 has been for us so far. In my opinion, it’s been the hardest year in ecommerce since I started 8 years ago, and that’s because of a lot of things beyond my control that have plagued the industry. 

We explore why Dave disagrees with me on that point, and the progress of my newest acquisition. 

We also talk about the COVID-19 factor, dealing with stock outages, and what effects we’ll be seeing when these huge ecommerce aggregators finally go public.  

Timestamps:

• Why 2021 has been the hardest year in ecommerce, and why Dave disagrees – 1:44
• The difference in business types between Dave and I – 5:55
• Preparing the next business for sale, and why – 6:56 
• Our predictions for when valuations start to decline – 9:36
• Timing the market perfectly vs. selling when comfortable – 12:59 
• Does the size of my team have anything to do with how difficult ecommerce has been this year? – 18:34
• Comparing the best month to last year’s in the new business – 23:39
• Exploring the 19% growth and where it’s from – 26:53
• Google Shopping Tips from Dave Bryant – 31:56 
• Dave’s strategy for the future, and struggling with Facebook Ads  – 32:48
• What I learned after spending $1M on Facebook Ads – 34:04 
• Female-specific products vs. Male-specific products in Facebook Ads – 37:27
• What’s going on with Dave – 39:40

By the way, something we touched on a little bit in this episode is the grueling process of selling an ecommerce business. If you’re interested to learn more, we’re doing a free public webinar on October 5, 2021 at 10 AM PST to talk all about getting that graceful exit—from nailing down your exit strategy to post-deal terms. Head over to ecomcrew.com/webinar to sign up.

In case you missed it, we’ve made the jump to video podcasts! You can now not only listen, but watch full episodes on the EcomCrew Podcast YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this video podcast, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes and subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up-to-date with the latest episodes.

As always, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!