E547: Finding Fulfillment in Retirement with Dana Jaunzemis

Dana Jaunzemis joins the EcomCrew podcast today to talk about how she evaluated businesses before purchasing them, why she chose to sell her businesses, and ultimately chose to retire. 

Dana Jaunzemis and I met for the first time years ago during my eCommerce speaking circuit and has since become a great friend of mine. She's the killer combination of having a really interesting background, while also being incredibly intellectual business-wise and philosophically too. 

She's been a good friend that's always been helpful when I've run into troubles of my own, especially those regarding burnout, identity and the end goal as an entrepreneur. 

Today, I wanted to pick her brains on the podcast about what it's like to have been recently retired from eCommerce, how she still finds a sense of fulfilment and the factors she considers before buying a business, which may or may not have been on my mind lately.

“E-commerce, while easy, is the highest risk type of business in my opinion.”

– Dana Jaunzemis

Timestamps: 

• 0:00 – Podcast Start
• 0:31 – Introduction
• 2:49 – Dana's Career Timeline
• 4:54 – The Appeal of E-Commerce for Introverts
• 6:28 – Is E-Commerce Difficult? 
• 9:19 – The Difference Between Successful and Failing Businesses
• 11:44 – How lessons in life can apply to your future
• 15:40 – Factors to Consider When Buying A Business
• 16:31 – Factor #1: Profitability
• 16:46 – Factor #2: Where Your Skillset Fits In
• 24:24 – Why Dana chose to sell her business
• 30:01 – Risks of e-commerce
• 31:41 – Factor #3: Inventory Costs 
• 34:19 – Finding Fulfilment in Retirement
• 38:14 – Knowing when ‘enough' is enough
• 41:53 – Moving Goalposts 
• 46:30 – What was it like buying a business with friends? 

Dana, thank you for accepting the invite to record a podcast together. I really appreciate it, and I look forward to seeing you again in the next events. 

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at support@ecomcrew.com. 

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well! We would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. 

Thanks for listening!