How to Make Money (or lose a mint) in the E-Commerce Game - Acquisitions Anonymous Episode 105

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Michael Girdley (@Girdley) and Mills Snell (@thegeneralmills) turned the tables on Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA) for this special eCommerce episode. We talk about the day-to-day operations of eCommerce businesses. Product types, 3PL vs in-house fulfillment, customer acquisition, favorable attributes for products, and much more!
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* CloudBookkeeping offers adaptable solutions to businesses that want to focus on growth with a “client service first” approach. They offer a full suite of accounting services, including sophisticated reporting, QuickBooks software solutions, and full-service payroll options.
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Show Notes:

(0:00) - Intro
(1:36) - Cloudbookkeeping.com
(3:30) - How to operate an eCommerce business?
(5:50) - Let’s talk about product size: Must-haves and hell nos!
(8:00) - The power of scale: Home run swing models
(8:50) - How to pick a great product?
(11:17) - Pricepoints breakdown and the sweet spot zone
(14:50) - Where does intellectual propriety play a role?
(16:30) - Let’s go into dimensions, weight, shipping costs and the evaluations to be made there
(18:35) - In-house fulfillment vs 3PL - Where are the breaks along the scale?
(20:20) - How unique is your process?
(22:01) - What’s the pricing structure like for a 3PL?
(23:27) - Negotiation points
(25:36) - What about in-house? Advantages & disadvantages
(27:20) - What made you switch from a 3PL to your own?
(29:46) - The flexibility of in-house logistics
(31:23) - How does geography come into play?
(34:01) - How do you think about customer relationships?
(38:40) - Have you seen any other interesting distribution models? What are the challenges of influencer businesses?
(41:29) - One of Bill’s favorite businesses.
(45:00) - What is the holy grail of metrics?

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

#96 From W-2 to Business Owner - Patrick Dichter tells us how to cold reach seller and we discuss 2 Deals
#92 Wait... what? You laid-off 90% of your staff?!? - Pete Erickson joined us for an exciting WarStories episode!
#87 Yelp is not evil! Building a business using digital CAC - Featuri

• Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.
• Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!
• Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.