Get Ready: 4 Tips for E-commerce founders (The Re-cap)
So we were fortunate to hold our second ‘Get Funded’ series after being joined on Episode 1 by Andy Davis from 10X10, Toks from Adidas’s new product partner Soul Cap, Kofi Siaw from Sillicon Valley Bank and our very own founder, Demi Ariyo. In Episode 1 we had a pretty blunt discussion about the funding options available to founders right now and what it actually takes to access funding in this climate — whilst in Episode 2 we dug deep into real life play books and hacks e-commerce founders can use to take advantage of the Q4 rush.
Considering the current economic climate: rising rates, record breaking inflation figures and both the #costofbusiness and the #costofliving crisis on the rise — we felt it was quite a befitting time to discuss how digital founders ensure they do all they can to still excel in such times. Find 4 of the key tips they had for our audience below:
Tip 1 — “Do not overtrade or get ahead of yourself.”
Ben Slater e-commerce founder and founder of Rapid Pack — Fulfilment centre.
In the build up to Christmas, most online stores will experience an increase in sales due to events such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday & Christmas. It’s important that online founders don’t get ahead of themselves but buy in proportionate amounts of stock in such times. Particularly, if you are financing such stock via your own cashflow.
Tip 2 — “Get on social media and get creative with it”.
Victoria founder of Sunmo Snacks and winner of BBC & Gordon Ramsey’s Food stars.
There are a number of ways you can engage with your customers — mailing list, micro influencers and direct messaging campaigns. In the build up to the holiday season taking advantage of all these communication channels are key. Remember, it’s easier to sell to those who already know you than those who don’t — so if you haven’t already, make sure you build up your mailing list and use it regularly. Alternatively, if you want to sell to new audiences — influencers are a great solution. Particular micro influencers who you may promote your product to their audiences in exchange for freebies.
Tip 3 — “Take the risk and bet big but do you research”
Faizel Patel, Amazon FBA Seller — scaled to 6 figures in 10 months
For Amazon FBA sellers it’s all about understanding what products sell best during October, November and December. It’s imperative you do your research get real granular about what products are doing what numbers and let this data help you make your decisions. With FBA you can make almost all your money within a particular season, so the more conviction you have, the better because you want to take big bets going into Q4 as it could be the season.
Tip 4— “Get help, don’t be afraid to outsource particular parts of your business to third party service providers”
Yaw Okyere CEO & Founder of Ava Estelle
With more orders to fulfil, and more stock to purchase — outsourcing areas such as stock financing and stock fulfilment can make or break your Q4. Yaw spoke about how outsourcing his marketing needs to Translate Culture, then fulfilment requirements to Hutch Logistics and his fundraising needs to Lendoe (yours truly) has helped him on his journey to scaling to 8 figures. Q4 is often the busiest time of the year for online businesses, rather than trying to do everything yourself work with expert service providers to maximise your opportunity of having a great Q4.
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