Ecommerce Conversations

Launching and then growing an ecommerce business can be both exciting and stressful. Many entrepreneurs hope to someday sell their companies. For this installment in my series on building an ecommerce business, I spoke with Michael Jackness. He is the owner of Terran, a multi-brand ecommerce company. Jackness has sold several ecommerce sites. In this conversation, we discussed the latest sale, and why he made that decision.

An engaged, passionate community around an ecommerce business can drive referrals, loyalty, and repeat sales. But developing and growing that community is not always easy. For this episode in my series on building an ecommerce business from the ground up, I spoke with Andrew Youderian. He's the founder of eCommerceFuel, a popular, private community of ecommerce merchants who communicate via an online forum and, also, at meetups and at an annual conference.

Selling manufactured goods directly to consumers, with no retail middlemen, has exploded on the internet. An entrepreneur with an idea for an original product can design it, find a manufacturer for it, and sell it online. I'm the founder of Beardbrand, an ecommerce business in Austin, Texas that focuses on beard care and men's grooming. This is episode 16 in my series on building an ecommerce business from the ground up. For this installment, I spoke with Jimmy Hayes, the co-founder of Minaal, a manufacturer of "bags and gear for life on the move."

Content marketing for ecommerce businesses is much more than a sales pitch.  Done well, it connects with prospective customers and tells the story of a brand. In this episode 15 of my series on building an ecommerce business from the ground up, I spoke with Andrew Snavely, the founder of Primer, an online magazine, and Ryan Hunter Masters, the founder of Show Her Off, and a dance instruction site.

A successful campaign on Kickstarter, the crowdfunding platform, can help validate a business and a product. Catherine Lavery, the founder of BestSelf, a producer of productivity journals and tools, used Kickstarter in 2015 to launch the company. She describes the process to host Eric Bandholz, the founder of Beardbrand.

Launching an ecommerce business takes perseverance, passion, and, typically, money. Raising that money can be time-consuming and frustrating. For this interview, I spoke with Joshua Bingaman and Brad Day. Bingaman is the founder of creative director of Helm Boots, an Austin, Texas-based manufacturer and seller of hand-crafted leather boots. Day is the company's president.  We discussed the process of evolving from a start-up, bootstrapped company to one that needs investors, money, and structure.

Shakil Prasla is co-founder of Pro Click Ventures, a holding company that owns and operates 12 ecommerce businesses. He speaks with host Eric Bandholz, founder of Beardbrand, on his process for evaluating, acquiring, and managing multiple firms.

A fundamental decision for many ecommerce entrepreneurs is whether to sell on Amazon. The potential is high but the competition is increasing tough. For this installment 11 in my series on building an ecommerce business, I spoke with Mike Tecku, co-founder of Sky Solutions, which manufactures and sells Sky Mats, a floormat, in high volume on Amazon's marketplace.

Selling apparel online is notoriously competitive. The margins are thin, typically. Inventory management can be complicated with hundreds of SKUs for size and color and styles. This is episode 10 in my series on building an ecommerce business from the ground up. For this installment, I spoke with Mike Schwarz, founder of RibbedTee, a Los Angeles-based manufacturer and retailer of men's undershirts and underwear.

Many ecommerce businesses spend large amounts of money generating video content that few consumers watch. But with the right mindset and strategy, viewers will engage with your videos. YouTube could become a successful channel for your business. This is episode nine in my series on building an ecommerce business from the ground up.