She thought she had a 72 percent gross margin best seller.Two years later, it was barely breaking even.

In this episode, Lara walks through the exact invoice and data set that stopped a fast-growing DTC founder in her tracks. What looked wildly profitable on paper collapsed to an 8 percent contribution margin once every hidden cost was accounted for.

You’ll hear a full, line by line teardown of real unit economics, including the eight costs most founders underestimate, miscalculate, or completely ignore between the supplier invoice and actual profit. Freight, duties, fulfillment, shipping, returns, customer service, CAC and more.

This is the math that turns “hero products” into silent cash drains. And it’s the framework Lara uses to help brands stop scaling busy businesses and start building profitable ones.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know exactly where to find these numbers in your own systems and how to build a unit economics spreadsheet that tells the truth about every SKU you sell.

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

Follow & Subscribe:

• ⁠LinkedIn – Move⁠
• ⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠
• ⁠X – Move⁠
• ⁠X – Lara⁠
• ⁠Facebook⁠
• ⁠Instagram⁠
• ⁠YouTube⁠

Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Most founders know their gross margin by heart.

Sixty-five percent. Seventy percent. A number that sounds healthy and investor-ready.

In this episode of Supply Chain Moves, Lara explains why that number is often lying to you.

Gross margin only tells you what it costs to make a product. It says nothing about what it actually costs to sell it, ship it, return it, and acquire a customer for it. And at the $500K–$3M stage, that blind spot quietly destroys otherwise great brands.

You will hear real examples of DTC founders scaling their “best sellers” straight into losses, including a hero SKU with a beautiful 68% gross margin and a negative contribution margin once the real costs were counted.

By the end of this episode, you will know exactly how to calculate the one margin number that actually matters and how to use it to make better decisions across marketing, inventory, and product strategy.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why gross margin is a vanity metric at the growth stage
• The difference between gross margin and contribution margin by SKU
• A real example of a best-selling product losing money on every sale
• The seven costs most founders forget to include in their margin math
• Why your “hero product” might actually be your biggest problem
• How to build a simple contribution margin calculator in a spreadsheet
• What to do with products that have low or negative contribution margin
• How to realign marketing, finance, and supply chain around one shared number

Key takeaway:

Gross margin is for pitch decks.
Contribution margin is for survival.

If you are making decisions based on gross margin alone, you are flying blind.

Action step:

This week, calculate contribution margin for your top five SKUs.
Just five. The results will probably surprise you and tell you exactly what needs to change next.

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

Follow & Subscribe:

• ⁠LinkedIn – Move⁠
• ⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠
• ⁠X – Move⁠
• ⁠X – Lara⁠
• ⁠Facebook⁠
• ⁠Instagram⁠
• ⁠YouTube⁠

Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

“They seem fine” is not a supplier strategy.

In the final episode of Supplier Power Month, Lara introduces the Supplier Scorecard, the system that turns vendor management from gut feel into data-backed decisions.

If you’ve ever struggled to explain why inventory feels chaotic, margins are slipping, or suppliers keep disappointing you without anything “major” going wrong, this episode is for you.

Lara breaks down the five metrics every DTC brand must track to understand supplier performance clearly, including exact formulas, realistic targets, and a Red, Yellow, Green framework that tells you when to invest, when to fix, and when to walk away.

This episode goes beyond theory. You’ll hear real examples of how “fine” suppliers quietly cost brands tens of thousands of dollars, and you’ll get scripts you can use to have direct, professional conversations without damaging the relationship.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The five Supplier Scorecard metrics that actually matter
• How to calculate on-time delivery, defect rates, and true cost
• Why unit price alone is a misleading metric
• How to use Red, Yellow, Green zones to make decisions without emotion
• Scripts for introducing scorecards and addressing performance issues
• How to exit a supplier relationship without burning bridges

By the end of the episode, you’ll have a scorecard template you can implement this week, not next quarter, and a clear system for managing suppliers like a real operator, not a hopeful one.

This episode ties together everything from Supplier Power Month, from ranking and repositioning to negotiation and long-term leverage.

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

Follow & Subscribe:

• ⁠LinkedIn – Move⁠
• ⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠
• ⁠X – Move⁠
• ⁠X – Lara⁠
• ⁠Facebook⁠
• ⁠Instagram⁠
• ⁠YouTube⁠

Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Most DTC founders think supplier agreements are overkill. Until they’re staring at a warehouse full of unusable inventory and a supplier saying, “This is what you approved.”

In this episode of Supply Chain Moves, Lara breaks down a real story of a $50,000 mistake that almost killed a growing skincare brand and exactly how it could have been prevented with one simple document.

You’ll learn why trust alone is not a supply chain strategy and how vague specs, missing quality standards, and verbal agreements quietly destroy cash flow. Lara walks you through the eight non-negotiable sections every supplier agreement must include, using plain English and copy-paste language you can actually use this week.

This is not a legal lecture or a 100-page contract. It’s a practical playbook designed for DTC founders who want clarity, leverage, and protection without slowing down growth.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The real reason good supplier relationships still blow up
• The eight sections every supplier agreement must include
• How to define quality so defects don’t become your problem
• How unclear terms quietly drain cash flow
• Red flags that tell you a supplier is not worth the risk
• How to introduce a written agreement without damaging the relationship

If you’ve ever relied on WeChat messages, emails, or “we’ve always done it this way,” this episode is for you.

By the end, you’ll know exactly how to draft a simple supplier agreement that protects your margins, your sanity, and your business before the next shipment goes wrong.

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

Follow & Subscribe:

• ⁠LinkedIn – Move⁠
• ⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠
• ⁠X – Move⁠
• ⁠X – Lara⁠
• ⁠Facebook⁠
• ⁠Instagram⁠
• ⁠YouTube⁠

Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Most DTC founders think supplier negotiation starts and ends with price.

It doesn’t.

In this episode, Lara breaks down the seven things you can actually negotiate with suppliers, why price is often the weakest lever, and how to frame your asks so suppliers want to say yes instead of quietly deprioritizing you.

This is a tactical, no-fluff playbook you can use on your very next PO.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why negotiating on price alone leaves money on the table
• The 7 supplier terms you can negotiate (and which matter most)
• Simple scripts that get better terms without damaging relationships
• How suppliers actually think about your asks
• When to push, when to accept, and how Finance changes the game

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

Follow & Subscribe:

• ⁠LinkedIn – Move⁠
• ⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠
• ⁠X – Move⁠
• ⁠X – Lara⁠
• ⁠Facebook⁠
• ⁠Instagram⁠
• ⁠YouTube⁠

Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• ⁠SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Episode Summary

Most DTC founders assume that being the customer automatically gives them leverage with suppliers. In this episode of Supply Chain Moves, Omar breaks down why that belief quietly costs brands money, time, and sanity.

Suppliers rank their customers, even if they never tell you. That invisible ranking determines who gets prioritized when capacity is tight, delays hit, or problems arise. Drawing from real-world experience working with DTC brands, this episode unpacks the five factors suppliers actually care about, the warning signs that reveal where you truly stand, and a case study of a $3M brand that discovered their “bad supplier” was simply reacting to their behavior.

You’ll also hear why finance decisions, especially payment timing, play a much bigger role in supplier relationships than most founders realize.

Key Topics Covered

• Supplier prioritization and invisible account ranking
• Volume consistency versus large but erratic orders
• Payment reliability and its downstream impact on operations
• Operational ease and why suppliers remember friction
• Growth trajectory and long-term supplier thinking
• Relationship history and earned flexibility
• The finance and supply chain connection most brands miss

Who This Episode Is For

• DTC and ecommerce founders frustrated by missed deadlines, slow replies, or inconsistent quality
• Brand operators who feel “stuck” with a supplier but are not sure if switching is the right move
• Founders who assume supplier issues are caused by size or lack of leverage
• Finance and operations leaders responsible for cash flow, payments, and supplier relationships
• Growing brands that want better treatment from suppliers without constantly renegotiating price

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

Follow & Subscribe:

• ⁠LinkedIn – Move⁠
• ⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠
• ⁠X – Move⁠
• ⁠X – Lara⁠
• ⁠Facebook⁠
• ⁠Instagram⁠
• ⁠YouTube⁠

Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• ⁠SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

Episode Summary
In this episode, Omar, Growth Partner at Move and sourcing specialist, breaks down what 2025 actually did to sourcing and inventory for DTC brands and why the cost of being wrong quietly skyrocketed.

If 2025 exposed anything, it was how fragile most sourcing setups really were. Tariffs, trade friction, timing issues, and shrinking reaction windows forced founders to confront a hard truth. Sourcing is no longer a one-time purchasing decision. It is a core business model decision.

This episode is a founder-friendly, no-fluff wrap-up of the biggest lessons from 2025 and a practical playbook for building optionality in 2026 so you are not trapped when things shift again.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why 2025 made supply chain lag painfully visible for DTC brands
• The hidden costs founders felt but rarely modeled, including decision lag, quality tax, cash timing tax, and switching tax
• What sourcing paralysis looks like and why “waiting for clarity” is still a decision
• How to shift from chasing certainty to building systems that work under uncertainty
• The Optionality Stack framework and how to actually build it without chaos
• How inventory strategy needs to change based on demand confidence
• Where AI and tools actually help and where they do not
• A 7-day action plan to turn this episode into real operational progress

Who This Episode Is For

• DTC founders navigating supplier risk and cost volatility
• Operators managing inventory, sourcing, or cash flow
• Ecommerce teams preparing for 2026 planning
• Brands that felt exposed by tariffs, delays, or forecasting misses in 2025

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

Follow & Subscribe:

• ⁠LinkedIn – Move⁠
• ⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠
• ⁠X – Move⁠
• ⁠X – Lara⁠
• ⁠Facebook⁠
• ⁠Instagram⁠
• ⁠YouTube⁠

Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• ⁠SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

In this special episode, Lara and Claude sit down with Charlie, Luke, and Daniel of Dip UK. It’s their first time in Manila, so we took the chance to dive into their story, their experience working with Filipino talent, and how they have scaled a modern UK brand through strong customer experience and dependable operations.

They covered everything from their first impressions of the Philippines to the behind-the-scenes challenges of running a growing DTC brand. If you are building something global, this conversation will give you a real-world look at what it takes to scale with the right people, systems, and partners.

Inside this episode

• Why their trip to the Philippines surprised them and what stood out

• How Dip started, the philosophy behind the brand, and what people often misunderstand about their product until they try it

• Their four-year experience working with a Move customer service talent and the unexpected impact on their community

• The customer service qualities that matter most in DTC and how these shape brand trust

• The operational and supply chain challenges of running a UK brand and how Move helped simplify the hard parts

• The roles and manpower they expect to be essential as Dip enters its next stage of growth, from logistics to marketing to more CS support

• What is next for Dip and the exciting developments they are exploring for the coming year

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Get to know the brand behind the conversation: Dip UK

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

Follow & Subscribe:

• ⁠LinkedIn – Move⁠
• ⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠
• ⁠X – Move⁠
• ⁠X – Lara⁠
• ⁠Facebook⁠
• ⁠Instagram⁠
• ⁠YouTube⁠

Get more insights:

• ⁠Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• ⁠Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• ⁠SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

In this episode, Lara and Omar sit down with the team from Speedfulfill, Move Supply Chain’s newest partner, to dive into the inner workings of a 3PL built for fast-growing DTC brands. 

From organized warehouse operations to cutting-edge ERP systems, Speedfulfill shares how they help brands scale without bottlenecks and why quality, speed, and customer experience are never mutually exclusive.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• How dropshipping expertise shaped Speedfulfill’s warehouse operations.
• Why quality checks at the inbound stage make a huge difference for customers.
• How their ERP system gives clients a competitive edge over traditional 3PL setups.
• Real-world examples of reduced errors and faster fulfillment using their tools.
• Secrets to maintaining fast communication while supporting global brands.
• Aligning operations and support teams so clients always feel heard.
• Balancing speed and accuracy during high-volume seasons like BFCM.
• Helping brands scale confidently without fulfillment bottlenecks.
• How Speedfulfill is preparing for AI and automation in logistics.
• Tips for DTC brands looking for a reliable fulfillment partner in China.

If this episode helped make your supply chain a little less painful, share it with another founder because nobody deserves to learn these lessons the hard way. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Speedfulfill: 

• speedfulfill.com/contacts
• [email protected] 

Connect with Lara & Move Supply Chain

Want to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

Follow & Subscribe:

• LinkedIn – Move⁠
• LinkedIn – Lara⁠
• X – Move⁠
• X – Lara⁠
• Facebook⁠
• Instagram⁠
• YouTube⁠

Get more insights:

• Unboxed Weekly⁠ – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves
• Lara’s AI Brain⁠ – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain
• SC Lounge⁠ – Join Move Supply Chain's free Slack community for DTC founders

In this episode, Lara sits down with Claude (Move’s Operations Director) and Gee (Supply Chain Manager) to unpack their recent visit to a Vietnam sourcing fair. They share what they learned about manufacturers, materials, and sourcing strategies that founders can apply today.

You’ll learn

• How to spot reliable manufacturers and avoid common sourcing pitfalls

• What product categories are thriving in Vietnam and why it matters for DTC brands

• Tips for negotiating better terms and lead times with overseas suppliers

• How brands are reducing production risk by diversifying sourcing partners

• Insider trends in Southeast Asia that could shape your next product launch

  
  

Key takeawaySourcing smarter isn’t just about finding a factory — it’s about understanding the ecosystem, spotting opportunities early, and building relationships that last.

If this episode gave you a clearer view of international sourcing, share it with another founder — nobody should guess their way through overseas manufacturing. Follow Supply Chain Moves wherever you get your podcasts.

Connect with Lara & Move Supply ChainWant to keep learning and connect with Lara and the Move Supply Chain community?

Follow & Subscribe:⁠⁠LinkedIn – Move⁠⁠LinkedIn – Lara⁠⁠X – Move⁠⁠X – Lara⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠YouTube

Get more insights:⁠⁠Unboxed Weekly – Lara’s newsletter on DTC supply chain moves⁠⁠Lara’s AI Brain – Ask Lara’s AI anything about supply chain⁠⁠SC Lounge – Join the private founder community