Ecommerce Wizards Podcast

Why Shortening the Cash Conversion Cycle is Crucial With Matt Putra

Matt Putra is an experienced financial executive with a long career spent with small businesses and conducting long-term forecasting for ecommerce brands. He is a Fractional CFO for EightX, a company specializing in predicting the pattern, future, and profit for businesses in any industry.  Matt has worked with many businesses, including Tru Earth, The Tumeric Co., Lusomé, Community Forward Fund, and New Market Funds. Additionally, he works closely with entrepreneurs to help them establish new businesses. In this episode… The Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) is a metric that many businesses don’t consider enough. How many days does your ecommerce business take to convert sales into cash?  Cash is everything for ecommerce businesses. Sales are essential, but cash management is even more important for long-term health. Many young companies neglect this aspect and suffer in the long run, leaving potential growth on the table or burning out. A handful of incredible tips can help online brands shorten their CCC. Guillaume Le Tual again joins Matt Putra, a Fractional CFO at EightX, to discuss CCC in-depth and what ecommerce businesses should improve about their process. They dive into the four steps Matt suggests for brands, why the subject matters so much, and how even small changes can make massive differences. They also go through inventory pricing and adding more value on the back end.

How to Financially Structure Your Ecommerce Business With Matt Putra

Matt Putra is an experienced financial executive with a long career spent with small businesses and conducting long-term forecasting for ecommerce brands. He is a Fractional CFO for EightX, a company specializing in predicting the pattern, future, and profit for businesses in any industry.  Matt has worked with many businesses, including Tru Earth, The Tumeric Co., Lusomé, Community Forward Fund, and New Market Funds. Additionally, he works closely with entrepreneurs to help them establish new businesses. In this episode… Are you an ecommerce entrepreneur struggling to get a handle on your finances? When starting a business, getting a foothold on your finances is one of the most complex and vital aspects of your endeavor. You may face a myriad of financial hiccups, strains, and issues. You can get advice on improving logistics, but that doesn’t address your financial structure or the effects of inventory levels on cash flow. Should you take out a loan or secure a line of credit? Entrepreneurs need sound financial advice and long-term solutions so they can concentrate on growing a thriving business. In this episode of the Ecommerce Wizards Podcast, Guillaume Le Tual speaks with Matt Putra, a Fractional CFO at EightX, about properly structuring your finances as an ecommerce company. They discuss the best loans, properly using a line of credit, how to handle inventory spikes, and keeping money for continual growth. Matt also talks about how to handle yourself when approaching lenders. 

Selling an Ecommerce Business: Valuation, Deal Structure, and Legal Pitfalls To Avoid

Paul Rafelson is a Partner at Rafelson Law Firm, which focuses exclusively on ecommerce business concerns. With over 15 years of experience, he has in-depth knowledge of tax, litigation, and M&A legal matters and is regularly cited by the press when it comes to Amazon and ecommerce. The House Antitrust Committee used him as a primary resource in its report on Amazon’s business practices. Before his private practice, Paul worked as an in-house attorney at Microsoft, Walmart, and General Electric. He is also a professor at Pace University School of Law in New York, where he teaches constitutional law on state taxation. In this episode… Most of the advice available for ecommerce businesses centers around building and growing the company. However, questions for entrepreneurs interested in selling and exiting remain, including what’s a fair price and what issues deserve special attention. As an experienced ecommerce attorney, Paul Rafelson has extensive knowledge in the complex world of mergers and acquisitions. With many moving parts, the process of selling your business and having a successful exit needs special attention. Paul knows that having someone to help you navigate these matters is essential, especially for Amazon sellers. Having legal counsel at your side will help prevent a deal from going sideways and ensure you get the best return possible. In this episode of the Ecommerce Wizards Podcast, Guillaume Le Tual sits down with Paul Rafelson, Partner at Rafelson Law, to talk about selling an ecommerce or Amazon seller business. They go through the entire process, including appropriate expectations, how much you should receive upfront, considering economies of scale, and the legalities involved in selling your business.

How To Drive Traffic and Acquire Customers for Your eCommerce Store With Brent O’Brien

Brent O’Brien is the Senior Ecommerce Manager at Pactimo, a cycling clothing and custom team apparel store. As a dynamic and motivated ecommerce manager, he brings 10-plus years of experience to the table. He has developed marketing and sales strategies at companies such as Yeti and Truewerk. Before his ecommerce career, Brent worked in the football programs at several universities. In this episode… Every ecommerce store is looking for simple ways to drive traffic and increase sales. Unfortunately, it can be complex to decipher what may be the best plan of attack and often requires someone with experience to map it out. To learn the most effective strategies, you should learn from those with a proven track record. With a wealth of experience as an ecommerce manager and marketing leader, Brent O’Brien knows the tricks of the trade. At Pactimo, he has propelled the company toward furthering its success by growing its ecommerce DTC clothing line. When you know how to use the strategic intricacies of directing, attracting, and retaining customers using exemplary methods, you will boost your bottom line. So what are Brent’s secrets?  In this episode of the Ecommerce Wizards Podcast, Guillaume Le Tual talks with Brent O’Brien, Senior Ecommerce Manager at Pactimo, to discuss his approach to acquiring customers and improving sales. They touch on the company’s best strategies, average order value, maximizing the checkout process, and how to use free trials of apps to your advantage. 

How to Grow and Thrive as a SaaS Startup With Tom Kulzer, CEO of AWeber

Tom Kulzer is the CEO and Founder of AWeber, a company he started in 1998 to guide small businesses in fostering more engaging customer relationships and designing effective email marketing. Tom grew the company from zero to 300,000 clients through his unique take on market strategy and team building. Due to his dedication to building a thriving and unique workplace culture, AWeber has been voted one of Pennsylvania's Best Places to Work 10 years in a row. In this episode… Bootstrapping can be a formidable method of financing a startup. There are many unknowns and hurdles to overcome, especially when it’s your first venture. For SaaS companies, getting your name out there and establishing a demand for your offering is also necessary. Tom Kulzer started AWeber 25 years ago and turned a startup into a reliable software company. His email marketing strategies are already respected, but now he explains how he grew his business from the ground up. In this episode of Ecommerce Wizards Podcast, Guillaume Le Tual invites Tom Kulzer, the Founder and CEO of AWeber, back onto the show to talk about how he nurtured his startup. They touch on the early days, how Tom cultivated his initial audience, and how he established customers. The two also discuss the potential pitfalls of a budding business and finding people to grow with the company.