Robert Clapp is a 60-year-old entrepreneur selling on Amazon since 2020. He started his Amazon business to create a lifestyle that offered new challenges and a work life balance. Previously, he spent 20 + years working in the film industry as a set builder, on shows such as Survivor, Star Wars and Happy Gilmore, which is a very time-consuming profession. Selling on Amazon has certainly been a challenge but also very rewarding. He has learned so much about the business and more importantly, about himself. And he has now the lifestyle that he set out to create.

> Here’s a glimpse of what you would learn…. 

In the latest Ecomm Breakthrough podcast episode, host Josh Hadley sits down with Bob Clapp to explore the financial strategies behind scaling an e-commerce business. They delve into the smart use of credit cards for cash flow optimization, the power of negotiating better payment terms with suppliers, and the benefits of seeking alternative shipping solutions. Bob shares his progress and the positive impact of these strategies on his business's growth and profitability. This insightful conversation underscores the importance of proactive financial management and continuous operational optimization for e-commerce success.

Here are the 3 action items that Josh identified from this episode:

Action Item #1: Conduct a Strategy Audit: Take time to deeply analyze your e-commerce business operations, marketing, and financial strategies.

Action Item #2: Leverage Manufacturer Relationships for Financing: Consider your manufacturers as potential partners in financing growth.

Action Item #3: Prioritize Continuous Testing and Optimization: Adopt a mindset of continuous improvement by regularly testing and optimizing aspects of your e-commerce operation, such as product listings and marketing strategies.

Special Mention(s):

Related Episode(s):

This episode is brought to you by eComm Breakthrough Consulting where I help seven-figure e-commerce owners grow to eight figures. 

I started my business in 2015 and grew it to an eight-figure brand in seven years.

I made mistakes along the way that made the path to eight figures longer. At times I doubted whether our business could even survive and become a real brand. I wish I would have had a guide to help me grow faster and avoid the stumbling blocks.

If you’ve hit a plateau and want to know the next steps to take your business to the next level, then email me at josh@ecommbreakthrough.com and in your subject line say “strategy audit” for the chance to win a $10,000 comprehensive business strategy audit at no cost!

Josh (00:00:00) - Welcome to the Ecomm Breakthrough podcast. I'm your host, Josh Hadley, where I interviewed the top business leaders in e-commerce. Past guests include Kevin King, Michael E Gerber, author of The E-myth, and Matt Clark from ASM. Today I am speaking with Bob Clapp. We just went through a strategy audit with him. He reached out. He wanted some insights for his own brand. We had met at a previous conference, and he has already taken some massive steps in his own business, where he has been able to grow the velocity of his sales over 100%. And we have now laid out a game plan in a blueprint for how he can continue to scale his business. Today he's going to be sharing his feedback, those actions that he's taken and the levers that he's been pulling in order to dominate the market. This episode is brought to you by Ecomm Breakthrough Consulting, where I help seven figure companies grow to eight figures and beyond. Listen, Bob, I started my business back in 2015 and I grew it to an eight figure brand in seven years.

Josh (00:01:03) - But I made a lot of mistakes along the way. That made the path of getting to eight figures take a lot longer than it needed to. There were times where I made bad hiring decisions. I had to take money from my personal account in order to fund payroll because of cashflow constraints. And during Covid, our brand experience at 90% decline in sales. And so I had to worry about whether our brand could actually survive. I remember wishing for a mentor who could help guide me through the maze of scaling up somebody who had been there, done that, and could share all the secrets to help me overcome those obstacles. That's why I've decided to offer one on one coaching and consulting, where I shared the nitty gritty cash flow frameworks, the sales strategies, and the operating systems that have helped me scale my own business. And because I believe in giving each entrepreneur my undivided attention. I only work with three clients at a time. But first, I want to make sure we're a perfect match. So I'm offering a completely free, no strings attached business strategy audit, which Bob just went through.

Josh (00:02:02) - And so to our fellow listeners, those of you who are interested, if that sounds like something you're up for, drop me an email at Josh at Ecomm Breakthrough dot com. That's ecom with two M's. And in your subject line say I want to pick your brain. And then let's chat about how we can take your brand to the next level. But without further ado, let's bring Bob onto the show. Bob, welcome to the podcast.

Bob (00:02:28) - Thanks for having me, Josh. It's a pleasure to be here and I do appreciate your time.

Josh (00:02:33) - Bob, we had a great conversation today. we went we we dove deep into your brand, looking at the competitive landscape, talking about your manufacturer, your suppliers, and those that you're working with and the actions you've already taken to increase your sales velocity and your organic ranking, and then your future plans of what you're going to do in order to continue to scale your business. So I'm interested to hear this first. Bob. A how did you find out about the podcast to begin with? Were you able to adopt, you know, any golden nuggets from any of those podcast episodes, and how did you scale your business up until this point before even jumping on this audit?

Bob (00:03:17) - well, let's see.

Bob (00:03:18) - well, we met in a at Eclimb summit in Austin, Texas, back in December, where you presented on how to hire employees or workers for you, which I found very interesting. And then we had a conversation regarding my business and my brand, and, and you had mentioned to me about adding product was the quickest, the biggest lever I could pull in order for the business to grow, which we have done, which we have done. So that was really, a breakthrough for us. in terms of your podcast, listening to all your, the guests, Brian Johnson or Adam Heist, and, I think Mina was the other one.

Josh (00:04:01) - The Mina. Elias.

Bob (00:04:03) - Mina, all little bits and pieces out of that that I, that I got, mainly was looking at, adding infographics to the listing, which I did, which seemed to help a lot, testing, the new titles as well, testing keywords in the title, putting keywords into the infographics, which, I think really did help.

Bob (00:04:28) - what else do we do? yeah, that was kind of the biggest, the biggest things we did, the biggest changes we made, played around with the price a little bit, but that was it was more, For about just, looking at optimizing the listing.

Josh (00:04:44) - Yeah. No, I love that. And so let's boil that down for our listeners, Bob, so that they can take the similar action. So one of the first things that you had talked about, we had Meena Elias and Brian Johnson on the podcast previously. Feel free to look up those those episodes because they gave some awesome advice and tips and strategies for how you can optimize your main image. Okay. And so, Bob, one of the things that I think you took away from, I think it was Brian Johnson's episode he talked about, like, for whatever reason, anytime we test like the color red, if it's not predominantly in a lot of the other competitor listings, if you can somehow figure out a way to incorporate Red into your listing, it's going to make it pop and stand out on that listing.

Josh (00:05:31) - And sure enough, as we dove into your product listing, I saw that little like pop of red. You know, you would place like a flower. Does your product come with the flower? No, not necessarily. It's not. You placed. You placed a flower to the side and it looks fantastic. and here's the most important thing that you did, Bob. You, as you look at all of the listings on page one for your product. Everybody looks the same. Almost everybody looks the same. They all kind of have the same, you know, bag that they're including as an accessory to their product. And it's always the product first and foremost. And then this bag sitting behind it, everybody looks the same. Yours is completely different. You have a box sitting in the background. You have a little flower off to the side. You also have additional accessories that you're including in your package that other people don't as well. And so I love that you took action on that.

Josh (00:06:30) - And I'd be interested to hear like, what were some of like the takeaways that you can remember from those podcast episodes that I guess inspired you to go and change your main image?

Bob (00:06:41) - well, I guess I can say about the it was just testing the image, and what we've done previously was, we had we had just all I had was the, the one cremation urn with the four small ones around it, no background, no box in the background. And that was working to an extent, but especially when it was a white product on a white background. It became very difficult to stand out. And it did kind of just blur, just it didn't stand out. And then I thought, we need to incorporate the box. So we tried a different position for the box. Didn't include flowers in it, but it just wasn't the right image. And then we went back and did it yet again. again, after listening to the podcast and, and deciding to put a couple of red flowers or a red flower in there just to make it stand out, especially the white urn, because of the fact it's on a white background and then the blue box in the background, we had some difficulty in positioning it properly so that we could, utilize the rectangular, the vertical rectangular format of the, of the listing, especially for mobile.

Bob (00:07:46) - So that was a bit of a challenge. But then we tested it against the previous ones and it tested the best of the bunch.

Josh (00:07:54) - So how did you test it? What tools did you use to test those images? Because it sounds like you iterated quite a bit. It wasn't. Oh, one night I woke up and this was the idea I had in my mind and bam, it worked. Magically sound like there were iterations.

Bob (00:08:08) - yeah, there was. I mean, it basically used the Amazon a B testing for that. and also used, Pickfu as just a general idea between doing the images, to see which one they preferred. And it was what we're currently using now.

Josh (00:08:25) - Awesome. I love that. Bob. I love that there were incremental improvements all along the way. Right. And that's something I try to continue to reiterate on this show, is that you should always be testing, and your main image is like, what if there's anything you should be testing? It's either price or it's your main image, okay.

Josh (00:08:46) - Because when you do that, those are your biggest levers. It's going to drive click through rate and it's going to drive your conversion rate. The main image is going to drive your click through rate. It's going to set you apart. It's basically the thing that says, hey, you know, we're open for business. Come check us out. And then once you get onto our product detail page, it's my job to convert you. And you've done such a good job with that. And I know it's something that you've been focused on. And in return, you're ranking really high on page one for various search terms in your niche, despite being double and even triple the price of your competitors, which I think is very impressive. And I speak and I think that alludes to the fact of how well you've done in establishing the value that comes from your product, just from the main image.

Bob (00:09:38) - That's what I appreciate that. That's a very nice thing to say. yeah. We, yeah, we've tested a bunch of things.

Bob (00:09:46) - And, this journey started two years ago. Then, you know, we bought, I think, a hundred sets to sell, and we sold those in five weeks. And that was with the old image. So we knew we were kind of on to something. And then over the years has just been testing and testing and testing, testing, title testing, keywords, keeping, using, brand search queries in order to see what were the current, most search terms. There's not a lot of variation there, but there's some and then incorporating those into the title, which helps, obviously. And anywhere else we could put them in the bullet points as well. and then just, just making legacy, just little, little adjustments along the way and seeing if it moved the needle at all.

Josh (00:10:31) - So I love that.

Bob (00:10:31) - Work to be done.

Josh (00:10:33) - Yeah. There's always and it will never end. You will always have to be testing.

Bob (00:10:39) - Yeah. It's not a set and forget like some people think.

Bob (00:10:41) - So. Yeah. I think that's our advantage, compared to when I look at some of our competitors and I've been keeping an eye on their titles and their keywords, and. And they rarely change.

Josh (00:10:53) - See when you actually.

Josh (00:10:56) - Focus on your business, you'll find out how lazy most competitors are, right? Yeah. One of the core values that we have in our business is going the extra mile. Okay. We go the extra mile because we know that it is less crowded. And truly, most people are not willing to go the extra mile, right? We can talk all day long about main image optimizations and running consecutive price tests. But guess what? Most people think of Amazon businesses as they think of them as these passive income stores that it's like, oh, you set it and forget it, and you're just printing money right, left and right. And I think that that is such a falsity that all of these course creators have been pitching over the last few years, like, oh, get on Amazon for passive income.

Josh (00:11:45) - Amazon, in my opinion, is one of the least passive sources of income. And I'm actually happy if my competitors are the ones that are being passive and they think that this is a passive income business, I'm super happy they are, because I've got a team that's working day and night, that's going to run circles around them. And it may not be apparent tomorrow, but 3 to 5 years from now it'll be very apparent. And I think that's what makes all the difference.

Bob (00:12:13) - I think you're right. It was something I saw, on a I guess it was an Instagram post from Garyvee that talked about the fact that passive income, there's nothing passive about it. You've got to keep working. There is, you know, I don't know about you, but I'm working hard to get this, to keep this thing going. And, I don't think he's correct. And there is a lot of work involved, and you do need to stay on top of it, and you need to monitor it, and and, if you want it to grow.

Bob (00:12:44) - So, yeah, I think, what I really enjoy about your podcast is it's more focused and it's more positioned for people that have had some success on Amazon and, and want to get to that next level, so to speak. offering all the guests you have, it's not necessarily a, you know, they're talking about launching. It's about growing. And I think that's really missing in the market these days. All these so-called gurus and people that you see on YouTube are all pitching the ideas of these courses of launching products. And then that's it. But they don't talk about the growth. They don't talk about the cash flow issues. They don't talk about developing new products, optimizing the listing and so forth. So I think that's where you're drawn to your podcast. And, the guests that you have there certainly reflect that.

Josh (00:13:37) - Awesome. Well, I appreciate those kind words, Bob. I guess I'll have to ship you that check now for that testimonial. we just.

Josh (00:13:47) - All right, Bob, I am interested to hear your thoughts on. We just had your strategy on it before we hit the record button here. Yes. And I know there are other sellers like yourself that are listening to this show. They do want to grow to the next level, and you are brave enough to reach out and say, hey, I'm interested in doing this strategy audit. So before we dive into the details of the strategy audit, I'll ask you this simple question first. Do you feel like this was worth your time? reaching out, requesting the strategy audit, and spending a few hours with me.

Bob (00:14:19) - Oh, no doubt. Yeah. No doubt. It's been. It's been great. I mean, solidified some ideas I already had just to speak to someone that's already in the position I'd like to be at in terms of business wise. So that's it, it's just to hear your thoughts on what I've done so far, and getting the confirmation of what I've done is correct or it has worked.

Bob (00:14:43) - has been really helpful. And then also just looking at how we can tweak it to get better, in terms of financing, which you've pointed out a few, few ideas there. And, and also just, where do we go from here? So what we, as you mentioned in your podcast many times, is what got you here isn't going to get you there. And so that's kind of where I'm trying to focus. So what would be next for me? Well, I would be introducing more products. and just testing again, throwing up some, throwing up, you know, just more product and seeing how it works.

Josh (00:15:18) - Yeah, I love that. So Bob, let's go into the details then of your strategy audit and tell me what were some of the mindset shifts or kind of the breakthroughs that you had as we talked?

Bob (00:15:31) - the breakthroughs probably would have been the first off would be the financing that you offered your, the cash flow issues, talking about the use of, credit cards and statement dates and working, taking those to your advantage, or you have some of your suppliers and giving you good terms.

Bob (00:15:50) - At least you could get them with the credit cards, maybe 30 or 60 days, 90 days, if you do it correctly. That's certainly an eye opener. for the others.

Josh (00:16:01) - So let's double down on let's double down on that real quick then, Bob. okay. So let's talk about, what we addressed because I asked you, you know, one of your, your constraints that you had or questions to begin with was like, hey, I want to launch new products, but I have limited amount of cash to continue to invest, and I've got to save some of that to reinvest in my existing products, to purchase more inventory. But how do I find the additional growth and how do I forecast that? And I said, this all comes back to the number one source of financing for any Amazon business owner or any physical products. E-commerce business owners are going to be your manufacturer, period. It's not the other, you know, song and dance financing companies that you hear about, and they show up at all the conferences that ultimately have, you know, April interest rates that are almost 20%.

Josh (00:16:56) - That's not going to be your best asset, right? That's not going to be your best partner. Instead, what you want to leverage on is going to be your relationship with your manufacturer. And we also talked about how with some of our new manufacturers that we've negotiated with overseas is being able to get financing where, you know, it's you're not paying a deposit upfront, and then you've got 90, 120 days after the product ships before you need to pay that invoice. That's literally game changing where you could start, you know, selling that product, making money on it before you've ever paid for that product that allows you and your manufacturer that you both grow together. And so I think like that's a big mindset shift that a lot of sellers need to have is that they see this like their manufacturers, like, oh, it's just the guy that I get my stuff from, right? And if it's not him, it'll be somebody else. You need to flip that script and you need to say, hey, who is this guy on the other side of the table, this guy or gal? And how do I partner with them? How do I show them that? Like, look, we are partners in this business.

Josh (00:18:06) - Together. You grow. As I grow, you're going to grow as well. And I'm not going to leave you hanging. Right? Like your ability to pay your bills on time. I cannot emphasize, like, how important that becomes if you only got one chance. And as soon as you stop paying your bills, you've ruined that trust. And you're fighting an uphill battle in your business for a long, long time because of that. But what we talked about, Bob, was, can you get a 90 day, 120 day net term from your supplier after the product ships? If you can't, what can you do to just flip that a little bit more where, you know, instead of having to pay a 50% upfront and then a 50%, final payment 30 days after it ships, what can you do to push that out to 60 days after it ships, or can you do it 20% down payment and then 80% later and push that to even 60 days? Any of those are going to make a massive difference for you.

Josh (00:19:11) - And then we did wrap things up by saying, hey, worst case scenario, let's say your manufacturer is not willing to budge whatsoever, okay. There's a couple of things that you could do. If you have to send them ACH payments or wire transfers, okay. You can use services such as Plastiq or Millio. I believe they are okay, which basically will send those wire transfers to your supplier or your manufacturer for you. And then you are able to then pay plastique with a credit card, okay. For that exact same payment. Now that does come with a fee, but it's only 2.9%. And there's a lot of credit cards out there. There's like the Chase ink, preferred card that gives you 2.5% cashback on any purchase over $5,000. We also talked about utilizing the Amex Plum card, which is probably one of my favorites. Now, you're not going to get really any cash back points on this, but it has a 60 day payback period. Okay, so no interest. It's 60 days for you to pay that bill.

Josh (00:20:23) - And so we talked about this. Open up multiple credit cards and make sure you stagger them as you're opening them up so that theoretically you have a credit card, statement that starts on the first of the month, another one that starts theoretically on the eighth, another one that starts on the 16th, another one that starts on the 22nd, etc.. Right. And then the trick is that you're constantly cycling through your credit cards, and you charge that card at the very beginning of its new statement date. Okay. Because in the example of the Amex plum card, if my credit card starts the statement date starts on the 16th of every month, charge it on the 16th, and then now and then, don't make any additional charges. Maybe you can that first week, but if you don't make any additional charges after that first week, you now effectively have 90 days of cash flow because you've got 30 more days until the statement closes. Then you've got 60 days after that statement closes. And so you can see how game changing that can be.

Josh (00:21:30) - And you can follow that similar strategy for your Amazon advertising, etc.. So Bob, is that a pretty good summary? Anything else that you kind of gleaned from that?

Bob (00:21:43) - mainly it was what you talked about earlier about the billing and relationship with your supplier. I have a very good relationship with him. I talk to him probably, do FaceTime with him probably once a week, if not more. When we talk about, you know, future growth, he's encouraging me to, to grow, and ordering larger numbers and creating and creating a stockpile that he would actually hold on to. And then we would take them from that. That's what he would like to create, for us. So yes, we've had a I do agree or would recommend you build a solid relationship much like what you said in your interview with Ben Leonard, when he actually went overseas to the supplier and got a face to face and built that relationship. You can do that, obviously, but I think he can probably still do it with some face time and just taking some time to get to know these people and what they're and who they are.

Bob (00:22:42) - And I think that's, what's difficult in this e-comm business is you don't get much face to face here at home, in your own office, taking care of your business. But rarely do you get to talk to anybody. So, I would encourage people to reach out and make that effort to do that.

Josh (00:23:00) - Yeah. Love that. I think you sum that up really, really well and create that true partnership and let them know it's much more than just business getting to know their family, their hobbies, their interests.

Bob (00:23:11) - Etc. and that's not coming from a position of or a of just trying to get something out of them. It's actually, you know, you want to do business with these people and you want to and you want to know about them. Right? And so that's what it is.

Josh (00:23:26) - So I love that. All right, Bob, what else did you glean? What were some other breakthroughs or mindset shifts?

Bob (00:23:34) - was the other one who was looking for you, said to look for other manufacturers, maybe US based manufacturers, our manufacturers currently in India.

Bob (00:23:45) - So there was always that shipping delay. and just this has been pointed out to me before about our business was the fact that we're totally reliant on one supplier, and we do need to expand, to make sure that if something were to happen, our business doesn't go down as well. Yeah. That's something I'm going to be looking into for sure. I have already found another supplier in India who I am looking to do some business with. But that's still in the early stages.

Josh (00:24:16) - So, yeah. No, I agree. And with our business, you know, one of our core competitive advantages is that we have manufacturing here in the US. And I have worked with our existing manufacturer. We're almost going on ten years at this point. I think it's been nine years. And they are the backbone of our business. And because we have such a long relationship with them, we've never missed a payment and we've just built a good rapport over the years. When I go out of stock on a product, they're going to rush that product out the door, right? And I've got it back in stock within the next week.

Josh (00:24:55) - Right. And so a lot of my competitors that are sourcing their products overseas, like they're going to get crushed when they go out of stock and they lose their organic ranking like they're fighting an uphill battle. And so in addition to being able to launch products more quickly, being able to purchase relatively low mocks to start to see which type of products are going to do well, and then being able to double down on those. it really like, I guess we cannot emphasize enough that relationship with your manufacturer or your supplier, because even negotiating MOX, can you get it lower to begin with so that it allows you to test and not have to put all of your chips on the table and say like, oh, great, I got to order a thousand of these just just to test the market. Like, man, that's a big, bold test. Whereas what if you could test only 100 units? Right. And if they sell through great reorder and get them replenished as soon as possible. So I think that is a great takeaway for you.

Bob (00:26:00) - That's how we started. We ordered just 100 units to begin with. And then and then we found that they sold out within five weeks. And unfortunately we didn't put in an order quick enough. So the delay was a bit longer than we'd like. So we were out of stock for about three weeks, I guess. But knowing that the product worked and what we sell that it wasn't, it wasn't something, something that people knew new customers would be coming into the fold all the time. So that would, we knew it was going to work. Yeah, I love it. So it was just a matter of trying to expand it and make it better and make sure that we didn't have those gaps in the inventory.

Josh (00:26:42) - So 100%, Bob. What else? These are some great insights.

Bob (00:26:47) - the other one would be the shipping that we discussed, talked about looking at a different, different, shipping company. We currently use one that ships to the East Coast, which offers a good rate, and they're and they're, they're the third party logistics.

Bob (00:27:05) - So they ship into Amazon for us. but we're looking for another one. So this company called Tactical Logistics were in negotiations with to, maybe have a supply on the, on the West Coast as opposed to, the East Coast where they currently are. their shipping rates to LA were cheaper than I anticipated. So it's something we're probably going to go forward with in the near future. and also, you had mentioned looking into WD as well. that would be the next thing. I have not looked into that yet, but that's something we will explore for sure.

Josh (00:27:44) - Yeah, definitely. Like here's what's going to be the game changer on Amazon over the next 3 to 5 years. Everybody's always trying to predict what's going to happen on Amazon 3 to 5 years from now, right? Here's what we can know for sure. Is not going to change on Amazon over the next 3 to 5 years. Our FBA fees are going to decrease. Are they going to let up and say, guys, no more inbound placement fees.

Josh (00:28:10) - Just do whatever you want. We're going back to the good old days of 2015. we've got your back. Is Amazon going to do that? Heck no they're not. They are going to be making sure you've got to be perfect with your inventory. We don't want too much at FBA. We don't want too little at FBA. And so your supply chain is a massive lever for success in this business. Abe Kamali posted a LinkedIn article that said, you know, with these new inventory placement fees and the low inventory fee, etc., he's like the people that don't know their fees and their supply chain. They're going to continue operating over the next six months thinking that things are okay, and then they're going to wake up with very little money in their bank account and be like, wait, what just happened? Where? Why do I like losing money figuratively? And you're going to have people that just start dropping their prices and trying to get out of the market. And so it's going to be a storm that needs to be weathered over the next, I would argue, 12 to 18 months, and only the best will survive.

Josh (00:29:17) - And so making sure that you have a good supply chain like prowess and also that you've set things up properly, is going to make all the difference because the people that don't and continue operating their business the same way that they were doing it back in 2020. 2021. The game has changed and it will continue to evolve on Amazon. And you're going to be beat and you're going to lose a lot of margin at the same time.

Bob (00:29:46) - I saw the same article and you're right, it's changing. And again, going back to what we talked about, it's not passive income. You've got it's a business. And you have to pay attention to the business. And especially with the changes that are happening. And there are quite a few with Amazon. it's not the you know, it's not the easiest thing to navigate through. And especially that's the most difficult part I found in the whole thing for me, I didn't have a very extensive computer background, so to speak. and then I started my business just prior to Covid, and I used to work in the film industry as a carpenter.

Bob (00:30:23) - And there was a doubt because of Covid, all the film production here in Vancouver was shut down. So I had the time to spend on learning the Amazon platform. And that's one thing I've noticed lately is, all the changes that are coming and you need to kind of be able to figure out what's going on and how you can benefit from it, or how it's going to affect your business, really.

Josh (00:30:47) - Yeah, 100%. I love that. Any other takeaways, Bob, from the strategy audit?

Bob (00:30:56) - More or less. Nothing I can think of. Actually. There's more. You covered it in terms of looking at my listing and and telling me that I was doing, things correct, that, what I was, what I was presenting was, was optimized. and then I was in the fact that, confirming that all the testing I was doing through imagery title, keywords in, in certain places, A+ content creation, that was doing a good job at that. So I appreciated that.

Josh (00:31:29) - Awesome. Well, Bob, it's been a pleasure diving into your business, and I hope that our listeners have been able to take away some of the golden nuggets that you have shared today, of the different levers that you've pulled in your business that have already helped you grow your sales, that are helping you become more financially fit, and bringing in more revenue for the business and thus becoming more profitable at the same time. So as we wrap things up here, Bob, here are the three actionable takeaways that I noted from your strategy audit. You let me know if you think I'm missing something here. Sure. But number one, we're going to go all the way back to launching new products, right? That was the first thing I told you when we met, a few months ago. And you've already started taking action there. But I remember my conversation was initially, hey, you can go into, like, related product categories and launch new products. When we dove into your strategy audit, I started to look and on page one you're seeing a lot of different types of products for your niche.

Josh (00:32:36) - And so because of that, you're able to essentially compete against yourself over and over and over again. And that is one of the most powerful things you can do is like constantly trying to cannibalize almost your own sales. But as you do that, you're going to take a bigger share of the market. because if you don't disrupt yourself, your competitors are going to do that. And so I think that was one of the enlightening things that I saw for you is like, keep going down this path, come out with different designs. You talked about an engineer that you met that's already modeled up some different designs for you and then tested those out. Right. Because that is going to be the thing that will move the needle the biggest for you. So that's action item number one. Action item number two is you already have a good relationship with your supplier, but being willing to push the envelope a little bit more, okay. And that means going to them and having those difficult conversations because it is you're going to have to ask for a lot, but you've got to articulate to them how your business is going to grow.

Josh (00:33:47) - You need to build in some, you know, financial projections for them to say, like, guys, if we can do this, my business is going to ten x, okay, but I'm only going to get to that ten x growth if these other things fall in place. I'm not having to pay for inventory upfront, and I can start paying for inventory after I start selling it on Amazon. That's where, you know it. You need to take those relationship conversations to the next level, essentially, and paint those pictures for people. So that's action item number two. And then action item number three I'm going to say just focusing on your cash flow optimization. I feel like so many businesses run out of money too quickly. And they're not optimizing things as they should. Credit cards are your best friend. not that you shouldn't be paying them back. You need to make sure you're paying your credit cards back every single month. But there is a very, very smart way that you can be treating these credit cards.

Josh (00:34:50) - And we talked about making sure you have all of the cards that have the best rewards. We talked about the Chase the Chase ink preferred card, which will give you 2.5% cash back on anything greater than $5,000 and spend on that one transaction. We talked about the Amex Gold cards that will allow you to get forex your ad spend. There's the Chase ink that gives you three x on ad spend and not just relying on one card alone, okay? Don't rely on one card alone. Open up multiple cards. If you have a spouse or a significant other or family member in your business, have them open up other cards as well. The exact same cards, okay? And then have cash or sorry statement dates that start at different times and then constantly cycling through those because even a credit card with a standard 30 day payback period can easily become 60 days. If you have multiple cards to rotate through, and then you're only charging it at the beginning. Of the statement period. So, Bob, that's what I got for our listeners.

Josh (00:35:59) - Anything else that you feel like I missed that you feel like is an action item for our listeners?

Bob (00:36:05) - no, I think you've covered it.

Josh (00:36:07) - Awesome. All right. Well, now I get to ask you the three questions I ask every guest. Which is, number one, what's been the most influential book that you've read and why?

Bob (00:36:17) - it would be Ben Leonard's new book. I just finished that. And again, it was, I can't remember the title off the top of my head here. No, I thought I had it here. Quit stalling. That's it. Quit stalling and build your brand. That's the name of the book. And in it was. It was. It came along at the right time. Just when I was asking myself those same questions of how to grow the business again. As we talked about before, one of these gurus on YouTube and that talk about launching products they don't talk about now you've got something successful, how do you make it better? And, that book's been very helpful.

Josh (00:36:55) - Yeah, I love that. It's a great recommendation. We had Ben Leonard on the podcast, so go back in time. Go listen to his episode. He dropped some great wisdom on the episode.

Bob (00:37:06) - He certainly does.

Josh (00:37:07) - And that's a great book as well. All right. Question number two. What's been your favorite productivity or new software tool that you've recently discovered that you think is a game changer?

Bob (00:37:18) - I would say helium ten is what I've been using from the start. And I've tried some others and I just don't see it. They all offer the same type of thing, but helium ten has been, I think, the most accurate. And, offers exactly the information that I would like to see. So that's been really good.

Josh (00:37:39) - Fantastic. Always a good tool. Yeah. All right, last question. Who is somebody that you admire or respect the most in the e-commerce space that others should be following and why?

Bob (00:37:49) - Other than yourself? It would be Adam Heist or Adam Rehnquist.

Bob (00:37:54) - I learned a lot of stuff from him through his YouTube channel early on. One of them was how to analyze keywords. There's a great YouTube video on a certain method he uses on using Google Sheets to break down keywords. And, in, in comparison to, your competition of what they're ranking for and what you rank for. It's a fabulous, really good video. And it's and certainly uncovers some, some gems you might not have thought of. So he's a wealth of knowledge.

Josh (00:38:28) - Yes. He is. And he's also been on the show as well. continuously drops some great knowledge. So that's an excellent person to follow. Yeah. Well, Bob, this has been an absolute pleasure. Thank you for coming on the show. Thanks for being a listener of the podcast. Thanks for reaching out to have the strategy audit. And as a reminder, to our listeners, if you're interested in having a strategy audit, just like Bob had, reach out to me at Josh at Ecomm Breakthrough dot com and, you could be in the hot seat just like Bob here and, and learn a few things or two.

Josh (00:39:03) - So, Bob, thanks again for your time.

Bob (00:39:06) - Oh, thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time to dig into the business here and, and, to help, confirm some things that I thought were working and also to point out some things that I can get better at. So thank you so much.