How to Flip an E-commerce Biz and make Bank
Guest Post Oliver Lukac
How to Flip an E-commerce Biz and make Bank
1. Look for a profitable deal
You can do that by going to different websites like Flippa or Websiteclosers and chose one that fits your criteria.
What I look for:
- Repeat buyers
- Helathy margins
- Reliable fulfillment
- Not trendy product
2. Do your own research and due diligence
Can’t stress this enough, the more you do it, the better perspective you have.
Talk to the owner, talk to the customer, talk to the team, talk to the fulfillment partner... you get the point
3. Put 20% down
You won’t always get a yes, but always remember that you have the leverage when negotiating with the seller. Money=Leverage
20% is a fair number, and most sellers would be interested. You can always do 10% or negotiate based on what you like.
4. Find “Performance Based Agencies” in the e-commerce space
These agencies have proven systems set in place, that will either make you more money or get your 100% money back.
This is where the biggest opportunity lies, in my opinion.
Look for these performance based agencies:
CRO Agency
Email Marketing Agency
TikTok Ads agency
Facebook Ads Agency
Youtube Ads Agency
Google Ads Agency
Seo Agency
...
These will literally make money for you and scale your business.
5. Talk to customers and see where you can add value.
Most of the time, the customers are right, so make sure you optimize for what the market is looking for.
6. Negotiate with supplier/ manufacturer on better price, quality of product design.
7. Add an affiliate program to your Ecommerce biz
This is really simple. Most major website platforms like Shopify, do offer apps where you can add it to your product line and have another, no cost marketing source.
I use Affiliatly Affiliate Marketing
on the Shopify app marketplace.
8. Use a cash-back credit card
This is super useful when running ads.
You can get easily 3% cash back on your ad spend, product cost...
9. Add a content team for organic growth.
You can hire UGC (user-generated-content) creators, that will shoot pictures and videos for your products.
I recommend focusing on TikTok UGC creators, that can easily create 20 videos for $1k a month.
Ask for their portfolio, and see if you can figure out an incentive deal on the number of views per month generated with their content.
(Example: 1MM views/ month 200$ extra)
Tell them to use current TikTok trends and trending sounds, and the 1MM views mark would be really doable.
This, non-scripted content will add social proof and trust.
You can also use it for paid marketing, on other platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, Instagram Reels.
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I’ll end it here, keep in mind there are more ways to add value to your biz.
The primary focus is to increase the revenue of the business , so you have a better valuation when selling.
Once you have done all your best, list your business for sale and get your money!
Sebastian Amieva
Mergers And Acquisitions Expert!