One of the draws of going into business for yourself is becoming the ultimate decision-maker. Not only do you have control over your career, but you also choose how things are run—from the everyday decisions to big-picture strategy.
However, some things will inevitably be outside your control, such as larger economic conditions. And considering the impact they can have on a business’s success, it’s a topic on many entrepreneurs’ minds. According to recent data from the US Chamber of Commerce, 58% of business owners say that inflation is a top concern, which is no doubt also a contributing factor for the 35% who are concerned about revenue.
While economic conditions are out of your control, plenty of other things are still within it. Finding ways to reduce your operating costs can create some flexibility in your budget to help you weather whatever the future brings.
“Having more margin is a gigantic ecommerce cheat code,” says Andrew Faris, founder of AJF Growth, a consultancy that helps scale direct-to-consumer brands.
Knowing your numbers is step one: how much money is coming into the business, and how much is going out. Next, consider the following strategies to help reduce business expenses and improve your margins.
Reduce customer acquisition costs with product gifting
Customer acquisition costs (CAC) can add up quickly, but gifting free products could shave your expenses significantly. Leah Marcus and Yasaman Bakhtiar, the duo who founded the pickle brand Good Girl Snacks, used this strategy to grow their business at a faster clip.
Instead of paying influencers to talk up the brand on social media, they researched established content creators who were likely to genuinely enjoy their product—and sent them complimentary samples. The move paid off.
“It’s created a lot of buzz and allowed for a lot of sales, while still maintaining a zero-dollar CAC, because we just gift; we don’t pay anybody,” Leah says on Shopify Masters.
Similarly, when the clean skin care brand Tower 28 launched in 2019, founder Amy Liu sought out prominent beauty YouTubers, found their contact information, and sent each a free product sample—with a personal touch.
“From the very beginning, I’ve always really believed in a handwritten note,” Amy says. “And we would just send these packages out to people. Our open rates were certainly not 100%, but there were a few.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she started gifting the brand’s popular SOS Daily Rescue facial spray to health care workers to help relieve maskne and other skin irritations. In turn, recipients posted before and after photos showing how well the product worked, which Amy was then able to re-post (with permission) on the brand’s account. This social proof is one of the reasons Tower 28 is now a multimillion-dollar brand.
Use AI to streamline your operations
AI can save business owners significant time across their operations, especially in areas that don’t require a human touch or a great deal of strategy. This can include everything from data entry to content creation to customer feedback analysis. Julianne Fraser, founder of the digital brand marketing consultancy Dialogue New York, built out proprietary systems to help her company meet increasing client demands.
“We knew that we didn’t want to change that human-to-human approach in the way that we pitch, negotiate, and form the campaign narratives, but everything thereafter in terms of executing a campaign—from the contract process, the content approval, the invoicing, etc.—could be automated,” she tells Shopify. “So we worked with a developer to help us streamline and automate that, and it really improved and increased our capacity substantially.”
In fact, the team was able to quadruple the volume of campaigns they were managing without having to scale their human capital. Julianne says this has also led to more fulfilling work for her team, freeing up more time for the creative aspect of their work—the ultimate win-win.
Negotiate with manufacturers and vendors
Supplier prices aren’t written in stone. Taking the time to compare prices among vendors, negotiate for better rates, and revisit contracts to update terms could help bring down your operating costs. This is especially true if your business relies heavily on outside vendors, which is often the case for product-based businesses.
Will Nitze, founder of the protein bar brand IQBAR, leveraged the company’s increasing production volume to negotiate more favorable terms with his suppliers. “You go back to your manufacturer and you say, ‘Hey, now that I’m producing 10 times more product, I need you to reduce my labor cost per bar from X to Y,’” he explains.
Ultimately, Will pivoted IQBAR’s supply chain from an outsourced “turnkey” model to an in-house operation during the pandemic. Not only did this give him greater control over production, but it also improved the business’s margins.
“Typically they’re marking up or taking a percentage of the total cost, as what’s called a materials management fee,” says Will.
One downside of taking ownership of this process, though, is a greater administrative burden. If this sounds too extreme for your business, you don’t have to go all in. You might choose to assume a small role in co-manufacturing, then leave the rest up to trusted suppliers.
Build a small (but strong) team
Business growth doesn’t always require a huge employee roster. Staying lean can free up more money to put toward product development, marketing, and scaling your operations. For Danny Buck, cofounder of the men’s jewelry line CRAFTD London, maintaining a small, mostly remote team has also allowed him to source talent from all over the world.
“From a personal perspective, I didn’t want a big team. So CRAFTD only has 15 people,” he says. “We consider ourselves small and mighty. We’re growing and will grow. We don’t need a hundred people to do it.”
In some cases, restructuring is a matter of survival. When Brad Charron took the reins as CEO of the protein brand Aloha in 2017, he was immediately faced with some tough decisions. The company was in serious financial trouble, which prompted him to let go of the bulk of his 70 employees and transition to remote operations. Today, Aloha is a multimillion-dollar business and the team remains small, with about 20 employees.
Intentionally spend on ads
Building and maintaining your online presence can be a huge expense. And while digital ads can be effective, they can also be costly.
Leon Huges, partner at the London-based private equity firm Piper, cautions against paying for ads during a company’s early days. Instead, he suggests first ensuring there’s a market for your product.
”Go to events, get out there, sell hard, learn about the product, make sure that it is fit for purpose and people are coming back,” he says. That can help you decide if the upfront investment in paid media is worth it.
When you are ready to put some budget into paid ads, a more manual approach could be key, says Andrew of AJF Growth, who leverages manual bids to get the best return on ad spend (ROAS) from his Meta ads.
“The basic concept here is that instead of just telling Meta, ‘Here’s how much budget I have; spend through all of it every day,’ … instead, you say, ‘Here’s the target ROAS or cost per acquisition that I’m trying to get, you tell me how to spend as much money as you can while maintaining this target.’”
This strategy ensures Andrew is investing the majority of his budget into his best-performing ads. “That ends up being the most efficient distribution of your dollars on ads,” he says.
