Yo yo yo! Reader,

This week I had a decision to make.

Sales were down.

Cash flow was down.

Expenses were still coming.

We'd brought another person into the team.

I knew we were going to finish well below our weekly revenue target.

And Friday was my birthday.

The obvious business-owner response?

Come into the warehouse.

Run another Live.

Try to squeeze another $1,000 or $2,000 out of the week.

Push harder.

Instead...

I took the day off.

And strangely enough, I think that decision probably says more about what I'm trying to build than almost anything else that happened this week.

Because the goal was never just to build a business.

The goal was to build a business that suits my lifestyle

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Snapshot

This was a strange week.

There were some really exciting things happening.

Our new eBay Live host started.

We continued improving the way the team handles postage.

We processed more cameras.

We listed thousands of dollars worth of collectibles and non-clothing stock.

We worked through more consignment inventory.

Our internal listing app continued doing its job.

The warehouse plumbing situation finally got properly dealt with.

And the business passed a pretty incredible milestone:

$1.5 million in sales since I started in 2021!

But at exactly the same time...

Sales slowed dramatically.

The normal eBay store became incredibly quiet.

There were days where we had only a handful of traditional sales.

Clothing revenue was significantly down compared with August.

And cash flow started becoming something I was thinking about constantly.

So it was one of those weeks where I could simultaneously say:

"Look how far we've come."

and

"How the hell are we going to get through next month?"

Both can be true.

The New Starter

Monday was another milestone for the business.

Our new eBay Live host officially started.

I've been trying to fill this role for a while.

Candidates.

Interviews.

People changing their minds.

People disappearing.

Starting again.

Eventually we found someone.

And Monday was day one.

I deliberately kept things pretty relaxed.

Get comfortable.

Understand who's who.

Learn how the warehouse operates.

See how we prepare the shows.

Understand the stock.

No massive expectations.

But by the end of the day, she actually jumped into the Live with me.

And she did really well.

She even sold the highest-selling item in the show.

That's a pretty cool first day.

She's got plenty to learn.

We're still going to have to work out what the role eventually looks like.

But this is another piece of the infrastructure I've been trying to build.

Because if Live continues growing...

It can't depend entirely on me.

Growth Feels Particularly Weird When Sales Are Down

Here's the uncomfortable part.

I'm adding payroll...

While revenue is down.

I'm deliberately increasing the operating capacity of the business...

At the exact moment where the short-term numbers are telling me to be cautious.

That's scary.

Tuesday was probably where that feeling really hit me.

Outside of Live, we'd basically had one sale the previous day.

Then Tuesday wasn't much better.

There was a point where I genuinely said:

"I don't know how I'm going to pay next month's expenses."

That's where my head was.

Not because the business was suddenly collapsing.

But because cash flow matters.

We've got staff.

Rent.

Postage.

Software.

Stock.

Vehicles.

Consignors.

Operating expenses.

Everything continues getting paid regardless of whether eBay decides to give us two sales or twenty sales that day.

That's the part of scaling that I don't think gets talked about enough.

A bigger business can make more money.

But it also needs more money simply to exist.

Week 298 — The Numbers

And the final numbers show exactly what I mean

Revenue: $10,243.67

Weekly Target: $14,423

So we finished roughly:

$4,179 below target.

Our actual daily average was:

$1,463.38

against an expected:

$2,060.43

So this is where business gets interesting.

If I looked only at profit generated from what sold...

Pretty solid.

But if I look at revenue throughput and cash flow against the size of the operation we're now running?

Not enough.

That's why one number can never tell the whole story.

Where The Gap Is Coming From

The biggest difference at the moment is clothing.

In August, we'd done roughly:

$41,000 in clothing revenue.

This month, around the same comparison point, we were sitting closer to:

$26,600.

That's roughly a $14,000 gap.

Cameras have still been producing.

Consignment collectibles have been selling.

Live is still producing something.

But the normal clothing machine has slowed down considerably.

And because clothing has historically been such a large volume driver, you feel that missing revenue very quickly.

September overall has been tracking around:

$1,600 per day.

August was closer to:

$2,000 per day.

That's a $400 daily difference.

Over 30 days?

That's approximately:

$12,000 less revenue.

Suddenly the cash-flow pressure makes a lot more sense.

So Why Not Just Work More?

This is the obvious question.

Why not run Friday's Live?

Why not work Saturday?

Why not do evening shows?

Why not do Sunday?

Why not just push until the target is reached?

Technically...

I could.

And sometimes I will.

There are moments where the business requires an extra push.

But there is also a dangerous trap hiding inside that thinking.

If the only solution every time the business underperforms is:

Chris works more hours...

Then I haven't built a business.

I've built myself a very demanding job.

The goal is to solve the underlying problem.

Better stock.

Better conversion.

Better systems.

More capable people.

More sales channels.

Better inventory flow.

Higher ASP.

Lower costs.

More efficient operations.

Not simply:

"Stay at work longer."

Friday Was My Birthday

Friday was actually supposed to include another Live.

We had ideas around doing a bigger show.

I knew the week needed the revenue.

I knew the month needed it too.

And then I thought...

No.

It's my birthday.

I'm taking the day off.

That might sound insignificant.

But for me, it wasn't.

Because six years ago, when I started building this thing, the entire point was that I wanted more ownership over my life.

I've worked incredibly hard to get here.

There are still going to be periods where I need to go hard.

But if I build a business where I'm scared to take my own birthday off because revenue might drop...

I've probably missed the point.

So I rested.

And we'll attack the problem again next week.

$1.5 Million

There was also something pretty special buried underneath all the stress this week.

On September 25, the business passed:

$1,500,000 in lifetime sales.

That goes back to when I started in January 2021.

When I look at it across the whole journey, that's roughly:

$720 in revenue every single day since starting.

Obviously it didn't happen evenly.

At the beginning, we weren't doing anything close to that.

Then the business grew.

Then we moved into storage units.

Then wholesale.

Then the warehouse.

Then staff.

Consignment.

Cameras.

Live.

Services.

And everything else that's been layered on top.

But collectively...

$1.5 million.

That's pretty surreal.

Especially considering where it started.

The Funny Thing About Milestones

Here's what I find fascinating.

You'd think hitting $1.5 million would feel like:

"We made it."

Instead, I hit $1.5 million while worrying about cash flow.

That's business.

The milestone is real.

I'm proud of it.

But it doesn't make Monday's payroll disappear.

It doesn't make September's sales improve.

It doesn't solve the next bottleneck.

It doesn't guarantee the next million.

The moment passes...

And then you get back to work.

But I think it's still important to stop occasionally and acknowledge how far you've come.

Otherwise you're forever moving the finish line.

The Business Is Still Moving Forward

The interesting thing is that operationally...

We're probably in one of the strongest positions we've ever been.

Our new Live-postage process is working.

Tasks that used to consume two or three hours of my morning are being handled by someone else.

The team is taking more ownership.

We're training other people on cameras.

We're moving through non-clothing inventory faster.

Our internal listing app is reducing time and costs.

We're bringing more consignment opportunities through the door.

We now have another Live host beginning her training.

And I'm increasingly getting time to work on things like:

Supplier relationships.

Banking.

Contracts.

Future deals.

Technology.

Growth opportunities.

That's exactly what I've wanted.

It's just happening during a temporarily softer revenue period.

And that's uncomfortable.

You Can't Judge Someone Else's Business From The Outside

Something else has been on my mind.

When you're having a difficult month, it's very easy to look around and think:

"Everyone else seems to be smashing it."

You see someone else's sales.

Their social media.

Their warehouse.

Their big purchase.

Their successful sourcing trip.

And you start comparing.

I've done it.

But the reality is:

You don't know their P&L.

You don't know their debt.

You don't know their cash flow.

You don't know their expenses.

You don't know whether they're paying themselves.

You don't know what happened last month.

You don't know what's happening behind the camera.

I share a lot.

Probably more than most people.

The wins.

The bad sales days.

The expenses.

The cash-flow anxiety.

The team.

The mistakes.

And sometimes that makes my business look messier than someone else's.

It probably is messy.

But at least I'm comparing against the full version of my own story.

That's the only comparison that really matters.

The Month Might Not Be Profitable

There's a very real possibility September doesn't produce much profit.

Potentially none.

That's frustrating.

Especially because we've actually made progress reducing costs.

We've spent less on washing.

Listing costs have come down.

We've improved postage efficiency.

Some employment costs have been lower because of leave.

We've actively been looking for savings.

But savings can only compensate for so much lost revenue.

If revenue falls faster than costs...

Eventually margin gets squeezed.

That's what we're dealing with.

But one bad month doesn't determine whether the strategy works.

It simply gives us more information.

And October gives us another opportunity.

The Plan From Here

Simple.

Push volume.

Improve the Live inventory.

Get our new host trained.

Add additional shows where they make sense.

Relist summer stock as the weather changes.

Continue processing the stronger collectibles and consignment pieces.

Keep cameras moving.

Continue reducing unnecessary costs.

And make sure we're not carrying work or inventory that isn't earning its place.

No magical fix.

No secret tactic.

Just a lot of small levers being pulled at the same time.

That's usually what running the business actually looks like.

The Bigger Picture

Despite everything I just wrote...

We're still tracking at roughly:

$740,000 annualised.

The target this financial year is $750,000.

And my bigger target remains:

$1 million annually by 2030.

So when I zoom out...

We're still in the game.

A difficult September doesn't erase the progress.

A bad sales day doesn't erase the progress.

One week missing target doesn't erase the progress.

The challenge is making sure we don't become complacent about those misses either.

Acknowledge them.

Understand them.

Act on what we can control.

Then move forward.

Question of the Week

This week I'm thinking about something slightly different:

What is the point of building something successful if you're never allowed to enjoy the life it's supposed to create?

There will always be another target.

Another month.

Another expense.

Another opportunity.

Another reason to work late.

Another reason to work Saturday.

Another reason to say:

"I'll rest once this is done."

The problem is...

It never really gets done.

There is always another thing.

This week I missed my revenue target.

Cash flow isn't where I want it.

September has been difficult.

And I took my birthday off anyway.

Monday I'll go back.

We'll attack it again.

We'll problem-solve.

We'll push.

We'll build.

But Friday?

Friday was mine.

And I think six years ago, when I said I wanted to build a business that suited my lifestyle...

That's exactly what I meant.

One week at a time.

Building a business to suit my lifestyle.

Until next week!

Chris