Yo yo yo! Reader,

There was a moment this week where I looked around the warehouse and realised something.

There were five of us working onsite.

Someone was photographing clothing.

Someone else was processing other inventory.

Someone was handling eBay Live postage.

Chloe was helping prepare and host shows.

And I was working through cameras, meetings, systems, supplier conversations and some of the projects sitting behind the business.

Five people.

In a business that started with just me.

That was a pretty surreal moment.

But it also reminded me of something I've been deliberately working toward for a long time:

I don't want to be the person every part of this business depends on.

I want to build the business.

Not become the bottleneck inside it.

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Snapshot

This was a big week.

Not necessarily because the normal eBay store suddenly came roaring back.

It didn't.

Traditional sales are still extremely quiet.

But we pushed hard elsewhere.

We ran eBay Live throughout the week.

We had multiple double-show days.

Chloe continued settling into the business.

Our Live postage process continued becoming more independent of me.

We processed more cameras and lenses.

We worked through more consignment stock.

We received another large e-waste pallet.

We started looking at a potential work-experience program.

We continued building our internal back-office software.

We prepared stock further ahead.

And I actually got more time to work on some of the things that I've been putting off because I've simply lacked the headspace.

That's probably the biggest win.

The Core Store Is Still Quiet

I'll get this out of the way.

Sales are still down.

Our 90-day total has been bouncing around the low-to-mid $170,000s after previously sitting much closer to $190,000.

There were mornings this week where I came in and we had:

Four normal orders.

Five orders.

Six orders.

That's not much when you're running an operation of our size.

Thankfully, Live is providing another stream of revenue.

Cameras are helping.

Consignment is helping.

Other categories are helping.

But I'm not going to pretend the core store isn't frustrating at the moment.

It is.

At the same time, I've been doing this long enough to know that there are seasonal patterns.

I've got years of data showing these dips.

That doesn't mean we sit around doing nothing.

But it stops me from immediately assuming the entire business model has collapsed because we've had another quiet Tuesday.

So We're Pushing Somewhere Else

If the core isn't giving us the volume right now...

We need to find it somewhere else.

This week we were running:

Monday — Live

Tuesday — two Lives

Wednesday — Live

Thursday — two Lives

Friday — Live

Seven shows.

Five days.

There was a time where one Live show felt disruptive to the entire operation.

Now we're doing seven in a week.

That's not because I suddenly became capable of working seven times harder.

It's because we've been building the infrastructure around it.

That's the difference.

Chloe Is Starting to Find Her Feet

This was Chloe's third week with us.

And already, things feel different.

Initially, the priority was simply:

Get comfortable.

Learn how the warehouse works.

Understand what we're selling.

Watch how the shows operate.

Jump in when you're ready.

Now she's already helping with more than just standing in front of the camera.

She's preparing stock.

Setting up future shows.

Learning the rhythm of what we're doing.

Helping get us ahead rather than constantly preparing everything at the last possible moment.

And she's getting more confident on Live too.

There were moments this week where I could see her becoming much more relaxed with it.

That's exactly what I want.

I don't need someone to come in on day one and know everything.

I need someone willing to learn.

The skill comes with repetition.

The First Time We Had Five People Onsite

Tuesday was probably the moment that really hit me.

Including myself, there were five of us working onsite.

That might not sound like a massive company.

It isn't.

But for me?

That's crazy.

Because I remember doing everything.

Every photo.

Every listing.

Every pick.

Every pack.

Every customer message.

Every trip to the post office.

Every sourcing trip.

Everything.

Now there are different people taking ownership of different parts of the operation.

And my job is starting to change.

That's exciting.

But it's also something I have to learn how to manage properly.

Your Team Needs To Be Able To Thrive

Something I was thinking about this week is all the little things I do before everyone arrives.

I normally get into the warehouse around 6:30 or 7:00.

I put devices on charge.

Get things organised.

Print SKUs.

Check what stock is ready.

Move things into position.

Make sure people can walk in and start.

Some of those things are probably good leadership.

Some of them are probably things I shouldn't still be doing.

That's the balance I'm trying to work out.

Because I want people to come into an environment where they can thrive.

I don't want unnecessary chaos.

I don't want someone losing 20 minutes because something isn't charged.

Or they can't find supplies.

Or they don't know what they're supposed to work on.

But at the same time...

If only I know how to do those preparation tasks?

I've created another dependency.

So increasingly, I'm asking:

Does Chris actually need to do this?

If the answer is no...

We need a process.

The $90 Task That Gives Me Three Hours Back

We've seen this particularly clearly with Live postage.

A while ago, I was doing almost all of it.

Then we brought somebody in to take ownership of that process.

And whenever they're unavailable...

I notice.

Because suddenly I'm back spending hours consolidating, picking, packing and preparing orders.

It's not that the work is beneath me.

Far from it.

The orders have to go out.

But if I spend three hours doing postage...

That's three hours I'm not spending on:

Supplier relationships.

Cameras.

Finance.

New opportunities.

System development.

Hiring.

Planning.

The next revenue stream.

So yes, I have to pay someone to do that work.

But the real question isn't:

"How much does this employee cost?"

It's:

"What does their capacity allow the business to do?"

That's a completely different calculation.

Building The Back Office

Another major focus this week was our internal web app.

This has become much bigger than the original idea.

Initially, the problem was fairly simple.

We were using:

Google Sheets.

Dropbox.

Different notes.

Different processes.

Different people moving information between different systems.

It worked.

But there was too much friction.

Too many handoffs.

Too much opportunity for information to get missed.

So we've been building something specifically for us.

Not software that we buy and then change our business to suit.

Software built around how our business already works.

What I Want It To Become

The long-term vision is effectively our own operating system.

I want the team to be able to manage things like:

Inventory coming in.

SKUs.

Stock sources.

Consignment ownership.

Photography.

Listing workflow.

Quality control.

Sales.

Reporting.

Team activity.

Potentially fulfilment.

And eventually a lot more automation.

The important part isn't that it's an app.

The important part is what it removes.

If somebody can photograph an item...

Upload everything from their phone...

The system notices something is missing...

The lister receives everything they need...

The item gets listed...

The sale gets tracked back to the right supplier...

And reporting happens automatically...

We've removed a huge amount of manual work.

Multiply that across thousands of items?

That's meaningful.

Technology Should Remove Work

I think this is where people sometimes get distracted by technology.

I don't really care about having some flashy AI app.

I care about:

Does this save us time?

Does this reduce mistakes?

Does this remove a task from somebody's workload?

Does this give me better information to make decisions?

If it does those things...

It's useful.

If it's technology for the sake of saying we're using technology?

I'm not really interested.

We're already starting to see some of the benefits.

And the more we build into it, the more I can see how much work could eventually disappear from the day-to-day operation.

That's exciting.

Teaching Other People The Things I Know

Cameras are another good example.

There are processes in this business where historically I've been the person with all the knowledge.

Camera inspections have been one of them.

So we've started teaching another team member.

How do we assess this?

What are we checking?

What's the condition?

What's missing?

What information matters?

How do we price it?

Some of that knowledge has come from experience.

Some comes from research.

And increasingly we use AI to help make sure we're not missing anything.

But again, the goal is:

It cannot only live inside my head.

Because if it does...

I can't leave.

Japan Is Getting Closer

That's becoming increasingly relevant.

I'm heading to Japan soon for around three weeks.

It's our belated honeymoon.

The intention is not to go over there and spend three weeks working.

I'm going away.

I'm spending time with Carla.

I'm switching off.

Sure, I'll look around.

I'm naturally curious.

There may be opportunities I notice while I'm there.

But I'm not going to Japan because I need another sourcing trip.

I'm going because this is the lifestyle part of:

Building a business to suit my lifestyle.

And the business should continue operating while I'm gone.

That's the challenge.

A Few Years Ago, That Wouldn't Have Been Possible

There was a point where three weeks away would've basically meant:

The business stops.

Listings stop.

Photography stops.

Postage stops.

Everything waits for me.

That's not really a business.

That's a self-employed job.

Today?

We're not completely independent of me.

There are still things that rely too heavily on me.

But people can photograph.

List.

Ship.

Process inventory.

Prepare shows.

Handle parts of Live.

Work through consignments.

And increasingly operate the machine.

That's real progress.

Another Piece: Work Experience

We also had a potential work-experience student come through this week.

Nothing huge yet.

Just an introduction.

Look around.

Understand what we do.

See if there's something useful and meaningful we could create for them.

But I actually really like the idea.

Because as the business develops, I want there to be opportunities for people to learn inside it.

Not just:

"Here, do some free labour."

That's useless.

I'd rather create something where someone can come in and genuinely experience:

E-commerce.

Photography.

Inventory.

Content.

Live commerce.

Product research.

Systems.

Business operations.

Maybe they discover something they're good at.

Maybe they eventually join the business.

Maybe they go somewhere completely different.

Either way, if we can create value for them too, that's worth exploring.

Consignment Continues To Become The Business

I also spent a fair amount of time this week doing consignment reporting.

That's increasingly just part of what we are.

A huge proportion of the inventory flowing through Fodder now belongs to somebody else.

We've got different structures depending on the arrangement, but a common model is:

Sell the item.

Remove eBay fees.

Remove postage.

Then split the remaining amount 50/50.

It's simple.

The consignor benefits because they don't have to:

Research.

Photograph.

List.

Store.

Pack.

Ship.

Handle customers.

Deal with returns.

We benefit because we're not tying up cash buying all the inventory upfront.

Again...

Different model.

Different economics.

Sometimes Cash Flow Is More Valuable Than Maximum Price

This philosophy carries into other parts of the business too.

Could we potentially make more money selling every single item ourselves?

Of course.

But then you have to ask:

How long will it take?

How much storage does it consume?

How much labour?

How much capital?

How many customer interactions?

How many months before that money comes back?

There are times where selling something wholesale for less is the better decision.

There are times where Live is the better decision.

There are times where traditional eBay is the better decision.

The goal isn't:

Extract the absolute maximum theoretical price from every item.

It's:

Create the best overall outcome for the business.

That's a much broader equation.

E-Waste Finally Delivered Something Interesting

We also got a bigger e-waste pallet this week.

At first glance?

Bit disappointing.

Then we started digging.

And we found roughly a hundred similar office devices.

Depending on condition, some appear to have reasonable resale value.

So suddenly what looked like:

"Another average e-waste load."

could actually become something meaningful.

We also pulled out:

Laptops.

Cameras.

A Walkman.

Apple TV.

Hard drives.

Chargers.

Other bits and pieces.

Whether it becomes a great lot is still going to depend on testing.

But that's e-waste.

Sometimes you get nothing.

Sometimes the boring box sitting in the corner is where the value is.

The Live Numbers

We ran a lot of shows this week.

Some were intentionally lower-value liquidation-style shows.

Some were more traditional.

Some were testing stock for suppliers.

Others were simply about moving inventory.

We had shows in the $300–$500 range.

Others closer to $900–$1,000.

And one of the Thursday pop-up shows generated around $1,300.

That's something I'm increasingly comfortable with.

Not every show has to achieve exactly the same result.

If we're deliberately clearing inventory that we'd never normally list...

A $400 show can be useful.

If we're presenting stronger inventory?

I want that number considerably higher.

It's about understanding what each show is designed to achieve.

The Week Still Worked

By Friday evening, we'd generated roughly:

$13,000 for the week.

With the weekend still ahead.

Realistically, I expected we'd probably finish somewhere around:

$14,000–$15,000.

That's where I want us to be as a baseline.

Especially considering the traditional store itself remains very soft.

The important part is that we're finding ways to compensate.

That's exactly why I've spent the last year trying to diversify where revenue comes from.

October Could Be Big

We're still very early into October.

So I'm not getting carried away.

But the start has been encouraging.

At the end of the week, we were already around:

$20,000 in revenue for the month.

Our average monthly expenses over recent months have been roughly:

$42,000.

And our current revenue run rate was closer to:

$66,000.

If the momentum holds...

There's a scenario where October becomes an $80,000 month.

That's not a prediction.

A lot can happen.

Expenses haven't all landed.

Consignors need paying.

Staff need paying.

There's additional cost from expanding the team.

And sales could slow again tomorrow.

But the opportunity is there.

Now we need to execute.

And That's Why I'm Building Capacity

This is the point I keep coming back to.

When the opportunity arrives...

Can we actually handle it?

If somebody rings tomorrow with 5,000 good items...

Can we process them?

If Live continues growing...

Can we run more shows?

If a consignor gives us a huge opportunity...

Can we say yes?

If I go away for three weeks...

Does everything stop?

The businesses I've admired are rarely the ones that simply found one great opportunity.

They're the ones that built enough capability to take advantage of opportunities repeatedly.

That's what I'm trying to create.

My Role Is Changing

I'm increasingly trying to get my hands out of the detail.

Not completely.

I still enjoy the work.

You'll still see me packing.

Testing cameras.

Sorting stock.

Running Live.

Getting my hands dirty.

But those shouldn't be the only things I'm capable of doing.

My role increasingly needs to become:

Where are we going?

What are we building?

What opportunity are we missing?

Where is the bottleneck?

Who do we need?

What system do we need?

What does the business need six months from now?

That's where I can create the most leverage.

And I need to become comfortable with that.

The Bigger Picture

I'm tired.

It's been a big few months.

There are still cash-flow pressures.

Traditional sales aren't where I want them.

We've got plenty of problems to solve.

But when I look around the warehouse now...

I see something different.

I see a team.

I see different people taking responsibility.

I see processes starting to mature.

I see technology taking repetitive work away.

I see multiple revenue streams.

I see inventory moving without requiring me to personally touch every piece.

And I see the beginnings of a business that can operate without me standing in the middle of everything.

That's the actual goal.

Not because I want to disappear.

But because I want the choice.

Question of the Week

Something worth asking yourself:

If you disappeared for three weeks tomorrow, what would stop?

Maybe you own a business.

Maybe you're employed.

Maybe you've got a side hustle.

Maybe this applies to something completely different in your life.

What only happens because you personally remember to do it?

That's probably a bottleneck.

Could you document it?

Automate it?

Teach someone?

Build a system?

Remove it entirely?

Because freedom isn't created by having fewer responsibilities.

It's created by building better ways of handling them.

That's what I'm working toward.

Not a business where I do nothing.

A business where I'm not required to do everything.

There's a massive difference.

And hopefully, when I'm sitting in Japan in a few weeks...

I'll get to see just how far we've actually come.

One process at a time.

One person at a time.

One week at a time.