The Markademics Podcast Episode 7
Topic: “9-figure E-commerce lessons from True Classic”
Special guest: Ben Yahalom
In the seventh episode of the Markademics podcast, our host Viktor has invited Ben Yahalom to share his knowledge on how to bootstrap a business, negotiating with suppliers, and team dynamics.
Who is Ben Yahalom?
Ben Yahalom is the President at True Classic, a premium menswear company on a mission to make everyone look good & feel good. An industry veteran with over eight years of experience working in performance marketing and business growth consulting, Ben has played a major role in profitably growing True Classic to 9 figures in 2 short years. Previously, Ben spent four years at Meta(previously Facebook), helping C-suite executives and marketing professionals of hyper-growth companies to exponentially grow their businesses by leveraging Facebook & Instagram’s marketing solutions.
Bootstrapping True Classic with only $3000
Starting a business can be an exciting yet daunting endeavor, especially when it comes to allocating limited funds effectively. In a world filled with advice from “gurus” emphasizing the need for top-tier packaging and extravagant marketing campaigns, it’s refreshing to hear a different perspective. In a recent YouTube video, Ben, a successful entrepreneur, shares his experiences of bootstrapping a business with a mere $3000.
Investing in Product Quality and Price Point:
Ben challenges the notion that perfect packaging and extravagant creatives are essential from day one. While acknowledging the importance of packaging, he believes that consumers primarily care about the quality of the product itself. Instead of obsessing over impeccable packaging, Ben focused on delivering a high-quality product at an attractive price point. By prioritizing product quality and affordability, he built a brand that resonated with customers.
Embracing the “Done” Mentality:
In a recent conversation, Ben shared valuable insights on the importance of executing tasks quickly and embracing imperfections, driving progress within the organization. Ben firmly believes that getting things done is more valuable than striving for perfection. Instead of endlessly polishing and refining, he advocates for taking action and completing tasks promptly. By embracing the “done” mentality, he emphasizes the importance of progress over perfection, understanding that speed is a catalyst for growth.
Ben recognizes that executing tasks quickly can come with certain consequences. It requires making peace with the fact that some things might break along the way. However, he emphasizes that these setbacks are acceptable trade-offs for the benefits of speed and iteration. While the final result may not be flawless, it allows for learning and improvement through subsequent iterations.
The ICE Framework: Impact, Confidence, Ease
Ben introduces the ICE framework as a systematic approach to prioritizing improvements. It consists of three factors: impact, confidence, and ease.
Impact refers to how significant the improvement is in relation to the organization’s cost structure or key drivers. It involves identifying areas that have the potential to yield substantial returns.
Confidence measures the likelihood of success when addressing a particular improvement. It considers factors such as existing relationships, leverage, and the willingness of suppliers to cooperate.
Ease evaluates how quickly an improvement can be implemented and put into action.
To use the ICE framework effectively, Ben suggests founders and operators assess each improvement opportunity based on these three factors and rank them on a 10-point scale. By multiplying the scores for impact, confidence, and ease, a composite ranking is generated. This exercise helps prioritize which improvements to focus on first, considering their potential impact, the confidence in achieving success, and the ease of implementation.
Other topics discussed in the episode
- Bootstrapping a business
- Negotiations with suppliers
- Team structure and dynamics
- Overstocking vs. Understocking
- Increasing Profit Margins
- Sustaining Team Motivation
- Getting valuable feedback from your customers
- Hire mistakes
- Team structure
- Not repeating the same mistakes
- Personal approach to clients
- Meeting business needs
Tools mentioned in the podcast:
- Matter – Employee recognition, celebrations, and rewards – all inside Slack or Teams
Few words about our podcast
The host of the Markademics podcast is Viktor Stoilov – an advertising strategist, Founder & CEO of Markademics, and co-founder of a 7-figure e-commerce store.
The podcast’s goal is to give the spotlight to specialists in the marketing industry who make great things happen and provide a place for them to share their experience and knowledge. The podcast explores many different topics such as general marketing, advertising, supply, and logistics.
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