Joe Jaques's guest appearances

Joe Jaques

Amazing FBA Amazon and ECommerce Podcast, for Amazon Private Label Sellers, Shopify, Magento or Woocommerce business owners, and other e-commerce sellers and digital entrepreneurs.

The Minor League Take

Brian Johnson

Steve Chou

Jeff Bezos

Mark Daoust

Ryan Smith

Nathan Fox

Steve Anderson

Aaron Ross

Patrick O'Connell

Terry Lammers

Tommy Griffith

Bruce Mack

Greg Mercer

Stephen Somers

Brian Miller

OwlTail

On this edition of The Minor League Take presented by More Than Baseball, Brad sits down with Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Joe Jaques and they discuss Joe's improbable but inspiring path to AA baseball and being one of the more dominant relievers in the system.

Episode 3: Joe Jaques

We have Joe Jaques who is a member of the $10k Collective back on the show as we dive deeper into building an eCommerce strategy.Key eCommerce strategy for scaling a business? Or main mistakes?You need enough inventory in each product line. But you always want a spread of product lines as you build an eCommerce strategy.It’s a lot to manage, so there’s a balance to be struck.But you want to spread your bets across lots of linesHave a good numbers guy - that’s really important.What are the mindset mistakes in eCommerce strategy?Not making decisions; not being brave.You can talk yourself out of everything. We all have In-built survival instinct but we have to learn to stop listening to that.Dale Carnegie in “How to win friends and influence people”, said:“If I can be right 51% of the time, I can be a winner on Wall Street.”Get comfortable with being wrong.Know your worst case scenario and have a plan for that.How do you protect against downsides in your eCommerce strategy?? Go into a sector which is big enough so you can’t own all of it.It is a market for example which sells only hundred units per month on page 1, if your business model relies on you winning 100% of that market, that is risky.Instead, try to pick a market that is bigger and has good numbers (demand depth) and go in somewhat more tentatively.And rather than go into one sector where, for example,  you are targeting 1500 units a month, go into three sectors were you aiming to do 500 unit a month in each sector.Never just jump on the bandwagon like fidget spinners. That’s a bad eCommerce strategy. If it looks too good to be sure, it probably is too good to be true.How do you deal with setbacks?Joe’s business had, for example, shrinking turnover 20-30% for 3 years in high street.Inventory just Sat there.You have to stay focused on the bigger picture and be prepared to make bold moves if needed.Be sure to create real valueYour eCommerce strategy needs to recognise that we live in very value driven consumerism.It’s not about really expensive or really cheap.Buy all of the competition’s products.Read all negative reviews.Then enter the market.How do you decide what products to Develop?Your eCommerce strategy needs to include hours of research - know who you are and what your brand is - create a bouncy castle in which to exercise your research energySome products are me-too. That’s Fatal.ALWAYS look for a point of difference.Even if the difference is just in presentation or in the back story.For example, the brand “Joe Malone” - their Candles advert - wrapped with finesse and delivered with love. Good product - presented beautifully - engineered to be gifted.Fortnum and Mason - made to be gifted.It’s a self-justified rationalisation - eg buy a Porsche - it’s a good German reliable brand, good residualsEngineer product so the person feels good about it.So everything about it has to say you care. Does it come with instructions? Followup email.Have a storyAnother example is Charles Tyrwhitt with his shirts.Branding as part of your eCommerce strategyThink about who is buying it.Focus - toy or game? Adult? Family thing? Likely to be gifted? Self-indulgence?Is it consumable? Repeatable?Ecologically friendly product - you have to believe in what it is you’re doing.You don’t have to be religious about using it.BUT if you don’t believe it, neither will your customers.How do you decide to kill off a product versus give it a second chance? You get a feel for it.Some products only do 3-4 a day, but they’re part of what they are and what they do. So having slower moving products can be okay if they are part of your overall eCommerce strategy.Have a spectrum of stuff.But If it makes no money and a slow seller and it doesn’t serve a purpose, that may be time to kill it.You also have to keep things fresh.

We have Joe Jaques who is a member of the $10k Collective back on the show as we dive deeper into building an eCommerce strategy. Key eCommerce strategy for scaling a business? Or main mistakes? You need enough inventory in each product line. But you always want a spread of product lines as you build an eCommerce strategy. It’s a lot to manage, so there’s a balance to be struck. But you want to spread your bets across lots of lines Have a good numbers guy - that’s really important. What are the mindset mistakes in eCommerce strategy? Not making decisions; not being brave. You can talk yourself out of everything. We all have In-built survival instinct but we have to learn to stop listening to that. Dale Carnegie in “How to win friends and influence people”, said: “If I can be right 51% of the time, I can be a winner on Wall Street.” Get comfortable with being wrong. Know your worst case scenario and have a plan for that. How do you protect against downsides in your eCommerce strategy??  Go into a sector which is big enough so you can’t own all of it. It is a market for example which sells only hundred units per month on page 1, if your business model relies on you winning 100% of that market, that is risky. Instead, try to pick a market that is bigger and has good numbers (demand depth) and go in somewhat more tentatively. And rather than go into one sector where, for example,  you are targeting 1500 units a month, go into three sectors were you aiming to do 500 unit a month in each sector. Never just jump on the bandwagon like fidget spinners. That’s a bad eCommerce strategy. If it looks too good to be sure, it probably is too good to be true. How do you deal with setbacks? Joe’s business had, for example, shrinking turnover 20-30% for 3 years in high street. Inventory just Sat there. You have to stay focused on the bigger picture and be prepared to make bold moves if needed. Be sure to create real value Your eCommerce strategy needs to recognise that we live in very value driven consumerism. It’s not about really expensive or really cheap. Buy all of the competition’s products. Read all negative reviews. Then enter the market. How do you decide what products to Develop? Your eCommerce strategy needs to include hours of research - know who you are and what your brand is - create a bouncy castle in which to exercise your research energy Some products are me-too. That’s Fatal. ALWAYS look for a point of difference. Even if the difference is just in presentation or in the back story. For example, the brand “Joe Malone” - their Candles advert - wrapped with finesse and delivered with love. Good product - presented beautifully - engineered to be gifted. Fortnum and Mason - made to be gifted. It’s a self-justified rationalisation - eg buy a Porsche - it’s a good German reliable brand, good residuals Engineer product so the person feels good about it. So everything about it has to say you care. Does it come with instructions? Followup email. Have a story Another example is Charles Tyrwhitt with his shirts. Branding as part of your eCommerce strategy Think about who is buying it. Focus - toy or game? Adult? Family thing? Likely to be gifted? Self-indulgence? Is it consumable? Repeatable? Ecologically friendly product - you have to believe in what it is you’re doing. You don’t have to be religious about using it. BUT if you don’t believe it, neither will your customers. How do you decide to kill off a product versus give it a second chance?  You get a feel for it. Some products only do 3-4 a day, but they’re part of what they are and what they do. So having slower moving products can be okay if they are part of your overall eCommerce strategy. Have a spectrum of stuff. But If it makes no money and a slow seller and it doesn’t serve a purpose, that may be time to kill it. You also have to keep things fresh.

eCommerce Strategy (Joe Jaques 2 of 2)

Joe Jaques’s story of building a brandIt’s a family business that buys products from China. Joe started working there from age 21.He took over running the business and building a brand from his father aged around 25.They had a  Salesforce of 6 selling to brick and mortar stores -gradually, they stopped hitting sales targets, and left the business with high overheads.They made the move from bricks and mortar wholesale to retailing online about 6 years ago.Now they have their own online store that does around half the amount of  Amazon sales; but the majority of sales are made on Amazon.Do you sell on Amazon UK, Europe and or USA?Mostly in UK although do sell some things in Germany.They did  have a conventional business in USA but that was taking up a lot of cash.Since closing that down, the UK business has shot forward.Can you give us an idea of numbers?Doing well - should do £100,000 on Black Friday for example.Give us a snapshot of some of the more glamorous exploits that enablesJust got back from Ibiza; recently in Monaco; driving a McClaren etc.Building a Brand vs. PLFirst time Joe heard of “Private Label” was when he joined the $10K Collective.It’s too easy to kid yourself when building a brand. But look at the people with real brands.What intrinsic difference are you delivering? Anyone can do a me-too product.Be very defined about what you’re doing when building a brand.Big Brand future competition “The Ultimate Competitor”Many Brands are not yet selling on Amazon; then not doing a proper brand offering anyway as they are selling to Amazon rather than controlling their own listing.But for example Nike is just now starting to do a cooperative product project with Amazon.The question you to ask is:“Who is my ultimate competitor?”For example,  if you wanted to do thermal underwear, Under Armour could come in and wipe you out in about five minutes.Joe is about to launch a new brand with a top athlete; but that is because he perceives that the whole sector is weak and the branding is weak, so they can get a head start.With Amazon, you need to set your goal and ambition very clearly - for example: to be the third bestselling item on page one for the main keywords.When you are building a brand, you need to be realistic from day one and cash flow it.Cash requirements for a certain turnoverIf you wanted to turn over £500K a year for example, You will need to have about half the stocks ca. £250K worth of sales. That means probably working capital of around £70,000. Plus some initial brand creation and marketing budget.What does “working capital” mean to you?Basically this is the money that you need to tie up in stock and you will not get back out of the business unless you completely sell all of the  stock and/or close it down.You can think of this like the deposit you put into a property which you then rent out. You can't have both the money and the property (which produces your cashflow).Why would you have six months worth of products when building a brand?It's the Amazon sales vortex, it feels like stuff evaporates!Generally it depends on the lead time,  but from China or India is normally about three months from placing an order to receiving the product in stock. You need to allow about one month of slippage for example to account for Chinese New Year etc.Also it's really a mistake to average out your monthly sales by taking the annual sales and dividing by 12. Everything is seasonal and you are going to need a lot more working capital in mid summer to prepare the Christmas for example than in an average month.You always want to have something in tank i.e. some capital to spare. If you don't you will end up going out of stock - and then your competition will be all over you.What about the difference between profit and personal income for the business owner? Can you take 100% of profits out as income?

Joe Jaques’s story of building a brand It’s a family business that buys products from China. Joe started working there from age 21. He took over running the business and building a brand from his father aged around 25. They had a  Salesforce of 6 selling to brick and mortar stores -gradually, they stopped hitting sales targets, and left the business with high overheads. They made the move from bricks and mortar wholesale to retailing online about 6 years ago. Now they have their own online store that does around half the amount of  Amazon sales; but the majority of sales are made on Amazon. Do you sell on Amazon UK, Europe and or USA? Mostly in UK although do sell some things in Germany. They did  have a conventional business in USA but that was taking up a lot of cash. Since closing that down, the UK business has shot forward. Can you give us an idea of numbers? Doing well - should do £100,000 on Black Friday for example. Give us a snapshot of some of the more glamorous exploits that enables Just got back from Ibiza; recently in Monaco; driving a McClaren etc. Building a Brand vs. PL First time Joe heard of “Private Label” was when he joined the $10K Collective. It’s too easy to kid yourself when building a brand. But look at the people with real brands. What intrinsic difference are you delivering? Anyone can do a me-too product. Be very defined about what you’re doing when building a brand. Big Brand future competition “The Ultimate Competitor” Many Brands are not yet selling on Amazon; then not doing a proper brand offering anyway as they are selling to Amazon rather than controlling their own listing. But for example Nike is just now starting to do a cooperative product project with Amazon. The question you to ask is: “Who is my ultimate competitor?” For example,  if you wanted to do thermal underwear, Under Armour could come in and wipe you out in about five minutes. Joe is about to launch a new brand with a top athlete; but that is because he perceives that the whole sector is weak and the branding is weak, so they can get a head start. With Amazon, you need to set your goal and ambition very clearly - for example: to be the third bestselling item on page one for the main keywords. When you are building a brand, you need to be realistic from day one and cash flow it. Cash requirements for a certain turnover If you wanted to turn over £500K a year for example, You will need to have about half the stocks ca. £250K worth of sales. That means probably working capital of around £70,000. Plus some initial brand creation and marketing budget. What does “working capital” mean to you? Basically this is the money that you need to tie up in stock and you will not get back out of the business unless you completely sell all of the  stock and/or close it down. You can think of this like the deposit you put into a property which you then rent out. You can't have both the money and the property (which produces your cashflow). Why would you have six months worth of products when building a brand? It's the Amazon sales vortex, it feels like stuff evaporates! Generally it depends on the lead time,  but from China or India is normally about three months from placing an order to receiving the product in stock. You need to allow about one month of slippage for example to account for Chinese New Year etc. Also it's really a mistake to average out your monthly sales by taking the annual sales and dividing by 12. Everything is seasonal and you are going to need a lot more working capital in mid summer to prepare the Christmas for example than in an average month. You always want to have something in tank i.e. some capital to spare. If you don't you will end up going out of stock - and then your competition will be all over you. What about the difference between profit and personal income for the business owner? Can you take 100% of profits out as income?

Building a Brand (Joe Jaques 1 of 2)