BONUS EPISODE: Ecom Scaling Show: Fixed Costs & Hiring Mistakes To Avoid as an E-Commerce Brand(Ep. 8)
Episode Summary
Welcome to the Ecom Scaling Show, brought to you by Free To Grow CFO and Aplo Group! Join hosts Jon Blair (Founder, Free to Grow CFO) and Dylan Byers (Co-founder, Aplo Group) as we dive into the crucial—yet often missing—link between marketing and finance in DTC e-commerce.
In this episode of the Ecom Scaling Show, we’re diving into the biggest mistakes brands make when approaching hiring and fixed costs. We delve into the necessary core competencies within a brand, and knowing when to hire internally or use external agencies. We’ll touch on the importance of having a robust hiring pipeline and managerial strategies to handle increased overhead costs effectively. Key topics include strategies for scaling business operations, prioritizing hires to achieve strategic goals or remove bottlenecks, and the debate over hiring individual contributors versus team leaders; we also explore the pros and cons of using marketing agencies versus in-house teams, particularly in areas like email marketing and ad buying. The conversation covers the critical role of strategic thinking in organizational growth, the trends in managerial roles with the advent of AI, and the need for redundancy to ensure business continuity.
Key Takeaways
Hiring should align with strategic goals and bottlenecks.
Leverage agency insights for better business strategies.
The debate between in-house and agency hiring is nuanced.
Episode Links
Free To Grow CFO: https://freetogrowcfo.com/
Aplo Group: https://www.aplogroup.com/
Jon Blair on Linkedin: / jonathon-albert-blair
Dylan Byers on Linkedin: / dylan-byers-046010149
Transcript
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00:00 Core Competencies and Redundancy in Hiring
00:17 Introduction to the E-comm Scaling Show
00:56 Discussing Org Structure and Hiring Strategies
01:24 OPEX and Financial Health of Brands
03:31 Strategic Guidelines for CFOs
07:32 OPEX Percentages and Efficiency
10:37 Scaling and Capacity Decisions
16:40 Leader vs. Individual Contributor Dilemma
21:01 Identifying Core Competencies and Leadership Gaps
25:33 The Case for Outsourcing Email Marketing
26:55 Ad Buying: In-House or Agency?
30:02 The Role of a Head of Marketing
39:26 Final Thoughts on Hiring Strategies
