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As presented at the Bay Area eBay and eCommerce Sellers' Meetup on July 23, 2013. Sandi Garcia (a.k.a. Social Sandi) has been selling on eBay since 2008. Along the way, she's learned a lot of shortcuts that save time and money! She will share ideas to help us stretch our shoestring budgets as far as possible. Topics will include establishing boundaries with loved ones, scheduling and calendaring, "going" to work, staying healthy, managing money and making business financial decisions, when/how to hire help, and useful tools & apps.
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Business Efficiency Optimization:
Tools, Tips & Tricks
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© 2013, Sandi Garcia. All rights reserved. No part of these materials may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means without permission of the author.
Legal Stuff
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Sandi Garcia, aka “Social Sandi”
◦ eBay Education Specialist◦ Social Media Marketing Coach◦ B.S. in Business Administration from UC Berkeley
(Go Bears!)◦ Owner www.OfficeThreads.com (formerly Like New Suits)◦ Based out of Alameda, California◦ Crazy obsessed NY Yankees Fan
Who is she?
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We are going to move wicked fast.
Follow-up at:◦ www.socialsandi.com◦ www.facebook.com/socialsandi◦ Tweet me @socialsandi
B-School words
Interactive
What to Expect
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Get Out the Map Boundaries & Scheduling Going to the Office Get up, Stand up Managing Cash-flow and Business Decisions Creating Efficiencies “Help Wanted” Using Tools, Apps, and Resources Back to School Networking
Agenda
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Get Out The Map
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Why?
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Boundaries & Scheduling
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Those who don’t sell on eBay do not understand what we do & may not consider it “work”
Loved ones can be tremendous time-suckers
Have a “family meeting”. Explain things will change re: your availability. Involve family in the process of finding ways to help you be successful with your business.
Boundaries
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“I put my foot down on people coming and going from my office. Most people tend to think of what I do differently from what it actually is. Friends would stop by to 'hang out' or call to just say "hi".
I wasn't taking my schedule seriously, nor were my friends. Now I have a 'by appointment only' sign at my office and use Google calendar to set my schedule. It has a pop-up when it's time to change or start a task.”
Shea Says…
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Please volunteer if you have family or friends who fairly often impose on your “work time”.
Can We Have 2 Volunteers?
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Sample: “I love you and am so glad you are a part of my life, but this is work time so I can’t help you right now.”
Important to validate that you care/respect them, and also that you are firm.
Use the same language every time, eventually they will get the message (or just get so bored by your response that they will leave you alone).
Boundary Statement
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Take off 1 day each week!
Plan your week ahead of time, combine trips.
Schedule “Firehouse Time” – Reflect on your business regularly, consider what is and isn’t working.
Scheduling
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“Do it now. And if you can't, then schedule a time to do it. This pertains to unloading inventory, bookkeeping, mending piles, etc.”
Monica Says…
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Reading industry news & education Social media networking As your business matures: Social media
marketing Shipping Customer service & communication Inventory management Photography & Photo Editing Listing Bookkeeping Sourcing
Include in your Schedule
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“Create a daily to-do list.”
“Be on top of things as they come up. I log everything in as soon as I can - inventory, payments, etc., and try not to let things pile up, including bookkeeping.”
Serena Says…
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Going to
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• Get dressed. • Pack your lunch and snacks.• Make your office an office. Create a separate, definitive “office” – separate
the space visually (doors, screens, tall plants…) Keep the office separate from your homespace:
No children, pets, roommates, or life partners. If you don’t go to their office/school and lounge around, they don’t go to yours.
Even if you work from home, you need to go to the office.
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Signage
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“If at all possible, have a designated eBay area. Preferably one with a door that you can close at the end of your workday.”
Gail Says…
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Get up, Stand Up
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When we are sick, we can’t operate our business. Staying healthy is essential.
Staying Healthy
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Show of Hands:
On average, who sits 6+ hours/day?
(Work, TV, Computer, Car, Meals, etc.)
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American Journal of Epidemiology studied people who sit more than 6 hours per day.
When tracked over a 13-year period, there was a:
40% higher death rate in women 18% higher death rate in men
As compared to people who did not sit 6+ hours/day.
American Journal of Epidemiology
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Are you as freaked-out as I was when I learned this?
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Cardiovascular disease Diabetes Cancer Metabolic syndrome Obesity Back and neck pain
Problems Connectedto Sitting (CDC)
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Alternatives to Sitting
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Treadmill desk Frequent breaks from sitting, every 30 minutes Stretches and “desk yoga” Replace your chair with an exercise ball
Alternatives
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Managing Money & Business Decisions
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How Business Grows
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Income & ExpensesGrow Together
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Shawn Busse, Kinesis, Inc.
The “Sell-Do” Trap
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ROI = “Return on Investment”
Ask yourself:
“If I spend this dollar, what will my return be on that dollar?”
When it comes to expenses, don’t trust your gut
ROI-BasedBusiness Decisions
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Costs
Cost to acquire inventory $10.00
Labor cost for listing item (30-minutes, $16/hour)
$ 8.00
eBay Fees (if it sells for $40) $ 3.60
PayPal Fees (if it sells for $40) $ 1.46
Shipping Expense $ 3.50
Shipping Supplies $ .35
Cleaning Expense $ 0
Storage Expense $ 0
TOTAL COSTS $26.56
How to Make an ROI-based Decision about Inventory
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Your ROI is…$40.00 – $26.56 = $13.44
Is that good?
ROI (continued)
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Rent Utilities Mileage (gas, car maintenance…) eBay Store Subscription Listing Service Subscription
(SixBit, SSB, Inkfrog, Blackthorne, Auctive, etc.) Other subscriptions Insurance Office supplies Travel
Fixed Costs
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Budget for Returns, estimate 3-5% of sales Set REALISTIC income goals Include fixed and variable costs already
discussed
Set a Monthly Budget
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Creating Efficiencies
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Sourcing inventory Listing flow (including photography) Shipping Every thing you do operationally can be
analyzed and (probably) improved upon
Look for Bottlenecks
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I worked in batches of 10 items, then averaged my time per item.
◦ Photography: 5 minutes 6 seconds each◦ Photo editing: 14 minutes 38 seconds each◦ Measuring: 1 minute 14 seconds each◦ Listing (with research): 9 minutes 40 seconds each
Total time per item to get them listed: 30 minutes 38 seconds
Example: My Bottleneck
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“I would say my most efficient technique is sorting "like" items, when possible for the days listings. Either by brand or style (like collared, button up shirts or sleeveless dresses, etc) .
This optimizes listing times by minimizing changes from listing to listing, speeding up the process.”
Cindy Says…
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“Have designated area for shipping. I have my tissue at the end of my work table and it NEVER gets moved now. There is a nice space for packaging and doing the tissue wrap and makes me happy every time I ship there.”
Susan Says…
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“Techniques I use: Issue an inventory # (SKU, part #) to everything - use that same # for photos of the item) -and- I have an explicit place for everything - inventory is here, shipping materials there, etc.”
Sally Says…
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What is something you can make more efficient in your business?
Brainstorming!
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Help Wanted
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You have plateaued You have maximized efficiencies You are cash-flow positive You have a positive net income every month You want to grow the business
When to Hire
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IRS: “Anyone who performs services for you is your employee if you can control what will be done and how it will be done. This is so even when you give the employee freedom of action. What matters is that you have the right to control the details of how the services are performed.
If you have employees, you will may expenses related to payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, workman’s compensation insurance
If you have employees, a rule of thumb when budgeting expenses is to estimate double their rate of pay
1099 vs. Employee
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1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern; 3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but
works under close supervision of existing staff; 4. The employer that provides the training derives no
immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.
Unpaid Interns
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There is a clear “end date”, but you can always extend or offer a paid position later.
They may be able to receive college credit. If you hire the person at the end of the
internship, they are already trained!
Advantages to Interns
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1. Hire people who are passionate about your product.
2. Trust but verify.
2 Rules When Hiring
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Using Tools, Apps, and Resources
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eBay Completed Transactions - Free Terapeak.com - $19.95 to $49.95/month Worthpoint.com - $14.99/month
Product Research
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Outright.com Quickbooks Hire at Odesk.com or a local professional
Sales Tax Organization: TaxJar.com
Keeping the Books
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Auctiva Find & Replace Ki Oui Googalytics Page Mage Billboards & Smart Gallery
eBay App Center
SocialBeacon.com Smartphone apps for Twitter and Facebook
Social Media Tools
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List with Mobile!◦ eBay has apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android, and
Windows Phones Great on-the go research tool
◦ Terapeak has an iPhone App The PayPal “Ka-ching”
Smartphones
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What is a tool or App YOU use to make your business more
efficient?
Brainstorm!
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Back to School
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Coursera.org Edx.org Udacity.com
What to study?◦ Accounting◦ Tax preparation◦ Business classes◦ HTML/SEO◦ Marketing◦ Social Media Networks
Free On-line Classes
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Set up a blog/RSS Feed Reader ◦ TheOldReader.com◦ Feedly.com◦ NetVibes.com
Subscribe to industry news magazines (often free)◦ InternetRetailer.com◦ Apparel News
Carry a Book with you EVERYWHERE
Read Voraciously
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eBay quarterly Investor Callinvestor.ebayinc.com
eBay Blogblog.ebay.com
Semi-annual Seller Updates eBay Radio (Tues. & Thurs.) eBay Town Hall Set-up a News Feed and monitor eBay News
Study eBay
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Networking
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Crowdsourcing, especially research Sharing ideas Bouncing ideas off of them Helping you stay grounded Motivating each other
What Friends Are For…
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Facebook Groups LinkedIn Groups eBay Discussion Boards and Groups
(watch out for trolls) Meetup Groups eBay Radio Party & eBay On Location (TBA) ColderICE Retail Conference (Sep. 20-21) Kansas Jubilee (Oct. 25-26) SeaBay Cruise (February 8, 2014)
Build a Network ofeBay Colleagues
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Final Thoughts
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