your guide on the road to
real ecommerce growth
ecommerce coach to founders & in-house teams
Grow lean. Grow smart. Build for the long haul.
You make products your customers love and deliver the level of service they appreciate.
My job is to work with you to review, plan and action an ecommerce growth strategy unique to your business, your objectives, your customers and your brand. A plan to grow your bank balance (not just Facebook's or Google's). Achieving profitable, consistent ecommerce growth is tough. It's only going to get tougher.
I'm not providing you some 'best practices to follow' or 'ways to skyrocket growth'. This is about treading carefully, working wisely and knowing when the foundations for growth are set ... and having the confidence to hit the pedal hard.
I’ve been there too. I built my ecommerce brand from scratch (the supply issues... the warehouse... the staff... the continual growth conundrum). I’ve also advised 250+ ecommerce founders over the past 14 years across an ever-widening array of challenges they face. I get it. You don’t get it until you’ve done it. I'm here to help each step of the way.
IAN RHODES
Ecommerce Growth Coach
“Working with Ian is probably the best thing that has happened to us in the last 6 years.
Ian has managed to help us turn a corner by training up our team immensely."
Rivki @ Private White VC
Ecommerce Growth Coaching:
Are we a good match?
I advise founders and in-house marketing teams at stores that are serious about building for the long haul.
Markets? My clients are founders and/or marketing teams of direct to consumer brands and niche retailers. Product makers and market shakers.
Platform? Mostly Shopify or WooCommerce
Countries? Here in the UK & Europe
My coaching and the guidance you receive is tailored to you. No playbook. No 10x growth plans that guarantee success. This is the real work.
“He truly has become an essential part of the business and continues to exceed my high expectations in every way.
Ian's also very fun to work with which is an added bonus!"
Keri-Ann :: Founder :: Women's Luxury Fashion Retailer
Growth Coaching:
Who won't my ecommerce coaching suit?
Dropshippers, general retailers, Amazon sellers, eBay stores or those with the desire to get rich quick. If you’re looking for the easy route?
a) it doesn’t exist
b) we’re not a good match
My clients are either growth hungry or already established brands. Founders and teams invested in creating products & retailing to markets where products matter to their customers.
Ecommerce Business Coaching:
Day to day, how will this work?
Where do we start? With a big old chat through where you’re at right now, how you got there and where you want to head. Our remit is wide. The who, the what, the why’s and the when’s. Our first meaningful task it to prioritise the work.
I’m here as your trusted advisor. I’m also a practitioner. I get this stuff. We get granular learning the data. I'm not going to tell you to spend more. This is about customer-led ecommerce growth - you'll learn how to drive organic growth. We get slightly nerdy adopting the tech. We get creative working on ideas across your product pages, email sequences and comms. We work through how you make what you make matter (to those that matter most).
Most important of all. I'll give you access to customer insight direct from your customers. You'll discover how to use Voice of the Customer data and customer insights to prioritise your work and focus in on the areas where growth opportunity exists.
I work with a select few teams. People that I can get on with and people that I believe in. It has to be a two-way relationship. You’re putting your trust in me and that means an awful lot. I never take it for granted.
You’ll have questions. A lot of questions. I’d be naïve to say I have all the answers, but this is an ongoing process. I’m there in your corner to find solutions and to give you real confidence in the decisions you make and the priorities you maintain.
On the strategic side
- The financials... how do I know which numbers matter? How do I track those numbers?
- Do I focus on customer acquisition or retention?
- Do I hire? Do I outsource? What numbers do we need to be hitting to recruit? And what role?
- Data. How do I make best use of all this data?
- ... same question for technology! What tech should you be using? How do you justify new tech? Will it scale?
- What channels (should) work best for us? Do I focus on paid search? can I really grow organically?
- How do we get more customers to shop again? I need even need to focus on repeat business right now?
- What pricing strategy suits us? 2x, 3x, 5x my cost of goods? What about shipping costs? Do I discount?
- How can I improve inventory management, order processing and dispatch?
- How can we launch new products with impact?
- What strategies am I missing? Where do I need to invest our time?
- I love the idea of building community. What are the steps to take?
- What does data tell me I don't already know? What actions do I now need to take?
On the practical side
- How do we understand and measure our customer lifetime value?
- What Klaviyo email flows should we build? what segments should we focus on?
- How do I know what content I need to be creating?
- How do we capture more relevant customer data as we grow our list?
- I need more data.... I think. What data do I need?
- Copywriting is a struggle, what tone best suits our brand?
- How do we get more customer reviews? Quality as well as quantity?
- How can we develop our loyalty programme?
- How do we make the most of the post-purchase experience?
- What apps should we be looking to use? What budget works for our tech stack?
- I love the idea of creating articles and new landing pages, but what should we be writing about?
Ecommerce Business Coaching:
What will the schedule look like?
AKA What do you get for your money?
We have scheduled weekly, fortnightly or monthly calls. Your time. Your decision. Usually around 30mins to an hour. Zoom, phone, screenshares, whatever we need to do. Each call we review data and the work that’s taking place, discuss challenges and plan for the week ahead.
We use Slack. We use email. I’m here to answer questions and provide all the insight I can throughout our work together. My job is to provide value. An ROI-based value? It’s difficult to attribute, but I’d sure hope you see worth behind our work together.
In the background I'm discovering and sharing customer insights from within your business. I’m sharing advice on how to make best use of that data to prioritise your work. Not generic motivational bullshit (you’ll get enough of that on LinkedIn). Real, practical advice. Your time is precious, we’ll keep this as productive and as succinct as we can. More time for you to lead and do the doing. The reality of building an ecommerce brand.
You’re not stuck in a long-term contract. Again, my objective is to provide value beyond a contract for work. This is all I do now. I learn. I coach. I teach. If it’s not working for you then we part ways. I’ll do my darnedest to make sure that doesn’t happen, but you never know for sure.
So, I’m here to share 25 years in the trenches of ecommerce. Seeing what works, what doesn’t work, what should work and what never will. It’s never been a more exciting time to run an ecommerce business. As I said earlier, it’s an adventure. I’m here to deliver you guidance each step of your ecommerce growth journey.
Your initial questions answered
Ready to grow a thriving ecommerce business?
Use the form below (or email me at [email protected]) and I'll be in touch to answer your questions, learn more about your brand and to discuss how I may help grow your ecommerce business.
"I have no hesitation in recommending Ian to any start up business owner no matter how small your niche, he is truly outstanding"
- Sharon Demmery - Founder of Demmerys.com