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This week’s episode of “Ecommerce Conversations” continues my masterclass series on entrepreneurship. Thus far in 2025 I’ve addressed branding and profitability hacks.

For this installment, I’ll focus on hiring, specifically for marketing, operations, and product personnel.

My entire audio narration is below. The transcript is condensed and edited for clarity.

Owners often consider employee count a measure of success — the more, the better. Not me. I prefer a larger company with few employees, not the opposite.

In my experience, a common mistake is hiring to extinguish short-term fires but without a clear long-term plan. Another is hiring based on expected growth. At Beardbrand, my company, I prefer working with consultants, agencies, or marketplaces such as Upwork to establish systems. I’ll hire a W-2 employee when there’s enough demand to justify a full-time role.

I avoid hiring generalists to perform multiple roles, such as email, social media, and Amazon. Specialists are expensive but usually worth it.

Read article >

A Message from Zoho Commerce

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New Ecommerce Tools: April 3, 2025

This week's digest covers developments from Perplexity, Shopify, Amazon, Commercetools, UPS, Veho, Pipe17, Chord Commerce, and more.

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5 Content Marketing Ideas for May 2025

Topics in May could include Harry Potter, the Kentucky Derby, paranormal phenomena, bicycle commuting, and bees. Read article >

Merchants’ Guide to Navigating Conflicts

Conflict with suppliers, partners, and employees is inevitable. A new book suggests resilience and acceptance. Read article >

From the Archive: March 2014

The real costs of starting a web store

There are many ways to get an ecommerce store off the ground. Among the most common is using a SaaS platform, such as Volusion, Magento, Shopify, BigCommerce, or 3dcart. Read article >

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