Starting Again
Discussion
RM said:
Will you use Shopify for your new venture? 
Yes and its 90% built with a full Linnworks integration, multiple suppliers and multiple sales platforms. EddieSteadyGo said:
Can I ask, rather than starting a new venture, why did you decide to not continue with your current business? Whilst you might not have the appetite to expand internationally, there are plenty of similar companies making a decent income just concentrating on the UK market.
My biz partner is 20 years younger, I`m 56 and the potential for Velstar to be a worldwide brand and a great adventure is beyond my appetite. I was always thinking to go back to something less frenetic but I also valued the Shopify Plus partnership very highly when thinking of a valuation for my share. This buyer understood the value of the Shopify partnership and valued it accordingly - its a great deal for me.Also and not to be morbid (Just matter of fact) I lost my brother, dad, uncle and grandad all before they were 60 so the cash boost and commitment drop allows me to do more with my 10 year old twins.
Louis Balfour said:
DS had a telecoms firm up north right? He sold it.
Then he started again with a web marketing firm. He's now sold that.
Have I got that right?
Yes spot on, I sold my 51% of Velstar, it was a Shopify based web dev and marketing, in all honesty the success is based on the Shopify relationship my partner has and the marketing on the fact our marketing director (Paul) is the best SEO / PPC I have found in my 22 years online. Then he started again with a web marketing firm. He's now sold that.
Have I got that right?
VEX said:
Great News DS.
Long time follower (and customer)
Fingers crossed for the future.
We went live last night - why not, 4th of July is perfect!! Lol
Lots of brands bending their rules to accommodate us, which is a real coo.
V.
Chris the site looks fantastic and you will do really well from it, the professional online image opens doors but this is something I struggle to get across to people hence I am so glad Long time follower (and customer)
Fingers crossed for the future.
We went live last night - why not, 4th of July is perfect!! Lol
Lots of brands bending their rules to accommodate us, which is a real coo.
V.
you "trusted me" on it
jammy-git said:
Congratulations matey. It's been great to follow you on this journey!
One question though. Did you celebrate the success and sale of your business, or the title win, more?
Honestly I celebrated our first 6 figure website more than either of them One question though. Did you celebrate the success and sale of your business, or the title win, more?
and that was after I knew I had no benefit from it! The title hasn’t sunk in yet as I’ve not been with my pals being all “laddy” lol.
On the sale I celebrated the offer more than anything else and that was 2 months ago. Just want to crack on with the new stuff now.
Edited by DSLiverpool on Saturday 4th July 19:45
The start of this thread has vanished or my memory has !! Mods?
After the longest duedil / completion I can recall we actually completed on Tuesday.
I’ll start a new “starting again” thread next week.
As I’m now handing over and still have all my access, cards and email the only thing that’s changed is a bit of wedge in the Halifax.
A 4 year adventure comes to an end where I’ve learned a lot, screamed a lot, laughed a lot and made a bit.
Onto the next adventure .......
After the longest duedil / completion I can recall we actually completed on Tuesday.
I’ll start a new “starting again” thread next week.
As I’m now handing over and still have all my access, cards and email the only thing that’s changed is a bit of wedge in the Halifax.
A 4 year adventure comes to an end where I’ve learned a lot, screamed a lot, laughed a lot and made a bit.
Onto the next adventure .......
cervezaman said:
Well done, that's an excellent result! I've been following your first car parts business sale and then this sale, and my question would be how did you manage to find a buyer in both cases?
Without wanting to hijack your thread, I've been in eCommerce for around 10 years and had a nightmare when selling our first eCommerce business back in 2013 (£2.5m turnover, good margins). A lot of people (including competitors) just fishing for info, and then when we did agree terms with a buyer they battered us with 6 months worth of due diligence. By the time we'd finished the due diligence process we'd seen a decline in sales due to taking our eye off the ball. They then rescinded their offer and set up in competition against us after going through every inch of our business. Our business pretty much went under. I'll be first to admit we were green to the process.
We're now 3 years into a new eCommerce business, turnover is around £5m with a really good margin, and we're starting to think about selling again. Just wondered what advice you'd give on finding a buyer and managing the sales process / due diigence?
Happy to help you work towards an exit - message me through my profile. I didn’t sell car parts I sold phones / headsets / elecs Without wanting to hijack your thread, I've been in eCommerce for around 10 years and had a nightmare when selling our first eCommerce business back in 2013 (£2.5m turnover, good margins). A lot of people (including competitors) just fishing for info, and then when we did agree terms with a buyer they battered us with 6 months worth of due diligence. By the time we'd finished the due diligence process we'd seen a decline in sales due to taking our eye off the ball. They then rescinded their offer and set up in competition against us after going through every inch of our business. Our business pretty much went under. I'll be first to admit we were green to the process.
We're now 3 years into a new eCommerce business, turnover is around £5m with a really good margin, and we're starting to think about selling again. Just wondered what advice you'd give on finding a buyer and managing the sales process / due diigence?
Ok - Left Velstar when the money came through in September 2020, as the due diligence took 6 months I had done a handover by this time. By accident, I had started Tik Tokking (#dsliverpool) as a laugh but had about 12000 subscribers, once I had left Velstar I had nothing to do so I thought about monetising my followers, I was clueless but had some good help on here and set up a private FB group that cost £1 a month or £12 a year (not sure where the benefit in that was).
I raised about £3500 which paid for a website and content from people cleverer than myself, I had to increase to £5 a month / £50 a year in November 2020, and its at that now.
Membership is up and down like any subscription model at 550 ish but a new website, smarter content, and more interactive zoom guides will hopefully push it to 1000 members by March 2022. All marketing is via TikTok apart from a very small Insta account, once we spread to YouTube it will grow.
I supplemented the club by offering 20, 30 and 60-minute Zoom calls 1-2-1 to help out with new starters or any problem within retail / eCommerce. I found my network of contacts is a good source of helping people and often I just tell people how to approach an agency. This is highly lucrative as in the land of the blind the one-eyed man with a cataract is king.
I am about to launch a clothing brand as well, I will own 51% with the rest owned by the creatives, its marketing is pretty unique, I am diarising it on TikTok
I raised about £3500 which paid for a website and content from people cleverer than myself, I had to increase to £5 a month / £50 a year in November 2020, and its at that now.
Membership is up and down like any subscription model at 550 ish but a new website, smarter content, and more interactive zoom guides will hopefully push it to 1000 members by March 2022. All marketing is via TikTok apart from a very small Insta account, once we spread to YouTube it will grow.
I supplemented the club by offering 20, 30 and 60-minute Zoom calls 1-2-1 to help out with new starters or any problem within retail / eCommerce. I found my network of contacts is a good source of helping people and often I just tell people how to approach an agency. This is highly lucrative as in the land of the blind the one-eyed man with a cataract is king.
I am about to launch a clothing brand as well, I will own 51% with the rest owned by the creatives, its marketing is pretty unique, I am diarising it on TikTok
RM said:
DSLiverpool said:
A fool never learns - Three60 Marketing launches next month (!)
Velstar again or a new direction?This is small, intimate and restricted in growth - it’s basically a hybrid between consulting and a doing, born of demand from club members.
A flashback to the start of Velstar 2016
Edited by DSLiverpool on Saturday 22 April 04:43
Hoofy said:
Nice going. All via TikTok?I do have to sell my soul to the god of social media though and create another version of myself.
When challenged to make a viral TT I did a ranting video about the McD app being useless even though I was wrong - worked perfectly, made me look a knob so I did a follow up explanation.
Quick update (I know)
I’ve accidentally got
My club - 887 members @ £5 a month
My consultancy - 4 clients
My e-commerce - £50k a year but ready to scale
Now another bloody agency well 46% of one.
The agency has clients wait listed, no website no marketing - I’ve 2 brilliant partners and we’re lucky to have the staff and associates we have.
All from tiktok - I know I can do a certain type of post and get the enquiries I’m after.
If I wasn’t 60 and f
ked it’d be amazing but I am so …..
I’ve accidentally got
My club - 887 members @ £5 a month
My consultancy - 4 clients
My e-commerce - £50k a year but ready to scale
Now another bloody agency well 46% of one.
The agency has clients wait listed, no website no marketing - I’ve 2 brilliant partners and we’re lucky to have the staff and associates we have.
All from tiktok - I know I can do a certain type of post and get the enquiries I’m after.
If I wasn’t 60 and f
ked it’d be amazing but I am so …..RM said:
What’s the e-commerce and how does it link to TikTok?
My ecomm doesn’t do enough on TT to keep me in KFC but it could do. Shopify has a basic link to TT shop but TT are beta testing a really comprehensive shop from Shopify popularity. Throw in Despatch Cloud and you’re fully automated across all platforms inc Miraki (B&Q)
Huge demand for TT live presenters right now, it’s a crap job but csn pay well.
MrSparks said:
DSLiverpool said:
Throw in Despatch Cloud and you’re fully automated across all platforms inc Miraki (B&Q)
How does Despatch Cloud compare against Linnworks?Price wise it’s less but it’s the support I value, they make me look good ;-)
MrSparks said:
DSLiverpool said:
It’s uk based and you can speak to people that know what they are doing. They just leant an expert for 2 days who went to Scotland and totally reorganised a clients warehouse scan, pick system and layout. Can’t see Linn doing that.
Price wise it’s less but it’s the support I value, they make me look good ;-)
Thanks, I’ll give it a demo. Renewal up again with Linnworks in April and my guess is another hefty price rise. We get on well with the software but it is a bit buggy at times. Price wise it’s less but it’s the support I value, they make me look good ;-)
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