About this episode

Paul Waddy discusses the pitfalls of ecommerce businesses and how to improve profitability.

'What "fucked" actually means in ecommerce and the two ways brands get there: over-buying stock and operating at a loss' Ryan sits down with Paul Waddy, author of Shopify for Dummies, former Head of Operations at Showpo, former CEO of The Horse, and founder of Learn eCommerce, fresh off one of the standout keynotes at Retail Fest: "How to Unfuck Your Business in Three Steps." Paul shares his journey from suitcases of shoe samples in Guangzhou to coaching hundreds of ecommerce brands including Naked Sundays, Budgy Smuggler, Maison de Sabré and LSKD, and breaks down exactly why so many ecommerce businesses are losing money without realising it, and the formulas to fix it. Packed with hard numbers: target margins, ad spend benchmarks, inventory formulas and the metrics every founder should be tracking daily. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN • What "fucked" actually means in ecommerce and the two ways brands get there: over-buying stock and operating at a loss • Why high revenue can hide a failing business, and why some founders are "the lowest paid workers in Australia" • The three foundations of a healthy ecommerce business: sales, gross profit, and OPEX +…

People in this episode

Host: Ryan Martin

Guest: Paul Waddy

Topics covered

• ecommerce challenges
• business operations
• inventory management
• profit margins
• ad spend strategies
• founder traits

Keywords

• ecommerce
• business loss
• inventory formulas
• profit margins
• ad spend
• founder success traits

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Shopify for Dummies, Showpo, The Horse, Learn eCommerce, Naked Sundays, Budgy Smuggler, Maison de Sabré, LSKD

More episodes of eCommerce Australia

• How a $15M Mistake Became a Promotion: CRO, Attribution & What's Actually Working in 2026 · July 18, 2026 · 46 min
• Founder Series: MAKU The Label - Kyall & Maku Fenaroli · July 15, 2026 · 50 min
• 2am Maternity Leave Idea to 400K Customers: How Lou Rice Built Strapsicle into a Global eCommerce Brand · June 26, 2026 · 41 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the eCommerce Australia podcast page.