On this episode of Honest Ecommerce, we have Suzie Cyrenne. Suzie Cyrenne is the co-founder of two successful businesses, an e-commerce store in 2013 and a software company in 2018, where she currently serves as COO in both companies. We talk about optimizing shipping costs for businesses, discipline over motivation, delegating tasks, and so much more!
Suzie Cyrenne co-founded two successful businesses, an e-commerce store in 2013 and a software company in 2018, where she currently serves as COO in both companies.
Suzie is also passionate about empowering women in business, evidenced by her podcast, Women Powering Ecommerce.
Suzie's drive and dedication to excellence make her an excellent recommendation for her expertise in entrepreneurship and commitment to empowering others.
In This Conversation We Discuss:
Resources:
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Suzie Cyrenne
Value discipline over motivation because you cannot just hope to be motivated to do everything you have to do. Sometimes you just have to learn to do it.
Chase Clymer
Welcome to Honest Ecommerce, a podcast dedicated to cutting through the BS and finding actionable advice for online store owners. I'm your host, Chase Clymer. And I believe running a direct-to-consumer brand does not have to be complicated or a guessing game.
On this podcast, we interview founders and experts who are putting in the work and creating real results.
I also share my own insights from running our top Shopify consultancy, Electric Eye. We cut the fluff in favor of facts to help you grow your Ecommerce business.
Let's get on with the show.
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Honest Ecommerce. I'm your host, Chase Clymer.
And today, welcoming to the show, Suzie Cyrenne. She is the co-founder of not one but two successful businesses.
The first was an Ecommerce store that started back in 2013. And the second was a software company launched in 2018 where she currently serves as COO in both companies.
Suzie, welcome to the show.
Suzie Cyrenne
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
Chase Clymer
Oh, I'm excited to chat. We've got a lot to talk about here. So I guess, what is the store and then what is the software company? I didn't say that.
Suzie Cyrenne
Yeah, that's a good question.
So the store, like you said, is an Ecommerce store we started in 2013.
So we offer natural and homeopathic remedies for pets. And so we help many pet parents, but we also have like vets, homeopaths themselves come to us to help treat their pet with our natural remedies.
And what's great is we don't have any added chemicals and it helps customers just pet parents avoid the high costs of vet bills as well.
Chase Clymer
Absolutely.
Suzie Cyrenne
So yeah, so that's for Ecommerce.
And as for the software company, it actually was an idea that came from a need from our Ecommerce that we're having as Ecommerce entrepreneurs, my husband and I.
Basically, when you have an Ecommerce business, a lot of your costs go into shipping. We started shipping products, let's say internationally, not just in the US where we ship most and even up to today, let's say a $30 bottle and the customer wanted the product really fast.
So they were willing to pay double what they pay for the product just for shipping. And if that arrived late, then what happened?
The customer just came back to us and they told us, “Okay, well, I want you to refund my shipping,” Which made total sense. We took ownership of that.
And then that's when we realized that, okay, you can actually go back to your carrier because we were looking for a solution not to lose money on our end.
And that's when we discovered that late delivery guarantees exist and we can actually claim those back if they did not deliver on their promise.
So we discovered that for us, we asked for those late deliveries, we claimed those, and then we realized a lot of Ecommerce owners don't know about this. So we just turned it into a business.
So that's what we do with our SaaS company.
Chase Clymer
Awesome. There's a lot more to get into. But let's just go back in time. Let's talk about the beginning stages.
Where did the idea for this pet product business come from?
Suzie Cyrenne
Yeah. Oh my goodness. I was influenced by my mother-in-law. She was actually practicing homeopathy 15-20 years ago, homeopathy. And she made natural remedies from home.
And I didn't really believe in it. I was not a big believer in natural products. A lot of people who haven't really been introduced to it will think it's a placebo or things like that. So I was in that camp.
But I had been on prescription drugs for many years for a skin issue and honestly, I had no solution. I just didn't know what else to do.
So eventually when you've tried almost everything, you're willing to try anything else. So that's what I did. I asked her, would this work, you know, so just for me.
So I tried that and my problems cleared up within a few months of using homeopathic remedies. So that's when I realized, okay, this stuff actually works.
So during that time, I also realized that there weren't better options for pests too naturally. I had a dog, I just adopted a dog and I was giving him medication and he had severe diarrhea and things like that so there has to be a more natural route.
So that's when the idea of creating a line of natural remedies, especially for US based customers started.
So we developed that.
And I think our first website was actually on WooCommerce, which was a big flop.
I think the first time we actually launched the website, the first six months, we had no sales.
I think pretty much 99.9% of people would have abandoned it by then. But we really believed in what we had.
So we migrated everything to Shopify. That's when we learned about Shopify. So we put everything on Shopify day one for sale.
So that was great. I'll always remember that for sure.
Chase Clymer
Awesome. Well, I want to ask some more specific questions about that journey. So you realize that there is an opportunity here to help your own animal.
And then how do you validate that there's a market out there to actually buy these products, that other people might be interested in these products?
Suzie Cyrenne
Well, we did some... I would say some product market research in the sense that, my mother-in-law, they also developed this line of product that they were selling already in France, in Canada, the French part, but they were only French speaking.
So that's when we had the idea of doing the same thing for just the rest of the world in English.
So it was already something that was proven and true at that time, there wasn't… the natural route of treatment was not as popular as it is today. But I guess we were just a little bit…We just risked it and saw the potential and yes, had seen it work already in some markets.
So we just believe that it will work in the US especially for places like California or Florida, which it's a little bit more green in the mentality.
And yeah, so it worked. So we're pretty happy.
Chase Clymer
I mean, you wouldn't... You'd be surprised how many answers that question with, ‘We didn't actually think about it. We just knew it would work.’
Okay. So how long did it take to go from the ideation that we're going to make this thing until you actually have a physical product in hand?
Suzie Cyrenne
That's good. We, like I said, were actually lucky to have already a proven lineup product that was pretty much done. So we just retook it to resell it.
And we still worked. I worked with my mother-in-law to recreate new recipes and up to today, we still do that and always try to discover new products that would help pets.
So it didn't take me too long, just a few months.
But of course, when you start, you know, you don't know a lot of stuff, you have no clue about regulations or almost then.
And so we made a lot of mistakes along the way and that's for sure, especially when you have to deal with Health Canada, the FDA and all of that.
So I would say the more work was done after launching the product, which we did like really the, we should have done it the whole way around, but anyways, didn't know. So here we are today.
But I would say only a few months and everything was online and marketed.
Chase Clymer
Absolutely.
Let's talk about launching the product and I guess the flop of the first iteration of the website. Looking back on it, what do you think went wrong?
Suzie Cyrenne
When we were starting, we had no knowledge about Ecommerce. So we had no clue about SEO, how paid ads work, all of that.
We wanted to try SEO, and had no clue how to do it. We hired this guy, I think we paid 20K, put that on our credit card and hoped it would work and it did not, it did not.
And that's the thing with SEO, for example, you'll see results only in six months. So we learned, did the hard way that way too, but that just brought us to learn it a little bit more ourselves.
And that brought us to develop our own recipe of doing SEO, which was great in the end. We're super happy. We went down that journey.
And same thing with paid ads. I mean, it's a lot of trial and error. Eventually, we realized we weren't going to be... We didn't want to spend too much time trying to figure it out.
So we hired an agency that helped them and so on.
Chase Clymer
Absolutely.
How long was that journey from making the investment into SEO?
Was that in the first website on WooCommerce or was that in the second website on the Shopify website?
Suzie Cyrenne
Yeah, I think it was on the Shopify website.
So we had already started, but sales weren't picking up as quickly as we'd like to. So I would say that journey took about, for us to learn the recipe, it took about a year or so.
We tested a few things and one of the recipes we found was just to interview experts. At the time, first we did a guide to pet adoption, we interviewed experts and promised a link back to their website.
So and then we made the content shareable for them to use. So we did guides by interviewing experts a lot.
And that was one of the recipes that really worked well for us. And then we kind of recreate that recipe in other industries like dog training, raw food, things like that.
Chase Clymer
Yeah. Interviewing people is a fantastic way to build backlinks. I wonder what I'm doing here.
Suzie Cyrenne
Yes.
Chase Clymer
Alright. So you guys have this SEO strategy and you already know it takes a while for that to work.
So you're putting in the work there and then you get into paid ads.
Do you remember what year this was?
Suzie Cyrenne
Paid ads? I think we started that pretty early on. So wow. Okay, going back.
Maybe within the first year, I think we're doing paid ads. Maybe 2014 or so.
Chase Clymer
Was this just Google? Was Facebook even doing ads back then?
Suzie Cyrenne
I think so. I think so. I remember... But the first paid ads we did was Google Ads that I remember.
And then we... Facebook hopped on right after and then we tried other things like Pinterest.
Chase Clymer
Awesome. And so you started to dabble in these.
How long did it take you to really, I guess, figure out is the wrong term, but maybe be profitable with your advertising through a paid acquisition strategy?
Suzie Cyrenne
That's like an up and down journey, I think, and up till today. I mean, you're always trying to get the best ROAs.
But I feel that we tried it ourselves. We did okay, but we felt we were lacking. So then we tried an agency and then we switched agencies because we didn't feel our return on investment was what it was supposed to be.
But again, when you're starting, you don't know what those benchmarks are. So we accepted mediocrity for a long time.
And then until we understood that other people kind of create a network of Ecommerce owners and then you understand that, okay, well, here's the real benchmark you're supposed to expect in your industry in Ecommerce.
And then you can actually put a little bit more pressure and follow up on your metrics with the agency.
So we did that. So I would say it took a long time. It was a roller coaster. And it was only until last year, we really were okay with and to expect a row as for example of 8 on our Ecommerce, where before it was 2, 3 and we're like, “Okay, I guess that's the industry norm.”
So yeah.
Chase Clymer
Absolutely. And I think that's... You touched on that before.
You didn't know what you didn't know and maybe hired a bit before you should have in that sense.
And I think that's a common theme with founders, like, if you're going to outsource something, you need to know enough about it to know what good or bad looks like.
Because if not, you're just taking someone's word.
Suzie Cyrenne
Exactly.
Chase Clymer
Unfortunately, there's a lot of shady people out there.
Suzie Cyrenne
There are.
Chase Clymer
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Chase Clymer
So do you remember when... Just for the Ecommerce store, do you remember when things started to click and you're like, all right, we're onto something here. It's working.
Suzie Cyrenne
Well, like I said previously, the SEO definitely was something that clicked for us. We would see spikes every 6 months in our traffic and in our revenues. We would see a doubling of sales and traffic.
So that definitely worked.
I would say the latest thing was email marketing. We let that be one of the last things we took care of for a long time.
We thought, okay, a newsletter is good enough once in a while, but no, really not. I would say today, we just had a meeting this morning with our email marketing guy.
And this month, we really hit records. 47% of our revenue comes from emails now. So we're just continuously A-B testing, trying new things, creating new flows.
And we're just over the top with the results.
Chase Clymer
Do you remember what it was when you started?
Suzie Cyrenne
We actually put that into place last year only and we were at 18%. Our revenue came from 18% from our email marketing. So that's a huge increase.
Chase Clymer
That's fantastic. Let's fast forward a little bit. And I know you talked about it in the beginning.
But walk me through what was the impetus? What was the issue that was eating at you that led to launching the new SaaS business?
Suzie Cyrenne
So yeah, I mean, I don't know. We're in Canada and shipping costs are nothing like the US are.
The costs in the US are still maybe high, but nothing compared to Canada. We cannot compete with the US. So that's already pretty sad.
So we try to do our best to optimize and save on shipping fees as much as we can. And that's not counting the length to get a package from point A to point B.
So it's just eating up your profit for everything you're putting in. And so that was one thing. At first, it was complaints from customers.
They were coming to us and telling us, hey, my package is late, what can you do? And that's only when we investigate and refunded them.
But then we realized that, no, you can actually take every tracking number in whatever has a guaranteed service, and you can just track and check, okay, this one's late.
You don't have to wait on a customer to complain. You can just be proactive about it and offer first that good service and to just claim what they owe you in the end because they did not meet their promises.
And then that's when we investigated more and more and we realized, okay, there are so many more saving opportunities.
You take a look at your invoices and that, for just an example, last year. We were working with a company that charged a carrier that charged remote area fees of $30 per package, just for no reason. They consider it was remote.
That's a huge fee for if you're shipping something that's... We have fixed costs for shipping. We try to keep it as simple as possible for customers.
So that's a big shift. If they paid $12, that makes no sense. But if you don't take a look at your invoices and things like that...Well, what's going to happen?
You're going to be, your bottom line's not going to look pretty and you're going to wonder why.
So that's why we, but it takes so much time. It just takes so much time.
And yes, you can put an employee to do that and even full time if you want. But eventually with time we develop a system and then we learn from some mistakes and we just make our system better and better.
So we just allow people to save that time. You have better things to do. You can put that time and money into marketing or sales.
So yeah, that's definitely why we're doing it. I use it myself and people really, really appreciate it for sure.
Chase Clymer
So I just want to reiterate things in my words, because I'm a dummy. So if I send a package to somebody, and now this is in America as well?
Suzie Cyrenne
Yes. Yes. It's a worldwide thing.
Chase Clymer
Okay. So I said I sent... Suzie, I'm sending you a box of chocolates as a thank you for being a guest. And I pay for a guaranteed 2-day. If it shows up on day 3, do I get all my money back?
How does it work? Just the shipping element of it?
Suzie Cyrenne
It's the shipping fees. Okay. The shipping costs you paid for the package. Yes.
And there are certain carriers like FedEx. I think they offer like if it's one minute late, you get a refund. And we've seen cases of having a package like three minutes late and getting a refund for a few thousand dollars on a big package.
Chase Clymer
Wow. And so how often are you talking with... Let's just draw a line in the same.
Let's say a brand, they're making over a million dollars a year. So they're sending out quite a few packages. They're pretty well established.
What is the percentage of founders that you speak to that know that this is a thing?
Suzie Cyrenne
Not many, unfortunately not many. So that's why we were trying to make it our goal to educate.
And it's not competing with the carrier. It's not being against carriers. It's working with your carrier.
They're offering a guarantee, just like us Ecommerce owners, when a product or a service that we offer our customers doesn't satisfy them, then that's fine. I mean, we're happy to provide that guarantee.
They understand that. So it just makes them more accountable. So yeah.
Chase Clymer
That's fantastic. So I got to ask this.
Splitting your time between two businesses, how do you do it?
Suzie Cyrenne
That's such a great question. So I would say one word.
Learn to delegate. Well, that's delegate. That's one word. But learn to delegate. That's three. So
I really learned to delegate. It was not something I was naturally born to do. I'm initially a micromanager for sure. I like to overlook every single thing and that's what I used to do but eventually you realize you cannot do that, especially if you're going to run two businesses.
So one thing that really helped me delegate is hiring an executive assistant just for inbox management, calendar.
So that's such a big game changer because we just waste so much time on email and you go away for a long weekend and then you're like, you have to catch up for a full day almost.
So just having that just allowed me to have that momentum to take care of other more important things that will make a difference.
And I personally ask myself on a regular basis, I try to do it maybe every month, every quarter or so.
For every task that I'm currently doing right now. Am I the only one to be able to do them?
So for example, should I actually be answering this email right now or could my assistant do it? Or should I really be the one paying this bill or can someone else on my team do it?
So when you ask, you can actually, I list my tasks and I just put D for delegate and M for me maybe.
And then you see the patterns and then you realize we always add back stuff that we don't necessarily have to do, we could probably delegate.
Another thing is time blocking in advance. I just like to take my calendar and I like to go with the metaphor of big rocks, pebbles and sand.
Chase Clymer
Yes.
Suzie Cyrenne
I'll just make sure what's the one thing I have to make sure I do every single day. I add my big rocks in my calendar first, block that out. That way, great. At least the companies will roll and I'm sure it'll all be working on what's most important.
Then you can add the rest like the pebbles, the sand. And what's really important...
I mean, it's nice to set up your calendar, but then if you're gonna ignore it and not take care of it, then that's another thing.
So you have to really... I learned to really honor my calendar and value discipline over motivation because you cannot just hope to be motivated to do everything you have to do. Sometimes you just have to learn to do it.
Chase Clymer
Absolutely.
Now, the rocks, pebbles, and sand analogy. Did you get that from Traction?
Suzie Cyrenne
Yes. Yes.
Chase Clymer
Are you guys running on EOS over there?
Suzie Cyrenne
We're running on EOS for both businesses. I've actually implemented that this year.
There's actually a great book that doesn't speak in those terms by Back Your Time from Dan Martell. That was... I don't know if you read that book. It's excellent. I recommend it.
Chase Clymer
No.
Suzie Cyrenne
Oh. Yes, please. It just shows you that it's all about time management, delegating. Anyways, hiring an executive assistant, all the reasons why you should be hiring a position that…
Anyways, it's a great book. It's a really great book. I recommend it.
So that really helped me with my time management this year, mostly.
Chase Clymer
Absolutely. I would say that for all the listeners out there, I'm just going to assume most of you guys are... EOS is written in a very chunky corporate way. So you have to take from it what you can take from it to build it around your business.
I know that Mike McCallewitz has a book that is also similar. I think it's called Clockwork. But it helps you with delegation.
And then just when you're talking about delegating, one thing I also like to say is like, oftentimes, you can also just automate things.
And then there's the other option too, which is delete. It's like, is this actually a task that needs done at all?
And that's something people often overlook. It's like, you don't need to be doing that anymore.
Suzie Cyrenne
Yes, exactly. And with AI, now we don't have an excuse. We can automate so many things and it just makes our life so much easier.
Chase Clymer
Awesome.
And then we just glossed over... You also are a podcast host. Look, if you're listening to this podcast, they got to listen to your podcast. So talk a bit about that.
Suzie Cyrenne
Sure. So I'm really...I'm really super passionate about empowering women in business. So and that's the reason why I launched my podcast in June, Women Powering Ecommerce. I really want to…
First, it's almost selfish. I love it because I'm documenting my journey as I go and as I grow as an entrepreneur.
But my goal is to really share that journey, my ups, my downs with, and it's for a woman, but it can be for anyone really. It's just me as a woman going through my own journey.
So yeah, I just…I like to hear success stories. We love those stories, but sometimes we just, when we're in the trenches, we need to hear that story that for someone else, okay, it's not going maybe as well or was what they planned.
So I just try to be very open and honest, just like this podcast about. I'm being vulnerable, transparent about my journey and yes, sharing my successes, but being open about sharing, okay, look, I'm doing this right now and it's not working.
That way we feel understood, we feel supported. And it's just... Yeah. Inviting people to hop on on my own journey.
Chase Clymer
Absolutely, Suzie. Now, we talked about both the businesses as well.
What are the dot coms? If I'm interested in the homeopathic remedies for my pet, Bella's outside, I'm sure she'd love something.
Or if I'm interested in saving on shipping mishaps.That's probably a terrible way to put it. But what are these websites that the listeners should go check out?
Suzie Cyrenne
Yeah, sure. So for the pet products, zumalka.com.
And to help lower your shipping invoices, busterfetcher.com.
Chase Clymer
Absolutely. And I'll link to both of those and Suzie's podcast in the show notes. Suzie, thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Suzie Cyrenne
Thank you, Chase. It was such an honor.
Chase Clymer
We can't thank our guests enough for coming on the show and sharing their knowledge and journey with us. We've got a lot to think about and potentially add into our own business. You can find all the links in the show notes.
You can subscribe to the newsletter at honestecommerce.co to get each episode delivered right to your inbox.
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Lastly, if you're a store owner looking for an amazing partner to help get your Shopify store to the next level, reach out to Electric Eye at electriceye.io/connect.
Until next time!