John Clendenning’s Post

When people ask how I manage to run multiple businesses—whether it's liquor convenience stores, 7 figure ecommerce business, industrial plazas, pad splits, single-family short-term rentals, or acquiring a motel now —my answer is simple: every business operates as a system with inputs and outputs. There’s no rocket science involved. You can either overcomplicate things or approach them with clarity. I believe that whether it's real estate or any other industry, success comes down to having a solid team structure and well-defined processes in place. Our role is to provide the necessary support and resources for the business to grow, rather than getting caught up in the daily grind. Some of the best businesses I’ve acquired were from owners who were so deeply involved in the day-to-day operations that they burned out and sold their business for far less than it was worth. #BusinessManagement #TeamStructure #SuccessMindset

In startup life there are often crazy high highs, and crazy low lows… sometimes all in the same day. It happened to us yesterday. After working with a retailer and their merchants on a potential ~24,000 points of distribution launch... We realized that our supply chain hadn’t been perfected enough to guarantee being able to hit the retailer’s needed timeline dates coming up. This would have been Cheers’ largest launch to date and would have been a big win for both of our businesses. A few things would have had to go perfectly over the next few weeks to make it happen in time, and we didn’t feel comfortable making a promise we couldn’t keep with a high degree of certainty. Rather than go for it and hope for the best, we scheduled a meeting and explained the situation to the merchants in full transparency of what we knew about the supply chain timeline, and then gave them our recommendation, which was to not launch us this year, and… if they’d be willing, to launch us next year once we have our ducks in a line so we could ensure a great execution without any potential hiccups. Despite it being unfortunate news and it creating more work for them, the merchants thanked us for the truth, handled us with grace, and discussed plans for next year. Of course, I and the team were bummed to walk away from such a big opportunity for the brand in the short-term (we were definitely tempted to try...), but I’m proud of how we handled it. We know that we’re playing the long game and that our “word is our worth”. When we tell a retailer or a business partner “we got this” we want them to be able to believe it 100%. That’s what we’re investing in. We’re not trying to maximize sales this year, we’re trying to build a brand that can last 100 years (e.g., Tylenol, Coca-Cola, etc.), and that starts with doing the right thing and building trust in the brand and those that run it. We have a very open culture, so everyone on our team knew about our decision to walk away and why. Of her own accord, at the end of the day, our excellent Operations Manager sent out this message to all of management explaining that February was our biggest month in company history and then highlighted the 2024 numbers so far. It was quite a morale boosting reminder! In February 2023 we did $533,911.80 in eCommerce revenue with 12,810 total orders. In February 2024 we did $1,080,881.15 in eCommerce revenue with 26,222 total orders. And that’s all before calculating our brick & mortar revenue, which is 10x what it was last year what it was this time last year. Overall, we’re up well over 100% YoY! 🤯 Yesterday was a good reminder of how in business you just have to keep building. You just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Don’t get too high and don’t get too low. It’s always a game of 2 steps forward, 1 step back. Keep working at it. Just wake up every day and tell the truth and do your best. That’s all you have control over!

A lesson I learned from helping start a Baked Goods Small Business... ⭐ Just START This is what was preventing the start... 🛑 Nobody will buy. 🛑 My baked goods aren't good enough. 🛑 I don't know what to sell. 🛑 What if people don't like it. What happened after we just started: ✅ Got great reviews ✅ Got returning customers ✅ Got a bi-weekly order to fulfill a convenience shop ✅ Got strategic with pricing ✅ Eliminated the least moving products 👇 You will never have it all figured out - especially in the beginning - but you will never figure it out if you never start. #juststart #smallbusinesssupport #smallbusiness

I'm excited to share the success story of Belieff Store, a business I recently collaborated with in the Netherlands. Their journey from being stuck in their minimum $$ to hitting 6+ figures has been remarkable. Belieff.com, founded by Rick van Geloven, started with a vision to provide warmth and comfort to dugouts during chilly winters. With my support in web services, Belieff has transformed into a successful e-commerce store, achieving significant financial success. #StartupSuccess #WebDevelopment #BusinessGrowth #DigitalTransformation #UnlockPotential #6FiguresGame #NetherlandsBusiness #WebsiteTransformation #SuccessStory #EntrepreneurshipJourney

Sometimes these posts can be a bit cringey so sorry if this is one of those 😄. Genuinely though to anyone who has ordered from us or come in since we opened. Thank you so much! We've still got a long way to go but every single order has made a difference and wanted to show our appreciation. If you've got a good independent store for ANYTHING butchers, bakers, paint shop if you can and they deserve it remember to support independent businesses. Jeff Bezos or any other massive corporate might be able to get your order to you a little faster or even a little cheaper but they doesn't pay any tax which means you have to pay more and the people at the top don't spend any money in your local or probably even the UK economy. But even more importantly they doesn't give a f%*k about you! You could order from Amazon every single day and they wouldn't know you from Adam. Not all local/family businesses are great and if they don't work for or appreciate your business by all means don't support them. But if they are good then bear in mind they don't have the marketing budget to constantly shove themselves under your nose and their website might not be as slick as a multi-billion dollar company. Just remember they are there and if you don't use them you will loose them and have to speak to a robot or a self checkout for every transaction you make 😄 Thanks again to all our customers so far. #shopindependent #smallbusiness #paintersparadise #paintersofinstagram #appreciative #conspiracytheory

📢 Explore how Groupon's initial MVP strategy propelled them to rapid success and the subsequent challenges that led to their decline. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gGbNQF-S

A Little About Yellow Thread 😇 Yellow Thread Corp embarked as a local venture in Canada, but today, our reach extends globally, connecting with customers around the world. The journey from a humble start to a worldwide presence has been a testament to our commitment to excellence. A pivotal milestone in our growth was the strategic partnership with Groupon, spanning from 2013 to 2022. This #collaboration opened new avenues, expanding our reach and influence in the #ecommerce landscape. Together, we navigated challenges and capitalized on #opportunities, fostering a strong bond that contributed significantly to our journey. Nurturing global #partnerships has been at the core of our strategy. The ability to connect with diverse markets, understand varied consumer needs, and adapt to dynamic trends has been a key driver of success. As we celebrate these collaborations, we recognize the strength that comes from fostering relationships on a global scale. The growth journey continues, and our commitment to nurturing collaborations remains unwavering. ********************* If you also want to take your D2C brand global, do reach out to us!! #GlobalPartnerships #YellowThreadCorp #GrowthJourney #d2c #trendia

Black people love 🍇 soda — Unashamedly breaking no stereo types on this post: This little can of grape soda taught me a few lessons in 2018 about business that have shaped my career. The lessons: 1. Customer acquisition cost will either make or break you as a product company. 2. You can build a real business around repeat customers. I’ve probably purchased a 24 pack of this grade zevia on Amazon a hundred times. But I only clicked on the ad once. Every time after that, I went back to my orders in the Amazon app and hit repeat order. About the third time I did that I realized, Zevia just acquired a lifetime customer for a single $5 click. I’m confident that Zevia lost money on me the first time that I purchased. But they’re playing the long game and their lifetime value on me is now probably nearing $1000 of profit. Zevia gave me the playbook and I built my career around it: Advertise heavily, acquire customers, give them a flawless experience, rinse, repeat. Give me a follow for my future posts about the business lessons we can learn from fried chicken & 🍉

"I bought the absolute cheapest one I could find" – said nobody at a dinner party, ever! Imagine it: "Nice sofa, where’s it from?" "Oh, this? I got it from some bloke in a car park. Smells faintly of damp, and if you sit on it too hard, you'll stick..." Not exactly the stuff of envy, is it? The same goes for your business. If you’re selling yourself as the cheapest option, you’re essentially saying, “Look, we’re not great, but at least we’re cheap!” And trust me, no one’s queuing up for that. Your best customers don’t want bargain-bin solutions—they want value. They want RESULTS. They want something they can tell their mates about without sounding like they’ve just been scammed on eBay. So, here’s the deal: 🔹 Stop racing to the bottom—it’s crowded, and the view’s terrible. 🔹 Start selling the value you bring to the table. Quantify it. Prove it. OWN it. Great businesses don’t cut prices—they set the standard. Now, go out there and be the business people brag about at dinner parties. Not the one they pity. Let’s do this........ #GetToGreat #BeBetter #SellBetter #LetsDoThis #NoBSsm