Are You Tracking Cash Flow?

Happy Wednesday!

Let’s talk about something that doesn’t get enough love in the e-commerce world: cash flow.

Yeah, I know it’s not the sexiest topic, but trust me, it’s one of the most important parts of running a business.

You can have a great product, killer marketing, and a solid team, but if you’re not tracking your cash flow closely, a few surprise bills can throw everything off balance.

Trust me, I learned from my mistakes.

What you will learn today:

• Our recent surprise: a stack of unexpected invoices

• How we set up a 13-week cash flow plan

• How we manage accounts payable and receivable effectively

• How we plan for scaling while staying cash flow positive

And much more…

Winning Ad Creative Breakdown With 4.15 ROAS and 50% Hook Rate

We've created, tested, and optimized several ad concepts with multiple variations.

In the second half of the year, our winning ads brought in over $400,000 in revenue with 4.25 ROAS and $95,000 in ad spend.

We were able to reduce CPA by 42%, and increased the average ROAS from 2.24 to 4.25.

You can read my detailed breakdown here or watch my Loom video in the same link.

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Our Recent Wake-Up Call

Here’s a little backstory. We’re preparing to scale our brand in Q4 and must balance inventory purchase orders with advertising and other costs.

We’re focusing on three main channels: Meta ads, influencer seeding, and some organic TikTok content.

But here’s the kicker: scaling comes with its own set of challenges, especially when it comes to cash flow.

Just this week, we got hit with a stack of invoices from our accounting agency. Turns out, they hadn’t billed us for a few months, and all those invoices arrived at once.

It wasn’t a massive amount, but it was significant enough to make us realize we weren’t tracking things as carefully as we should have been. If we were in the middle of a major ad push or inventory order, that could’ve really thrown us off.

Why Cash Flow Matters More Than You Think

Scaling up sounds exciting, but if you’re not keeping a close eye on your cash flow, it’s easy to get caught off guard.

Maybe you’ve got inventory on the way, ads running, and then—bam—a big tax bill hits, or a forgotten invoice lands in your inbox. Suddenly, your smooth-sailing growth plan turns into a scramble to cover payments.

How We’re Handling It

To avoid those “Oh no” moments, we’re setting up a solid cash flow management system.

We’re using Airtable as our central hub for tracking everything. We’ve connected it to our ERP system and Shopify, so we have a clear view of orders, inventory, and payments in real time.

Here’s what we’re focusing on:

Accounts Payable

This covers all our recurring costs (like software, wages, and agency fees) as well as one-time expenses (like shipping and taxes on inventory).

Accounts Receivable

Knowing when payments are actually going to hit our bank account is key. Depending on the payment method, the timing can vary, so we’re keeping a close eye on this.

Returns

Returns can sneakily eat into your profits, so we’re tracking them carefully to make sure our revenue numbers are accurate.

The 13-Week Cash Flow Plan

Our big focus right now is building a 13-week cash flow model.

This helps us see the bigger picture—what’s coming in, what’s going out, and when.

By mapping it all out, we can make better decisions about how much to spend on inventory, ads, and everything else without running into any nasty surprises.

Key Takeaways

Track everything

Get all your financial data in one place so you can see the full picture. It’s way easier to spot potential issues before they become problems.

Cash flow is king

You could be profitable on paper but still run into trouble if you’re not managing cash flow properly. Stay ahead of the game by knowing when money is coming in and going out.

Plan ahead

A 13-week cash flow plan gives you the breathing room to adjust your strategy as you grow. It’s a life hack for making sure you’re scaling sustainably.

So that’s where we’re at. Cash flow might not be the most exciting part of running a business, but it’s definitely one of the most critical.

If you’re scaling—or even just thinking about it—make sure you’ve got a handle on your cash flow. It’s the difference between smooth sailing and hitting a wall.

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How We Can Help You

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways we can help you…

1. If you’re looking for a creative partner who will handle your entire creative production, deliver winning ads every month, and help you scale, apply to work with us here. We have worked with brands like HexClad, BestSelf, Product Hunt, Morning Brew, and others.

2. Want us to train your internal team and implement all of our creative production systems and strategies in your business? Apply here and we will help you build an in-house team that can create hundreds of winning ads every month.

3. If you’re looking to take your ad performance to the next level and have a consistent stream of winning creative, but don’t want to hire anyone, we have created a program that teaches you our entire creative production process and everything we have learned over 3 years of creating tens of thousands of ads.