Nothing says Happy Anniversary like a 50% price hike

There are many reasons not to like your software vendors.

Especially the ones that hike your price by 50% on renewal after year one.

It's all about the Principal-Agent Problem.

Understanding who owns the software vendors you place your big bets on is essential. Most don't even think about checking this.

On the flip side, this is why working with founder-owned and operated partners often delivers more. Someone is ultimately accountable for what happens, and they have a reputation to uphold.

At the Ecommerce Expo, I spent 15 minutes with the CEO of one of the UK's fastest-growing brands, and they reminded me that ruthless prioritisation is a key to their success. It's better to attempt ten things and deliver them all than end up with lots of stuff at 80% done because you're overstretched (story of my life).

You can do a few things to help with your limited capacity to deliver change. One of them is to hire Operators or Project Managers who understand Ecom/Retail and can manage projects. We’ve got a few clients with this capability, and it is no surprise that they’re also our fastest-growing ones.

What is a Project delivery framework, and why should you implement one?

Another solution is to avoid turning a few pain points into buying the market-leading all-in-one that will change your life solution. First, there are some issues with leadership visibility, so you run workshops with the team. Before you know it, you get sucked in and sold a software category. This is why Centric PLM, Akeneo PIM, and other ‘market leaders’ are pushing for multi-year contracts and start billing on day one. Three years on, you’re deep in sunk cost fallacy with a half-implemented system you never had the resources to deliver.

If this sounds all too familiar, it might be time to switch up your strategy.

At Nolo Apps, we accept that neither our client nor we know everything. Setting realistic expectations is essential when our model depends on long-term relationships, and we don't have those 3-year contracts and lawyers to back us up. Instead, we deliver Airtable Apps and services with a fixed scope for what we're confident about and agile for handling the unknowns.

Vendor Highlight: Order Scheduling with Flare

Sometimes, you want to buy something but don’t need it immediately. Shopify usually makes you pay and ship immediately.

What I love about Flare's order scheduling is that it solves this for the 5-10% of purchases where timing matters. Think wedding or baby registries, furniture for a renovation, or flowers for a birthday—things you want to be reserved but delivered later.

Merch, Delivery and Planning

E040 Operators Podcast: Merchandising Deep-Dive. Fill a gap in your knowledge with insights into how and why Merchandising is the secret to scaling your brand past £10M.

What is a Project delivery framework, and why should you implement one?

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If you're tech-stuck, curious about Airtable, or want to chat about something else, you can book time with me here.

Thanks, Oliver