Episode 66: Elevating E-Commerce with Angie Viehman
In this podcast episode of “The Pursuit of Badasserie,” we invite seasoned certified operations expert and e-commerce business builder, Angie Viehman to the show. With over two decades of experience working with industry giants like Target, Crate and Barrel, Room and Board, and Blue Dot, Angie shares her refreshing approach to the e-commerce landscape. The conversation delves into Angie’s background, witnessing the birth of e-commerce, and her passion for empowering women to create sustainable businesses that generate wealth.
We cover the concept of passive income and the importance of setting up systems to make life easier. Angie shares practical insights on diversifying income streams, utilizing existing resources, and amplifying brands. Don’t miss these valuable insights into transforming businesses, achieving profitability, and fostering a positive impact on women entrepreneurs. Get after it!
In this episode, we discuss:
- Angie Viehman, a seasoned certified operations expert and e-commerce business builder
- Angie’s background working with industry giants such as Target, Crate and Barrel, Room and Board, and Blue Dot
- Angie’s experience witnessing the early days of e-commerce, particularly Target.com
- Focus on empowering women to create sustainable businesses in the e-commerce space
- Angie’s passion for guiding women-owned businesses to triple their revenue while avoiding burnout
- Discussion on the concept of passive income and the importance of setting up systems
- Emphasis on the role of systems in making life easier and achieving a more passive revenue channel
- Insights into the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, particularly the tendency to build businesses in a way that leads to burnout
- Angie’s strategy of adding e-commerce as a revenue channel to existing businesses without adding extra time or resources
- The idea of diversification of income streams and the importance of sustainability
- Highlighting the availability of tools and resources in 2023/2024 that make implementing systems more reasonable than in the past
- Practical steps for businesses, including not necessarily creating new products but repurposing existing ones for an online space
- Discussion on the importance of profitability and avoiding scenarios where increased revenue doesn’t translate to increased profit
- Angie’s viewpoint on taking care of oneself and finding what fits, leading to the sustainability of the business
- Reference to the ripple effect when women entrepreneurs have financial success, reinvesting in communities and building incredible teams
- Mention of Angie’s free resources, including a video workshop on her website, clutchbusinesses.com
- Invitation for a free consultation with Angie for those interested in exploring these strategies further
Find Angie:
https://www.instagram.com/clutchbusinesses/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angie-viehman-a0a1393/
Get the FREEBIE: https://www.clutchbusinesses.com/start-here
- Like the show? LEAVE US A REVIEW wherever you listen!
- Have a question? CONTACT US at info@thepursuitofbadasserie.com!
- Want to sponsor us? Find out how HERE.
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Continue reading for a full transcription of this episode:
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Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Hi, I’m Lynn.
Amanda Furgiuele
And I’m Amanda. Welcome to the Pursuit of Badasserie, the podcast. We are excited to invite another guest on the show today.
Today we have Angie Viehman. She’s a seasoned certified operations expert and e-commerce business builder with over two decades of experience working with industry giants such as target, crate and barrel, room and board and blue dot, Angie brings a refreshing approach to the e-commerce landscape guiding businesses to triple their revenue while abolishing the and overwhelming and overwhelming overwork.
Her passion lies in empowering women to create sustainable businesses that they love generating wealth.
Angie Viehman
Angie, welcome to the show. Thank you. I am really excited to be here.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Yeah, we are excited to have you too.
Amanda Furgiuele
I know. ready to dive right in.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
So, hi, I know.
Amanda Furgiuele
I know. know.
Angie Viehman
so I, okay, so you just let everybody know I have this background working, I guess I got my start working at Target in their buying offices and that was like right at the start of the e-commerce, I guess, of e-commerce.
So, Target.com was just getting off the ground. They were just, you know, just launched and just adding products to it.
Nobody was buying anything off of it, right? Like it was just, it was just coming to fruition. so, from then, so I got to see e-commerce grow from the very, very beginning.
every company that I worked for from that point on, whether it was a vendor of targets or a retailer had some kind of e-commerce component.
If it wasn’t a 100% their focus. And so I had 20 years of experiencing that in a variety of different organizations.
then I started, I had a bunch of girlfriends that were running businesses. We’d be on hikes talking about all the things that they were struggling with.
And I’m like, I’ve got this operations and product development background alongside of e-commerce. And I was, there was something about this, their struggles.
Like they were carrying so much on their shoulders. And keeping things kind of messy for themselves and ending up at this point, like this breaking point, like ready to burn out.
But they had these incredible businesses. I’m like, no, no, no, no. If you tried this, would make such a huge difference.
mean, I had one girlfriend who was running a business. She, I think she was making $250,000 a year. I made one suggestion for her to get a bookkeeper that took care of her invoicing for her.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
I love when people remember the leap story because lot of people kind of block it out. I think you’re blended and it’s so beautiful to transition.
It seems like it’s really birthed on wanting your friends to succeed. Like seeing the opportunity, seeing your gifts, and wanting the people around you to succeed.
I love that. I was thinking when you were speaking, because it’s not even just like you saw the birth of e-commerce and you were in the trenches with it.
Like all the things you must have seen and kind of experience. And all of that you really get to bring.
It’s super awesome.
Angie Viehman
That’s actually what we focus on. I guess why I brought up e-commerce is because we focus on women-owned businesses, women-run businesses.
We do that because I see e-commerce is such a way for them to grow and build true, true, true wealth in a monetary sense but also in a livelihood sense.
They can actually live their lives and not get to place a burnout. I see e-commerce as that way for them.
Most of the people that we work with have They’ve already, they have an established business. They’ve been doing well, they’re pretty successful, but they’re not making the money that they want.
They’re probably working way more than they wanted to when they started their business. it’s been that way for some time now.
So they feel a sense of pride in their business, but they’re at kind of this breaking, again, this breaking point where they’re like capped out, they can only make so much.
And so what we focus on is adding this as a revenue channel to what they’re already doing. So kind of taking what they’ve already built and repurposing it, repackaging it.
So you’re not like letting go of all of this hard work and energy that you’ve put into this, but you’re just adding something and what’s awesome about it.
And you just touched on this, Lynn, is that they can do that without… If it’s set up correctly, they can do that without adding additional time or additional resources onto their plate.
So it’s, I get, I’m Really nervous about using the term passive income, but it is more of a passive revenue channel than likely what they’ve been doing.
they can keep doing what they’ve been doing, but start to make more money and, you know, start to serve a broader audience.
Amanda Furgiuele
I’m glad you mentioned that the topic of passive income because so many people assume that passive income means literally like I click one button and then I’ll just netflix and chill for the rest of my life and that’s all I have to do.
And it really is important that you set up those systems because it’s the systems that make your life easier and make it seem passive, even if there is something that you had to work on to set up in the beginning because even things that might be easy or simple, I should say, are not easy because getting that to the point where you have what’s considered more passive income from, let’s call it the TikTok generation.
You need systems. It’s just set that up. You need to work to get to a place where that is actually making you money in the background in a way that works with your life.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Amanda, it’s sustainable.
Angie Viehman
Yeah, because you could have those one offs, but that’s sustainable, I think is really important to add. Yeah, huge.
That’s a huge piece of it. Because a lot of what I’ve seen, and you guys have probably seen this too with the people that you’re working with, that we build these businesses.
And I think this kind of ties back to the conversations I was having with my girlfriends, is that you build these businesses.
Again, it’s an awesome idea. are super into it, but you build it in a way. And I feel like women struggle with this the most.
You build it in a way in which you are breaking your back to do it. And you kind of are okay with that over and over and over again.
And so that’s what I think that passive, so to me, just like you were saying, that the passiveness is just,
You don’t have to put in the action.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
I keep hearing and I love this term, diversification of income streams. Essentially what you’re doing is teaching them to diversify their income streams, and set up an automated way to be able to make money in the background.
Angie Viehman
Once the work is done, it still takes action, but it’s not an everyday, like, I have to be in the mess all the time.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Kind of action. I love that. It’s just like, I love diversification of income streams.
Angie Viehman
Absolutely.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
The more better. I love that.
Amanda Furgiuele
I’m definitely a huge fan of multiple streams of income because you do need different types of I think we all know that it did.
However, I think understanding the importance of diversifying your workload and finding these passive income streams and really exploring other things like e-commerce can really help bridge that gap when stuff happens that you’re not expecting.
So I really feel it’s so important to build those passive income streams, but they’re diversified income streams.
Angie Viehman
Yeah, diversified is much better.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
That feels better.
Amanda Furgiuele
It does.
Angie Viehman
Yeah.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
I love that. So, what take us through a process so that way, because we love to give our audience practical information, but when we can kind of live through the high-level points, because I know there’s a lot more that goes in, but kind of like when you’re taking out a new client, you’re looking at everything, where are some points that people need to look at to
You get away from breaking their back and hopefully developing a more diverse income stream. Profitability kind of margins and systems.
Angie Viehman
Yeah, I mean, well, first of all, that’s an amazing way to ask that question because it really does. It really does capture the holistic view that you have to take of all of these things, right?
Like you can set up everything. You can use all of these plugins or apps or whatever and your thing to do everything for you.
But at some point, you might be taking away a significant part of your margin, which we want to be cautious of because that’s amazing.
If you build this site, you’re making more money, but if you’re not actually profiting any more than you were before this, then what’s the point?
But yeah, so I think some of the areas that we look at first and foremost, we don’t… Don’t necessarily recommend that people create new products or new things in order to move online.
We really try to focus on finding things that they’re already using in their business or things that complement their business really well.
For example, we had a coach that we worked with, so I would say in the health and wellness space.
She was working with people in a group setting, but then also one-on-one and doing things like encouraging them to drink water and encouraging them to take a walk every day, exercise, eat healthy, at journal, all of these types of things.
She didn’t have these products yet, but what we were able to do for her is to take these… She was also an artist, and so she had all of these inspirational art pieces that she would work into her program materials.
We took those art work, or those pieces, She’s a great She’s a great person. a great person. She’s a great person.
So that’s where it starts, where you don’t have to do something entirely new. Just take what you’ve already got and try to rethink it in an online space.
then as we go along the process, we kind of look at and ask our clients to look at, where does it feel like Like, absolutely not.
Or it should be the first thing that you do, but it’s the last thing. Things that you end up doing and you just are kind of miserable the entire time that you’re doing it.
And, you know, it’s, it’s 2023, I think 2024 when this goes out, but, you know, we are lucky to have a lot of tools and resources that are cheap and easy to implement that do that can do a lot of the kind of mundane repetitive tasks that, you know, require either you do to do or, you know, somebody on your team, all of those things can take the place of it.
So, you know, my comment before about being cautious about digging into your margin, you know, building out these big old systems, it’s not even really that much of a conversation now because we’re so, there are so many tools that we can use and they are, you know, they’re way more reasonable than they were, you know, back in 2010.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Absolutely. I love so many points about that. I think a lot of people just to touch on that last point, so many people, even in their current business dynamic, they’re working, but they’re not making profit.
And because they don’t look at their numbers, because of lots of other things, they’re unaware. And I know Amanda and I have had this conversation many times where we’ve been on clients that are looking for a look like they’re doing really well.
But when we start to kind of decipher and kind of shuffle through, we see that profit margins aren’t even industry standard, let alone like, property standard.
It’s insane. I absolutely, I love that point. I think it’s really important. I love that you take people through because there is so much that you can offer, or so many apps that you can do and so many things.
And I think it’s really important to find the one that’s going to help you and like, don’t get distracted.
Angie Viehman
So it sounds like that’s what you help your clients absolutely do.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
And then the last point that I loved is, You took what they already had and you amplified it. You’re actually…
What you’re doing there, I don’t know. Everybody’s catching this. Not only are you giving them another income stream, Another product income stream.
But you’re also amplifying their brand and image. You’re depositing into the business that they already have. it’s like… And I was just having this…
just had to talk the other day, and it’s like two birds, one stone. So you’re increasing the momentum, which can increase more profitability for this particular asset of the business or this profit stream of the business.
And then you have the additional profit stream. Love that.
Angie Viehman
It’s amazing to see it unfold. the piece that we don’t provide that is always important is the marketing. this goes back to the conversation.
You’re having a passive income is marketing is a lot of work. But if you’re amplifying something that you’ve already built, it’s, it is a lot easier.
It’s not like you’re going out and starting from scratch from that, you know, from that standpoint, you’re not finding a whole new, I mean, maybe you are, but you don’t have to find a whole new group of people to market to and a whole new way to talk about it and all of those types of things.
So you’re really, I mean, in a lot of this isn’t every person that we work with. But, you know, a lot of cases you’re taking, you’re taking the initial investment that somebody is making in them and their brand and you’re just, you’re amplifying it.
You’re increasing the amount that that person is investing into your business. it’s, it’s awesome because it gets them more jazzed and, and you know, you’re, you’re spreading the message even further.
So it’s easier and easier to draw new people in as well.
Amanda Furgiuele
Absolutely. I love that and I can’t emphasize enough the importance of really using what you have. It doesn’t have to be reinventing the wheel.
Every single time you want to start a revenue stream, it doesn’t have to be, I need a whole new market and an entirely new Instagram page and a new product.
I think a lot of people get stuck when they’re trying to create more revenue by thinking they need to start another business, another business, and another business.
Some of us just start business because we love it, but you don’t have to start a business that’s completely opposite of what you’re doing.
You can amplify what you already have and strategically use what you are doing in another way that will build that wealth and build that brand.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
And if I can add to that, it is also doubling down on your energy because you’re not, and Amanda, I had this conversation several times, not just about our clients, but doubling down on what we already have.
You’re not creating a whole new business or whatever. You’re actually able to funnel that. You get compounded interest, essentially, on effort.
And it’s so beautiful to see. I love what you said to, and I’ve mentioned this earlier, another point too, you take what they already have and look for products in there is that it’s almost like we live in such a world of consumerism.
And so we are like, next, next, next, next, next, next, next. And there’s just, there’s so much to be said.
like I said, Amanda, talked a lot about like the utilizing your network and different things like that. Like, we tend to not really like offer what we can to the people who are target audience and the people who are followers.
And they want more. And if they want more and we’re not giving it, we’re just creating another product. We’re actually having to kind of resell them on something new or find a new audience.
It’s just all moving it in the right direction and you’re compounding your interest, you’re increasing your time worth value, which enables you to be able to make the right moves to be able to have bigger profit margins.
Angie Viehman
Yeah, yeah, that’s huge.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
That’s amazing. I love it. So what do you love most about what you do and why?
Angie Viehman
I mean, I love the clients that I work with. I love working just, you know, again, I work just primarily with women owned businesses and that’s, yeah, it’s awesome.
And it’s awesome to see the transformation that it creates in their life because again, most of them are coming to us.
They’re at a breaking point. They’re like, do I keep going or do I throw in the towel? start applying for jobs tomorrow.
And so to be able to see them reinvest in their business, to see their business, pay them back handsomely and to see all of the
That everything that that creates in their life, know, kind of that ripple effect. I think I don’t I don’t know any of the stats but specifically but women do really incredible things when they have money.
They reinvest in their communities. They hire, you know, amazing teams. There’s just, there’s like this beautiful circle that starts to unravel when when somebody can take advantage of this.
Amanda Furgiuele
That’s pretty good reason to love your job.
Angie Viehman
Yeah, makes me very happy.
Amanda Furgiuele
So if you can leave the audience with one last thing to think about when they are diversifying their business or how they can reach out to their people, what what would you say?
Angie Viehman
Yeah, I mean, I think just the to keep with the conversation that we’ve been having is just take care of Stuff call your
You have to feel around for what fits. At a certain point, you deserve and your team deserves to clean that all up.
When you start to get confident about what works, it’s time to tend and take care of yourself. That’s going to lead to the sustainability of your business.
That’s going to lead to space for you to think big and to look at what’s coming. What could be next?
Not that that has to be something entirely different, but we’re always shifting and changing within our businesses. If we don’t have the headspace to do that, it’s not going to be fun.
It’s not going to be good.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Not at all. You have a freebie for our audience.
Angie Viehman
Yeah, I mean, my freebie is. You know, if you are curious about this and and also aren’t quite sure what it could look like for your business or you just you want to know more, I would love to jump on a call with you and talk about what that could look like.
If you are also interested, there is on my website, there is training or like a workshop, I guess, and a video workshop that talks about how you can apply this more specific.
So, whether it a service-based business or don’t know, brick and mortar business, how you can take this, it walks through some steps to kind of draw out some of the products that you potentially are sitting on right now.
And that is on my website as well. You can visit clutchbusinesses.com and it is backslash start here.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
And everything will be in the show notes. what is the best way that people can get Love you besides on your website.
Angie Viehman
Yeah, LinkedIn is where I’ve kind of been living in breathing lately. So just look up Angie Viehman, LinkedIn, and I would love to love to chat and connect.
Amanda Furgiuele
Thank you so much, Angie, for being on our show. We loved it and learned a lot and can’t wait to implement some of the things that you said today.
Angie Viehman
Thank you. Yeah, this was awesome. Such a great conversation and thank you for having me.
Amanda Furgiuele
Of course. Awesome.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Awesome, everybody. don’t forget to like, subscribe, share our podcast with those that are really wanting to take their business to the next level.
Live in the world of badassery and especially those women who are on the verge of burnout or already there.
Some of us are there on a daily basis at times that need a little bit of inspiration because Angie was full of it today.
make sure you like, comment, share with those that you feel like this would really help empower. Until next time.
Amanda Furgiuele
Yeah, get after it.
