Most business owners do not fail because they are bad at business. They fail because no one taught them how money actually works inside a growing retail or ecommerce brand.

In this episode, Salena unpacks the real financial blind spots that hold founders back, including inventory sitting on shelves as trapped cash, contribution margin mistakes, hidden fulfillment costs, and the dangers of building your business around your own money bias instead of your customer's values.

This is an honest conversation about cash flow, financial clarity, and the difference between looking profitable and actually being profitable.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Why cash flow is one of the biggest blind spots in retail and ecommerce
The simple way to think about business finance without getting lost in accounting jargon
Why inventory is not just stock, it is cash sitting on your shelves
How businesses can grow revenue and still end up broke
What contribution margin really reveals about the health of your business
The hidden costs that distort your real profit per order
Why convenience can be a powerful profit lever
How founders project their own money beliefs onto customers without realizing it
Why luxury customers respond differently to pricing and promotions
The first question Salena asks every client before strategy even begins

Key takeaway:

Before you fix the numbers, you have to understand what you actually want the business to do for you.

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This episode originally aired as a guest conversation on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast with Kurt Elster. Kurt asks sharp questions, cuts through fluff, and brings on guests who actually know what they're talking about.

You can check out his show here: unofficialshopifypodcast.com

Why So Many Retail Businesses Grow Broke