Hosting "Ecommerce Conversations" is a welcome respite from my day job of running Beardbrand, the direct-to-consumer company I co-founded in 2012. I periodically post updates on Beardbrand's performance, hoping the transparency helps other entrepreneurs.  This episode is my recap of 2023.  It was a terrible year for me and Beardbrand — the first year we were in the red. We've always had around 15% margins, but not in 2023. We experienced declining sales, unexpected tax bills, a frivolous lawsuit, and the loss of a key wholesale account. Yet we persevered by raising prices, reducing expenses, opening a new sales channel, and changing manufacturers. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6qEE For all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts Listener reviews of Ecommerce Conversations elevate visibility and help others experience the lessons of online entrepreneurs. We invite you to leave a review on this channel if you're so moved.    ****** The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. http://www.practicalecommerce.com