I run a small Shopify store in the UK and I have a data and finance background. I'm looking into a question many online sellers seem to face: when sales look healthy, how do you know how much cash you'll actually have in a few weeks, once ad spend, supplier orders, payout delays, fees and VAT have come out?
I'm researching whether this is a common problem before building anything. If you run a store yourself, or you build or maintain Shopify stores for clients, I'd really value your view.
How to reply
Copy the questions below into a comment and write your answer after each "Answer:". Skip any that don't apply to you.
1. Do you run your own store, build stores for clients, or both?
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2. How do you (or your clients) track cash flow today? Spreadsheet, accounting software, an app, or not really?
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3. Have you seen a store that was profitable on paper but still ran short of cash? What caused it?
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4. What's the hardest part: payout delays, ad spend, paying for stock upfront, VAT, refunds, or something else?
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5. How much manual work goes into pulling numbers together from Shopify, ad platforms and the bank?
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6. Have you or your clients used a cash flow or profit app? What was good or missing?
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7. From a dev point of view, what's the trickiest part of getting reliable data out of Shopify Payments, payouts or ad platforms?
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8. If a simple tool showed cash for the next 7, 30 and 90 days and warned before a shortfall, would you or your clients use it? What must it do?
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Anything else I should know:
I'm not selling anything, just trying to understand the problem properly. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to answer!
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