Kelcey Lehrich is the Co-founder and CEO of 365 Holdings, an Akron, Ohio-based company that buys and grows e-commerce brands. In addition to mergers and acquisitions, Kelcey also hosts the HoldCoConf. Known as the official “Un-Conference of Micro PE,” the HoldCoConf is a sought-after event where companies meet, learn, scale, and grow. Outside of business, you can find Kelcey rucking, marathon training, or at a Crossfit gym. Although he is passionate about endurance-type hobbies, Kelcey’s number one passion is family time with his wife and two sons.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- Kelcey Lehrich’s motivation to create the HoldCoConf
- Kelcey talks about his e-commerce background and why he founded 365 Holdings
- Should inexperienced sellers acquire a new business or merge with a mature business?
- Kelcey shares case studies, the lessons learned, and success stories
- What you should avoid when considering acquiring a business
- Strategies to scale a business to eight figures and beyond
- How will Amazon evolve over the next five to 10 years?
- Why you should attend the next HoldCoConf
In this episode…
eCommerce selling is a booming business responsible for making many new entrepreneurs multimillionaires. It’s understandable that successful business owners want to explore new ventures. So, what should be your next move if you are a thriving seven-figure seller?
Business leader Kelcey Lehrich recommends considering acquisitions and mergers. A buyer can purchase a new company, merge to create a new organization, or acquire some assets and stocks through mergers and acquisitions. Merging and acquiring businesses can be a quick and easy way to expand your portfolio, but it can be overwhelming.
Join host Josh Hadley in this episode of the eComm Breakthrough Podcast as he talks to Kelcey Lehrich, the Co-founder and CEO of 365 Holdings. Together, the two explain everything you want to know about mergers and acquisitions in e-commerce. Additionally, Kelcey expounds on why entrepreneurs should explore how to zone into their genius, create a vision, learn the processes of acquisitions and mergers through experience, and more. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Josh Hadley on LinkedIn
- eComm Breakthrough Consulting
- eComm Breakthrough Podcast
- “The Five Biggest Mistakes Josh Hadley Wants You To Avoid as a New Business Owner”
- Email Josh: Josh@eCommBreakthrough.com
- Hadley Designs
- Hadley Designs on Amazon
- Kelcey Lehrich on LinkedIn
- Kelcey on Twitter and Instagram
- 365 Holdings
- Email Kelcey: Kelcey@365-holdings.com
- 365 Holdings Articles
- HoldCoConf
- Justin J Scheeff on LinkedIn
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
- Superhuman
- Gary Vee on LinkedIn
- Roland Frasier on LinkedIn
Sponsor for this episode…
This episode is brought to you by Ecomm Breakthrough Consulting where I help seven figure ecommerce owners grow to eight figures. Of course…
Listen, Kelcey Lehrich
I started Hadley Designs in 2015 and grew it to an eight-figure brand in seven years.
I made mistakes along the way that made the path to eight figures longer. At times I doubted whether our business could even survive and become a real brand. I wish I would have had a guide to help me grow faster and avoid the stumbling blocks.
If you’ve hit a plateau and want to know the next steps to take your business to the next level, then go to www.EcommBreakthrough.com (that’s Ecomm with two M’s) to learn more.
As a special bonus to my podcast listeners, this month I’m giving away one $10,000 comprehensive business strategy audit session at no cost. Email me at josh@ecommbreakthrough.com with the subject line “Strategy Audit” and tell me why your business should win the free audit for the chance to win and don’t worry, if you don’t win the free strategy audit this month, you’ll automatically be entered for future months.
Episode Transcript
Intro 0:04
Welcome to the eComm Breakthrough Podcast. Are you ready to unlock the full potential and growth in your business? You’ve already crossed seven figures in sales, but the challenge is knowing how to take your business to the next level. Join Josh Hadley, an eight-figure e-comm business owner and investor, as he interviews highly successful business owners. Get ready because you’re going to learn specific actions you can take today to help your business reach its full potential and leave a lasting impact on the world.
Josh Hadley 0:37
Welcome to the eComm Breakthrough Podcast. I’m your host Josh Hadley where I interview the top business leaders in e-commerce. Today I’m speaking with Kelcey Lehrich, Co-founder and CEO of 365 Holdings. And we will be talking a lot about mergers and acquisitions within the e-commerce space. This episode is brought to you by eComm Breakthrough Consulting, where I help seven-figure companies grow to eight figures and beyond. Listen, Kelcey, I started Hadley Designs back in 2015. And I grew it to an eight-figure brand in seven years. However, I made a lot of mistakes along the way. And there were times that I had a lot of self doubt as to whether Can I run a successful business? Could my brand become a real brand, and I wish I would have had a guide along the way to help me move faster and avoid a lot of those stumbling blocks that I encountered. If you’ve hit the same plateaus and you want to know the next steps to take to take your business to the next level. Then go to eCommBreakthrough.com, (That’s e-comm with two M’s), to learn more. And as a special bonus to my podcast listeners. This month I’m giving away one $10,000 comprehensive business strategy audit session at no cost. All you need to do to enter to win is to email me at Josh@eCommBreakthrough.com, and tell me why you should be the one that wins this free strategy audit. In the subject line just make sure you mention “strategy audit. And if you don’t win this month, don’t worry because you’ll be entered to win for future months to come. But today I’m super excited to introduce you to Kelcey Lehrich. Kelcey is one of the Founders of 365 Holdings, which buys and grows e-commerce brands. Kelcey has a deep experience in e-commerce mergers and acquisitions. Kelcey is also the host of the Hold Co Conference, which is the official un-conference of micro P E. Where holding companies meet, learn, scale and grow. Kelcey also challenges himself through CrossFit, rucking, marathon training, and endurance hobbies, but enjoys most of the time spent with his wife and two sons. Welcome to the podcast. Kelcey,
Kelcey Lehrich 2:40
Thank you for having me. Great to be here.
Josh Hadley 2:41
Kelcey, I attended Hold Co Conference. Well, it was I think that was in July this year, you did a fantastic job. That was your first ever Hold Co Conference. Tell our guests a little bit more about this Hold Co Conference? Because I think it’s really unique. And you’re kind of one of the first to kind of come up with this type of holding company conference.
Kelcey Lehrich 3:02
Yeah. So appreciate the kind words and glad you could come and we’ll see you there next year. Dates coming soon. So I have a friend in town named John Wilson, you can find him on the internet. He’s pretty public. You and I met and we both have cost a few 100 employees multiple 10s of millions of revenue. And we have multiple businesses. And we knew a few other people that were had similar circumstances. And there really was no event, no conference, no kind of home base or hangout place for people like us. And one day I’m like, Hey, like, why don’t we go ahead and we’ll host the party. So John and I partnered on that project. And from January when it was kind of hatched with a tweet to July was a bit of a wild ride. But it’s a lot of fun. We’re really proud of the first year and yeah, it’s meant to be the place that multi-business entrepreneurs called the Holding Company. Meet learns, scale and grow. But the kind of niche there is that if you’re in software, and you’re venture backed, there’s a conference for you. If you are in real estate, that’s a conference for you, if you are in insert any industry, sales, metal stamping, mobile home bar, whatever it is, and there’s a conference where you, if you’re a Holdco entrepreneur, there really wasn’t a place to call your own. And our vision for Hold Co Conference is to be kind of that home base for people like us.
Josh Hadley 4:21
Yeah, I love that. I love what you guys have have started there. And I think we’ll dive into that a little bit in more detail later in this podcast. But Kelcey, you’ve got a vast experience in e-commerce. Obviously, you have a holding company that has multiple brands, you’ve acquired multiple e-commerce brands, you’ve grown them, you’ve scaled them. So you have a wealth of knowledge. And for our listeners that have established businesses, they’re looking to take things to the next level. I think they’re going to be able to learn a lot from you. So why don’t we rewind the tapes a little bit, Kelcey, and why don’t you tell us a little bit about how you got into the e-commerce world to begin with. And then what led to the formation of 365 Holdings?
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