The 2026 eCom Trends Report
Top Report Findings: This is our sixth Trends Report with 300 owners representing $3.5...
What happens when your ecommerce business is growing quickly, but the cash to keep it running starts to dry up? Will Roman, Founder and Chief Texan at Chisos, joins us to share how a period of more than 65% growth turned into a cash flow crunch when inventory shortages left the company unable to fulfil demand. He explains how extended manufacturing lead times, rising purchase orders and stock availability falling to just 31% forced the business to rethink its approach, cut advertising spend by 90% and introduce pre-orders to bring cash forward.
Will also shares how AI is changing the way he runs Chisos, from modelling cash flow and organising decisions to improving operational workflows and creating email campaigns. He explains how AI tools have helped him dramatically increase his capacity, why human judgement still matters, and how the experience challenged him to rethink his relationship with work and business. Whether you’re navigating a difficult period or looking for practical ways to use AI in your own operations, this conversation offers valuable lessons in cash flow management, resilience and running a growing ecommerce business.
You’ll learn:
- How Chisos grew its cowboy boot business beyond $2 million. (8:00)
- Why paid advertising started working and how creative choices influenced customer interest. (12:00)
- How inventory shortages and extended production lead times created a major cash-flow crisis. (16:00)
- Which steps Will took to manage the crisis, including cutting ad spend and introducing pre-orders. (20:00)
- How Will handled the mental toll of business setbacks and found perspective beyond his company. (24:00)
- How Grokbot brings together emails, messages, meetings and project updates into a daily briefing. (29:00)
- How Will uses AI to create on-brand email campaigns and automate marketing workflows while retaining human oversight. (38:00)
- Why strong business fundamentals, community support and persistence matter when navigating a difficult year. (48:45)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music
(With your host Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel.com and Will Roman of Chisos.com)
What Was Mentioned
- Will Roman: LinkedIn
- Chisos
- eCommerceFuel Forum
Ideas Worth Sharing:
"I was leaning too heavily on my business for my sense of meaning." - Will Roman Tweet this “AI has 5x my ability to complete tasks." - Will Roman Tweet this "This problem could have been nipped in the bud if I had been paying closer attention earlier to what was going on with production." - Will Roman Tweet this
Post by Andrew Youderian
Founder and Chief Instigator, eComFuel
Andrew quit an early finance job to sell CB radios online — an admittedly unorthodox career path. It set him on a course to found and sell multiple businesses, host a decade-running podcast, lecture at Harvard Business School and create eComFuel, the leading community for 7- and 8-figure online business owners. Andrew is fascinated with branding, AI, building community, investing and growing meaningful businesses that don't require sacrificing what truly matters.
