We recently connected with Natasha Murphy and have shared our conversation below.

Natasha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

The Hidden Profitability Challenge in E-commerce Development: Why Project Work is Unsustainable

From the outside, custom e-commerce development might look highly profitable – after all, we charge significant rates for our technical expertise. However, my experience in 2024 revealed how project-based work creates major obstacles to sustainable profitability.

The biggest challenge? The feast-or-famine nature of project work combined with the massive hidden costs of constant context switching. Let me explain through my recent experience.

Last year was particularly eye-opening. While I had plenty of projects at Built Best, each new project required extensive upfront investment that wasn’t directly billable. Every few months, I found myself spending substantial unbilled time learning new client systems, establishing relationships with new points of contact, and understanding unique technical requirements. This onboarding overhead significantly cut into actual billable implementation time.

The mental toll of juggling multiple projects also impacted profitability in ways that aren’t obvious from the outside. Each project had its own technical specifications, stakeholder preferences, and business logic to keep straight. The cognitive load of constantly switching contexts meant I couldn’t work as efficiently as I wanted to, often needing extra time to refamiliarize myself with each project’s details after being away from it.

To illustrate this challenge: On paper, I might block out 40 hours for a project at my standard rate. However, the reality might include 10 hours of unpaid onboarding and relationship building, plus another 5-10 hours lost to context switching and getting back up to speed after working on other projects. This effectively reduces my actual hourly rate by 30-50% – a hidden cost that’s rarely factored into surface-level profitability assumptions.

This realization has led me to transition to ongoing support agreements in 2024. While this might mean lower headline rates, the elimination of constant onboarding and context switching should actually improve profitability through increased efficiency and better utilization of billable hours.

The lesson? In technical services, the path to profitability isn’t always about charging more – sometimes it’s about structuring work in a way that minimizes hidden costs and maximizes the efficiency of your billable time.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Natasha Murphy is the founder of Built Best. After 20 years of agency experience, including founding and selling her own boutique web development firm, she created Built Best to focus on what truly matters: helping established e-commerce businesses thrive through thoughtful technical partnership.
She specializes in helping e-commerce stores with $1M+ in online revenue tackle their most pressing technical challenges – whether that’s optimizing their technical SEO, streamlining inventory management, or implementing strategic marketing automations. Her approach combines analytical problem-solving with hands-on execution: she doesn’t just identify opportunities, she implements them.
What sets Built Best apart is their commitment to long-term partnership. Some of Murphy’s client relationships span more than a decade, evolving from initial site builds to comprehensive technical strategy and ongoing optimization. This depth of relationship allows her to understand not just the technical requirements, but the business context behind every decision.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

For years, I internalized the message that career growth meant I had to become a people manager – it felt like the only “legitimate” path upward in most organizations. As I watched peers take management roles, I worried I was limiting myself by wanting to stay hands-on with technical work rather than supervising teams. But after seeing successful senior individual contributors who create massive impact through their expertise and watching companies increasingly value and promote technical career paths, I’ve started unlearning this limiting belief. While management is valuable, I’ve realized I can thrive and advance by deepening my technical mastery and leading through knowledge rather than direct reports.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

I operated a web development agency for a decade, carefully growing it into a successful small business before ultimately selling it to a larger agency. Looking back, one of the most crucial elements that helped facilitate a smooth sale was maintaining meticulous financial records throughout all those years – something I’m deeply grateful I prioritized from the start. While running the business, I made sure to educate myself on key financial metrics and terminology like EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization), which proved invaluable during acquisition discussions. For other entrepreneurs hoping to sell their businesses someday, I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep pristine books and develop financial literacy – these elements can make or break a potential deal.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://builtbest.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/built.best/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bybuiltbest
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/104760325/admin/dashboard/

Image Credits

Gabriella Valladares