We recently connected with Nathan Hirsch and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nathan, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

EcomBalance was founded by Nathan Hirsch and Connor Gillivan in 2021 after discovering a huge need for a simple bookkeeping service specifically for eCommerce businesses. Nathan and Connor are longtime entrepreneurs who have sold over $25 million on Amazon so they understand the eCommerce space. They also built the eCommerce freelance marketplace, FreeUp, to 8 figures (acquired in 2019 by The HOTH). With EcomBalance, they’re on a mission to change the way bookkeeping is offered to eCommerce companies.

What we do
At EcomBalance, we’re on a mission to help thousands of businesses within the eCommerce industry. Businesses selling on Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, and elsewhere as well as agencies, consultants, coaches, and software companies. We strive to build long term relationships with our customers so they don’t have to worry about their finances from startup through to acquisition. Our goal is to get you accurate numbers you can use to make smart decisions for your business.

Why we do it
We see a problem → We understand the frustrations and headaches that come with running an eCommerce business…especially when it comes to finances. Most eCommerce business owners don’t enjoy managing their own finances and it’s hard to find someone that you can rely on that has the eCommerce experience.
We believe in eCommerce → We’re veterans of the eCommerce industry and are passionate about helping it grow for years to come. We’re here to drive the industry forward and make eCommerce bookkeeping more accessible for thousands of companies and brands.

Who we help
EcomBalance is hyper focused on helping businesses within the eCommerce industry selling yearly between $500,000 to $25 million across many platforms — Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, PayPal, Stripe, Etsy, Ebay, and many others.

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.

My name is Nathan Hirsch, a long time entrepreneur. I’ve never had a “real job”. I started selling textbooks in college on Amazon in 2009.

Shortly after, Connor Gillivan and I teamed up to sell other products in the baby, home, and toy space on Amazon. We sold over $25 million on Amazon and became longtime friends and business partners.

However, we struggled to hire. Most of the college kids we hired were unreliable. One day a buddy of mine introduced us to virtual assistants, which changed our lives forever.

We decided to build a vetted freelance marketplace called, FreeUp. Starting with $5,000, we scaled it to $12M in ARR in 4 years. In 2019, FreeUp was acquired by The HOTH.

After FreeUp, we decided to take everything we learned and build B2B businesses to help entrepreneurs. From hiring to bookkeeping to SEO, new businesses were born.

Today, we continue to build a portfolio of businesses that make entrepreneurship simpler for others.

EcomBalance – Reliable monthly bookkeeping services for growing eCommerce businesses selling on Amazon, Shopify, Walmart, Ebay, & much more.
AccountsBalance – Online Bookkeeping For Agencies, SAAS, & Small Businesses
Outsource School – The exact hiring and outsourcing process I use to hire A players in my businesses + all my SOPS related to outsourcing, remote teams, and growing with talented people.
TrioSEO – We’ll build your SEO Strategy, find the best keywords for your business, create high quality content, and drive more traffic and leads to your website.
The SEO System – My business partner, Connor Gillivan, is an SEO Master. Grab his SEO course, The SEO System, for only $150 and learn how to grow your business with SEO.

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.

In 2019, my partner Connor Gillivan and I sold our company FreeUp to The HOTH. FreeUp is a freelance marketplace that we built to address the challenges we faced in hiring reliable freelancers for our eCommerce business. We launched it in 2015, and it quickly grew to a $12 million annual revenue business by providing a platform where only the top 1% of freelancers were accepted, ensuring high-quality matches for clients.

The decision to sell FreeUp was not taken lightly. We were approached by several potential buyers, but The HOTH stood out because they shared our vision and values. They were committed to scaling the business while maintaining the quality of service and support that our freelancers and clients had come to expect. This alignment was crucial for us because we wanted to ensure that all stakeholders—our team, freelancers, clients, and partners—would benefit from the transition​​​​.

One key lesson from this experience is the importance of building a business with strong, scalable processes and a clear value proposition. This not only makes your business more attractive to potential buyers but also ensures that it can continue to grow and thrive under new ownership. We also learned the value of choosing the right buyer—one who aligns with your values and has the capability to take the business to the next level without compromising its core strengths​​​​.

Another important lesson is the significance of maintaining good relationships with all stakeholders. Throughout the acquisition process, we were transparent and communicative, which helped in gaining their trust and support. Finally, staying involved in a consultative role post-sale can help ensure a smooth transition and continued success for the business.

For entrepreneurs hoping to sell their businesses one day, my advice would be to focus on building a strong, scalable business, choose your buyers carefully, and maintain good relationships with all stakeholders. This approach will not only make your business more attractive to potential buyers but also help ensure its continued success after the sale.

How’d you meet your business partner?

It all started 2009 in my Quinnipiac college dorm room. I was sick of being ripped off by my school bookstore so I created a competing textbook business. After 6 months, I got a cease and desist letter from my college which was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was forced to find other products to sell on my new Amazon.com selling account. I found a great niche in the toy & baby industry and met my long time business partner, Connor Gillivan, in Business Law class. We teamed up to sell over $25 million on Amazon over the next 5 years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ecombalance.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecombalance1/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ecombalance
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ecombalance
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa0y0cZYgXNJ1IQF_reDhVQ