Learn how Heat Press Nation, the leading digital retailer for heat press equipment, uses Highbeam for exclusive financial insights to grow their ecommerce business. 

“With Highbeam, ecom merchants can now visualize and make data-driven decisions based on proactive insights, instant feedback, and financial analytics.” - Jimmy Lin, Founder & President at Heat Press Nation

Background

Heat Press Nation is the category-leading ecom retailer for heat press equipment and supplies. Their loyal buyers range from hobbyist crafters and creative entrepreneurs to SMBs. To unlock the next phase of their growth trajectory, the Heat Press team turned to Highbeam. 

The Problem

Jimmy Lin, founder & president of Heat Press, spent much of the first 13 years of his brand’s life managing and monitoring its financial health by manually pulling and updating his financial tracking tools. Despite its cumbersome process, Jimmy needed a real-time view of his brand’s finances.

One day, CACs skyrocketed for one of Heat Press’s paid marketing channels. Since they used auto-pay, they accidentally racked up $180,000 in paid spend with zero sales. 

They had no warning. No alarm sounded. It was a brutal and expensive lesson. 

Despite his background in finance and accounting, Jimmy’s business was growing too quickly and his ad-hoc financial management solution was not working. He needed a financial tool that would automatically track and report his finances and spend in real time.

“Founders have better things to do than stare at credit card statements every single day. But that can mean you’re catching big things two or three months late.” 

The Solution

Heat Press began searching for banking software that would proactively fill the gap between their spending and manual bookkeeping. 

Jimmy named three must-haves: 

1. A holistic and real time view of the brand’s financial health
2. Automated and accurate workflows
3. A low-lift solution that would work for his small team

When he heard about Highbeam from a few operators in the space, Jimmy was amazed. He’d found exactly what Heat Press needed, a fully integrated financial solution designed specifically for fast growing ecom brands. 

“Founders need to be able to automate their ability to quickly flag spend spikes or financial discrepancies that need to be addressed. Highbeam delivers that.” 

The Results

Jimmy emphasizes that Highbeam instantly changed how Heat Press manages its finances by providing high-value insights into both granular mechanisms (expenses, sales, etc.) and the larger financial picture (holistic monthly and quarterly figures). 

“I no longer take a reactive approach to our finances. Highbeam analyzes our cash flow in real-time, which not only saves me time but also gives me confidence in where my business stands financially.” 

Looking back at his ad spend fiasco, Jimmy says if he had been using Highbeam at that time, he would have identified the irregular behavior instantly – saving him at least $170,000.

Thanks to Highbeam, the Heat Press team is far more informed and organized when making day-to-day and long term financial decisions. 

Jimmy says the financial transparency and control Highbeam affords its customers is absolutely critical for every ecom merchant. As he points out, too many founders just don’t know what metrics to pay attention to until someone (or some piece of software) guides them well. 

"It’s critical that merchants have the right tools to see both their company’s granular sales and revenue data but also the bigger picture of overall financial performance and trajectory." 

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The Future

Across the board, costs have continued to increase across production, marketing, shipping, and more. In Jimmy’s words, business owners can’t afford to be surprised. 

Luckily, Highbeam proactively monitors cash flow and flags potential issues, enabling his team to react quickly with informed decisions in tune with the reality of the business. 

"It makes you feel far more secure to have someone — or a software tool like Highbeam — double-checking financial data to ensure you’re never surprised." 

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