How Tariffs Affect Small Businesses w/Steven Borrelli From Cuts Clothing

A 145% tariff isn’t just a price hike—it’s a slow-motion business killer. In this episode, the crew sits down with Cuts founder Steven Borrelli to talk about his viral open letter to Trump, the fallout from the latest tariffs, and how eCom brands can survive a 145% hit to their margins. We cover survival tactics, pricing strategies, manufacturer loopholes, and why most people on Twitter are getting it wrong. In This Episode: Why Steven’s tweet made it to Trump’s inner circle The difference between a tariff and an embargo (and why this is the latter) How brands are pulling revenue forward with “pre-tariff” sales Should you raise prices or add a fee at checkout? Underground strategies: bonded warehouses, vendor negotiations, offshore CX Dad Gang’s Coachella moment + Cuts’ Super Bowl party What actually works when you throw an IRL event 💬 Drop a comment: Are you adjusting your pricing, your suppliers, or your strategy in response to the tariffs? What are you seeing in your circle? Sponsors: Marpipe – https://www.marpipe.com Heatmap.com – https://www.heatmap.com ⏱️ Chapters: 00:00 – Intro & why this matters 07:45 – The Trump letter fallout 16:15 – Cart fees vs raising prices 25:30 – Customer trust & surveying 33:00 – Avoiding tariffs creatively 42:00 – What brands can actually do 50:00 – Pricing psychology & tradeoffs 57:00 – DTC Twitter & tariff fatigue 1:05:30 – In-person activations 1:13:00 – Building brand equity 1:17:30 – Wrap-up & follow Steven Follow Our Hosts: Nick Shackelford Twitter/X: https://x.com/iamshackelford LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickshackelford/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamnickshackelford/ Zoe Kahn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_zoekahn_/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-kahn-5b61aa129/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/_zoekahn_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ZoeKahn Bart Szaniewski Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theszef/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bart-szaniewski-374b1141/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/TheSzef John Coyle YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@johnjhcoyle Twitter/X: https://x.com/johnjhcoyle Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnjhcoyle/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-coyle-1bb231120/ Steven Borrelli Twitter/X: https://x.com/stevenborrelli Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevenborrelli/ Cuts Clothing: https://www.cutsclothing.com Cuts Women: https://www.instagram.com/cutswomen/