When Shakil Prasla graduated with an MBA and had no idea what to do next, he decided to venture into the world of ecommerce.
He bought his first business for $52,000 and made the money back in 6 months. Fast forward to today - he has bought a total of 12 businesses under Pro Click Ventures, with his latest purchase being worth $3 million.
In this episode you'll learn:
Shakil is still buying more businesses and looking for CEOs to manage them. If you want to reach out to him, you can email him at shakil@proclickventures.com.
Thanks for listening to this episode! Until the next one, happy selling.
To recap for those of you who missed Episode 222, we’re launching a brand-new segment called EcomCrew Roadshow where we help ecommerce entrepreneurs come up with a plan to take their businesses to the next level. The premise is we will come to your city, spend a couple of days with you at your office, go over your business, review things, and come up with a plan to grow your business.
This episode is a preview of my sessions with first-ever Roadshow participant, Lance Robinson of Wall Charmers. It's a fun sneak peek of what the EcomCrew Roadshow is all about.
If you ever want to become a participant, just fill out the form here to let us know.
See you on the road!
When we made the move from affiliate marketing to selling our own physical products years ago, we realized in a kind of baptism-by-fire way how starkly different the two business models are.
Mike Higman, owner of HuntingGearDeals.com, is trying to make the same shift. In this episode, he and I talk about the 3 things he needs to carefully consider to make sure he is prepared to take his business to the next level: cash flow, products to sell, and content strategy.
You'll learn:
Mike and I met when he signed up for 5 Minute Pitch. Check out his story and pitch.
E184: Dealing with Cash Flow
5 Minute Pitch
Thanks for listening! Until the next one, happy selling.
Meghla Bhardwaj is the Head of Content Marketing at Global Sources and organizer of the Global Sources Summit. The summit is one that I really love, and for this year Dave and I will both be speaking at the event.
Meghla has been on the podcast a couple of times talking about sourcing from China specifically through Global Sources, but this time our topic is different.
With the ongoing China trade war and the uncertainty of the future of tariffs for Chinese products, alternative sourcing countries have become more and more popular. One country that's been getting more attention is India.
Compared with sourcing from China though, there is a void of information about sourcing from India. In this episode Meghla discusses the ins and outs of sourcing from India, more specifically:
If you want to know more about sourcing from India or Global Sources, you can reach out to Meghla at www.facebook.com/meghla.bhardwaj.
Meghla also introduces a new feature that lets buyers get product samples right on the Global Sources website.
Skip the long email back-and-forth and low MOQ negotiation--buy your product samples instantly (price includes shipping) and test them before making a bulk order. Check out this new feature.
This year's summit will be on April 27th to 29th in Hong Kong and Dave and I will be speaking there.
Meghla was kind enough to hook us up with a sweet discount for EcomCrew listeners. Just use the code ECC100 when you purchase your ticket to get $100 off.
We're organizing our 2nd annual mastermind right before the Global Sources summit so if you'll be in Hong Kong on April 26th, this will be the perfect opportunity to come hang out.
Whether you're making a trip to the Canton Fair or Global Sources for the first time ever or you're a frequent visitor to China this mastermind will be of incredible value to you.
We've designed this mastermind to be an intimate meeting of less than 30 people, so check it out before seats run out.
Thanks for listening to this episode!
Until the next one, happy selling.
This Under the Hood episode is unique and perhaps unexpected. I’m joined by Speck Hansen of earthMonkeys, a brand that sells plush stuffed animals. The company’s underlying mission is “for moms that wanna get their kids using less screen time and getting out and doing more physical activities through adventure.”
You might say that his products are in direct competition with those sold under one of our brands. However, I’m a firm believer that there’s enough business for everyone out there. And by having the opportunity to talk to him about his business and answer his questions, we would be providing greater value to those who are interested in entering the baby niche with these products or those who want to expand their existing product line to include plush toys.
Here are some of the salient points from the interview.
Under the Hood is a segment where we do an hour-long coaching call with one of our listeners. We take a look at their businesses, provide honest feedback, offer our best business advice, and answer whatever questions they have. In exchange for the free coaching, we will turn the call into a podcast episode so that our community can benefit as well. It’s a win-win!
We’re reopening Premium until March 18th!
Get access to full-length courses, twice monthly private webinars, and unlimited 1 on 1 email coaching with Mike and Dave.
Register here!
A pre-tea company seeking seed money and a passionate mom and designer who wants to spread joy to kids. Tune in to the 5 Minute Pitch. New episodes published weekly until the final round in May at the Sellers Summit 2019.
Need onsite and personalized advice for your struggling ecommerce business? Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow. Read more about it here.
Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!
The first time Joe Cochran came on the podcast, we were set on talking about free plus shipping offers. However, Joe's background proved to be too interesting to cut short, so we talked more about it instead.
You can listen to that episode and the lessons he learned before before founding ComfortTac, his current company. We discussed the ups and downs of running an ecommerce business, and whether or not passion really does play a part in creating a successful company.
We're having Joe back on the podcast today to finally talk about free plus shipping offers. From our conversation you'll learn that:
For more information about building information products, you can listen to this episode: E117: How an MMA Fighter Built a Multi-Million Dollar Company Selling Digital Products
We're reopening Premium for a limited time!
Get access to full-length courses, twice monthly private webinars, and unlimited 1 on 1 email coaching with Mike and Dave.
Hiring is not the easiest thing to do in the entrepreneur world, but it's also the most important task an entrepreneur eventually must do if they want their business to grow.
Nathan Hirsch knows this all too well. At first he wasn't sold on the idea of hiring someone but when his first busy season came and led him to work 10-12 hour workdays all by himself, he knew he had to find someone and help him run his business.
After learning from multiple bad hiring decisions, FreeeUp was born.
FreeeUp is a service that provides entrepreneurs access to vetted freelancers from around the world. They do the screening and pre-interviewing, and claims to let only the "top 1%" into the FreeeUp platform. Entrepreneurs can just submit a request and FreeeUp matches them with a vetted freelancer/VA/agency within a business day.
Some conversation points:
Don't make the mistake of waiting too long before making your first hire. If you're looking to hire now, Nathan was kind enough to provide EcomCrew listeners with a $50 credit on the platform. Just use the code ECOMCREW when signing up.
Resources mentioned:
5 Minute Pitch
EcomCrew Premium
Our Philippines team
Thanks for listening! Until the next one, happy selling.
Around mid-2017 Dave embarked on a journey to build another million dollar brand after he sold his first one in 2016.
He originally planned to reach a $1 million revenue run rate in 12 months, but certain things happening in 2018--including a legal dispute, among others--contributed to a slow growth throughout the year.
21 months later, Dave finally hit his $1 million revenue goal. In this podcast episode he discusses the things that lengthened the process so that you can avoid it in your own business. He also shares tips and hints for increasing the profitability of your brand, along with growth strategies you can employ.
Some conversation points:
Thanks for listening to this episode! If you have any questions feel free to leave them below.
Until the next one, happy selling.