#70: Collegiate E-Commerce Business While Working in Tech

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Is it possible for one person to run several tech companies and have time to sell apparel to college kids?

Uri Robinson, Co-Founder of Robinson Consulting Group, LLC, A2I Foundation, Inc. Brockwood Foundation, Inc, Perkins & Robinson Investment Group, Investor, and an Independent Life Insurance Agent, also owns a company selling college students and frat members greek apparel, beads, and t-shirts online.

In this episode, Uri and I chat about running an e-commerce online business while working on tech and balancing the responsibilities in handling multiple ventures. He also shared with me his three powerful pieces of advice on how to start an e-commerce business during a global pandemic.

In this episode, we’re discussing…

[02:23] Uri’s beginnings, how he grew up as a traveling military brat, got into tech, and how he came up with the idea of starting his own tech company
[04:20] Why Uri decided to sell college kids beaded necklace and T-shirts online
[06:21] Learning eCommerce the hard way
[07:39] Transitioning from person to person selling strategy to getting customers online
[10:31] Importance of buying in bulk and having a storage unit
[11:19] Tips to automate business interaction with suppliers
[14:33] Social engagement in eCommerce
[16:42] How to balance online eCommerce business and running a tech company
[18:52] Some Advice for people who want to start an online business during a pandemic
[20:15] How to Start Online Business Top Tip # 3: Automate
[21:47] How to Start Online Business Top Tip # 2: Outsource
[22:45] How to Start Online Business Top Tip # 1: Just Do it
[25:30] Are the videos on start-ups earning zero to 500k for real?

Uri’s Top Tips:

“There were a lot of ways to utilize hashtags, of course, to find different customers depending on what you're looking for. And so most of it is online engagement at this point, not a lot of in-person stuff.”
“I think social engagement is needed to sell things online nowadays, you can't just prop up to have something for sale and just leave it at that.”
“What I'm marketing online literally is on my phone. I'll get an order, update the spreadsheet with the shipping location, and the item, and then I'll immediately pay the invoice. And it's good for the suppliers that helped me, compared to other industries or other customers which may take a while for an invoice to get paid. Because they know it's going to be guaranteed revenue, because I already received the order and received the payment, and so they already know I'm gonna pay them as soon as possible.”
“You have to make sure that you're spending your time seeing what's popular on social media or what people are talking about, in order to make sure you have something that resonates in this time.”
“I probably could outsource it all, but I feel like I need to experience it myself in order to understand how everything works.”
“Entrepreneurship, in general, is not for the faint-hearted.”
“If you're thinking about starting an e-commerce website, just do it. With even anything associated with anything, businesses, non-profits, or anything, a lot of people are held back because they're too busy thinking about the worst thing that could happen. [But in reality], the worst thing that can happen is that you never started it. And you don't have a business that's helping you progress in life.”
“And so, the first thing is just to start, I would say the next thing is to understand who your customer is. Once you understand who your customer is, you can completely focus on how to market what to make… And I would say the third thing is probably automation.”
“To me, there's no such thing as a loss, you're either going to win or you're going to learn.”

Nichole’s Top Tips:

“As you implement more automation in your processes, it gives you the time to do what you really want to do. So, if you want to spend more time with family or if you want to focus on something else, it can happen now that you can process orders straight from your phone.”

“Win or learn. There is no loss. Even to the folks who are on the fence about buying your first real estate property, you can analyze it to death, but there's probably a certain point when you just need to jump in.”

Resources:

Visit Uri’s online shop at Soco’s Beads
Check out all his businesses at his website urirobinson.com
Join us in the Richer Geek Subreddit!
Leave me a voicemail with your thoughts on the show!
Check out our free quiz for guidance and ideas about what to do with your money that’s smarter and can help you generate extra income now
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Resources About Uri:

Website | Email | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Categories: Online, Business, eCommerce

Tags: tech, apparel, online business, advice, startup, Soco’s Beads, greek merchandise, t-shirts, beads, social engagement, social media, automation, outsourcing, dropshipping, bulk selling, suppliers, entrepreneurship, online marketing, Google spreadsheet for suppliers, Facebook for business, Instagram for business, Twitter for business.

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