Welcome!
Welcome to this e-commerce business success story! In this profile, we interviewed Jason, the owner of The E-Scooter Co. Our hope is that you find this interview to be enlightening and inspiring as you seek to start and grow your very own online brand!
Thank you for joining us for this e-commerce business success story! We’d like to start by getting an understanding of your backstory. How did you come to own your business?
The E-Scooter Co. was born out of frustration with a lack of good advice on the market, and realising that many e-scooter sellers had never actually ridden their products themselves. I’m a 6’3 bloke, my wife is 5’2: we don’t need or want to ride the samee-Scooter. Nobody explained this or gave advice based on it, so we realised that this gap in the market needed to be filled.
Terrific! Now, this article is about profiling successful e-commerce businesses. So – can you share your top 3 keys to running a successful online brand?
I’ve thought about this a lot and it’s always changing as the growth and size of the business changes, but I believe the foundations are as follows.
1: Represent a brand you truly believe in. If you’re not passionate about what you do or represent it will be evident and your business will not excel. Be honest with yourself and be realistic. Your passion will shine through in whatever you do, passion can’t be bought or generated – its organic and its human nature to gravitate towards this.
2: Build a brilliant team. Work with people that have the same passion as you. Your goals may differ, but the passion and enthusiasm needs to match yours. One day you might be having an off day, this is when your team will be there to give the extra 20% to your company when you’re not running 100%, and vice versa. I can’t emphasise the benefits of having a great team enough. Personally I don’t focus on an individual’s education or experience too much, it’s all about the attitude and passion, the ability to adapt and work as a team player. Remember you can teach someone to do something, but you can’t teach passion, honesty, integrity – that’s what I look for when taking on a new member of the team.
3: Don’t be a “boss” , be a leader! As your team grows, ensure you are lead by example. I still do daily chores, drive a forklift, empty the bins, and help with repairs. Mostly because I enjoy working with my team and I am passionate about my business. In today’s age it is too easy to sit in your office and isolate yourself from the day to day tasks or difficulties, and reap the rewards of the ecommerce empire that “you” have built. But YOU didn’t build it alone! Remember where your business came from and remember you’re nothing without your team and the people around you. Whether you have 1 person or 1000, be seen, be heard and enjoy working with them. Without fail – say good morning to your team everyday.My team is forever saying “don’t worry we got this” however they forget, I enjoy working with them, (however much I get in the way). I don’t ever want to be a “boss” I want to be a leader or someone who inspires the next generation.
Excellent. Now, I’m sure it hasn’t always been that easy. Can you tell a story about one challenge, setback, or mistake that you’ve had to overcome on the road to success? How can others learn from your mistakes?
I am not going to give readers that luxury – making mistakes is an absolute necessity to a successful business. The issues you will encounter will be completely different to mine, a mistake is a mistake – I can only advise you how to deal with mistakes as a whole. I could tell you many stories of setbacks and mistakes, this is the nature of business and you need to accept that they will happen. The trick is not to make the same mistake twice! In time with experience you will anticipate the mistakes or issues before it happens, but you will only do that once you have put your time in and learnt from your mistakes. We have learnt that every setback, mistake or wrong turn we have taken, is an opportunity to learn, to be better next time it happens. It’s all an opportunity to learn. Try to think of all of these issues as part of your journey to success, Accept it, accept the issues and learn from them.
You can’t get from A to B without some potholes, speed bumps or red lights, so A – Z you will encounter a lot more. Make sure you only make the mistake once, don’t get bogged down with these issues, accept them and overcome them. Once the issue is addressed and things are calm – make sure you go back to this issue and dissect it. It’s too easy to keep moving forward and forget that you had an issue, don’t ignore the issues or mistakes once resolved. Make sure you understand what you did wrong, take responsibility and accountability for it – only with this can you learn and move on
Thanks for that. Now – we want to know what’s next! What new initiatives are you rolling out at your business and what results are you hoping to see?
Our business is our team – I can’t give too much away but our next stage of growth is big, its VERY big! And with the success and growth you need to go back to the people that helped you achieve it. Keep your team happy and close and remember to take them along for the ride on the success train
Sounds exciting! Any final words of advice for our readers?
Adapt, overcome and learn – it’s not going to be easy. You will face tough times or decisions, persevere and learn. If you can do the above and come through it, it does get easier and the taste of success will be even sweeter.
Once you get that success remember to take a moment to reflect on life and business. This will allow you to take stock of your surroundings, remind you of what’s really important. Good luck to all, it’s a blast!
Brilliant! We want to thank you for participating in today’s interview. Hopefully our readers agree that there is a lot to be learned from your brand’s story. What links can our readers use to follow along with your journey?
