Are you interested in learning how to build your own eCommerce business? There’s a big difference between starting an online store and building an eCommerce business. I’ve been running eCommerce businesses for the past 6 years and have learned a tremendous amount about how to sell online. The first step...
In the next week, I will be embarking on my 5th holiday shopping season with Portlight in the eCommerce industry. It has been a wild ride full of excitement and surprises with every holiday season presenting new challenges that take us to the brink of exhaustion. As I look back...
Since making the difficult decision to re-structure Portlight, the first online business that I helped build over the past three years, I have been spending a significant amount of time reflecting upon my experience and identifying what I learned that I can take with me into my next venture. I...
In early 2015 as Portlight settled into its first office in Orlando, I was eager to get more involved in the local entrepreneur community. We had set up a strong business on the Amazon Marketplace and we were interested in taking it to the next level through the development of...
With the holiday season quickly approaching, it’s no doubt that people across America are preparing their shopping lists. From entertaining the family at Thanksgiving to getting a gift for everyone in your immediate family, there is something to buy for everything. And American consumers aren’t slowing down spending either. According...
Graduating from College without a Financial Strategy When I entered college at Quinnipiac University in 2008, I made a goal that by the time I graduated I would be able to fully support myself. My parents had shelled out thousands of dollars to support my growth throughout the first 18...
I’m always interested in learning what my readers want to see next so I asked you this past week for suggestions. I received a handful of great recommendations and the one that I’m going to be addressing today was provided by Jon Bozzuto, a good friend currently living in the...
As the best of mentors will tell you…”you can’t succeed and continue to grow without experiencing failure.” This post is both an account of success and the lessons that I learned along the way while using the vision statement to build my eCommerce company. Taking the Vision Statement for a...
Throughout my life as an entrepreneur, I have read tens of books, listened to hundreds of lectures, and discussed the topic of creating a million dollar business with handfuls of entrepreneurs. Each time, the conversation goes in a different direction dependent upon the source. When beginning to work on a new idea,...
This Post To complement the self definitions that I have provided for the mission statement and a number of other general business terms, I will share my understanding of the vision statement from my experiences as an entrepreneur. Defining the Vision Statement The Book Definition If you have ever taken...
Recruitment is Tough! Recruitment is a complex process of meeting individuals, understanding their skill set, taking a shot on their personality, and making a decision whether you believe they would fit within your company. As the individual going through the process, it is equally as nerve-racking remaining calm, boasting about...
From an early age, John Mayer’s music has spoken to me and challenged me think about my life in a variety of different ways. The passion that he pours into his music inspired and motivated me to find similar passions that I could pour my all into. One of his live...
In our last column, we discussed creating your minimum viable product, otherwise known as the MVP. It’s a critical step to building your startup in its first infant year and allows you to make many iterations based off of customer feedback. For even more about the MVP, pick up a...
In many of my columns in the past half year, I have eluded to a minimum viable product, otherwise known as the MVP. The minimum viable product is a key part of building your business in the first year and is one of the best ways to get real feedback...
Returning to Building Over the past three weeks, I provided you with an inside look into my current entrepreneurial endeavors. As we move forward through the year, I will keep you up to date with the progress of each of my businesses at the end of each quarter. Up until...
In How Employers and Applicants Should Approach the Recruitment Funnel Part I, I introduced the concept of a recruitment funnel and provided a depiction of the six step process. I dove into the intricacies of the first three stages and how both employers and applicants can approach each to achieve their...
First Learning about Supplier Relationships I started my first eCommerce business with two cofounders as a college sophomore at Quinnipiac University in 2010. I was studying economics, business, and mathematics. I had a fixation for the Internet. As Amazon started to make eCommerce a global phenomena, I began learning about...
Exclusive Interview with Connor Gillivan about eCommetize If you’ve been following my columns over the past week, you’ll know that we are amidst a three piece series evaluating the growth of my three ventures in Q1 of 2016. Read about the growth of ConnorGillivan.com and FreeeUp. In this final piece...
Evaluation and Reflection is a Must As you may be able to tell from my columns, reflection and active evaluation is a key ingredient to building myself as an entrepreneur. I’m a strong believer that you must fully understand yourself in order to make a true impact on others. In...
