At first, ecommerce reminded Emma Reid of video games. It was addictive, exciting, competitive, and tons of fun. But then things fell apart. Her dropshipping supplier botched thousands of orders, she lost $10,000 in a month, and then the burnout set in. She joined us on Start Yours to explain what went wrong, the lessons she learned, and why she’s back in the game running another online store.
Emma hits on tons of topics, including:
The similarities between video games and ecommerce: "There's definitely some overlap and I think video games did make me who I am – like the ability to get obsessed with something so much and like just lose yourself in the moment... Ecommerce can be pretty difficult, but at the same time, it was sort of just natural because you have that experience in video games – like where something doesn't go right and you can just get a do-over and go back and fight the boss again. You can just keep going and learning from your mistakes and that applies to real life as well. Even though, yes, there is more at risk because it is real life by playing with real money, but it's still, you can always try again and you can keep going and learn from your mistakes and do it better next time."
The challenges of setting your schedule as an entrepreneur: "There was definitely a lack of direction and structure. And if you don't really know what's going on and what's gonna produce your results, you still have to go back and test and keep working and keep being obsessed with it until something does break through and work. So if you don't know what you're doing, then you're gonna have to try a lot of things. It's also really hard to actually control yourself and actually do the work instead of playing video games or going on holidays, because if you're not doing that, then you're not producing income. If you basically are your business, and you don't have anyone that you've hired to do the jobs for you, then you are your business, and you have to keep working to keep producing income. If you do slack off or take an extended break, then things can go down the toilet pretty soon."
On not quitting when things get tough: "So don't be afraid to test things, don't be afraid to fail and actually lose a bit of money or have bad experiences. So, bad supplier experiences, bad scaling experiences – just keep going and don't give up on trying, until you actually have it working. You can do anything you set your mind to, really. And I just wish I'd had the confidence to do that with my first store. Obviously my whole life I've grown up with that sort of mindset, but just actually knowing... Yes, you can do this, you can set your mind to it, and learn the thing and put in the effort, to get those results. So figure out what you actually have to do every day to get the end result and you will succeed. You will get the end result if you just don't give up."
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