Business owners can potentially gain a lot by connecting and networking with one another. For ecommerce businesses specifically, The Bazaar Network can help to facilitate those valuable connections and help entrepreneurs find the products and services they need to run their businesses. You can read about the network and the story behind it in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.
What the Business Does
Offers an online ecommerce network.
Founder and CEO Matthew Bovey told Small Business Trends, “In a nutshell? We offer a growing benefits network for ecommerce professionals. Starting with the Shopify platform, our users are able to enter a network that provides:
- Discounts to all other online stores within the network
- High quality traffic from other Ecom professionals
- Exclusive discounts for professional services to help run their online business
- An INSANELY good affiliate program to help increase the benefits of our network.”
Business Niche
Providing the only affordable ecommerce network solution.
Bovey says, “In all honestly, we are yet to find any network that offers such significant value for such a low price ($4 per month — with a 30 day free trial). In fact, not even just a network, but there’s no real app that does something similar.”
How the Business Got Started
After working with multiple ecommerce businesses.
Bovey explains, “I was getting my toes wet with ecommerce, building websites for clients on a freelancer basis. As a point of parity, I decided that all my clients should receive exclusive discounts at all other stores we build — creating a somewhat benefits network between us. I was lying awake one night unable to sleep when I realized this concept could simply be an app and I’d be able to target a rather large market with it. A few months later, I moved back home to Aus (I was in Canada at the time) and was able to receive government small business funding. Five Months later (well over schedule..) we launched!”
Biggest Win
Launching successfully.
Bovey says, “As someone with absolutely no app development experience, and our developers with very little ecommerce experience, I think we all thought it would be a bit of a smoother process. Little did we know… To finally launch on the Shopify marketplace was a huge achievement for us. It may seem small to most, but for the first time we had created a product, FROM SCRATCH, that helps small business owners just start out — and that’s what I’ve always wanted.”
Biggest Risk
Launching in a brand new space.
Bovey says, “There’s nothing that would suggest that what we are doing will succeed. There’s no real precedent for what we have done. Sure, there’s benefits for working in retail when it comes to shopping centers (discounts at other stores, etc) but for online businesses? Nada.”
Lesson Learned
Set reasonable expectations.
Bovey explains, “Like I said, I thought this was going to be a smooth sailing experience. I was wrong. While that causes a bit of strain on the practical side of the business for sure, the emotional aspect of constant set backs, delays and new hurdles are significant.” Bovey said the feeling of failing because you’ve missed unrealistic deadlines is an extra pressure to put on yourself or your family.
How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000
Marketing and rewarding the team.
Bovey says, “A small amount would be a bonus to my team who has worked so hard on this, and deserves everything positive that comes their way. The rest would go towards a decent marketing campaign, as well as future implementations of larger benefits for our users. We already have a lot of these in the pipeline, but 100k would certainly allow us to fast track these benefits for our users.”
Favorite Quote
“Best way to clear the air is to have it all out in the open.” – Atticus Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird
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Images: The Bazaar Network, Matthew Bovey