Episode 21
Physical to Digital
Feat. Julka Lazic Former KeepSpace Team member
Julka Lazic had spent most of her career as a Business Development Manager in physical retail. Now she jumps into the ecommerce space by working at KeepSpace!
She shares her past experience working at physical retail and compares it with the new area of ecommerce. We also go through dropshipping and Amazon 101, so buckle up!
Julka Lazic shares her past experience working at physical retail and compares it with the new area of ecommerce.
00:00
Introduction
03:15
Challenges at LookSmart
04:34
How Yulka joined KeepSpace
10:03
Yulka's Advice in Business Development
17:35
Long Term Planning
20:46
Will Ecommerce or Retail wipe out?
22:07
Should we be worried about Amazon?
24:02
Yulka's Call to Action
Summary
Julka was working at KeepSpace at the time. Before coming to KeepSpace, she was in management, business development and operations. She used to work with a national franchise called LookSmart Alternations. Julka’s role at LookSmart was State Manager for South Australia and Western Australia. She would help maximise profitability, ensure brand alignment through training, and educate in sales operations, finances, KPIs, and recruitment.
During her time at LookSmart, Julka learned not to take matters personally in business. She also had to learn how to deal with many different individuals, gain their respect and lead different personalities. Julka used to be the middleman between the franchisor and the franchisee.
After 12 years working at LookSmart, Julka decided to join Jesse in his startup journey. She joined as an angel investor and worked full-time. Julka had never shopped online nor thought about ecommerce before talking with Jesse. However, she started getting used to buying from online stores.
Julka learnt that ecommerce has a lot of potentials. You can make a lot of money if you get things right. She also found an amount of funding is available for ecommerce startups. Investors and big companies are buying startups instead of building in-house. Julka was also fascinated that one-third of the population shops online. Australia’s ecommerce market value was over $20 billion at the time. Still, it was only 0.01% of the world’s ecommerce population.
Simon asked Julka for her advice, coming from her newly gained knowledge. She shared six tips that she would tell ecommerce businesses.
- Emphasise speed and convenience
- Be flexible with payments
- Be competitive (not referring to pricing, but the value)
- Do your numbers and know what you’re doing when competing on price
- Get your five start reviews (or testimonials)
- Plan, measure and adapt
Lastly, Simon asked Julka for her opinion on the future of ecommerce and retail. Julka said that she doesn’t think ecommerce will overtake retail. Retail will fight back and innovate. Simon agreed and added that the key is to fuse ecommerce and retail. Julka also said that there is no need to fear Amazon. Some people want a good experience through branding and communication. Platforms like Amazon provide cheap products, but it is hard to see the face of the seller.
Julka finished this episode with her call to action. She said this is a great time to get creative and innovative. Make sure to be persistent and patient if you start an online business.
