Chapters

Summary

Lucy was the CEO of 10000 Customers at the time. The company helps businesses by teaching them how to get their first 10,000 customers. Many of her clients have missions such as anti-bullying. They use their ecommerce business to fund that change.

Before this business, Lucy was the co-founder of an ecommerce store named Trefiel Skincare. It was very successful. However, Lucy decided to shut down the business one day.

Her business was going well, and they decided to utilise a 3PL service. Since they had more time, they decided to travel to Cambodia. Lucy had seen many difficulties in the country. However, plastic waste had caught her attention the most. She thought, “I have put hundreds of thousands of plastic packets into the environment to make money. […] I will never, ever, ever be able to take that back.” That was when she decided to shut her ecommerce store down. Lucy gained a new goal. She wanted to be at the forefront of making ecommerce a more environmental-friendly industry.

Simon asked Lucy what was the most exciting thing about ecommerce at the time. She answered that it is not hard to get into the industry. Lucy was excited to see corporate careers enter this industry. She loved seeing them bringing in their deep industry knowledge and product ideas. They not only want to help solve problems, but they also want to build a business of low impact.

The next question was about the popularity of ecommerce. Lucy shared her thoughts on why many people start an ecommerce store. It has the allure that you can get massive sales. People think they can get a lot of money during their sleep. Lucy said it is true to some degree. However, many people underestimate the difficulty of running a business. On the other hand, Lucy also recognised people that have great product ideas. They would be passionate about making them into shape.

Simon and Lucy talked about sellable products in ecommerce. They both agreed that you could sell pretty much anything. Simon raised a witchcraft company as an example. Lucy was amazed at this example of selling products to solve a specific customer’s problem.

The next topic was about where the ecommerce industry is heading. Lucy said she foresees many companies that will be successful. Successful and working for the greater good of the world. One particular aspect she raised was environmental responsibility. Simon also agreed that now is the best time to start being an environmental-friendly business.

Simon then asked what part of ecommerce would Lucy want to change. She immediately answered with plastic use. 90% of parcels from Australia Post use plastic satchels. Imports from China also use a large amount of plastic. Simon also recognised a large amount of plastic bags used in Coles. Lucy added that ecommerce certainly plays a significant role in environmental damage. She hopes to work towards a natural-friendly ecommerce area in the future.

Lastly, Lucy shared her call to action. If you want to build a business that can impact the world, ecommerce is a great area to start. Think through how you will operate your business. Provide better products to get continuous sales.