Anshey Bhatia, founder of Verbal+Visual - a platform for optimising e-commerce that’s become one of Shopify’s top partners. Listen as Nathan and Anshey talk about what growth means, where e-commerce is going, and the importance of focus.
Famous 5
Favorite Book? – Traction
What CEO do you follow? — Myself - I look at everything I’m spending time on during a day
What is your favorite online tool? — Slack
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Very close
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —To focus
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:23 – Nathan’s introduction
01:40 – Welcoming Anshey to the show
01:44 – Verbal+Visual is an agency that works with e-commerce brands to develop their user experience
02:09 – Recently worked with Uproot
02:20 – Anshey likes working with Shopify because it’s simple for both IT and management
03:30 – Worked with Shopify to create the first wine integration on their site
04:30 – Average e-commerce platforms go from an average of $50k to high-end $300k
04:54 – Initial development is on a project fee, after which optimisation services are offered on retainer
06:02 – Founded the business in 2009
06:13 – First-year revenue was around $150k
06:30 – Total revenue in 2015 was in the low 7 figures
06:41 – Team of 7 full-time employees and 5 part-time, based in New York
07:07 – Net margin of around 20%
07:31 – Anshey tries to leave profits in the business
08:28 – Goal is to reach a team of 40 people within 3 years
09:12 - Aim to have 2-3 new clients for each new hire
09:44 - The main area of growth has been partnerships, and building a portfolio
10:50 - Ideal customer is someone making $100k-$1 million; who wants to grow; and who is unsatisfied with their current e-commerce platform
11:20 – Connect with Anshey on Twitter and Linkedin
13:00 – Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Determine what growth means to you. Is it topline revenue? Team size? Customer value? Choose a measure that’s meaningful for your business.
Improve the quality of every project you do. Your portfolio is your number one tool for finding work.
Focus from the beginning on what you’re passionate about.
Resources Mentioned:
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives