Search Interviews:

Alec Nelson was founder and CEO of Vacuum Spot which is a vacuum supply company that generated over $1Million in sales. They took the business from a shed to a full warehouse in just 12 months.

***May Alec Nelson RIP. His wife and cofounder Kerry Nelson informed me that Alec unexpectedly died on May 28, 2014. Our condolences to his family and may his memory live on.

 

 

 

What will you learn in this interview?
-How did he start his vacuum cleaners business?
– What was his most difficult challenge he faced in this business?
– What was the pivotal moment that built his confidence as a salesman?
– What advice can he give potential salesmen?

FUN FACT:
He has a Kirby vacuum cleaner tattoo and convinced another guy to get one too.

Background:

Alec Nelson grew up in the wealthy semi-rural Sydney suburb of Dural in a home that his builder father built in the 1960s. At age 11, he moved to Wagga Wagga, a small city, where his father bought a caravan — i.e., RV — park.
Nelson boarded at school in a nearby town and began his accountancy degree at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga in 1994. He switched to business management but in his second year started using heroin and dropped out of university, while keeping a full-time job at an appliance retailer.

When he lost that job, Nelson answered an ad promising high pay and training as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman for Kirby.In 2002, he opened That Repair Shop, servicing vacuum cleaners and other appliances, and began listing vacuum parts on eBay.

He launched his own website, NelsonVacuums.com.au, in 2007. He first tried a setup and design from friends. It was unsuccessful. He moved to Ashop, an Australia-based hosted shopping cart. He received his first sale within hours. By 2008 gross monthly sales were roughly $15,000.

At the end of 2008 Nelson hired a prominent Sydney developer for $20,000 to create a sophisticated new website.
“The site didn’t go live until July 2010. Customers complained, were unable to figure out the fancy new navigation and search mechanism, and costs blew out and revenue dwindled to $3,000 per month,” Nelson said.
In October 2010 Nelson and his wife discussed declaring bankruptcy. But he reopened their Ashop store under the domain VacuumSpot.com.au.

He redesigned it to be plain, with simple navigation, used seemingly every search-engine-optimization tactic to get found, and had sales again.

VacuumSpot received $334,000 in gross revenue in its first year. It doubled to $669,000 the following year and increased to $1,030,000 in its third year and beyond.

Check out: http://www.vacuumspot.com.au/

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