Product Shipping is Divey Gulati’s specialty. Divey is Co-Founder of ShipBob, a company he started with his partner Dhruv Saxena. ShipBob provides automation and on demand shipping and packaging for small businesses. They have shipped out over 500,000 packages to date and the company has raised over $5million to date and serves businesses in Chicago, New York, and LA.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 53:11 — 48.7MB)
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [0:10] Jeremy’s introduction of this episode with Divey Gulati, co-founder of ShipBob.
- [1:36] What happens when a company grows too fast? What are the challenges?
- [10:12] The learning curve of setting up a warehouse facility.
- [12:15] How the ShipBob service works for a typical company.
- [15:51] Why would someone want to use their own shipping service?
- [10:00] Who is the best fit for ShipBob?
- [23:06] The biggest culture shock of moving from India to the United States.
- [27:05] What it was like getting into Y-combinator.
- [30:56] Helpful mentors and advice from Y-combinator.
- [32:17] The iterations ShipBob went through on the technology side.
- [36:28] The most common mistakes sellers make.
- [40:00] The vision of ShipBob and how it impacts their customers.
- [46:37] How the team came up with the name Ship BOB (bend over backwards).
- [48:03] The lowest moments in business so far.
- [50:18] The proudest moments in business for the team so far.
- [52:06] The biggest lessons for any entrepreneur.
In this episode…
Product shipping and fulfillment can be the bane of your existence when you provide a physical product to your customers. But Divey Gulati and his partner Dhruv Saxena are working to solve that problem for business owners and their customers. On this episode of Inspired Insider you can hear how Divey and his team are taking the pain out of product fulfillment, so be sure you listen.
One of the main logistical problems Divey Gulati and his team had to face when building out ShipBob was the creation of effective systems for product shipping in their warehouse space. But the time and work they invested have paid off big as they quickly become the go-to source for shipments originating in New York, Chicago, and other major cities. Find out if they are operating a warehouse in your city by listening to this episode.
Inventory issues are one of the most costly and common mistakes Divey Gulati sees new businesses make when it comes to product sales and shipments. Most companies order far too much inventory at the beginning and it winds up costing them more money than they expect. Are you making these kinds of mistakes? Hear how a guy who specializes in product fulfillment would address them, on this episode.
Word of mouth has always been the best form of marketing for any business and Divey Gulati says that it held true as ShipBob was growing. Customer after satisfied customer spread the word about the incredible job the company was doing and the word of mouth fires of success grew from there. You can hear why Divey believes their clients were so eager to spread the word on this episode.
When Jeremy asked Divey Gulati for one piece of advice he would give to entrepreneurs he didn’t hesitate. “Don’t give up and get used to being rejected.” Divey went on to explain that the entrepreneurial path is one of great risk, many product iterations, and hard work that combine over time to bring success. Without a thick skin to endure the naysayers and rejections you won’t make it as a startup founder. You can hear the entire conversation with this successful entrepreneur on this episode of Inspired Insider.
Resources Mentioned on this episode
- www.ShipBob.com
- Etsy
- Shopify
- Kickstarter
- IndieGoGo
- Ambornite
- I Heart Keenwah
- No Meat Athlete
- Hanging With The Homies
- Magento
- eBay
- Y-combinator
- Amazon
Our sponsor today is www.Rise25.com where entrepreneurs of 6,7, and 8 figure businesses come together live and in person every few months to solve their biggest business challenges through this high-level Mastermind group. Each member leaves each week with lifelong friendships and actionable steps to take their business to the next level. Check out Rise25.com – a group run by myself and cofounder John Corcoran. Rise 25 is application only.Sponsor for this episode