William Fikhman: Owning the Business of Online Business

William Fikham is a senior at California State University at Northridge. He is exploring the entrepreneurial world of online business with his recently established company, ISold It.

What is the name of your company and what is your position?

The name of my company is iSold It. I am the Owner, CFO and General Manager of my business, however as a small business owner you wear many hats and that makes the experience both enjoyable and rewarding. What makes it challenging is that you never know when you might need to put on a different hat, how long you will need to keep it on and when you might need to change hats at a moment's notice. My daily experiences in the business are diverse - I may be speaking to someone on line one as the CFO, then get another call on line two and speak to that person as the Marketing Manager or Advertising Agent. I may then need to return a call as a Customer Service Supervisor, hang up the phone and now as the Shipper make sure a package goes out urgently.

How did you come up with this idea? How long did it take to launch?

My brother, who is now also my business partner, came across the idea of an "eBay Drop Off Store" while reading Entrepreneur Magazine. We thought the idea was brilliant, made sense and was a business we could operate. We immediately started looking into purchasing a franchise because we wanted to be a part of large scale marketing and a national brand name. It took about a month to do our due diligence before buying into the franchise, six months to find a location, build our store and open for business. Where is it based? We currently have two stores in Tarzana, CA and Agoura Hilla, CA.

What are the goals of your company?

Our primary goals are to build the brand name and raise awareness for iSold It and the eBay drop off store industry in general. Our secondary and more personal goal is to open additional stores and build this business into a $5 million operation.

How did you market your company?

We have experimented with just about every form of marketing you could imagine or read about in marketing books. From TV to postcards, local coupon books to pay-per-click ads, we have explored a plethora of options. Today, we continue to market using cable TV, internet advertising, yellow pages, direct mail and direct sales (cold-calling and knocking on doors) to businesses. Word of mouth continues to grow as more consumers try our great service for the first time, then tell their friends and family once they get a check! People love it once they try it!

Where do you see the company in the next five years? Do you plan to expand upon what you've already established?

In the next five years, I see the awareness for iSold It and our industry growing tremendously. As this happens, I see us opening several more stores and perhaps warehouse locations to serve the surplus and liquidation side of our business. I think in today's world if you are not expanding, you are shrinking. Change and growth have to constantly happen in order to achieve success.

Any words of wisdom for other students who are pursuing their own business?

The best words I can offer you were told to me by a Domino's Pizza franchisee of 14 stores. She said, "Whatever you do, don't give up. You are going to have your good days and you are going to have your bad days, but don't give up." But I would also advise other student entrepreneurs to always keep learning. Read a lot. Read everything that relates to business and your industry - magazines, local and national papers and books that interest you. Also, I believe its critical to surround yourself with people who are smarter and better than you because that is how you learn. Everyday I keep learning and applying things to my business. Over a long period of time I can see how what I learned directly materialized into success and growth in my business.

For more information, check out http://www.i-soldit.com/