Summary:
A familiar face joined us this week with some great updates! Edwin Ortiz, founder of Rejoicy, stopped by to tell us all about the traction, vision, and future of this service. Rejoicy helps small businesses create websites and start selling in less than 10 minutes, which is a victory if we have ever heard one. Hear all about empowering merchants and being where your customers are in this episode.
Thanks for tuning in!
Shownotes:
(0:53) Introducing Edwin Ortiz
(1:47) Serial Entrepreneurship Starting with Luncher
(3:42) Who Should Use Rejoicy?
(8:24) Shopping Local Internationally
(10:20) Let’s Talk About Techstars
(13:49) Farmer’s Markets Are an Open Door
(16:00) Building Brand Awareness
(18:00) Pandemic Impact on Online Market
(20:23) Serial Entrepreneurship
(23:55) Five Year Plan
(35:26) Closing Remarks
Links:
Quotes:
“That’s probably our beachhead; bakers, makers, movers, and shakers.” (5:57) – Edwin Ortiz
“We see a lot of opportunity for the international market, but in a very hyper-local way.” (8:40) – Edwin Ortiz
“We want to empower all those local merchants.” (16:13) – Edwin Ortiz
“It’s okay to learn from other people. It’s okay to talk about competitors. Don’t be scared.” (21:22) – Edwin Ortiz
“eCommerce on its own is not important. It is the fact that your customers are there that matters.”
(31:19) – Edwin Ortiz
Putting the Joy Back in Local Shopping
You finally created that business. You became the mover and shaker you always knew you were. Your product is tested, perfected, and ready for the market. You open your store, and then no one walks in.
It will not come as a surprise to hear that most of your market is online now, but does that mean you need to go back to school to learn about eCommerce? Our good friend and second-time guest has another option for you.
This week we welcomed Edwin Ortiz to the Startup Junkie round table. This serial entrepreneur has had experience in the eCommerce game initially with Luncher, and now Rejoicy. Rejoicy’s mission is to help you launch your eCommerce site quickly and easily. We would even say that Rejoicy got its name from helping you spread the gospel of your new store!
SELL ONLINE… Now!
Edwin Ortiz saw a need within the 9-5 small businesses and jumped into the startup world to fix it! With Rejoicy, he explains, he doesn’t just want to make another website and sell eCommerce for the heck of it. They are empowering stores to go online because that is where their customers are. Pre-pandemic, this was where the younger generation was, and now with the rise and fall of new variants, it is where many from the older generations are trying to navigate their purchases.
“eCommerce on its own is not important, it is the fact that your customers are there that matters.” (31:19) – Edwin Ortiz
Online sales are up 46%, while small-business in-person sales are dropping. On top of that, 74% of those businesses do not have an eCommerce website.
The problem is not the products or services, but the lack of adapting to the 2022 market. Rejoicy steps in to empower those local stores to begin their eCommerce journey by providing the easiest website creator in the world. In about one minute, you can create your entire online store.
Breaking it down, Ortiz explains that the process can be as simple as answering four questions and seeing the website built out in front of your eyes. Managing orders, inventory, and distribution is all included, which means you can start selling your product in just 10 minutes.
From Farmer’s Market to Online Market
Ortiz and his team find their customers often selling at Farmer’s Markets. If you know anything about Northwest Arkansas, you will find that these are not just filled with farmers but small business owners.
Often those who are creating the best products do not have time to dip into the world wide web for a new market. The few employees they hire are there to push the product and cannot be expected to juggle both production, marketing, and selling.
When Rejoicy steps in, they both want to let you know the urgency of going online along with the efficiency and ease their service can give.
“How can we better serve local businesses, and how can we empower them to compete with the big guys?” (24:59) – Edwin Ortiz
Shopping Local Internationally
Rejoicy recently helped open an online store for a local business in South Africa, which gets their entire team excited for the international opportunities.
By empowering businesses worldwide to step into the online selling game, Ortiz’s dream is not just for an international market. Ideally, this would generate customers from those cities who would have better access to the local stores in their neighborhood.
Not only that, but then tourists or anyone who has newly arrived to those cities can then find what they need locally rather than having to find an international or big business to get their needs met.
“We want to empower all those local merchants.” (16:13) – Edwin Ortiz
This service is not only for the non-tech savvy but also for the busy! Odds are, if you are not in one category, you are in the other. Many other website-building platforms can cause analysis paralysis, so look into Rejoicy and start spreading the good news of your store!
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