Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with John Murphy, Founder of Ecom SEO Formula, located in Wilmington, DE, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I have an online course called Ecom SEO Formula. I teach e-commerce store owners to get organic traffic through various methods. Helping them to be less reliant on paid channels. The process is in the actual playbook that I use to generate over $2M in sales every year.

Tell us about yourself

I used to work for General Electric but wanted to find a way to work from home and be my own boss. I found e-commerce to be a good reliable way to grow income and work on my own terms. I still, to this day, run an e-commerce business generating approx—$ 3M a year in sales. However, early in my ecom adventure, I got banned from running ads on Google and FB and needed to find a way to get traffic without running ads. I went deep into SEO and how to rank organically on Google. Within six months, I was getting more traffic and making more sales than ever before. After a few years of dominating the search results, I have countless people asking me to teach them my strategies.

I decided to record approximately 6 hrs of video showing my step-by-step process that anyone with an e-commerce store can do. That's how ECOM SEO FORMULA was born. The course helps ecom store owners diversify their traffic, become less reliant on ad platforms, increase their margins per sale and, in doing so, reduce their monthly expenses on advertising and increase the overall value of the business if they choose to sell it later. I think every ecom store should apply some form of SEO to safeguard their business.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My e-commerce business www.eBikeGeneration.com was built with no funding and no capital. It provided a great life for me, and I learned so many new skills along the way. I could walk into a good job in many areas of business on the back of this experience. It's a wonderful feeling to create something from nothing and make a living from it.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

The best and hardest thing that comes with being a business owner is it's all on YOU. If you grow a thriving business, it is all your merit. If you fail, it's all on you. You cannot blame or hide behind anyone else. It can be scary and stressful at times, but it also makes you realize that we can achieve great things if we apply ourselves.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

There are a few things that you need to do to give yourself the best chance of success.

  1. Vision: You need to know when you want to be before you start. When you start a journey, you need to know when you're going before you enter the details in the GPS. Your vision starts with what you want. Is it to have a Million dollars in the bank? Work 4 hours a month? Retire early and earn passive income? Whatever it is, it must be clear to you. Then work backwards and map out how to get there.
  2. Do The Work: Once you know what you're working for, you need to show up every day. Even if you only do one thing every day, do something that gets you closer to that end result. Often times it's just doing the boring stuff that other people keep putting off is what separates you from them. Show up every day and do one thing. When you look back a year later, you will be surprised at how far you've come.
  3. Find Like-Minded People: Not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur. Sometimes we need to make a conscious effort to be around other entrepreneurial folks. Working for yourself can feel lonely sometimes, and people around you may not fully understand what it's like. Join a mastermind, hire a business coach or go to meet-ups and events to meet others like you. Just by being around other ambitious men and women will have a positive impact on you. You will see other people accomplishing what you're trying to accomplish. It will give you the confidence to keep going. You can share ideas and strategies that can help you grow as a business owner.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.ecomseoformula.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EcomCEO
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-murphy-3b46b69/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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