Don't Be Afraid to Ask for Help

Featuring Ally Turpen of Pin It Co.

In this episode we meet Ally Turpen, the owner of Pin It Co. Pin It Co entails both a storefront in small town Georgia as well as a warehouse fronted by an online store, including a website, app, and various social media accounts. Through Pin It Co, Ally sells home decor and more. She got her beginnings when her husband was deployed and her parents got her some power tools in an effort to help her out. For the first three years, she made everything by hand– but when her business started taking off after she had built up more of an online presence, that was no longer feasible and it was time to grow. 

In todays episode we’ll discuss:

The best method of selling products online Something to know before starting a business Crucial suggestions for someone trying to get into e-commerce

Where do you sell most of your stuff?

Ally’s first website was done through BigCommerce, and she later switched it to CommentSold. In the beginning, the websites were not getting the sales she wanted. It wasn’t until she started social selling through live streams where she showed what she wanted to sell and talked about it. With her animated personality this was the perfect platform. She sells a majority of her products through these live streams either on facebook, or through her app Pin It Co where everything is in one convenient place and there are less distractions. 

What is one thing you wish you’d known?

Ally’s response to this was one we’ve heard before, but still impactful nonetheless. She wishes she knew more about the backend of business. She attended some college for marketing and communications which came easy to her, but still found that there was a lot to learn. She would have liked to have a mentor to walk her through the business aspects while getting started and making big decisions. 

What would you suggest to someone trying to get into e-commerce?

Ally had a few answers to this question all of which are profound. The first being to not overextend yourself financially. She encourages people not to spend more money than they have. The second suggestion is to grow slow. This piece of advice is crucial for younger start ups. A gradual grow allows for you to build up the resources and manpower to handle larger sales. More time also means more content and brand impact. She encountered a large surge in sales during the COVID-19 pandemic that could have been overwhelming had she not had 6 years of building a business behind her. Ally shared that you can drive all the sales you want, but if you don't have the team to catch you or the resources to follow through then it doesn't matter how many sales you get if you can’t support your customers. The last piece of advice she gives is to not be afraid to ask for help. Socrates’ sound adage “wisdom begins in wonder” comes to mind here. If there's something you're not good at, or even could just use a little improvement in, ask for help.