We had a conversation with Santiago B.Gil, a serial entrepreneur who has been in the e-commerce field for four years. He is also the owner of an e-commerce bulldog, the company that helps veterans and civilians find their stream of income and is not dependent on institutions that can let them down.
The American consumer is sinking in debt. So far, almost every household has an average credit card debt of $8,398. The financial situation does not appear like it will get any better, as 49% expect to live from paycheck to paycheck. Even as we owe veterans our respect and gratitude, the poverty rate for veterans aged 18–34 years old is getting higher than that of ages 35–54. But how do we break this financial situation that keeps increasing exponentially?
About Santiago B. Gil
Santiago is a former member of the Marine Corps. He graduated from USC at the university of southern California. “I was working while going to school. I never got the chance to come home and continued with all-nighters. I would go for three days without any sleep, not seeing my family. This lack of time for my family is what put the desire in me to create my lifestyle. I missed so much of my kids’ life, baseball, and softball games,” he says.
According to Santiago, being in the Marine Corps helped him believe in himself. The Marines instilled long life values that go beyond measure.
When Santiago left the Corps, he found himself struggling to meet the needs of his family. He decided to venture into the e-commerce business. However, he realized that developing a business online is not as easy as it looks.
“Youtube makes starting an e-commerce site look like an illusion. They make it seem fluffy as the reality is, you have to treat your business like a business and not a side hustle, or it will pay you like a side hustle,” he says.
Making It Online
Santiago presently runs multiple successful e-commerce stores. He knows what it takes to start and build an e-commerce store from 0 to a multi-million business. Starting an online business is a viable approach that can benefit both veterans and civilians. Reports indicate that the e-commerce market expects to experience an annual growth rate of 8.1%. Even though we live in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, online shopping is still a lucrative venture. More and more consumers are going online for shopping.
Still, developing a successful business online is no easy feat. Most people ask how they can start an e-commerce business with no money. Well, for starters, Santiago recommends coming up with a business model and a plan. Next, you have to develop a user-friendly website. After that, upload quality pictures of your product and start selling.
What makes start-ups fail is that they develop a product that has no market need. Reports show that one of the reasons businesses fail is because the owners have not researched the market. “When starting a business, you have to find that unmet need within the market that you can fill,” says Santiago.
Santiago helps his clients develop the right e-commerce platform. He also provides them with strategies on how to research the market and connect with the right audience. This serial entrepreneur has all the industry insights from finding the right product to sell to attract the right customer. Santiago has been involved in the industry for four years now. He can tell you first-hand that a lot has changed in those years. One of the changes is customers abandoning their cart. Presently, 41 different studies have proven that the average cart abandonment is at least 70%. Gone are the days when people just set up websites and started selling. This era requires extensive research, in-depth knowledge, and hard work.
Why Santiago Is An Iconic Mentor
Santiago is a mentor. So far, he has mentored students who currently make over 500k in sales in their dropshipping stores. Santiago desires to help more and more people achieve their financial freedom. As a family man, this versatile entrepreneur understands the joy of being able to provide your family with a quality life. When we asked Santiago how he deals with burnout, he stated, “I spend time with my kids and wife. They give me more motivation to keep going to a new level every time. I also enjoy a bit of travel.”
Santiago is an example of an entrepreneur who works hard to help others. He believes that if you trust in yourself and manifest your goals, you will come to fruition if you think.
