Q 1. Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
Ans : We are are an online water filtration supply company. We strive to give great prices to our customers by doing bulk buys with our vendors and passing our savings on to our customers. We are located in Santa Ana, CA 92703 and we ship nationwide.
Q 2. Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
Ans : I, Tai Pham, graduated from UT Arlington with a bachelor in biology. Our company is a proud member of the Water Quality Association (WQA) since 2005 and I personally am a certified water specialist with the WQA.
Q 3. What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Ans : I wanted to start a company that incorporated good healthy living. I’m personally a diabetic and I have a very high expectation of healthy living standards – including what I drink. Water is what I’ve found to be an interesting subject because of the many great things water can and cannot do.
Q 4. What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Ans : Don’t give up, when things get tough – rough it out, and always be a student and take advice.
Q 5. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ans : Always be willing to learn and listen, being focused, and working smart
Q 6. How many hours do you work a day on average?
Ans : 40-50 a week
Q 7. To what do you most attribute your success?
Ans : Building relationships with vendors and customers
Q 8. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Ans : Everything is online, about 50% of our business comes from Amazon, and the rest comes from our site and other third party places. Amazon would bring in the most traffic – Google brings in our highest profiting campaigns.
Q 9. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
Ans : I self funded and reinvested everything I get (even now) back into the company.
Q 10. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
Ans : Always continue to strive to grow
Q 11. Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Ans : I hope that in 5-10 years we are in a warehouse twice as big.
Q 12. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Ans : Pureteck. They are a small company like us but have always been busy and have always stayed busy.
Q 13. How important have good employees been to your success?
Ans : Extremely! Having good help is hard to find. It’s important to always respect them too.
Q 14. How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
Ans : Depending on what the idea is and goal is but usually about 2-3 months.
Q 15. What motivates you?
Ans : The fear of being broke.
Q 16. What are your ideals?
Ans : It’s ideal to have a stress free environment that is automated without my presence.
Q 17. How do you generate new ideas?
Ans : I look at other companies for ideas.
Q 18. How do you define success?
Ans : I think success is growth and as long as I see that then I know that I’m in the clear.
Q 19. How do you build a successful customer base?
Ans : Newsletters and lots of interaction with them.
Q 20. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Ans : Freedom
Q 21. What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Ans : Freedom, being able to take time away from work when I want.
Q 22. What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Ans : When you work for someone else, you have a sense of stability. When you work for yourself, you have a sense of instability and fear but great satisfaction when things go well.
Q 23. What kind of culture exists in your organization? How did you establish this tone and why did you institute this particular type of culture?
Ans : I try to instill a sense of friendship with each other. It’s important for us to get along and be able to enjoy each others company yet get things done. I set it by small goals by letting them know that certain things need to be done in a timely manner without the stress or fear of punishment.
Q 24. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Ans : I’ve always been an entrepreneur. It’s in my blood since I was a kid. I would try to sell lemonade and toy cars from the front of my house. I’ve always wanted to be one.
Q 25. If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
Ans : I’d still be an entrepreneur. I’m unsure if I’d be in the exact same industry but I’d definitely be a business owner.
Q 26. How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
Ans : I don’t have much of a family right now. I’m a single man but I would imagine that it would give me time to enjoy with my family.
Q 27. What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?
Ans : I have to calm down. But typically I scramble to find solutions to ensure that my fears don’t become reality.
Q 28. How did you decide on the location for your business?
Ans : My family owned the building since I was a kid. I’ve inherited the building luckily.
Q 29. Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
Ans : I believe there are certain things and aspects you need to become a successful one.
Q 30. Who has been your greatest inspiration?
Ans : My dad. He’s the perfect model of an entrepreneur and on top of that he’s a great role model of a dad.
Q 31. What makes you happy?
Ans : Free time makes me happy.
Q 32. What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ans : I’ve given up a lot of my personal time to make sure that I am successful.
Company : IPW Industries Inc
Contact : Tai Pham
Address : 515 N. Fairview St.
City : Santa Ana
State : CA
Zip : 92703
Phone : 714-541-6600
Toll Free : 877-541-6603
Fax : 866-230-3145
Email : tai@isopurewater.com