Q. 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.
A. JP 360 Solutions is a digital marketing and e-commerce management company that helps businesses grow by providing online marketing solutions like Custom Website Development, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Multi-Channel Marketing and more. We are based in Springboro, Ohio but we have offices and/or remote employees based in the Philippines, Bangladesh and India.
Q. Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
A. Jeralyn Pasinabo Peagler is the Founder and CEO of JP 360 Solutions. She began her digital marketing career in 2011 upon completing her Masters in Business Administration, majoring in Technology-enhanced Business and Ecommerce. She has 12+ years of professional experience in the fields of business and operations management, search engine optimization, digital marketing, ecommerce development, online branding, technology-enhanced business, and finance/accounting. She has developed multiple ecommerce brands, raking in high profits across different niches. Her expertise lies in digital marketing tools, including but not limited to search engine optimization, pay-per-click marketing campaigns, email marketing, and social media management. She also specializes in social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. She has worked with several esteemed ecommerce and website platforms, including WordPress, Amazon, eBay, Volusion, Shopify, WooCommerce, Opensky, Mercari and more.
Q. 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?
A. I have diverse background in education and experience. In fact, I have a Bachelors in Civil Engineering and then took my Masters in Civil and Environmental Engineering. While having this degree, I meet some people in the Business Field particularly in E-Commerce. During that time, E-Commerce is just starting to boom. Amazon at that time only sells Books and Digital products. I found it very interesting the concept of buying products online and with the different strategies you have to take to make sure your products appear to the right audience. I was blown away by this new technology enhanced businesses so I decided to switch gears and got my MBA, Major in E-Commerce. I have since been selling products online and helping other companies sell their products and services online since then.
Q. What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
A.
Never give up.
Don’t afraid to fail.
Start it now before somebody else does.
Q. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
A.
Hardwork
Discipline
Think-Outside-the-Box Mentality
Q. How many hours do you work a day on average?
A. At Least 20 Hours a Day.
Q. To what do you most attribute your success?
A. Myself and my motivation to succeed. I did not grow up with entrepreneurs, in fact, my parents and/or family members are against starting a business. They believe in just working for someone is the right way to go. I don’t have immediate friends that are entrepreneurs. However, that did not stop me from going out there and figure out everything else on my own. I was not afraid to do everything I can to get the things done.
Q. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
A. Since my background is in Online Marketing, 90% of our marketing strategies are done online using SEO, Social Media, Lead Generation Marketing, PPC, Email Marketing and more. This year, we tried other forms of marketing like networking and attending local business-to-business events but so far, our Online Marketing Strategies are the ones that are working for our benefit.
Q. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
A. I have to be honest, I did not have access to a huge amount of capital like any other companies. I started everything using my savings and my credit cards. I was able to maintain a good credit score so other lending companies started giving me working capital.
Q. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
A. Be adaptive to any changes. Companies should be able to adapt accordingly and should not be afraid to change if things don’t work for them anymore.
Q. Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
A. My Short Team Goal is to be on Inc’s Magazine’s Fastest Growing Companies. Long term, I will be franchising the business.
Q. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
A. Amazon
Q. How important have good employees been to your success?
A. Good employees are hard to find. It involves a lot of trial and error. You never know how good they could be by reading their resumes or even during interviews. I have spent a good amount of money hiring employees to see their capacity or skills. With any companies, growth can be achieved with good employees. But having bad employees can also slow it down.
Q. How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
A. I like to test ideas, if they fail for at least the 3rd time, then it is time for me to move on to the next project.
Q. What motivates you?
A. My Kids! I want to give them a better life than I had. I want to have something (a business) that I can pass unto to them.
Q. What are your ideals?
A.
Equality (Regardless of gender, skin color, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation)
Fighting against world problems (poverty, hunger, diseases, violence)
The improvement and use of technology to improve our lives
Q. How do you generate new ideas?
A. I do research a lot. I keep up with the trends. I like to supply the demand so when I see the demand, I supply them.
Q. How do you define success?
A. Success is about reaching your goals (short-term or long-term).
Q. How do you build a successful customer base?
A. It involves a combination of marketing and sales strategies that work for your business. Each business is different. Whatever works for other companies does not mean it works for You. Follow what the Analytics tell you.
Q. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
A. The challenge! I am the type of person who gets bored doing the same thing over and over again. What I love about being an entrepreneur, you get to do a whole lot of different things to find out what works best for your company.
Q. What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
A. It is the feeling that I provide value to my customers and I help them succeed.
Q. What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
A. It is just a matter of preference or skill. Some people are better at following directions, some people are better at telling directions.
Q. What kind of culture exists in your organization? How did you establish this tone and why did you institute this particular type of culture?
A. Family-oriented culture and the flexibility of hours for employees who have other responsibilities (Family). Being someone with young kids, I totally understand that sometimes, I just have to leave work and be with my kids or families so I want to have my employees the same feeling of flexibility.
Q. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
A. Challenging
Q. If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
A. Yes, I would have started way sooner!
Q. How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
A. It has been a struggle especially with young kids. But with the right motivation and the right attitude, you can always find a way to balance everything.
Q. What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?
A. Snakes – I hate them and can’t even look at them on TV! I manage them by keep thinking, they are only on TV.
Q. How did you decide on the location for your business?
A. It is close to where I live and close to my kids.
Q. Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
A. No, I think everybody’s experience of starting a business would be different. You just have to try, fail and try again, repeat until you succeed.
Q. If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be and why?
A. I am bad with history so I can’t think of anyone.
Q. Who has been your greatest inspiration?
A. All the successful people in the world.
Q. What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?
A. Waiting too long to try a new idea. One thing I learn from this business, test an idea ASAP so you would know if it would work or not. And then, move on. You won’t know if something works until you try.
Q. What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
A. Binge-watch on Netflix and dancing.
Q. What makes you happy?
A. My kids smile and laughter!
Q. What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?
A. Spending as much time with family especially my kids!
Q. If you were conducting this interview, what question would you ask?
A. Is your business worth it?