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steven annese

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped a Niche E-commerce Venture

Posted on Monday, May 6th

If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.  I’ve always been bullish about niche e-commerce. Here’s the story from 2016 of an entrepreneur who had successfully bootstrapped a company in high-end light fixtures, Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from?

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Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped a Niche E-commerce Venture

Posted on Thursday, Nov 17th

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.  I’ve always been bullish about niche e-commerce. Here’s the story from 2016 of an entrepreneur who has successfully bootstrapped a company in high-end light fixtures, Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where

Read Full Article »

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 12th

I’ve always been bullish about niche e-commerce. Here’s the story of an entrepreneur who has successfully bootstrapped a company in high-end light fixtures, Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background? Steven

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Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture: Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese (Part 6)

Posted on Saturday, Jan 16th

Sramana Mitra: When you say B2B, what kind of B2B? Did you go after commercial? Did you go after restaurants? Steven Annese: We did a lot of things. We instituted a pro-trade account. If you were a contractor or designer, you could basically sign up for our account. Once we scan the application and verify that

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Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture: Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese (Part 5)

Posted on Friday, Jan 15th

Sramana Mitra: It looks like that at the end of 2006, you were back to being able to have multiple distributors for your business and were able to get back to your top ranking in Google bids. Is that correct? Steven Annese: Correct, in Google and Yahoo!. That was probably about 2007. Sramana Mitra: What

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Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture: Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese (Part 4)

Posted on Thursday, Jan 14th

Sramana Mitra: There’s an electronic integration that you were able to put in place with these distributors? Steve Annese: Yes, there was only one distributor at that time. Sramana Mitra: They were electronically and sufficiently together to be able to establish that bridge with you. Steve Annese: Yes. Sramana Mitra: What year are we talking?

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Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture: Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese (Part 3)

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 13th

Sramana Mitra: How much inventory did you take on and how did you source that inventory? This is one of the key questions for every bootstrapped e-commerce entrepreneur. Steven Annese: When I first started, I didn’t take any inventory on. I basically had a drop shop agreement with a major distributor at that time that

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Bootstrapping a Niche E-Commerce Venture: Elite Fixtures CEO Steven Annese (Part 2)

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 12th

Sramana Mitra: Did you know anything about the lighting business? Steven Annese: I didn’t but my sister was working at a lighting distributor. She told me that there were some companies that were trying to do business with them in the online world. That’s actually where my lead came from so I have to thank

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