043: Everything you Need to Know about Raising Funds with Robin Smith of WeGoLook.

Background on Robin Smith of WeGoLook:

Robin Smith founded WeGoLook in 2009 as a way to increase confidence in consumers purchasing online. It quickly became apparent that WeGoLook’s inspection and verification services were not only useful for consumers, but a revolutionary solution for various industries. The B2B world has been WeGoLook’s focus ever since. Robin has an extensive background in sales, e-commerce, and enterprise solutions that helped her develop WeGoLook. She is a thought leader in the gig economy, insurtech, and the startup/tech world. She speaks to audiences around the world, inspiring them to pursue their dreams, no matter how humble their beginnings.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[1:12] Robin Smith is the CEO of WeGoLook, a mobile technology company featuring a crowd-sourced platform of “Lookers” to complete on-demand field services.
[4:08] “I was so excited to launch, I didn’t realize I would probably need a multi-million dollar marketing campaign…”
[4:36] Ebay rejected Robin’s platform because it was too small to handle Ebay’s traffic and so she decided to grow her community based “Lookers”
[5:30] WeGoLook is now Ebay’s partner in providing shoppers with on-site inspections for any vehicle in the US.
[6:27] In around 2006, Robin started her own consulting business and learned a lot about technology and the automotive industry.
[8:11] Initially, Robin hired a firm to help her build the platform, but the firm did not complete the project.
[9:30] “It’s going to take you a bit longer to do so, but if you can really map out your entire process in great detail, then that will help them a lot” – Robin talking about when hiring people in making a business platform.
[12:24] It was a challenge for Robin to understand and learn everything when she started her entrepreneurial journey.
[15:30] Currently, Robin has 135 people working for her in Oklahoma City, 11 remote and 30,000+ “Lookers” nationwide. WeGoLook revenue is around $1million a month.
[18:30] “I don’t think you should sometimes be so set on an idea being a certain way that you’re not open to other ways. You don’t also want to be distracted and put too much energy and horizontal effort vs. more energy into a vertical effort.”
[20:58] In the beginning, it wasn’t Robin’s technology that separated her from the competitions, but the community that the company developed for a long time.
[24:13] “You don’t have to be an industry expert necessarily to be an industry leader.”
[29:43] Robin was not after the money, she wants the company to be scaled internationally and that’s the reason why she agreed to partner with Crawford & Co.
[32:15] Robin was so focused on her job that she sometimes forget to give time for herself.
[35:01] As of now, the biggest challenge of the company is for people to know about them.
[37:02] “I highly recommend spending several days, it sounds not very fun, and you feel like you already know in your heart, in your soul, in your mind all about your business and it’s going to be great, if you put it on paper and map it out as a true business plan it will really help.”

Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖📚 Favorite Book(s)? I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Sacred Purity Unicorn Wine Holder
🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Wrike (online management software)
💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Getting people to find out about our company.