In his years in the ecommerce sector, Peter Pru distinguished himself early amongst his peers, with a vision and intuitiveness that has allowed Pru to build, grow, and scale a number of six to seven-figure online businesses across multiple industries.
Today, Peter Pru is the Founder & CEO of Ecommerce Empire Builders, an award-winning company with a laser-focused niche. Through their Ecommerce Empire Academy, Ecommerce Empire Insiders, Ecommerce Empire Starter Pack, & Business In A Box Services, Pru shares his insight and strategies for helping professionals build their own profitable ecommerce businesses online. Ecommerce Empire Builders also offers business owners a wide range of self paced training programs as well as done for you services. What first started as one of Pru’s side projects has now blossomed into a movement that has impacted the lives of thousands of entrepreneurs like himself.
In addition to overseeing Ecommerce Empire Builders, Peter Pru is also Founder & CEO of Untapped Focus, the first all-natural supplement for entrepreneurs and high-performers on the market. Pru’s inspiration for Untapped Focus came as a result of consuming a lot of coffee and energy drinks to help him stay focused on his ventures, but hating the jittery feelings and exhaustion that followed. So, he created his own product made with the highest-quality ingredients and no sugar.
Peter Pru’s entrepreneurial career in ecommerce began back when he was only 18 years old with affiliate marketing. By 21, he started an Amazon FBA business, a business model where sellers ship their products to one of Amazon’s warehouses and they fulfill orders on their behalf. Pru quickly grew his Amazon FBA business account, making $80k worth in sales every month in just a short period of time. His account was eventually shut down, and that’s when Pru realized that a seller doesn’t own 100 percent of their Amazon FBA business, they’re only helping to improve Amazon’s business. This is what led him to researching and pursuing dropshipping specifically through sales funnels instead of Shopify or traditional cluttered storefronts.
Fast forward ten years, and Peter Pru is a part of ClickFunnel’s 2 Comma Club, having won multiple awards for processing over $1M in sales with just a single funnel. Some of Pru’s students who have used Ecommerce Empire Builders to build and scale their own online businesses have also joined Pru in the 2 Comma Club.
Peter Pru’s story and insights have been featured in publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Buzzfeed. Pru is also the host of the Ecommerce Empire Builders YouTube and Podcast. His subscribers have unlimited access to a variety of videos focused on ecommerce tips for success, as well as business and leadership advice for those looking to become more productive and more profitable internet entrepreneurs.
Under Pru’s management, Ecommerce Empire Builders’ team of skilled experts are able to target and identify an evergreen customer base that ecommerce companies can sell their new or existing products to. Their tailored programs are built for the unique needs of their users and their services, like Business in a Box, helps aspiring ecommerce entrepreneurs build and grow their online businesses.
Peter Pru currently lives in Philadelphia with his wife and newborn baby girl.
Where did the idea for Ecommerce Empire Builders come from?
When I turned 21, I started my own Amazon FBA business. Before I knew it, I was making around $80k in sales every month. However, that wasn’t long-lived because Amazon eventually shut my account down. But that’s when I realized: my success was only helping Amazon make money because I didn’t even own 100% of my FBA. So I started researching dropshipping and ClickFunnel models and began sharing videos online (first in Facebook groups and then later on YouTube) showing people how to use these sales models to drive sales.
Before I knew it, I was regularly creating content, hiring new team members, launching products and services, and working with existing ecommerce companies to build out and improve their funnels. That’s how Ecommerce Empire Builders was born.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
Being productive is all about developing an effective routine. In 2013, I created the B.U.I.L.D. system to help me gamify my time and set up a consistent routine. It’s broken down into five sections: Body, You Time, Income, Relationships, and Development. The secret to success isn’t trying to build out just one of these goals but, instead, keeping everything balanced. For example, if I dedicate all my time focusing on my ‘Income’ goal and neglect my ‘You Time’, I’m not actually going to achieve the goals I’ve set for myself. It’s all about your professional and personal lifestyle. While outlining my B.U.I.L.D. goals doesn’t happen every day, it’s still something I’m mindful of day in and day out.
How do you bring ideas to life?
It’s simple: my team. As I’ve grown as a CEO, I spend most of my days thinking and observing the markets we’re in, which helps me come up with ideas and offers that my team and I can put out into the marketplace. Having my team behind me to help execute on my ideas allows the company to launch products quickly and bring in the key data we need to see to decide if it’s worth continuing to scale.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Subscription-based offers within ecommerce businesses.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Following my B.U.I.L.D. system that I mentioned in question two. It keeps me laser-focused on the most important tasks on my to-do list so that I can see how I’m progressing over the course of the year. It’s also what I use to outline my days. It helps me prioritize the most urgent tasks over something that can wait a few more months until it needs to be addressed.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would start an online business sooner and stick with that business long enough so I have the time to make the mistakes that will lead me to mastery. Most people fail to hit any goal they set for themselves because they don’t give themselves enough time to be bad at it.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
Motivation videos are bullshit. Sure, you might feel good watching it, and for a few minutes afterwards, but it’s not going to be enough to push you through the roadblocks that are inevitable in business. Only you can motivate yourself enough to keep going.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
I know it’s my third time mentioning it, but I tell all my viewers to get into the habit of using the B.U.I.L.D. system. It’s what I credit to my own success, and it’s helped so many entrepreneurs I’ve worked with as well.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
One strategy that has helped has been leveraging the power of direct response marketing and sales funnels.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
When I was first starting out in ecommerce, I invested all the money I had at the time into my Amazon FBA business. I remember after my first purchase order came in, I needed to pay an additional $7k to get my first batch of products together. With no more money, I had to go to my mom for help. This was so hard for me to do because I had no one but her, and for her to believe in me and lend me the money is what allowed me to source my first round of products for my Amazon FBA business. Within the first year, I was making $80k in sales every month. But one day I got an email from Amazon saying that all my listings have been suppressed, and then my account had been banned. Amazon didn’t care about me or anyone of their sellers. They left me with nothing. And that’s when I knew I had to become my own boss.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
A quarterly subscription to fresh pillows.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
These were a little bit more expensive, but I bought myself some noise canceling headphones, which I can’t imagine living without.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
Basecamp. We use it to house all our client communications.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. People need to learn to become producers and not just consumers if they want to get the most out of their business and personal life.
What is your favorite quote?
“Money won’t make you happy… but everybody wants to find out for themselves.” — Zig Ziglar
Key Learnings:
- Create a consistent routine.
- A good team will help you bring ideas to life.
- Be mindful of the balance between your professional and personal lifestyles
Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.