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00:01

Hey guys, and welcome back to the tattoo business show the best place for actionable advice for entrepreneurs. This is Ted, your friend and host speaking. So we’re officially building up to Christmas and it’s my favorite time of the year. I can hardly wait what about you? Now today’s episode will probably be very important if you’re living in USA because joining us we have Jeremy Miller, who is the founder and CEO of companies such as FSA store.com, which is a website that focuses only on customers with FSA accounts by exclusively carrying only products and services that are eligible for purchase with credits India FSA accounts after realizing that over $400 million worth of credit is being forfeited by American employees every year in their FSA accounts, Jeremy set out to build his business to help his customers to fully utilize the FSA accounts and to provide them for increased level of accessibility to health care. In today’s episode, Jeremy shares the importance of planning ahead for the year and fourth quarter holiday sales, the challenges he faced with respect to regulatory compliance and how educational materials can help build brand loyalty and improve sales conversion rates. All these involved in today’s show, outrageous, quick commercial break. Hey, guys, is Ted, thank you so much for joining me on my show. And for all the support. If you ever found any value from the show, I would love if you could subscribe to the show, leave a review on Apple podcasts and share the show with somebody who find it useful as well. All episodes, tools and resources are available on tattoo.com. So make sure you log on to tattoo.com. That’s tdto.com. And make sure you sign up for the newsletter if you want to hear updates from me directly. And now let’s dive right in. He Jeremy, thank you so much for joining us today. So nice to have you here. Thank you. Now Jeremy, let’s have a very simple icebreaker so we can get to know you better. Could you share with us who is Jeremy Miller, when he isn’t working?

 

01:44

Jeremy Miller is a guy loves to hang out with his family, spend time with my son playing baseball, drawing or doing art with my daughter and then just kind of chillin with my wife. So Jeremy not doing business is a very relaxed guy. He just likes having fun.

 

02:07

So it sounds like Jeremy is a family man. Now Jeremy, before we start speaking about FSA store and the rest of your ventures, I happen to know that you started your career managing and growing small businesses. Could you share with us this part of your journey? And what do you actually learn from this process?

 

02:22

Sure, I worked for four companies before I started my own company. And I like to say that I learned as much as I could to be able to help start my company. But I also learned not what not to do when having a company for businesses that I worked for. So it was a hit or miss type thing. But I did learn so much stuff around managing a business, accounting, finance, HR, really kind of like all the different aspects of running a company. So I was really lucky to have such a broad based kind of career before starting my business to be able to really, really understand and know what was going on with really operating business before actually jumping in.

 

03:06

So Jeremy, you are the CEO and founder of FSA store and HSA store today. And these are companies that usually launched in 2010 and 2015, respectively. Could you share with us the value proposition of these companies? In your own words? And what was the gap in the market that you noticed that led you to start these companies?

 

03:24

Sure, yeah, we started FSA store.com 2010. We launched HSA store.com in 2015. And now we actually have two more brands, which we can get into later. But with FSA business, we kind of just I worked for, like I said, my last company that I worked for, I learned a little bit about flexible spending accounts, operating that that business and helping with HR side of the business. And I just saw that there’s this enormous amount of waste that people had when they’re trying to get an FSA. FSA really is a tax free vehicle where people can put aside tax refunds to spend on medical expenses. And people were just really clueless on what to spend their funds on and how to really operate these accounts. And so took that idea, you know, kind of incubated it within the school framework. And then came out really strong with a, you know, the concept of FSA store, which is really helping people understand and utilize their tax free dollars. And something we stumbled upon, like you said, and we stumble upon this really early, is that almost $400 million dollars gets lost each year by people who put money. They put money in these accounts, and then kind of forget about them forget to use them. And they actually lose that money at the end of the year. And so once we stumbled upon that, we said, wow, we really have a interesting idea that we can capture here on on this these accounts. And so that really was a catalyst.

 

04:49

Jeremy, when you mentioned that there’s about 400 million worth of FSA dollars that’s being forfeited at the end of the year. Is it forfeited back to the employers or the government?

 

04:57

Yeah, so you know, FSA, just give you the brief rundown because they’re highly confusing HSAs as well, they’re American accounts. So people that are international are probably listening to this and saying, what does all this? You know, they’re US based accounts clarifying this for us, please, right? They let people put tax free dollars that they take out of their paycheck to put into a medical account to spend on medical expenses. So FSA, you can put 1000s of dollars a year into this account, tax free, so it comes right out of your paycheck. And then you can spend it on qualified medical expenses. And so our site really offers everything that you can buy. We offer a lot of tools and resources. But like you said, with the FSA, and HSA, yes, that money goes back to the employer to utilize for the cost of administering that plan. But you know, employers really want people to use these tax dollars or healthcare savings dollars so that every dollar that someone puts aside to in one of these accounts are actually saving money because they don’t have to go out of pocket and spend on medical expenses over the counter medicines, things like that. So it’s actually a savings so American

 

06:08

employees can actually use the FSA accounts and accrediting sideboard them to maybe purchase our medical supplies that they need or maybe see a healthcare practitioners they want it allows them to do

 

06:18

Yeah, exactly. So it has to be medical in nature. So anything from like, say medical practitioners to the 5000 products that we sell, to dental, non cosmetic dental, anything really that’s, that’s, that’s promoted as something that’s curing, mitigating, or preventing disease or illness or affection of the body. So that’s the kind of legal definition.

 

06:45

Now, Jeremy, I understand that you spotted this issue of FSA credits, about $400 million worth of it is being actually forfeited to the employees at every year during the time of your last corporate career. And I understand you so went on to do an MBA in Columbia Business School. So you did share about the fact that you sort of incubated this idea a bit further, when you were in school itself. I happen to know that you actually won the best entrepreneur idea at one of the business competitions during your time in Columbia Business School. So could you share with us how you felt when you won the competition? Did you feel vindicated? Do you feel validated?

 

07:16

Yeah, that was really fun. Actually, we did that. As a business school competitions. We had all the, you know, top business schools doing a competition. I remember pitching. And I had to my son was actually born in April, which was three months before I started business school. And so I’m pitching this competition and then being like, Oh, I gotta leave. I had to go help my wife with my son. And then I remember getting this call from who’s now was my business partner, who’s been my business partner for 10 years, saying, Hey, you gotta come back, we won the we won the pitch competition. Well, we got the best idea. And I couldn’t come back as as you know, with my son. But you know, those little things really helped to kind of propel the business forward in different small ways. That that was just a number of things that kind of went our way to kind of get us started. I think business school was a huge way to incubate the idea in a pretty safe setting with a ton of tears that could give you feedback. I think that was just another catalyst for kind of getting the business launch, which was really my ultimate goal within schools, like I want to get this business launch, I want to see that people are going to use it, I want to test it out with 600 friends that are walking through this these corridors every day. Yeah.

 

08:45

And you’ve clearly achieved what you set out to do. So guys, Jeremy’s business is based on a very unique problem that he noticed during his time in his corporate career, when he realized $400 million worth of FSC credits will be forfeited every year by American employees. He knew he was onto something, he started incubating this idea to make it work. So guys, if you have observed a systemic issue, like Jeremy that you realize you can actually help solve, why not make into a business idea, and it could be the next big thing. So Jeremy, with the knowledge that there’s about $400 million worth of FSA dollars being refunded or forfeited at the end of every year. And now you should know that you’re making an impact on the lives of your customers. How does it feel for you now that you know you’re making a positive impact in their lives?

 

09:24

I mean, yeah, it’s great to be in healthcare, we sell health care products, as health care products, make people healthier to make, you know, to do good for, for all the people that use them. I think how’s this helped, I think is really he just the the growth over the last 10 years and to see how many customers have come and really use your site, especially at the end of the year, you know, we’re approaching both embroidery first and now. We call it the search. That’s where we become amazon.com For, I’d say a day and a half, where people rush to the site to use their dollars, and I think utilizing a tool like we’ve created and helping people manage that. I mean, you know, most of our orders are threaded. When we launched and we had a first December, we’re now on, I think, 11th or 12th December. So you’ve done a lot to be able to ramp up the business, and really kind of be there for the consumers. But it’s just a testament that we’ve created a really good tool that people use and people people take advantage of. And so we’ve just really simplified the process. And although we might look at you might look at us as an E commerce healthcare product that just sells products to people with FSA is we’ve done so much more over the last 10 years in terms of education and other tools that people can use really understand these accounts, because they are just confusing, just confusing my nature.

 

10:53

So Jim, you caught this period, this search, right? Is it because as you said earlier on, the credits will actually expire? I guess, around the 31st of December?

 

11:02

Yeah, the surge is really in the in the, in the people that come to the site. And so there’s just rush, and it’s

 

11:10

kind of fun. Let’s go to spend the credits before you go.

 

11:12

Yeah. So up to New Years, really, New Year’s Eve, West Coast time, you get to see the traffic come in. So we were there, you know, when people are celebrating, in Times Square for New Years, we’re like six blocks away, looking at all the metrics of the website, and all of that that’s coming and all the things that light up on the map of like, where people are coming in from the US. And so you just see this, this even, it’s up till New Year’s, you see the giant push, right? So people are just spending that money, like trying to get the money spent. And then it kind of dies down a little after East Coast 12:12am. But it still goes on to a West Coast volume with customers that are like, oh, yeah, you know, during the years, I go on your site, and I spend my last funds because I got to use them. It’s interesting to see that behavior, really kind of waiting to the last minute, but also at least being cost conscious and being able to say like, Okay, I got some value out of this. I didn’t lose

 

12:17

that. No, it sounds like when the whole of America is celebrating essentially your busiest working day. Is it right? Yeah, yeah, I see. Now, Jeremy, could you share with us? What are some of the unique problems that comes during this search, while most retail companies will have the highest amount of sales during the fourth quarter of the year, during the holiday seasons, it sounds like this also applies to your businesses, especially during the last week of the calendar year, all the way up to the new year itself, or maybe into January as well. So what tools and resources have you built over the years to help manage this process?

 

12:46

Yeah, hands down, the number one thing that we look at during that surge is whether we can take it from a technical technological perspective. And over the years, we’ve been lucky that technology has changed. And server technology has changed in order for us to be able to scale up rapidly and then scale down when we don’t need it just so you know, it’s a constant kind of struggle on how much to scale how much we need to prepare how much inventory we’re going to carry, right? Because we got to pre order inventory, how many customer service agents we need, so that people aren’t waiting 20 minutes, if they need to get a question answered, right. Instead, they’re

 

13:20

waiting or drop off, if they have to wait that long. Exactly. The

 

13:23

typical one minute, right, is what we strive for, during that time. So it’s kind of like I don’t know, it’s kind of like, creating a whole scaffolding around the business to be able to utilize everything you offer. And then, you know, tearing down the scaffolding January. So at the same time, it’s a really fun time for us because it just validates the year. And so yeah, you know, one year we, we celebrated on New Year’s Eve, and that was kind of like 12 o’clock, we were like kind of in the office celebrating. That was a mistake. We had a technical glitch that we had to fix. Oh, some people are celebrating, some people are also still like working. So we decided, okay, you know, we’re gonna celebrate after as a company. Yeah. 3am. Eastern is when you can maybe sigh of relief, but really, you know, January after everything shift is really kind of say, Okay, we did that,

 

14:23

right. So as you know, you work up towards the holiday season, you get your service in place, you get your IT specialists to be on standby, as well as zoom to make sure that everything that could potentially go wrong, can be rectified as soon as possible. What about issues in terms of manpower, you actually have to bring in additional, maybe part timers and train them to be specialized and able to address any particular problems during this whole period as well. Yeah, that’s

 

14:48

a huge that’s a huge thing that we focus on there. We scale up our call center operations and you know, we’re asking people also to be working during you know, holiday, which I think is kind of tough. Be able to kind of really appreciate what they do. And at times, we’ve had some small issues with that just people, you know, opting out or not coming in, but we found a great team space abroad that is able to kind of scale us up rapidly. And then, and then they’re highly trained, you know, training is a key component of our business. It’s so technical. It’s not, yeah, here’s your order. And here’s where it’s going. Let me fix it. It’s also answering 1000s of questions that people might have about their accounts.

 

15:33

And I guess these questions are actually quite technical, because they could actually arrange for maybe with a certain product is FSA eligible in the first place? Yeah, we

 

15:41

get we get those questions we get. I mean, again, it’s it’s so technical, that we get very sometimes specific questions that could be as hard as like, okay, my spouse lost his job. And we have this account, but within we use the FSA, but I maxed it out, and I don’t have enough expense. I mean, there’s just so many scenarios, and we have to train a team to be able to answer this, because the moment you give like a wrong information, kind of like, medical technical field, it’s like you hear it because it’s liability,

 

16:18

right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So guys, if you’re in the retail business, you should know that the fourth quarter is always the busiest SST period where most spending especially done. So as you’re ramping up to the fourth quarter Lightroom, you should anticipate those potential problems that may arise and actually actively take steps to solve them. Do you need to prepare your web servers to make sure that you can actually take on the extra level of traffic? Do you need to hire more personnel and train them so that they can actually support you during this period of time, if you don’t anticipate these problems and actively solve them, you could potentially lose a lot of sales. If, for example, you don’t have the right personnel to answer the questions of your customers, or your server just plainly doesn’t work. And your website just shuts down for a period of time. Now, back to you, Jeremy, I had to ask you this question. Do you crave that adrenaline rush, as you build up towards the end of the year, of course, is stressful. But I mean, you’ve been doing this for a decade? And that’s the most exciting part of the whole financial year. Do you crave that adrenaline rush?

 

17:16

Expression? I don’t think

 

17:23

I just want things to run smoothly.

 

17:25

Yeah, you know, it’s this build up, you know, 2014 man issue where we found out that the server where servers were operating and the database, SQL Server, was going to only take a max amount of load. And those are really tough year because, you know, we basically had to kind of turn on a dime on like, December 19. And we, you know, our goal is to, like, lock up everything and say, don’t touch it for x period of time. And so we’ve noticed this problem. So we got, you know, 10 people in a room, and we’re just like knocking this out. And we’re like, trying to figure out how do we expect crisis mode, and then we made all these changes, and then somehow the changes got deleted. And so pushing us toward this deadline, either. We know we knew we weren’t able is a ticking time bomb, the traffic that my grandma passed away. Oh, I’m sorry to hear on the allowance. And so it was just like this, this really like tough time. And we got through, we made it. We didn’t you know, on the flip side, one year when it was earlier, when revenues weren’t so high, they had this goal and it was up on the wall and we kept inching toward inching toward it. And then we made it and the whole team just kind of went you know, just hands in the air. Yeah, we did. Bottle champagne drank out of the bottle, and someone has a video of me because I forgot you can’t like drink champagne. out right. Yeah, just pour. Someone’s got some scoop on me about the end of year surge, baby. When we talk about this way, you know, I think it’s it’s definitely a lot of work. But then that reward is great to see that you can scale and utilize, utilize it and really go off without

 

19:20

a hitch. Now Jeremy, what was it like building a larger super chain in the earlier days? And how is it evolved over time? Could you maybe share some challenges that you faced and how you overcome

 

19:30

them? Yeah, that’s actually been a it’s been a challenge to an opportunity for us to really kind of build out a strong supply chain with the products that we have. I’ll tell you that what we had when we started the business as a you know, as a startup, you know, just trying to make anything work to what we have now. And so, we have a great JV partnership that enables us to carry inventory, but also enable was asked to kind of shed off some of the pitfalls around having your own distribution. So, you know, we kind of had focused on have focused on really zero inventory model to keep us lean, invest millions and hundreds of millions of dollars in distribution costs and supply chain costs. And that’s actually proved to be very beneficial for us and enabled us to still scale with a partner as opposed to kind of announce,

 

20:31

I see. So that’s how you actually managed to build a supply chain that really works with your unique business model, where of course, you have sales throughout the whole year, but specifically during the last few weeks of the calendar year, so it gets the busiest. So I guess there’s something that you have to work out if your JV partner to make sure that they can accommodate as well,

 

20:49

yeah, we have to ramp up or VCs, and we have to put product, a ton of product. So what you see happening really as early as September, maybe even earlier, as they start to kind of buy to the the the forecasts that we have. And so working with them on creating really solid forecasts, I think is really key for us. Because we want to be lean, because we we are on the hook for inventory at the same time. You don’t want to like underestimate, because then we’re out of inventory, and we’re not selling anything. So it is it is a ramp up. And you know, another good thing is that we, you know, we still do a lot of business throughout the year. So it’s not such a huge, it’s a big part of the business. But also, and it’s not the fact of the Yeah, there are 11 and a half months or, or are big as well. So it’s good to see that, as a business grow, we’ve scaled up to up to three DCS across the country that can ship products. And

 

21:52

I’m sure that the relationships that you’ve built with them over the years is so a crucial point of the success that you have today. Now, Jeremy, healthcare and personal finance are heavily regulated industries, and your business actually lies in the intersection of both. So maybe what are some of the regulatory challenges that you faced at the start with any licenses that you had to obtain? What were some of the legal hurdles that maybe you had to jump through as well?

 

22:15

Yeah, so since our accounts are run by the IRS, and by the Department of Department of Treasury, and their their regulated accounts that are, when there’s changes, it’s done, like it’s a congressional level. And so they’re kind of really pretty highly regulated accounts. So we, we in the very beginning, you know, focused on compliance, and making sure that everything that we say, we put on paper we put on the site, and everything that we do to operate and accept these type of payments, that these cards that people have with these accounts, but it’s all done, you know, from a highly compliant regulatory manner. And we’ve, we’ve actually been great to not have any issues with that. And we, we have an in house head of compliance that has a team. And that team is just focused on, you know, really providing not to say advice, but providing feedback to all of our constituents. So we have an only do we have customers, we also have clients. So a lot of times to get to our site or to get to our business. A lot of the administrators of these plans, companies that our large kind of payroll administrators, FSA administrators, so they’re all focused on compliance. And so sometimes they come to us with questions around, especially around product compliance. Are these products eligible? And so that’s a key part of, of the business. And something we always focused on something we always definitely are always kind of putting for at the forefront, is just making sure that we give people the right answers. And we give our clients the right answer so that they can give their clients which are the employers the right answers. And so, you know, there’s a every every, every, every six months, we go to one of the kind of technical compliance summits where we’re an active kind of board member in. We do a lot of healthcare summits where we are active sponsors. And so all that kind of equates being able to make sure that people have the right information, and they’re getting their questions answered.

 

24:40

So guys, a key highlight I like to share is that if you’re intending to start a business, like Jeremy era, this highly regulated, make sure that you are in compliance with the law, speak to a legal adviser to make sure that you are where the licenses that you need to obtain and the various obligations that you must meet to make sure that you’re in compliance. So Jeremy, you just shared about the importance of regulatory compliance in In relation to your business? And of course, it’s something that you have emphasized from the start. But could you share how regulatory changes over the years have also affected your business? For example, the Affordable Health Care Act, when it was enacted, they did actually cause you to pivot your business?

 

25:12

Yeah, so we are kind of pushed in the throes of compliance right away, because the Affordable Care Act came out. And it had some changes to FSA as an HSA. So we launched our business in 2010. And we had to pivot on a dime six months later. And so we’ve already had a strong focus on compliance, we have a head of compliance, it has a team, she’s, she’s amazing, and really focuses on our constituents to serve our customers, our clients, and everyone around customer service. And so really being able to make sure that we’re providing all the right answers. And there are 1000s of pages of compliance in the Department of Treasury, slash IRS kind of guidelines for these accounts. And so our goal is to convert that into one, an educational component for consumers so that we can kind of digest that for them. So we have 1000s of questions that get answered on our website. And then to just be a go to source for providing the most compliant and right answers to our clients or customers. And everyone around us

 

26:19

is great. You just brought up this point, because I know you’ve ever always advocated the power of educating your customers, when it comes to building relationships with them. And you’ve actually mentioned in a previous interview, that educating your customers is so much more valuable in terms of brand building and loyalty for your customers, then sales and promotion codes. So how has this played out? Over the years for FSA? And of sorry, FSA store? And how has it made a difference in terms of the customer experience? In your point of view?

 

26:48

Yeah, it’s always great when I Google a question, and I see that they are using the text from our website, and like the first more must have, here’s what here’s your answer. And so yeah, it’s just it’s people, people, you know, these are highly technical accounts. And people, if they get frustrated, they’re just not going to use them. And that’s what we tell our clients because we have, you know, 250 clients that are focused on administering these plans for the consumer to work with employers. And you know, I keep always, I always just say, same thing, you just have to keep it simple. And they’re highly complex. And you have to keep iterating on how do we make this process the best for our consumers? And that’s really, ultimately what are deep down focuses on an essence you might cause a consumer healthcare brand. But yeah, it’s really, it sounds simple. But it’s also it’s also hard, because how do you really do that when you have a customer coming in who wants to spend money on the site, but then there’s all these tools and resources and educational components.

 

27:59

And I guess it’s a constant process of refinement that you’ve been working on for the last 10 years itself. But Jeremy, I’m also guessing that being the provider of information and expertise is actually helping you with the conversion rates as well. Yeah.

 

28:12

Seo, you know, being optimized by all the, all the websites out there really helps for us to maintain the brand. It also is a great low cost way to acquire customers, because they’re coming onto your site, from an educational component. So it’s great to hear, to see the data when people come in through the content related searches. You know, it’s not as prevalent as kind of our paid channels such as Google. But it’s still a great way to acquire customers, like you said.

 

28:45

So guys, as Jeremy has just shared, providing a source of information for your customers can also be a great way to build brand loyalty. In fact, you can also help with your sales conversion rates. So Jeremy, for my next question, I would love for you to share how you were able to compete with the large pharma retailers, especially when he had a larger marketing budget to play around with where to start the new

 

29:03

head. Yeah, no one is laser is laser focused as we are on these accounts. FSA HSA is, like I said, In the beginning, we also opened up a medicare advantage over the counter website, we also have a wellness website that sells some wellness products for people that have wellness rewards, tax free dollars. So all those combined that the four sites, you know, we’re just trying to really benefit have people benefit better. That’s our tagline. And what that means is just really focused on how do we continue to iterate our websites to make them as useful as possible? How do we build new channels and build new partnerships to get people to the site and it’s been a great success, you know, we’ve grown every year for the last 11 years. I think we were also kind of front and center with with the beginning of COVID and helping people with their COVID supplies thermometers. pulse oximeters medicines, things like that. And so really is kind of really being laser focused on that customer experience. And so no other website out there does what we do, like the way that we do it. And the larger retailers are focused on big box retailing, you know, we’re focused on highly specific FSA HSA excetera spend. And when you’re so focused on it, like the way we are, we start to build these new features and tools that allow the customer just be like, Oh, I can come on and do that. And it’s that easy. Okay, Sam? Yeah. Right. Whereas like, another website would be like, Oh, I can do some of that. And it’s not going to be as easy and I don’t know that my funds are going to be used on time. I don’t know if I’m going to need a receipt. Some men don’t know if it’s actually even going to go through. And so you know, being being as laser branded, as we are on this niche is large niche, but it’s still a niche has enabled us to build the best experience that we can,

 

31:00

yes, because you niche down so niche that has specifically been laser focused right into that whole process where anybody who comes in really understands the value proposition. I mean, it’s in the name itself, FSA store, HSA is so clear to them, what they are here for, and how they can use it. It’s a great way to you know, I think it’s very good marketing and name, naming of the companies. But one. Now, Jeremy, you mentioned that, of course, COVID has been a thing. And you’ve also been able to provide the supplies that your customers need it during this period. But maybe you could share a bit more how has COVID affected the businesses and had any specific initiatives that you guys have embarked on to help your customers during this period?

 

31:42

Yeah, from the very beginning in March of 2020. March, I think, by maintains we launched the virus preparedness page, and that quickly catapulted to be indexed around all the web and indexed within our site is one of the most trafficked pages ever. And what we basically did try to categorize as many products that we thought would be helpful into this banner we sold in I’m not sure what the timeline was, but it’s pretty short timeline where we reached a million thermometers, thermometer, the biggest searched items on our site during that time. And so really just creating a page that people would go to, to try to help them adequately prepare and plan was crucial. And then they kind of paid off, we had to, say paid off, because it was more of done. It’s like a service. But it did, ultimately, there was like we said, if people are using it, that means we’re getting value out of it. So and then pass them, then we started creating more resources and other pages about managing the process. Other kind of aspects around COVID education as well, to help people prepare and yeah, so sales,

 

33:15

who get the supplies did immediate during this pandemic itself, while actually using the FSA credits is a great way to actually bridge the gap, I guess, in terms of helping your customers to be prepared in the event they need to face any challenges in terms of what the pandemic can bring. Exactly. Now, Jeremy, entrepreneurship is never an easy journey. Who would you say played a significant part in your success? Did you would like to take some time now to say thank you to Yeah.

 

33:45

I think that when I, when I sometimes I talk at Columbia, and something that I say is that although the entrepreneur, it seems like you’re this, this image of you kind of going alone, and you know, you know, kind of creating this, this brand, this, this company out of nothing, and doing it like solo, kind of like I don’t want the right word. It’s kinda like braving through or like, yeah, brushing through, like a hero’s journey. Right? Right. And I say, it’s actually quite the opposite. It’s like, you need help from so many people. And at least that’s me, I need help from so many people. I needed help from so many people, whether it be the early throes of fundraising, or, you know, how do you structure the marketing model? How do you get distribute distribution or how do you pick up clients just to help those around me and continues to be around me was just so supportive and so focused on not like, you know, I think you can do it or I don’t think you can do it right or if you can’t do this and some some investors that that you know, But I would say it’s kind of breathing on, it’s kind of my motto is just do it, just try to get it up, just keep going. And there’s, you know, challenges in the beginning of doing that. And then, you know, it happened after a lot of work. So I actually do, and it was listening to this thing. No. I am talking to them when I even say that I need help from everyone. And I really think that that’s, that’s a key part of my journey, at least is utilizing the helper.

 

35:34

Cool. Now, Jeremy, if the listeners only remember one thing from today’s conversation, what would you like it to be?

 

35:40

With the people that are listening? I mean, one, they’re probably still thinking like, what’s an FSA account? I mean, like, look into this HSA FSA thing, because right now, there’s, although there’s 30 million accounts, and 60 million people are affected by FSA and HSA is they’re still kind of unknown. A lot of people glance over them, and there are manual. So I would also say, if you wanted to save 1000s of dollars a year, you know, definitely look into it through your employer. If your employer doesn’t have an account, really kind of implore them to do it. tax savings for the employer to so it’s kind of a win win.

 

36:17

Exactly. So guys, if you’re in America, and you have an FSA or HSA account, remember, spend your credits by the end of the year for the may get forfeited. Now, Jeremy, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your expertise. It’s been so nice to have you here. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much for joining Jeremy and I on today’s episode, so if you’re in America and you have some credits in your FSA account, try your best to spend it by 31st December, otherwise, it could be forfeited. Now as before, if you received any value from the show, I would love for you because subscribe to the show. leave a review on Apple podcasts and to share the show with somebody who find it useful as well. All of these Tuesday, resources and my email list available on tatio.com. That’s tdto.com. That’s all for me today. I’ll see you guys next time.

[This transcript has been automatically generated by a digital software and will therefore  contain errors and typos. Please kindly take note of this and only rely on the digital transcript for reference.]

00:01

Hey guys, and welcome back to the tattoo business show the best place for actionable advice for entrepreneurs. This is Ted, your friend and host speaking. So we’re officially building up to Christmas and it’s my favorite time of the year. I can hardly wait what about you? Now today’s episode will probably be very important if you’re living in USA because joining us we have Jeremy Miller, who is the founder and CEO of companies such as FSA store.com, which is a website that focuses only on customers with FSA accounts by exclusively carrying only products and services that are eligible for purchase with credits India FSA accounts after realizing that over $400 million worth of credit is being forfeited by American employees every year in their FSA accounts, Jeremy set out to build his business to help his customers to fully utilize the FSA accounts and to provide them for increased level of accessibility to health care. In today’s episode, Jeremy shares the importance of planning ahead for the year and fourth quarter holiday sales, the challenges he faced with respect to regulatory compliance and how educational materials can help build brand loyalty and improve sales conversion rates. All these involved in today’s show, outrageous, quick commercial break. Hey, guys, is Ted, thank you so much for joining me on my show. And for all the support. If you ever found any value from the show, I would love if you could subscribe to the show, leave a review on Apple podcasts and share the show with somebody who find it useful as well. All episodes, tools and resources are available on tattoo.com. So make sure you log on to tattoo.com. That’s tdto.com. And make sure you sign up for the newsletter if you want to hear updates from me directly. And now let’s dive right in. He Jeremy, thank you so much for joining us today. So nice to have you here. Thank you. Now Jeremy, let’s have a very simple icebreaker so we can get to know you better. Could you share with us who is Jeremy Miller, when he isn’t working?

 

01:44

Jeremy Miller is a guy loves to hang out with his family, spend time with my son playing baseball, drawing or doing art with my daughter and then just kind of chillin with my wife. So Jeremy not doing business is a very relaxed guy. He just likes having fun.

 

02:07

So it sounds like Jeremy is a family man. Now Jeremy, before we start speaking about FSA store and the rest of your ventures, I happen to know that you started your career managing and growing small businesses. Could you share with us this part of your journey? And what do you actually learn from this process?

 

02:22

Sure, I worked for four companies before I started my own company. And I like to say that I learned as much as I could to be able to help start my company. But I also learned not what not to do when having a company for businesses that I worked for. So it was a hit or miss type thing. But I did learn so much stuff around managing a business, accounting, finance, HR, really kind of like all the different aspects of running a company. So I was really lucky to have such a broad based kind of career before starting my business to be able to really, really understand and know what was going on with really operating business before actually jumping in.

 

03:06

So Jeremy, you are the CEO and founder of FSA store and HSA store today. And these are companies that usually launched in 2010 and 2015, respectively. Could you share with us the value proposition of these companies? In your own words? And what was the gap in the market that you noticed that led you to start these companies?

 

03:24

Sure, yeah, we started FSA store.com 2010. We launched HSA store.com in 2015. And now we actually have two more brands, which we can get into later. But with FSA business, we kind of just I worked for, like I said, my last company that I worked for, I learned a little bit about flexible spending accounts, operating that that business and helping with HR side of the business. And I just saw that there’s this enormous amount of waste that people had when they’re trying to get an FSA. FSA really is a tax free vehicle where people can put aside tax refunds to spend on medical expenses. And people were just really clueless on what to spend their funds on and how to really operate these accounts. And so took that idea, you know, kind of incubated it within the school framework. And then came out really strong with a, you know, the concept of FSA store, which is really helping people understand and utilize their tax free dollars. And something we stumbled upon, like you said, and we stumble upon this really early, is that almost $400 million dollars gets lost each year by people who put money. They put money in these accounts, and then kind of forget about them forget to use them. And they actually lose that money at the end of the year. And so once we stumbled upon that, we said, wow, we really have a interesting idea that we can capture here on on this these accounts. And so that really was a catalyst.

 

04:49

Jeremy, when you mentioned that there’s about 400 million worth of FSA dollars that’s being forfeited at the end of the year. Is it forfeited back to the employers or the government?

 

04:57

Yeah, so you know, FSA, just give you the brief rundown because they’re highly confusing HSAs as well, they’re American accounts. So people that are international are probably listening to this and saying, what does all this? You know, they’re US based accounts clarifying this for us, please, right? They let people put tax free dollars that they take out of their paycheck to put into a medical account to spend on medical expenses. So FSA, you can put 1000s of dollars a year into this account, tax free, so it comes right out of your paycheck. And then you can spend it on qualified medical expenses. And so our site really offers everything that you can buy. We offer a lot of tools and resources. But like you said, with the FSA, and HSA, yes, that money goes back to the employer to utilize for the cost of administering that plan. But you know, employers really want people to use these tax dollars or healthcare savings dollars so that every dollar that someone puts aside to in one of these accounts are actually saving money because they don’t have to go out of pocket and spend on medical expenses over the counter medicines, things like that. So it’s actually a savings so American

 

06:08

employees can actually use the FSA accounts and accrediting sideboard them to maybe purchase our medical supplies that they need or maybe see a healthcare practitioners they want it allows them to do

 

06:18

Yeah, exactly. So it has to be medical in nature. So anything from like, say medical practitioners to the 5000 products that we sell, to dental, non cosmetic dental, anything really that’s, that’s, that’s promoted as something that’s curing, mitigating, or preventing disease or illness or affection of the body. So that’s the kind of legal definition.

 

06:45

Now, Jeremy, I understand that you spotted this issue of FSA credits, about $400 million worth of it is being actually forfeited to the employees at every year during the time of your last corporate career. And I understand you so went on to do an MBA in Columbia Business School. So you did share about the fact that you sort of incubated this idea a bit further, when you were in school itself. I happen to know that you actually won the best entrepreneur idea at one of the business competitions during your time in Columbia Business School. So could you share with us how you felt when you won the competition? Did you feel vindicated? Do you feel validated?

 

07:16

Yeah, that was really fun. Actually, we did that. As a business school competitions. We had all the, you know, top business schools doing a competition. I remember pitching. And I had to my son was actually born in April, which was three months before I started business school. And so I’m pitching this competition and then being like, Oh, I gotta leave. I had to go help my wife with my son. And then I remember getting this call from who’s now was my business partner, who’s been my business partner for 10 years, saying, Hey, you gotta come back, we won the we won the pitch competition. Well, we got the best idea. And I couldn’t come back as as you know, with my son. But you know, those little things really helped to kind of propel the business forward in different small ways. That that was just a number of things that kind of went our way to kind of get us started. I think business school was a huge way to incubate the idea in a pretty safe setting with a ton of tears that could give you feedback. I think that was just another catalyst for kind of getting the business launch, which was really my ultimate goal within schools, like I want to get this business launch, I want to see that people are going to use it, I want to test it out with 600 friends that are walking through this these corridors every day. Yeah.

 

08:45

And you’ve clearly achieved what you set out to do. So guys, Jeremy’s business is based on a very unique problem that he noticed during his time in his corporate career, when he realized $400 million worth of FSC credits will be forfeited every year by American employees. He knew he was onto something, he started incubating this idea to make it work. So guys, if you have observed a systemic issue, like Jeremy that you realize you can actually help solve, why not make into a business idea, and it could be the next big thing. So Jeremy, with the knowledge that there’s about $400 million worth of FSA dollars being refunded or forfeited at the end of every year. And now you should know that you’re making an impact on the lives of your customers. How does it feel for you now that you know you’re making a positive impact in their lives?

 

09:24

I mean, yeah, it’s great to be in healthcare, we sell health care products, as health care products, make people healthier to make, you know, to do good for, for all the people that use them. I think how’s this helped, I think is really he just the the growth over the last 10 years and to see how many customers have come and really use your site, especially at the end of the year, you know, we’re approaching both embroidery first and now. We call it the search. That’s where we become amazon.com For, I’d say a day and a half, where people rush to the site to use their dollars, and I think utilizing a tool like we’ve created and helping people manage that. I mean, you know, most of our orders are threaded. When we launched and we had a first December, we’re now on, I think, 11th or 12th December. So you’ve done a lot to be able to ramp up the business, and really kind of be there for the consumers. But it’s just a testament that we’ve created a really good tool that people use and people people take advantage of. And so we’ve just really simplified the process. And although we might look at you might look at us as an E commerce healthcare product that just sells products to people with FSA is we’ve done so much more over the last 10 years in terms of education and other tools that people can use really understand these accounts, because they are just confusing, just confusing my nature.

 

10:53

So Jim, you caught this period, this search, right? Is it because as you said earlier on, the credits will actually expire? I guess, around the 31st of December?

 

11:02

Yeah, the surge is really in the in the, in the people that come to the site. And so there’s just rush, and it’s

 

11:10

kind of fun. Let’s go to spend the credits before you go.

 

11:12

Yeah. So up to New Years, really, New Year’s Eve, West Coast time, you get to see the traffic come in. So we were there, you know, when people are celebrating, in Times Square for New Years, we’re like six blocks away, looking at all the metrics of the website, and all of that that’s coming and all the things that light up on the map of like, where people are coming in from the US. And so you just see this, this even, it’s up till New Year’s, you see the giant push, right? So people are just spending that money, like trying to get the money spent. And then it kind of dies down a little after East Coast 12:12am. But it still goes on to a West Coast volume with customers that are like, oh, yeah, you know, during the years, I go on your site, and I spend my last funds because I got to use them. It’s interesting to see that behavior, really kind of waiting to the last minute, but also at least being cost conscious and being able to say like, Okay, I got some value out of this. I didn’t lose

 

12:17

that. No, it sounds like when the whole of America is celebrating essentially your busiest working day. Is it right? Yeah, yeah, I see. Now, Jeremy, could you share with us? What are some of the unique problems that comes during this search, while most retail companies will have the highest amount of sales during the fourth quarter of the year, during the holiday seasons, it sounds like this also applies to your businesses, especially during the last week of the calendar year, all the way up to the new year itself, or maybe into January as well. So what tools and resources have you built over the years to help manage this process?

 

12:46

Yeah, hands down, the number one thing that we look at during that surge is whether we can take it from a technical technological perspective. And over the years, we’ve been lucky that technology has changed. And server technology has changed in order for us to be able to scale up rapidly and then scale down when we don’t need it just so you know, it’s a constant kind of struggle on how much to scale how much we need to prepare how much inventory we’re going to carry, right? Because we got to pre order inventory, how many customer service agents we need, so that people aren’t waiting 20 minutes, if they need to get a question answered, right. Instead, they’re

 

13:20

waiting or drop off, if they have to wait that long. Exactly. The

 

13:23

typical one minute, right, is what we strive for, during that time. So it’s kind of like I don’t know, it’s kind of like, creating a whole scaffolding around the business to be able to utilize everything you offer. And then, you know, tearing down the scaffolding January. So at the same time, it’s a really fun time for us because it just validates the year. And so yeah, you know, one year we, we celebrated on New Year’s Eve, and that was kind of like 12 o’clock, we were like kind of in the office celebrating. That was a mistake. We had a technical glitch that we had to fix. Oh, some people are celebrating, some people are also still like working. So we decided, okay, you know, we’re gonna celebrate after as a company. Yeah. 3am. Eastern is when you can maybe sigh of relief, but really, you know, January after everything shift is really kind of say, Okay, we did that,

 

14:23

right. So as you know, you work up towards the holiday season, you get your service in place, you get your IT specialists to be on standby, as well as zoom to make sure that everything that could potentially go wrong, can be rectified as soon as possible. What about issues in terms of manpower, you actually have to bring in additional, maybe part timers and train them to be specialized and able to address any particular problems during this whole period as well. Yeah, that’s

 

14:48

a huge that’s a huge thing that we focus on there. We scale up our call center operations and you know, we’re asking people also to be working during you know, holiday, which I think is kind of tough. Be able to kind of really appreciate what they do. And at times, we’ve had some small issues with that just people, you know, opting out or not coming in, but we found a great team space abroad that is able to kind of scale us up rapidly. And then, and then they’re highly trained, you know, training is a key component of our business. It’s so technical. It’s not, yeah, here’s your order. And here’s where it’s going. Let me fix it. It’s also answering 1000s of questions that people might have about their accounts.

 

15:33

And I guess these questions are actually quite technical, because they could actually arrange for maybe with a certain product is FSA eligible in the first place? Yeah, we

 

15:41

get we get those questions we get. I mean, again, it’s it’s so technical, that we get very sometimes specific questions that could be as hard as like, okay, my spouse lost his job. And we have this account, but within we use the FSA, but I maxed it out, and I don’t have enough expense. I mean, there’s just so many scenarios, and we have to train a team to be able to answer this, because the moment you give like a wrong information, kind of like, medical technical field, it’s like you hear it because it’s liability,

 

16:18

right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So guys, if you’re in the retail business, you should know that the fourth quarter is always the busiest SST period where most spending especially done. So as you’re ramping up to the fourth quarter Lightroom, you should anticipate those potential problems that may arise and actually actively take steps to solve them. Do you need to prepare your web servers to make sure that you can actually take on the extra level of traffic? Do you need to hire more personnel and train them so that they can actually support you during this period of time, if you don’t anticipate these problems and actively solve them, you could potentially lose a lot of sales. If, for example, you don’t have the right personnel to answer the questions of your customers, or your server just plainly doesn’t work. And your website just shuts down for a period of time. Now, back to you, Jeremy, I had to ask you this question. Do you crave that adrenaline rush, as you build up towards the end of the year, of course, is stressful. But I mean, you’ve been doing this for a decade? And that’s the most exciting part of the whole financial year. Do you crave that adrenaline rush?

 

17:16

Expression? I don’t think

 

17:23

I just want things to run smoothly.

 

17:25

Yeah, you know, it’s this build up, you know, 2014 man issue where we found out that the server where servers were operating and the database, SQL Server, was going to only take a max amount of load. And those are really tough year because, you know, we basically had to kind of turn on a dime on like, December 19. And we, you know, our goal is to, like, lock up everything and say, don’t touch it for x period of time. And so we’ve noticed this problem. So we got, you know, 10 people in a room, and we’re just like knocking this out. And we’re like, trying to figure out how do we expect crisis mode, and then we made all these changes, and then somehow the changes got deleted. And so pushing us toward this deadline, either. We know we knew we weren’t able is a ticking time bomb, the traffic that my grandma passed away. Oh, I’m sorry to hear on the allowance. And so it was just like this, this really like tough time. And we got through, we made it. We didn’t you know, on the flip side, one year when it was earlier, when revenues weren’t so high, they had this goal and it was up on the wall and we kept inching toward inching toward it. And then we made it and the whole team just kind of went you know, just hands in the air. Yeah, we did. Bottle champagne drank out of the bottle, and someone has a video of me because I forgot you can’t like drink champagne. out right. Yeah, just pour. Someone’s got some scoop on me about the end of year surge, baby. When we talk about this way, you know, I think it’s it’s definitely a lot of work. But then that reward is great to see that you can scale and utilize, utilize it and really go off without

 

19:20

a hitch. Now Jeremy, what was it like building a larger super chain in the earlier days? And how is it evolved over time? Could you maybe share some challenges that you faced and how you overcome

 

19:30

them? Yeah, that’s actually been a it’s been a challenge to an opportunity for us to really kind of build out a strong supply chain with the products that we have. I’ll tell you that what we had when we started the business as a you know, as a startup, you know, just trying to make anything work to what we have now. And so, we have a great JV partnership that enables us to carry inventory, but also enable was asked to kind of shed off some of the pitfalls around having your own distribution. So, you know, we kind of had focused on have focused on really zero inventory model to keep us lean, invest millions and hundreds of millions of dollars in distribution costs and supply chain costs. And that’s actually proved to be very beneficial for us and enabled us to still scale with a partner as opposed to kind of announce,

 

20:31

I see. So that’s how you actually managed to build a supply chain that really works with your unique business model, where of course, you have sales throughout the whole year, but specifically during the last few weeks of the calendar year, so it gets the busiest. So I guess there’s something that you have to work out if your JV partner to make sure that they can accommodate as well,

 

20:49

yeah, we have to ramp up or VCs, and we have to put product, a ton of product. So what you see happening really as early as September, maybe even earlier, as they start to kind of buy to the the the forecasts that we have. And so working with them on creating really solid forecasts, I think is really key for us. Because we want to be lean, because we we are on the hook for inventory at the same time. You don’t want to like underestimate, because then we’re out of inventory, and we’re not selling anything. So it is it is a ramp up. And you know, another good thing is that we, you know, we still do a lot of business throughout the year. So it’s not such a huge, it’s a big part of the business. But also, and it’s not the fact of the Yeah, there are 11 and a half months or, or are big as well. So it’s good to see that, as a business grow, we’ve scaled up to up to three DCS across the country that can ship products. And

 

21:52

I’m sure that the relationships that you’ve built with them over the years is so a crucial point of the success that you have today. Now, Jeremy, healthcare and personal finance are heavily regulated industries, and your business actually lies in the intersection of both. So maybe what are some of the regulatory challenges that you faced at the start with any licenses that you had to obtain? What were some of the legal hurdles that maybe you had to jump through as well?

 

22:15

Yeah, so since our accounts are run by the IRS, and by the Department of Department of Treasury, and their their regulated accounts that are, when there’s changes, it’s done, like it’s a congressional level. And so they’re kind of really pretty highly regulated accounts. So we, we in the very beginning, you know, focused on compliance, and making sure that everything that we say, we put on paper we put on the site, and everything that we do to operate and accept these type of payments, that these cards that people have with these accounts, but it’s all done, you know, from a highly compliant regulatory manner. And we’ve, we’ve actually been great to not have any issues with that. And we, we have an in house head of compliance that has a team. And that team is just focused on, you know, really providing not to say advice, but providing feedback to all of our constituents. So we have an only do we have customers, we also have clients. So a lot of times to get to our site or to get to our business. A lot of the administrators of these plans, companies that our large kind of payroll administrators, FSA administrators, so they’re all focused on compliance. And so sometimes they come to us with questions around, especially around product compliance. Are these products eligible? And so that’s a key part of, of the business. And something we always focused on something we always definitely are always kind of putting for at the forefront, is just making sure that we give people the right answers. And we give our clients the right answer so that they can give their clients which are the employers the right answers. And so, you know, there’s a every every, every, every six months, we go to one of the kind of technical compliance summits where we’re an active kind of board member in. We do a lot of healthcare summits where we are active sponsors. And so all that kind of equates being able to make sure that people have the right information, and they’re getting their questions answered.

 

24:40

So guys, a key highlight I like to share is that if you’re intending to start a business, like Jeremy era, this highly regulated, make sure that you are in compliance with the law, speak to a legal adviser to make sure that you are where the licenses that you need to obtain and the various obligations that you must meet to make sure that you’re in compliance. So Jeremy, you just shared about the importance of regulatory compliance in In relation to your business? And of course, it’s something that you have emphasized from the start. But could you share how regulatory changes over the years have also affected your business? For example, the Affordable Health Care Act, when it was enacted, they did actually cause you to pivot your business?

 

25:12

Yeah, so we are kind of pushed in the throes of compliance right away, because the Affordable Care Act came out. And it had some changes to FSA as an HSA. So we launched our business in 2010. And we had to pivot on a dime six months later. And so we’ve already had a strong focus on compliance, we have a head of compliance, it has a team, she’s, she’s amazing, and really focuses on our constituents to serve our customers, our clients, and everyone around customer service. And so really being able to make sure that we’re providing all the right answers. And there are 1000s of pages of compliance in the Department of Treasury, slash IRS kind of guidelines for these accounts. And so our goal is to convert that into one, an educational component for consumers so that we can kind of digest that for them. So we have 1000s of questions that get answered on our website. And then to just be a go to source for providing the most compliant and right answers to our clients or customers. And everyone around us

 

26:19

is great. You just brought up this point, because I know you’ve ever always advocated the power of educating your customers, when it comes to building relationships with them. And you’ve actually mentioned in a previous interview, that educating your customers is so much more valuable in terms of brand building and loyalty for your customers, then sales and promotion codes. So how has this played out? Over the years for FSA? And of sorry, FSA store? And how has it made a difference in terms of the customer experience? In your point of view?

 

26:48

Yeah, it’s always great when I Google a question, and I see that they are using the text from our website, and like the first more must have, here’s what here’s your answer. And so yeah, it’s just it’s people, people, you know, these are highly technical accounts. And people, if they get frustrated, they’re just not going to use them. And that’s what we tell our clients because we have, you know, 250 clients that are focused on administering these plans for the consumer to work with employers. And you know, I keep always, I always just say, same thing, you just have to keep it simple. And they’re highly complex. And you have to keep iterating on how do we make this process the best for our consumers? And that’s really, ultimately what are deep down focuses on an essence you might cause a consumer healthcare brand. But yeah, it’s really, it sounds simple. But it’s also it’s also hard, because how do you really do that when you have a customer coming in who wants to spend money on the site, but then there’s all these tools and resources and educational components.

 

27:59

And I guess it’s a constant process of refinement that you’ve been working on for the last 10 years itself. But Jeremy, I’m also guessing that being the provider of information and expertise is actually helping you with the conversion rates as well. Yeah.

 

28:12

Seo, you know, being optimized by all the, all the websites out there really helps for us to maintain the brand. It also is a great low cost way to acquire customers, because they’re coming onto your site, from an educational component. So it’s great to hear, to see the data when people come in through the content related searches. You know, it’s not as prevalent as kind of our paid channels such as Google. But it’s still a great way to acquire customers, like you said.

 

28:45

So guys, as Jeremy has just shared, providing a source of information for your customers can also be a great way to build brand loyalty. In fact, you can also help with your sales conversion rates. So Jeremy, for my next question, I would love for you to share how you were able to compete with the large pharma retailers, especially when he had a larger marketing budget to play around with where to start the new

 

29:03

head. Yeah, no one is laser is laser focused as we are on these accounts. FSA HSA is, like I said, In the beginning, we also opened up a medicare advantage over the counter website, we also have a wellness website that sells some wellness products for people that have wellness rewards, tax free dollars. So all those combined that the four sites, you know, we’re just trying to really benefit have people benefit better. That’s our tagline. And what that means is just really focused on how do we continue to iterate our websites to make them as useful as possible? How do we build new channels and build new partnerships to get people to the site and it’s been a great success, you know, we’ve grown every year for the last 11 years. I think we were also kind of front and center with with the beginning of COVID and helping people with their COVID supplies thermometers. pulse oximeters medicines, things like that. And so really is kind of really being laser focused on that customer experience. And so no other website out there does what we do, like the way that we do it. And the larger retailers are focused on big box retailing, you know, we’re focused on highly specific FSA HSA excetera spend. And when you’re so focused on it, like the way we are, we start to build these new features and tools that allow the customer just be like, Oh, I can come on and do that. And it’s that easy. Okay, Sam? Yeah. Right. Whereas like, another website would be like, Oh, I can do some of that. And it’s not going to be as easy and I don’t know that my funds are going to be used on time. I don’t know if I’m going to need a receipt. Some men don’t know if it’s actually even going to go through. And so you know, being being as laser branded, as we are on this niche is large niche, but it’s still a niche has enabled us to build the best experience that we can,

 

31:00

yes, because you niche down so niche that has specifically been laser focused right into that whole process where anybody who comes in really understands the value proposition. I mean, it’s in the name itself, FSA store, HSA is so clear to them, what they are here for, and how they can use it. It’s a great way to you know, I think it’s very good marketing and name, naming of the companies. But one. Now, Jeremy, you mentioned that, of course, COVID has been a thing. And you’ve also been able to provide the supplies that your customers need it during this period. But maybe you could share a bit more how has COVID affected the businesses and had any specific initiatives that you guys have embarked on to help your customers during this period?

 

31:42

Yeah, from the very beginning in March of 2020. March, I think, by maintains we launched the virus preparedness page, and that quickly catapulted to be indexed around all the web and indexed within our site is one of the most trafficked pages ever. And what we basically did try to categorize as many products that we thought would be helpful into this banner we sold in I’m not sure what the timeline was, but it’s pretty short timeline where we reached a million thermometers, thermometer, the biggest searched items on our site during that time. And so really just creating a page that people would go to, to try to help them adequately prepare and plan was crucial. And then they kind of paid off, we had to, say paid off, because it was more of done. It’s like a service. But it did, ultimately, there was like we said, if people are using it, that means we’re getting value out of it. So and then pass them, then we started creating more resources and other pages about managing the process. Other kind of aspects around COVID education as well, to help people prepare and yeah, so sales,

 

33:15

who get the supplies did immediate during this pandemic itself, while actually using the FSA credits is a great way to actually bridge the gap, I guess, in terms of helping your customers to be prepared in the event they need to face any challenges in terms of what the pandemic can bring. Exactly. Now, Jeremy, entrepreneurship is never an easy journey. Who would you say played a significant part in your success? Did you would like to take some time now to say thank you to Yeah.

 

33:45

I think that when I, when I sometimes I talk at Columbia, and something that I say is that although the entrepreneur, it seems like you’re this, this image of you kind of going alone, and you know, you know, kind of creating this, this brand, this, this company out of nothing, and doing it like solo, kind of like I don’t want the right word. It’s kinda like braving through or like, yeah, brushing through, like a hero’s journey. Right? Right. And I say, it’s actually quite the opposite. It’s like, you need help from so many people. And at least that’s me, I need help from so many people. I needed help from so many people, whether it be the early throes of fundraising, or, you know, how do you structure the marketing model? How do you get distribute distribution or how do you pick up clients just to help those around me and continues to be around me was just so supportive and so focused on not like, you know, I think you can do it or I don’t think you can do it right or if you can’t do this and some some investors that that you know, But I would say it’s kind of breathing on, it’s kind of my motto is just do it, just try to get it up, just keep going. And there’s, you know, challenges in the beginning of doing that. And then, you know, it happened after a lot of work. So I actually do, and it was listening to this thing. No. I am talking to them when I even say that I need help from everyone. And I really think that that’s, that’s a key part of my journey, at least is utilizing the helper.

 

35:34

Cool. Now, Jeremy, if the listeners only remember one thing from today’s conversation, what would you like it to be?

 

35:40

With the people that are listening? I mean, one, they’re probably still thinking like, what’s an FSA account? I mean, like, look into this HSA FSA thing, because right now, there’s, although there’s 30 million accounts, and 60 million people are affected by FSA and HSA is they’re still kind of unknown. A lot of people glance over them, and there are manual. So I would also say, if you wanted to save 1000s of dollars a year, you know, definitely look into it through your employer. If your employer doesn’t have an account, really kind of implore them to do it. tax savings for the employer to so it’s kind of a win win.

 

36:17

Exactly. So guys, if you’re in America, and you have an FSA or HSA account, remember, spend your credits by the end of the year for the may get forfeited. Now, Jeremy, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your expertise. It’s been so nice to have you here. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much for joining Jeremy and I on today’s episode, so if you’re in America and you have some credits in your FSA account, try your best to spend it by 31st December, otherwise, it could be forfeited. Now as before, if you received any value from the show, I would love for you because subscribe to the show. leave a review on Apple podcasts and to share the show with somebody who find it useful as well. All of these Tuesday, resources and my email list available on tatio.com. That’s tdto.com. That’s all for me today. I’ll see you guys next time.