Mail and Meaning
I recently went one on one with Jeff Milgram, the founder and CEO of USZoom, iPostal1 and iWorkSpacemail. Jeff has over 30 years’ experience developing IT systems for businesses and industries. After starting several successful e-commerce businesses, Jeff opened an independent retail shipping outlet to meet the needs of his internet retail businesses. Jeff founded USAMail1 in 2007 to extend the capabilities of a traditional retail pack and ship store to an international audience. With growing interest within the U.S. for receiving and interacting with mail digitally, Jeff started iPostal1, iWorkSpaceMail and iCorporateMail to provide the technology that to allow retail pack and ship stores, coworking spaces and corporations to address the growing demand for digital mailbox services.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Jeff: The history of iPostal1 and what turns out to be the launching of the virtual or digital mailbox industry is actually an interesting business case study.
My background was in software development moving out to Silicon Valley in 1980 shortly after college. By 1986, I had started an educational software company and began developing its first products, with seven products launched by 1990. Fast forward ten years, we had more than 200 products available and were the largest shippers in our county, just north of New York City, shipping over 80,000 orders that year. Our working space at the time was a retail store which displayed our software, and a large space behind where we packaged and shipped around the world.
That year, 2001, UPS bought Mailbox Etc. creating The UPS Store network. Our UPS representative asked if we wanted to convert our retail store to a UPS store. When he showed us how we could save $4 on each shipment, we were sold on the idea, but an ‘exclusive territory’ agreement prohibited us from opening as a UPS store. Our disappointment became the greatest blessing and we eventually opened an independent shipping store and developed relationships and accounts with all of the major carriers. This would be a key factor in allowing us to parlay our shipping contracts into an international mail forwarding company in 2007. We basically identified the most profitable parts of a retail shipping store, i.e. mailbox rental and international shipping, mixed with our technical expertise and became an early player acting as an international shipping department to e-commerce websites across the country.
We continued to develop our technology, securing more than 30,000 customers in 118 different countries, that allowed them to view and handle their US mail and packages 24/7 from wherever they were at the time. In 2013 with the international mail forwarding space attracting the attention of new and much larger players, we pivoted and repurposed our platform, launching iPostal1 in 2015. iPostal1 provides the technology, marketing, and support to allow other postal stores and workspaces to offer digital mailbox technology. We’ve now grown to a network of close to 1,000 partner locations offering the iPostal1 digital mailbox solution. To date nearly 200,000 customers have used our platform, as a business address and for the advantages of receiving and handling their mail and packages digitally.
Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?
Jeff: Looking back, it is clear from our history, that the business idea developed as part of a process. The things I think that were instrumental in our growth were; a general desire to grow and evolve, an inner desire to create useful and helpful technology, an optimistic outlook, an eye for opportunity, and the experience to make effective and efficient use of the resources available.
In terms of advice to others - I am not of the belief that everyone will find fulfillment or happiness by creating their own business or that every “great idea” should see the light of day. However, if you maintain the drive for creativity you may have had as a child and combine that with an adult perspective, you’ve got the basic ingredients for taking an exciting idea and translating that into a successful reality. The rest is the easy part. Namely hard-work, dedication, persistence, execution, and sacrifice.
Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?
Jeff: I tend to follow instinct rather than analysis when it comes to trying new ideas. It seemed simple that the success we saw in expanding our smaller-sized shipping store into a lucrative international mail forwarding business, could be duplicated using the technology we created, across the independent retail shipping and workspace industries. The fact that we did it successfully ourselves was a key factor in initially selling the idea to others. That was the opening we needed to attract a few early adopters and set the stage for proving the concept on a larger scale.
As we continue to develop our platform, we are in fact creating a nationwide postal solution that is poised to become the receiving and last mile delivery preference of millions of customers for their mail and package receipt and delivery needs. While I have seen other startups try to become the next evolution of this piece of the postal service over the years, the iPostal1 platform is unique in that it’s a complete solution that leverages the current infrastructure of where people already receive their mail and packages. Basically, our business model inserts an easy-to-use technology platform into the current mail/package receiving and delivery network, adding a simple and consistent nationwide pricing model as well as top tier internet marketing and an increasingly trusted national brand.
The independent pack and ship stores and workspace owners are professionals and entrepreneurs – they’ve all chosen their industry and dedicated themselves to receiving and servicing mail and packages for their clients. They are all USPS approved business locations that pride themselves on professionalism and customer service. By becoming iPostal1 partners and adopting the iPostal1 platform, they are choosing to offer an upgraded postal experience, for their current customers and the millions of more customers they will receive through iPostal1 marketing efforts. Being a part of the iPostal1 family expands their business reach and customer base beyond the traditional 5-mile radius of their location, creating new opportunities and revenues for their businesses.
Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?
Jeff: The first step in growing any business is to have a proper business model and pricing structure. Any new business has to be predicated on a winning formula for all parties involved. In the case of iPostal1, our business model and pricing had to account for the end-user mail recipient and their intermediate iPostal1 digital mailbox service provider. To the mail recipient, iPostal1 offers an upgraded mail and package receiving experience. Their mail and packages are delivered to a secure, staffed location overcoming both mailbox and porch piracy. Our mail recipients see what is in their virtual mailbox as soon as it is received, can receive searchable scans of their mail content if desired, and store their mail in the cloud in secure folders that they create and name. Their whole mail experience including history and reporting is controlled by a simple click on their smartphone or their online mail manager, 24/7.
In terms of advice, I do not believe there are any short-cuts in growing a business. Make sure the foundation your business is currently standing on is solid. The first choice of growth is finding additional customers for what you have already developed. If growth is to come from additional products/services, make sure they appeal to your current customer base. If growing vertically, make sure any additions sit comfortably on the current foundation and add to it in an easy communicable way.
Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?
Jeff: Know who your natural customers are and focus on them. In the case of iPostal1, these are the 25 million P.O. Box renters across the country who are paying on average double the price while receiving a fraction of the convenience of an iPostal1 digital mailbox. Also, the 14 million home-based businesses that need a business address for government papers, banking, and credit are looking for the iPostal1 solution. iPostal1 offers these businesses an upgraded mail and package handling experience with optional phone and fax capabilities and even premium office building addresses at a fraction of the cost of a traditional virtual office rental. Rver’s, expats, renters, multi-home families, are some sectors that quickly recognize the benefits of a virtual mailbox which makes for a faster and less expensive sale.
After our “natural” markets, I pay close attention to new signups and online reviews to understand what kind of customers are using our technology as a basis to substantiate investing advertising dollars in new markets. I am also a believer in having your online search department run in-house and not by an outside agency. This essential part of an online business needs to be fully engaged and properly focused. At iPostal1, I personally work with our online marketing team as we strive to get incrementally better every day.
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Jeff: Generally, there are two ways to become a leader, by force or by recognition. Some individuals are “leaders” because it was “their idea” or it is “their money or connections” that started the business. This is a weak argument to be a leader and can often result in resentment.
Building a successful business these days requires much dedication, hard work, and sacrifice. A leader has to be the one who is the most dedicated and the most willing to make sacrifices. When this is done in a genuine spirit, it’s sensed and inspires others.
At the same time business leaders need to be cognizant and sensitive to the personal needs and situations of the people around them. Just as there are times when the business needs the employees to go that extra mile, there are times when employees need the business to be understanding and more flexible with their situations and schedules. A “recognized” leader may be personally driven but needs to earn the trust and respect of the people around them. That only comes through being sensitive to and exercising compassion when needed to their fellow workers.
That combination of genuine personal sacrifice and compassion for others, are the winning qualities of “recognized” leaders that earn them respect and their title, every day.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?
Jeff: Start with the right people. We often see the question posed to entrepreneurs about what they look for when hiring. Answers often include intelligence, competitiveness, or previous success. What we look for at iPostal1 when hiring is for people that get along with others. In team building, six “average” people working together will far out-perform six individuals of seemingly higher ability going it alone. When you’re fortunate enough, like we are at iPostal1, to have talented people who enjoy working together, then it’s a home run.
I think that providing a living and an environment to be productive and to grow in is one of the most overlooked outcomes by entrepreneurs when they are building their dream. It’s a great privilege, honor, and source of satisfaction to be able to provide an opportunity for a person to be productive, to develop their skills and sustain their loved ones. Too often the entrepreneur just views their fellow employees as a necessity to get to their goal rather than appreciating and being thankful for being able to fulfill this vital role in the lives of the people who work alongside of them.
As for leadership advice: Don’t overlook the accomplishment that faces you every day when you walk into the office. Understand and be humbled by the privilege that you have been given in providing an environment for others to earn a living and to find meaning, fulfillment and self-expression. An entrepreneur who takes to heart the significance of this accomplishment will build proper managing teams and business relationships, as well as create a healthy corporate culture.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?
Jeff: 1. Be clear, articulate, and enthusiastic about your vision. 2. Build a proper business model in which all of the participants win. 3. Invest in, appreciate, and be compassionate toward the people you work with.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Jeff: Study Torah. Although I was born Jewish, I grew up in a non-religious environment. On a trip to Israel a few years after college it was suggested to me to study Torah.
I received a degree in economics and computers from a liberal arts college. While gaining knowledge, the college experience did not fully prepare me for the business world that I find myself in today. The basis of my personal development is the result of the ethical teachings, leadership examples, analytical skills, revelations in interpersonal relationships, and increased faith to be able to take calculated risks, that I nurtured from Torah study during those years and continue learning from today.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Jeff: I believe that every individual and business will receive their mail and packages on their smartphones in their digital or virtual mailbox as opposed to the inefficient and outdated way we have been dealing with our mail and packages for the past hundreds of years. Our job at iPostal1 is to continue to build out the technology, the infrastructure, and the awareness of our digital mailbox solution to accomplish this goal, as well as to afford every individual the advantages and efficiencies of this next evolution of this important piece of the postal industry.