Biggest Challenges Faced by a Project Manager at Vaelynn Studios
Andreas, a project manager with experience across diverse industries including FinTech and manufacturing, finds the competitive landscape of e-commerce most engaging. The "pursuit of growth" in a niche market, with its "competition against others and competition against yourself," provides a stimulating challenge, focusing on improving website performance, customer service, and anticipating customer needs to drive sales and outpace rivals.
Project Management, E-commerce, Competitive Analysis, Business Growth, Problem-Solving
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Andreas Lopez
Project Manager
Vaelynn Studios
Western Governor's University (WGU)
WGU Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Engineering, IT, Math & Data
Gaming
Cyber Security and IT
Pell Grant Recipient, Took Out Loans, Immigrant, Worked 20+ Hours in School, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. E-commerce provides a dynamic and competitive environment similar to a sports game, constantly pushing for improvement and growth.
2. The industry allows for quantifiable results and the analysis of competitor strategies to enhance performance.
3. There's always opportunities for self-improvement and to learn how to better anticipate and address customer needs.
Transcript
What do you enjoy most about being in your industry?
That's a good question. I've worked in quite a few different industries, but let me focus on my favorite: e-commerce.
While I've been in e-commerce the longest, it's not necessarily my favorite one anymore. I've worked in non-profit FinTech, beauty supply manufacturing, and e-commerce retail. Out of them all, I definitely enjoy retail and e-commerce the most.
One issue with FinTech companies, like PayPal or Stripe, is the extensive regulation. You can't fully utilize creativity, and there are many things you need to be aware of because you're handling money. This necessitates more oversight.
Manufacturing has its own challenges, which I'm not a fan of. I like to move quickly, and manufacturing, by nature, takes longer. You design a product, create it, source components, get it built, and then ship it out. This process can take months, or even years, depending on the product line.
In retail, and especially e-commerce, the exciting part is often taking something already on the market and trying to be better. It's about outperforming competitors in terms of awareness and branding, grabbing shoppers' attention, and getting them to buy from your website or store, then shipping it to them.
It feels more like a sports game. Being German-born and raised, soccer is naturally important to me. This feels like competition. Imagine being Walmart competing with Target and Best Buy. It's a race, unlike just trying to be the best version of yourself.
You can easily quantify your performance using supplier data. You might see that Target is selling three times more and wonder how they're doing it. Then, you try to figure out their strategies and win over customers.
Working in a small niche within e-commerce and retail, specifically contract equipment, makes it even more interesting. There are trade shows, sales reps, and reps within the company might even compete against each other. For example, a company wanting to sell a product might know you sell a competing line, and they have other reps in different states.
When they compare you to those reps, it's like, "Your competitor in New York is selling a ton of these units, and you're not moving them." You then wonder how they achieved that success.
At the same time, everyone wants customers to have the right equipment or items they want, but you're competing for that. That's what always excites me: the competition against others and against yourself.
For instance, using fictitious numbers, if we did $1 million in January last year, the question becomes how to reach $1.2 million next January, and then $1.5 million after that. This pursuit of growth is key.
You also need to challenge yourself: How can we make the website better? How can we improve our customer service team? How can we better assist customers?
What are typical pitfalls? Do customers buy something, and then two months later, call saying it's "piece of garbage"? You need to anticipate these issues and improve internally. E-commerce, especially with specialized niches, will likely always be my favorite place to be.