We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ireland Betta a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ireland thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

I still remember the day I was asked ‘how much I would sell my company for’. Bear in mind, my company was only about 3 months old at the time, but no matter our age, we were making an instant break in the market. We have many crazy stories happening almost every day with my company, but the one I will tell has been the most positive and slightly negative to date in our 1.3 years in the game.

In March 2022, about 3 months into our business kicking up to speed, I do my regular: get to the office, ensure all labels for shipping are created, package all the days’ orders, and get to emails/customer questions. On each Seller’s interface for Amazon, we are able to receive messages from customers about order details, and or receive messages from a potential customer who may have questions about a certain product we offer. On this particular day, I received a message from a “potential customer”. This customer obtrusively asks, “Would you be interested in selling your Amazon account?” The first thing that goes through my mind is – “this must be one of my first scam emails.” But as I start to REALLY think about it, I knew the reason why this mysterious person wants to buy me out. They must be a competitor, they must have seen a disruption in their market since we started our company, and they want to buy us out to ensure we do not take any more of their customers. The feeling that came over me at this moment was quite enthralling. If I could get under one competitor’s skin in the first few months of business, then I will soon be seen by the rest of them… and that is exactly what I have been doing ever since.

Working in the industry that I do, there are very few female entrepreneurs. That feeling can be both exhilarating and also intimidating. Being a NEW FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR with a business in this space, I am threatened periodically by others to ‘stop selling a certain product’, I am accused of selling ‘counterfeit material’, and I have been shut down a few times by other sellers. Does this stop me? No. Do these negative experiences turn into positive evolutions? Certainly.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have many things I can begin to discuss – whether it is my influencer journey, my passion to source and sell vintage designer items, or whether to speak on my Social Media Marketing company that I created newly out of graduate school. This particular time, I will talk about how I got into the E-commerce space of selling household items on my website, Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and Ebay.com.

My company is named What’s Buggin’ You? and we sell home pest control products that can be used by anyone and created for anyone. We make sure to source and sell products that are known to get the job done without a professional’s help. My company helps solve the problem of offering affordable pest control products for those who are unable to pay for a professional service. Our products are produced by some of the top industry leaders in the world. We are very fortunate to have a long-lasting relationship with some of these industry leaders due to my family’s history of owning a pest control company. With What’s Buggin’ You, we are in the works currently creating a ‘bundle’ for our customers that aim for problems in their specific regions – EX: The northern regions of the US will have differing pest problems than those in the southern regions of the US.

I am most proud of all the things I have created and accomplished at the age of 24 years old. I am proud to be a young woman working in an industry that is heavily managed by men – but not frightened to be the future change. I believe if you have the will, you are able to implement and make a disruption in any market you choose. Get comfortable being uncomfortable and be the change.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I sell my products on all platforms including our own website, Amazon, Walmart, and eBay.

Out of the 4 choices, I would say Amazon is my favorite thus far. Amazon has given us the source for all of our customers to this day. It is an easy platform for customers to search and find our products. On the other end, Amazon charges x amount of fees for every single order that is placed through your Storefront. It is a sore in my side when I have to pay Amazon a very heavy percentage of our sales, but it is able to give us brand awareness.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I recently listened to a podcast that had Barbara Corcoran (from Sharktank) on to talk about her struggles with poverty in her early life to later building a $5 billion company. She tells her story of failing over 20 jobs in her life to borrowing $$ from her boyfriend to starting her real estate business and the struggles she had to face with being an entrepreneur. I am truly inspired by any female that dives headfirst into male-dominated industries to make a name for themselves. Like Barbara philosophizes, “Leap first, Think later.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.whatsbugginyou.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irelandvbetta

Image Credits
Images by me