
🚀 Ready to simplify your journey to e-commerce success? "Be the Shark: E-Commerce Success Simplified" dives into the game-changing world of entrepreneurship with Robert Nikic, CEO of Why Unified, on the Digital Social Hour Podcast hosted by Sean...
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Host
You.
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Robert Nikic
A lot of entrepreneurs really don't embrace failure, don't leverage failure, don't really want to recognize that is a good thing. I personally love when bad things happen.
Host
Wow.
Robert Nikic
When I get a phone call with the worst news, I wake up. If there is nothing bad happening, whether it be at the office or in life in general, I'm not content.
Host
All right, we got Robert here from why Unified. Thanks for joining us today, man.
Robert Nikic
Hey, thanks for letting me be here.
Host
Absolutely. What's new with you?
Robert Nikic
You know, for the most part, LA is a really big adjustment with the weather because I'll never understand in Florida right now we just hit close. I would consider it sub zero temperatures. It's less chillier in LA and then actually in Vegas than it is in Florida.
Host
Really?
Robert Nikic
What's up with that?
Host
Damn. Wait, so you moved la?
Robert Nikic
No, no, no, I didn't. I'm just saying, you know, in Vegas in itself, it's just, it's not as. It's less chillier here than in Florida. We just got snow.
Host
What?
Robert Nikic
Yeah.
Host
Where are you at?
Robert Nikic
In Florida or in Tampa, Florida, but most of the Panhandle had snow.
Host
That is weird.
Robert Nikic
Yeah. It came to Vegas and I'm just like, why is it. Why is it warmer here than in Florida?
Host
That doesn't even compute, my brain. Snow in Florida? What the heck? Why'd you choose Tampa?
Robert Nikic
You Know, for the most part, I don't think there was a particular reason. It just. It wasn't Miami for the most part. You know, it was. It's a fine balance between Miami.
Host
Well, that state tax, too, you know. Yeah, no state tax, for the most part.
Robert Nikic
Yeah.
Host
That's why I chose Nevada. One of the main reasons I was in Cali. Man. Oh, my gosh.
Robert Nikic
How was that?
Host
15. And the weather is amazing, but just like the lifestyle is not there.
Robert Nikic
It's only gotten up, though, right? It hasn't gotten any better.
Host
No, it's gone up. Yeah. And networking is good, but you could get that networking in other cities, so.
Robert Nikic
Yeah, that's true. But it's also dangerous for you, too, because, you know, people always fly over Nevada one way or the other. So I'm sure you're capturing a lot of your audience.
Host
Oh, yeah. I don't struggle to get guests out here at all. You know, you flew in today. You know, almost everyone did. So talk to us about why Unified, what's new there?
Robert Nikic
Well, you know, for the most part, we became a top 50 company. Grew rapidly over the last, I'd say, two years. I mean, you know, for the most part, what's really important to understand why we grew is, you know, a lot of people, you know, have to ask themselves, why do they want to get in business? You know, there's a lot of inventors out there. There's a lot of, you know, entrepreneurs out there, but a lot of them are getting into business the hard way. Look at this from an investor's perspective, right? So when an investor is evaluating whether they're going to invest in the company or not, what. What are they doing? They're trying to see, is this a proven concept. When I put money into it, is it going to make me money back? Right? So a lot of entrepreneurs out there are trying to build businesses, they're trying to invent new ideas. And, you know, at the end of the day, if you look in your kitchen, most of the products that are already proven, that already selling are right in front of you. So what we did is we materialized that. We took that entire concept and brought mainstream and actually selling brands on marketplaces. So we partnered up with a lot of actual large brands, got the authorization, the licensing, and we extended that opportunity to thousands and thousands of store owners. So now we've given entrepreneurs the ability just to start essentially franchise stores that are licensed to sell these brands on marketplaces without competition and so forth. So it brings me back to the point of, you know, how do you build a business that's shark tank friendly? You know, and you have to ask yourself, do you actually want to be the shark or which side do you want to be on? Personally, I'd want to be on the side of I put money into something that's proven it's working and I receive money back. You know, the days of actually creative entrepreneurship, I don't want to say that they're gone. It's just, you know, it's 2025 now. There's, there's shortcuts, you know, utilize them. And why not take a concept that's working and, and make it work for you.
Host
It's a safer route, right?
Robert Nikic
Much more. So, I mean, let's think about what, what goes into building a business? At the end of the day, when you're building a business, you have to create the idea. If you're an E comm, you have to find the product, create the product. We're talking about significant upfront manufacturing costs. We're talking about the risk. We're talking about work hard, work countless hours. At the end of the day, not a lot of people are in that position to put that type of capital, time and risk up front.
Host
Definitely not. Plus the knowledge itself is pretty hard to obtain when you're starting out tremendously.
Robert Nikic
So it can take years. So at the end of the day, you know, entrepreneurs should really kind of take that route of, why don't I take the investor standpoint? Because look at it this way, all the products that our actual platform offers to our store owners, their parent companies, are all listed on the stock exchange.
Host
Wow.
Robert Nikic
So think about it. Investors are putting real investors, we're talking about credit. Investors are actually listeners.
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Robert Nikic
They putting money into these actual. Into these actual organizations, their parent companies. And why not take advantage of that and piggyback off of it? Right. Why go through all the treacherous factors of actually building a business and all the risk when you don't have to? What we do is we really allow entrepreneurs to kind of be the shark instead of actually be on the other side of the sharks. Right?
Host
Yeah. You're minimizing risk for the average person, right?
Robert Nikic
Yeah, for sure. I mean, you've watched Shark Tank, right?
Host
Yeah, I used to love that show. I've probably seen every episode up until season eight.
Robert Nikic
Yeah. And I want to make it clear we're not affiliated with Shark Tank in any type of way, but when it comes down to it, all the sharks are there. Gauging one thing, you know, is there a proof of concept? Is there, you know, viability in the business? If there isn't. If there isn't, they can them. And if there is, they take it. They take the actual offer. So with our actual franchise model, the reason we became that top 50 on the inc. 5,5000, it wouldn't surprise me if we hit number one this year is simply because we've taken the model that's really been out for decades. There's nothing new about it, and we've fully mainstreamed it and made it available to entrepreneurs so they don't have to go through the same exact risks as everyone else does.
Host
Right. You didn't reinvent the wheel.
Robert Nikic
No, absolutely not. And I don't think any entrepreneurs should reinvent the wheel. I think a lot of them are just, you know, number one, procrastinating on the word entrepreneur is really overused.
Host
It's almost a negative word.
Robert Nikic
It is, it is. I personally hate it. I use it for just more so, you know, giving context. But. And when someone says they're an entrepreneur, is that really. Yeah, you know, yeah. But when it comes down to it, like I said, you know, just skipping all the hassle building a business is. Is really, really what our model offers.
Host
Did you have this mindset when you were starting the company?
Robert Nikic
When I started this company, I mean, I did not have that mindset, not so one, any capability. When I started. You know, we got mocked for selling toothpaste. They buy crushed toothpaste when they can buy it at Walmart, Right. Well, guess what? Amazon started peaking right around that time and, you know, they became consumer friendly. Now what does everyone do? They buy consumable products on Amazon. Do you remember when they used to have those little buttons where you could put in your kitchen for reordering products? Amazon. So, you know, it would have like brand names, like a button, you click it and auto renews. Really the product they had.
Host
I never had that.
Robert Nikic
Well, they, they tested it for about a year and they canned it because it looked tacky, people having all these buttons in their kitchen and so forth. Right. But why did they do that? Because Amazon knew that they would be the largest consumables marketplace in the world. So at the end of the day now, not many people still go to Walmart. My toothpaste, sure. But the large majority is adapting towards purchasing on Amazon. It's faster, it's cheaper. You don't think about it. You don't got to get out of your house, you've got to go to the store. So just the mainstream availability of it is really what enticed me.
Host
I love Amazon. I get stuff in two hours.
Robert Nikic
Yeah, well, I mean, when we first started it, like I said, no one was doing it. We were the, we were the pioneers to say of actually selling toothpaste on Amazon.
Host
Was this before Prime?
Robert Nikic
This was actually a little shortly after Prime.
Host
Oh, wow. So you are super early.
Robert Nikic
Super early. Yeah, this was. There's a little bit after prime as far as it goes. And from there on forth, we broke those deals with them with a lot of actual larger brands and made it legit and genuine. But you see, now the problem is out there is there's tons of copycats, there's tons of ecom companies. Right. It's really highly saturated. Everyone and their mother is selling E Com courses. Everyone's a coach, everyone knows everything, but they really don't. But there's great coaches out there, don't get me wrong. But at the end of the day, what's really, really important about our model is that all of our products are licensed, they're legit. So when you sell them on Amazon, you're not just like, oh, I'm going to try and sell this toothpaste or these chips on Amazon. And you know, we have major actual deals with all these marketplaces to purchase, yeah, $10 million for the product. So that way there's always availability and accessibility.
Host
Yeah. The Amazon space, a lot of negativity there with the FBA stuff. A lot of scammers, for sure. The wholesale Amazon space, for sure.
Robert Nikic
And the reason why is none of these actual agencies have the capability or the capital to reach out to brands and actually break deals with them. Most of them have minimum, you know, PO requirements of a million dollars.
Host
Wow.
Robert Nikic
Yeah. And most of these guys are working out of their garage. So what? All they're doing is literally finding a very small supplier. Hex, I bet you send them or even going to Walmart and purchasing as much as of the product as they can.
Host
Yeah.
Robert Nikic
And they're literally just selling it on Amazon. That is not a legitimate way to do business in the space. There is companies that do a great job in this space. I can't say that for everyone, but I'd say a large majority of these companies are fly by night companies. That's why there's not a single company in our space that's landing on the Inc. 5000 list, to my awareness. Especially in the top. Top 50.
Host
Yeah. Well done on that, man. Was that the first year you got on that list?
Robert Nikic
That was the second year. We were actually in 2023. We're 418 and then we landed on 35. Wow. Last year. I confidently will be heading number one this year.
Host
That's insane. So you're growing even faster.
Robert Nikic
Tremendously, tremendously. Yeah. We've garnered a lot of attention. I mean, you know, over the last. Just in last year itself, our growth probably doubled of what it was the year prior, if not tripled.
Host
And is that because of the rise of E commerce mainly?
Robert Nikic
I wouldn't say it's the rise of E commerce. I think it's because of how we've actually made our model more easier. You see, we're not really. We don't categorize ourself as in being in the actual Amazon space. We categorize ourselves as actually being a franchise. So with our platform, you know, anyone can start a franchise and what that means is it's two sided. Number one, you can jump into an already profitable store. We have franchises, legitimate, registered franchises that are actually aged. They've been running actual businesses that have been running for two to three years and they can purchase that and literally take over the business. Everything substantiated with in terms of earnings, claims, documents and so forth. And you know, the other side of our model allows you to jump into an FBA like experience where you choose where you want to sell, Amazon, Walmart, you know, et cetera, et cetera. And from there on forth, you select what type of store category products you want to sell. You get licensed to sell on that end. So, you know, I wouldn't really categorize as FBA because we're a licensed and registered franchise in Florida and we're currently expanding our registration across all 50 states.
Host
Got it. So you've just made it really easy.
Robert Nikic
Really easy. And you know, I'd say more credible too. I mean, look at all the agencies in the FBA space. They're fly by night companies, right? I mean, genuinely, I'm not saying that, you know, myself, I consider myself young, I'm 32. But at the end of the day, a lot of individuals in this space are far younger. And that's okay. I mean, there's far younger individuals that have done much greater things than I ever have. And there will be for sure. And at the end of the day when it comes to it is there's just no credibility behind the model. There's nothing to protect the actual businesses that are joining the model at any capacity. You know, our particular company were licensed, franchise registered in the state of Florida. There's extremely large legal requirements that need to be met and need to be followed in terms of every store's claims being 100% accurate. I mean, let's be real, on E Comm, everyone throws claims around. Oh yeah, it's a bunch of bullshit. So. And it genuinely is. And a lot of people come out and call it out. But at the end of the day, our model, with our franchise model, it just adds a lot of legitimacy to it.
Host
I love it. Yeah, FTC is cracking down on some of those guys, the bigger guys, and.
Robert Nikic
They should be, because a lot of them are money laundering operations. A lot of them are fraudulent Ponzi schemes.
Host
Yeah.
Robert Nikic
Plain and simple. That's what they are. The intent from the very beginning is to be a fraudulent operation. So, you know, in comparison to our actual company, in contrast to our company, you know, we've taken the appropriate actual steps to grow the company for the concept to actually work. Most of these companies, they don't want, they don't have the intent of making the concept work. They don't want to improve their model at any capacity whatsoever. So I can't say that once again for everyone, don't want to categorize the entire space under that label. There is great companies out there. There are some competitors of ours that can say great things about also. But a large Majority of them. And what the FTC has done, I think it's a great job and I think it's a job well done. I think it needed to be done.
Host
Yeah. They're getting them for the false money claims. That's like the big one for sure.
Robert Nikic
And you know, that's, that's, it's very important. And that's why, you know, with our company, we wanted to head towards the fried chance model because we want to add legitimacy to the space we have. Our earning Claims document is 300 pages long.
Host
Damn.
Robert Nikic
So all fully substantiated, all available online. Because at the end of the day, I don't understand why any other agency doesn't have it either. You know, why? And I've asked this question to council, like, why are we the first? Isn't that strange? That's one of the questions I asked, right? They're like, nobody cared. That's why nobody cared. They just don't care. They take the money, they leave. Like, but why? The concept is proven. It works.
Host
Yeah.
Robert Nikic
Actually, the substantiate substantiation is do the brand sell and do they make money? Can you historically prove it? Yes. How many times can you prove it? Can you prove it favorably across hundreds of clients? Yes. Is there bad cases? Yes, of course, there's unsuccessful cases. And that's fine. And that's why, you know, at the end of the day, the actual products themselves, like I said, they're listed on the stock exchange. The parent companies, they sell, they have a history of decades of sales. Not a lot of these companies care. They really don't care. They're just pump and dump operations, in my opinion.
Host
Short term versus long term thinking, right?
Robert Nikic
For sure. And you know, speaking of legitimacy, it brings me to like, we actually had the congressman's son. I'm not going to name which congressman, you know, actually sign up for our company.
Host
Wow.
Robert Nikic
And start our store. Start a store with us. And at the end of the day, you know, the intent of actually a congressman's son wanting to do that just shows the legitimacy behind our model that, you know, the government, I would say, because once you're a congressman's son, you're meddled and you're involved in the government in one way, shape or form, whether the public wants to admit it or not. That's my opinion. But when it comes down to it, it gives really a lot of legitimacy to the model of, you know, that it works. But you see, in this particular case, you know what a lot of entrepreneurs understand, Everyone fights this rat Race, they want to become a top 50, fastest growing company, they want to make millions and millions of dollars. Right. Is that the repercussions that come with it once you enter the territory of crossing that top 50? I mean, your revenues have surpassed 50 million plus 100%. And at the end of the day, there's a lot of scrutiny that comes.
Host
With it too, really.
Robert Nikic
You know, in this particular case with the Congressman's son, the trust factor in him actually choosing our organization, believing in our companies and our platform is excellent, is great. But you see, what came with it was really mouthful, bad intent. And what ended up happening was an entire orchestrated scheme to actually really just defame our organization and cause tortious interference with our clients. Happened, really trying to frame, put us in bad and negative light, using allegedly the Congressman's resources to accomplish that in order to gain a win in a reelection attempt.
Host
What?
Robert Nikic
This is 100% true. And you know, once again, this is all my perspective and my opinion on this matter on a personal level. But I do want to say that, you know, that's a lot of what a lot of entrepreneurs don't see. That's what a lot of people don't paint the light of an entrepreneurship, everything that comes with it, everyone paints the great picture. Paints, oh, you're on a boat, you're on a jet. You know, no one actually shows the behind the scenes of what happens, what consequences they are, and how politics can even meddle into an actual private business at that type of level. So I mean, I won't comment further on it, but I will tell you that a federal lawsuit will address this and really just paint a full picture of how certain members of the US government are involved in, holy crap, large level of fraud. And not just for our particular organization, but many others also too. We have one of the largest law firms in the world representing the case and it'll be released pretty soon. So. And it'll really paint a really good picture of why, you know, you know, our company has received kind of the backlash that it has. You know, we have a lot of successful, successful, successful stores. That's why I paid RFTC. Actual earning claim stock is 300 plus pages. That's why we opted in to be a licensed franchise. We don't care. We know what we do is right. But at the end of the day, you know, there's special interests out there that once you reach the tippity top or you're about to break through, that really want to use that to their advantage and get an easy win. In their pocket for reelection.
Host
That is nuts. Well, if it's out when this episode drops, we'll link it in the video. The lawsuit.
Robert Nikic
Yeah. I can't tell you when it's going to be out, but it'll be out pretty soon. So definitely, like, re. Link that in there.
Host
I mean, people know within Congress, I mean, look at the stock trades. I mean, they know there's some fraud and BS going on.
Robert Nikic
For sure. For sure. I mean, there's many cases that, that I've seen where, you know, a congressman and family members are involved lobbying for special interests. You know, daddy signs the bill, and then from there on forth, the money goes straight into the son's pocket. So, you know, interesting. I've actually heard about whistleblowers, too, that.
Host
That are making a lot of money.
Robert Nikic
That are really making a lot of money about it. On it, too.
Host
Wow.
Robert Nikic
Yeah, I've spoken to a few.
Host
That's scary, man. Yeah, it goes up to the highest level, too, of government. It's scary.
Robert Nikic
It does. It just. It gives you a good perspective of entrepreneurship. A lot of people don't see, you know, what it really takes to start and run and grow a business. That brings me right back to the actually square one in itself is do you really want to. Some people are made for it.
Host
They're.
Robert Nikic
They're built for it. And you know what? If you are, you'll know.
Host
I talked to Tai Lopez about this, actually. It's like finding that sweet spot so where you're not a target, Right? So, like, once you start making tens of millions, you are a target for sure. So he tells people, like, make a few million a year, like, you won't be a massive target.
Robert Nikic
For sure. For sure. Absolutely. Yeah. It's a game that you really don't want to get into unless you're built for it. Unless you're really designed and born for it. So, you know, and I've just learned that all through my life, really, because of honestly, failure, failure, failure, failure, failure. Throughout my entire life, I failed. And I say that proudly. And a lot of entrepreneurs really don't embrace failure, don't leverage failure. Don't really want to recognize that is a good thing. I personally love when bad things happen.
Host
Wow.
Robert Nikic
When I get a phone call with the worst news, I wake up. If there is nothing bad happening, whether it be at the office or in life in general, I'm not content because, you know, I look at them as opportunities, and many entrepreneurs should look at it that way, too. Oh, you know, this happens. You lost $100,000. What did you learn for it? How are you going to take that $100,000 loss and turn that into actual. An opportunity, revenue, whatever it may be? How can you now take that and duplicate it and grow it? You know, that's the mindset that a lot of entrepreneurs should have. A lot of people don't speak about their failures publicly. I love to in any type of case. Because everyone just paints this perfect, perfect light when it's really not, not at all. And it makes other people want to get into entrepreneurship and E Comm also, because it looks so easy when actually starting and building a legitimate business is.
Host
Very hard, super hard. I get, I get asked a lot like, should I get into entrepreneurship? Entrepreneurship. I usually say no to people.
Robert Nikic
Yeah, you know, if you have to ask, I don't know if you're really designed and built for, you'll know.
Host
Yeah.
Robert Nikic
You'll be so driven and you'll be that nothing can stop you for it. You don't have to ask the question. You don't need. You don't need to be on.
Host
I didn't ask anyone.
Robert Nikic
Oh, no, him and himself wouldn't have to ask the question. You know, he would be. He would already be doing it.
Host
That's what I'm saying.
Robert Nikic
So. But for those that it isn't actually, they're not built for. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing. You know, it doesn't have to mean that you don't get into it. It means that you need to just jump on, have the same mindset. Investor doesn't say, hey, okay, I'm not designed for actually starting building business. Maybe I don't want to. Maybe it's too late for me right now. I don't think it's ever too late, but maybe it's just not an appropriate time in life. How can I just go ahead and take an investor's approach and say, why can't I just jump into something that's kind of already working? Don't actually be the one going in front of the shark. Just be the shark in itself and do what they do. Sure. You don't have to do it in a large scale of millions of dollars. You can start very small and grow into it. And that's exactly what our actual franchise platform allows you to do. So we're the only actual online franchise that allows you to start a franchise for up to $8,000. So there's no other franchise model out there that allow you to do that? Every other franchise model you need Hundreds of thousands of dollars, super expensive. You need huge net worth requirements. Okay. But here's the problem. You know, that's the fancy red tape that's there is there for a purpose. Right. It's there for qualification. You're running a business under their brand. The problem is there's the net gains over, are over a five year period. They're not here over, over our, you know, a short term period. And a lot of entrepreneurs that aren't really designed for it, that want to jump into a model, they need something relatively sooner than later.
Host
Right, right.
Robert Nikic
To actually validate that investment that they made.
Host
Yeah. You got to be careful. Certain franchises are fads. Right.
Robert Nikic
For sure.
Host
Like the yogurt one.
Robert Nikic
For sure.
Host
Frozen yogurt.
Robert Nikic
I didn't hear about that one. Tell me about it.
Host
Well, frozen yogurt was big in America probably when I was in high school, but a lot of them went under.
Robert Nikic
Really?
Host
It was like a dessert trend, I guess. But yeah, there's a lot of franchises where like it's around a trending food or whatever.
Robert Nikic
Right, right, right.
Host
Then it dies off.
Robert Nikic
Was it an MLM or.
Host
No, that one wasn't. But yeah, there's MLMs too.
Robert Nikic
Yeah, no, that's all silly stuff at the end of the day.
Host
The 4x ones.
Robert Nikic
Oh yeah, yeah.
Host
Those are nasty.
Robert Nikic
That, that's, you know what I never understand is why people still believe in that.
Host
Yeah, MLMs, you know, they get a bad rep unless you're at the top.
Robert Nikic
You know, that's, that's what it brings me to is a lot of people aren't built for entrepreneurship, so they rely on these little scams at the end of the day. And what I don't like about it is they know going into it that it's not the right thing to do.
Host
Right.
Robert Nikic
They know the odds, they know the risks, and at the end they play victim about it.
Host
Yeah. I think 90% of people lose money on them. Some crazy.
Robert Nikic
And it's, it's publicized, you know, so at the end of the day they come out of it and they say, oh, I was scammed, you know, and at the end of the day, sure, many of these people truly were. But that's how you can take that. How can I just take, okay, I failed. I lost tons of money. What am I going to do about it? Am I going to be here and sit here and cry about it? No. Okay, Great. I lost $28,000. I really depended on this money. My family depended on it. Whatever. I expected to do this. How am I Going to take that learning lesson now and make sure it never happens again. That's how you really need what they need to do. And actually learning, leveraging, failure, that's what's worked for me. That's the only reason I've actually built this company. Because way before I even got into the model we're at right now, we see dropshipping. Dropshipping is a complete fucking scam.
Host
I used to do it, too.
Robert Nikic
Yeah, it is. I mean, on the large, like I said in the. On the mainstream model and how it's being advertised in 2025, it is not the way to make money, build a long sustainable business at any circumstance or any case. So. But it's still being backpedaled and pushed every single day, which is crazy. Just because there's a few winners. And there's a few winners because they built the business the right way and built relationships with suppliers that are credible. They've vetted the products, they've seen the warehouse, they've done Q and A on the products, the products. Maybe they. They've actually tested themselves. Maybe they even created the product themselves, did some R and D on the other side of the world, right? They put actual effort into building a business. And then, sure, it's drop shipping because they're fulfilling on the other side of the world, but they took those extra steps and now it makes it seem like dropshipping is this whole entire business that can make multimillionaires, which it is not, in my opinion, at the end of the day, the same core values of business, applying every single business in every single case. Right? So you can't just ship products from China that you've never seen, never touched, never vetted from a supplier name you can't pronounce. You don't know. You don't know who he is. You don't know if it's a real. You don't know. Are the products being shipped? Sure. You got a tracking number. Cost them 39 cents to send an E packet. What's in there? And at the end of the day, guess who pays the price? You do. Stripe comes back, process come back, start blacklisting you. But you at TMF list, no more selling for the next five years. So that wasn't the business model I wanted to be involved with.
Host
Yeah, in there, done that, man, all of that.
Robert Nikic
No, absolutely not. That's why I exited the space entirely, because if I couldn't build a relationship with a supplier, vet the supplier, supplier, have a trusted relationship with them. I didn't want to be in it. And most of the actual suppliers are fly by night companies overseas. And you know, you're in US territory dealing with US laws, working with overseas part suppliers who have no accountability for any actions that happen and you're the one who pays the consequence. So that's why the entire model we have now with our franchise models in the United States as a whole, and it is more legitimized than anything that there is out there right now.
Host
I love it. Yeah, I remember all the dropshipping courses. Now they're all teaching AI courses.
Robert Nikic
Yeah.
Host
You know, they're on to the next.
Robert Nikic
Yeah. And the FTC is cracking down on that too.
Host
AI courses.
Robert Nikic
Yeah, for sure. And not even AI course itself, but how the word AI is actually being used and leveraged. I mean, our platform uses a lot of ar. Because when you see, when you start a franchise store with our actual platform, you connect your seller, your seller account, depending on what plan you are, your plan you're on. You connect your actual seller account to our platform. From there on forth, everything's done for you, manage for your platform, literally analyze your seller, your Exceller's account health to see where it's at, what products are assigned to your account, when. And a lot of those actions are dictated by AI. Sure. Nothing on a huge, massive scale. But you know, there's definitely a good amount of machine learning behind it. But you see a lot of, you know, companies out there are actually just using the terminology, there's nothing behind it, we actually have the software behind it. So. But a lot of people are just saying that sounds very interesting to people. They're building value. Right. And they're delivering nothing at the end of the day.
Host
Yeah. It's like a buzzword.
Robert Nikic
Yeah. So that's why, you know, what interests me is and what I think everyone's look at it should be is all these Amazon Automation companies are literally just getting hammered and I hope that's all the illegitimate ones that are. So at the end of the day, we're one of the top 50 companies in the country. Why is it that we have not had anyone knock on our doors that has to tell you something does other.
Host
Than the Congressman, we're one of the.
Robert Nikic
Largest actual, like I said, in the entire space.
Host
Yeah.
Robert Nikic
So, and it's not, not a big secret. Most of these companies keep their revenue secret until it's listed in the FTC complaint. So we publicly list it. We don't care. So we know our models works, we know it helps entrepreneurs in many Cases. Like I said, there's cases where it doesn't work out for some people.
Host
Can't shoot 100%.
Robert Nikic
No, you can't. There's so many factors that are beyond our control. So many factors. When you connect your seller account to our actual platform and our platform analyzes it, in some cases you might not be eligible to sell. Maybe you've sold in the past and your seller account, you broke Amazon policies. No matter what authorization we publish in your account for these products, Amazon's not going to let us push out those listings. Because how it works on Amazon's end is. Do I. Okay, number one, we connect the account and they analyze is this account trusted? Yes or no? No. It has five policy violations, whatever. And they're significant for trademark or ip, whatever it may be. And then from there on forth, what it's going to do is it's going to see, okay, they're going to be selling a Crest product or a lay's Chips product, high volume product. No. Or they might list you and be shadow banned. So in some cases we don't know when you're shadow banned. In some cases we do and we just don't even accept it. Like I said, you as a customer.
Host
Wow, I didn't know Amazon shadow banned account for sure.
Robert Nikic
This is, I mean they have to saturation at the end of the day. I mean, number one, what's Amazon's goal? They want to protect consumers and especially on the marketplace that sells. And they have a lot of liability, especially with fba. They are delivering the product. They have a responsibility to make sure the product is genuine, not expired, not counterfeit. So at the end of the day, if they don't actually screen people on an individual level with hundreds of thousands of sellers, they carry liability and they don't want to get caught up with the FTC either.
Host
That makes sense.
Robert Nikic
So they want to maintain their presence and being number one. Right. So that's what a lot of people don't understand the space either. There's a lot of. I don't care what FBA company you choose, you know, whether it's our actual franchise model or whether it's other FBA company. You have to understand that there are so many factors that are beyond their control.
Host
Yeah.
Robert Nikic
And I'm only speaking for the legitimate actual companies that are actually doing their job because many of them just don't even do anything, just pay them and they disappear. So but the ones that are actually doing the job, there are so many factors that are truly beyond their control. So now it's up to them and how they handle those type of situations, how, how they identify them and so forth. But I think it all comes down to setting expectations.
Host
Absolutely.
Robert Nikic
Start. And it all comes down to the mindset the person signing up has also too.
Host
For sure. I was on Amazon yesterday, so now in the search bar, it says ask a question. Have you seen that?
Robert Nikic
Yeah, I did, actually.
Host
So you could shop by questions. Now that's so innovative, for sure, because.
Robert Nikic
They'Re also using AI, they're analyzing your actual, your actual history, your browsing history, what you're doing, your spending habits, your shopping habits, and you're asking the question for something. They're going to pair you with a product that they think you're like, you'd be interested in. But here's, here's the thing. It looks so innocent. People don't understand that I want to buy a pair of shoes. And Amazon knows what your average spending pattern on shoes is. They know that you're a consumer that is likely to pay more for shoes.
Host
Wow.
Robert Nikic
So they're going to pair you with a, with a particular product for a shoe or a listing that's going to be maybe 30% above retail. They know you're going to buy it. You know, a lot of people don't understand that. You know, and I hate to say this because Amazon, we work very closely with Amazon, not in the official capacity at all, but at the end of the day, a lot of consumers are overpaying on Amazon.
Host
Really?
Robert Nikic
For sure. I mean, you know, our sellers on our platform, our store owners have the ability to dictate the pricing of the products in their store. So, you know, if lace chips are $3 listed for $3, you know, I've seen so many cases where sellers list them for six to eight dollars and there will be more orders than it would be at a retail price. It's incredible. It's truly incredible. And it'll come from, you know, it'll come mostly from different states. New York, California. I'll see that a lot.
Host
That makes sense.
Robert Nikic
Yeah. So, you know, it's, it does make sense, but also at the end of the day, it's like a gray area between price gouging.
Host
So, yeah, their algorithm is not so advanced. Right?
Robert Nikic
It is. Right. So that question of, you know, ask a question, it looks innocent, looks helpful, but it's really the drive profits for Amazon.
Host
Wow. That's nuts. Yeah. I bought a weighted vest yesterday and it knew that which one I wanted without me even browsing.
Robert Nikic
Yeah. Sometimes when you're doing that. Just compare the price, see, see what actual listing it gives you and then go compare that price to retail and see if it's the same price.
Host
See, most people won't do that.
Robert Nikic
No, they won't. They'll just hit buy now because Amazon's.
Host
So easy to fast. Yeah. I don't even price check anything these days.
Robert Nikic
It's, it's, we've been programmed to that that way because we just want it now, we want it fast.
Host
Yeah.
Robert Nikic
You know, we don't want to wait. That's why shopping in the store for most basic things is going out the door for the most part. So I mean, have you seen Walmart stepping, stepping their game up? I mean Walmart is actually has the potential to outgrow Amazon.
Host
Really?
Robert Nikic
For sure. Absolutely. They came in at the as losers in the game when Amazon stepped in and I think that they are currently right now leveling up with Amazon. I don't, I can't say on a financial sense, but I can say on the business sense they're kicking ass. No way they could overtake Amazon. From just what I'm seeing, we have thousands of sellers on Walmart.
Host
Yeah.
Robert Nikic
And believe it or not, they're actually performing better than and many of them on Amazon. The reason why is a lot of consumers are used to buying consumable products at Walmart. Right. So your chips, your toothpaste, you know, your toilet paper, etc. They're used to buying that Walmart. So where are they going to buy it? They're also going to buy it at Walmart.
Host
So makes sense. Plus not everyone has Prime. Right.
Robert Nikic
So that's true. That's true.
Host
Wow. Yeah. Because I know when they originally launched their marketplace it didn't do that well online.
Robert Nikic
No, it didn't. No. Amazon was a big. Walmart was a big flop when it actually started.
Host
Yeah, I heard about that.
Robert Nikic
Huge, huge flop. They weren't really technology focused. Amazon was. I mean Amazon's infrastructure is built on, you know, AWS in itself.
Host
Yeah.
Robert Nikic
So that's why they have a level up against Walmart. Walmart is a.
Host
They're probably on aws.
Robert Nikic
They're probably right. Exactly. So they're just a brick and mortar. They're used to just transactional situations in person. So Amazon came out, they're like, oh shit, we, we got to do something or we are closing our doors. We're going to be the next Toys R Us. So they did it. They did it very slowly. They're catching up. And it would not surprise me if they surpass Amazon in some way, shape or form one day.
Host
Wow. Keep an eye on that one. So those are like the big two right now, Walmart and Amazon, the largest ones.
Robert Nikic
Yeah. Because you know, Walmart actually introduced something like prime. It's called Walmart Plus. So it's their FBA model for Walmart and it's, it's truly doing great things for the most part for our store owners, anyone that is on Walmart plus and you purchase inventory, our actual platform ships it off to Walmart. It sells the same day.
Host
Yeah.
Robert Nikic
So it's, there's, there's no question about it.
Host
I've been watching Beast Games on Amazon. Have you seen that, Mr. Beast?
Robert Nikic
Yes.
Host
Brilliant business model. So they lost a ton of money up front because they gave them a ton of money. But since they're getting Amazon customers and they know the LTV, they're going to make more than 100 million for sure.
Robert Nikic
Without a doubt.
Host
Such a brilliant model. Yeah. I couldn't believe that that's going to change entertainment industry.
Robert Nikic
When was the last time you didn't show an interview with Beast games with, with Mr.
Host
Beast? Not yet, no. I think he'll come on eventually.
Robert Nikic
Okay, cool, cool.
Host
But that was an interesting model because they lost a ton of money up front. But the Amazon LTV is crazy, is extremely high. I price myself, price, spend 10k a year on Amazon.
Robert Nikic
The return, the average repeat order rate on Amazon is truly, truly insane. And that's really what's driving the model for our customers. Because for actual store owners, because when someone, when our store owners get listed on Amazon, their products get us. Let's say you have 30, 40 products listed on Amazon as customers are buying them, they subscribe to this product. You know, I need toothpaste every month, toilet paper, paper every week. I need this, I need that. So the actual repeat purchase rate is huge. That's what drives the LTV through the roof and that's why it works so, so well. The common, the actual brands that people trust, people buy it every day. There's no question about it. They see. Oh, okay, this is crest. Great. Yeah, I need that. Okay, great. They're not looking at the price of shopping. That's where our actual store owners are making their profit margins.
Host
The subscribe orders because you save 5% but 100%.
Robert Nikic
Right, but it's marked up by 30. Anywhere between 10 and 30% from what I'm seeing. They set their own pricing, what they want it to be in their preferences. Right.
Host
Wow.
Robert Nikic
We just see it on the global Scale of what they're doing and, and seeing how it's performing.
Host
That's cool, man. You mentioned failures earlier. I'm curious what your biggest ones were and how you overcame them.
Robert Nikic
I'd say failed startups for the most part. That's where. That's where. That's where a lot of. I would say my perspective comes from. You know, I've started way before I started Yunified. I tried getting. I was. I've had hosting. I started a little hosting company when I was 13 years old. So I was 13. What did I know? And at the end of the day, along. Along that journey, I've had just so many failed Starbucks startups and I just kept failing and failing and failing and nothing worked. Plain, simple. If, when I look back now, I'm like, the timing was right and at the end of the day, it comes down to just. I really didn't recognize. And I got really torn down about it because, you know, the reason I got torn down about it is because I came. My family came from nothing. We came overseas from the Balkan war over there, immigrated to Germany, immigrated to the States here. So. So my family really relied on me. There was a lot of reliance there, and I was the oldest sibling in the house. My parents didn't speak English, so that's the only reason I got up in the startup culture, you can say, or entrepreneurship in general, is because I had to, not because I really wanted to.
Host
Yeah, yeah.
Robert Nikic
So from a very young age. And that's where I learned just really, just after every failure, just really just capitalize on it. I come into the office and someone tells me, hey, there's this going on. I'm like, that's. That's wonderful. They look at me like I'm crazy. Like, well, what's wrong with you? This is very serious. There's consequences for this and that. And great, now we're going to. That's happening. What, are we going to sit here and bitch about it? No, absolutely not. We're going to take the situation and we're not just going to fix it, but we're going to just blow out perspective and make use of it in many different cases and scenarios.
Host
Right.
Robert Nikic
That's what a lot of people don't do. People like, oh, you know what? You know, my advertising campaign's not doing so well. I'm failing. I'm gonna lose all my money. And they just sit there and go in the corner. They don't understand how to leverage that and take it and turn it into something.
Host
Right.
Robert Nikic
Every time My phone rings, I'm excited. If there's a problem when it's too calm, I'm stressed. It is not good. So it is not a good thing at all. So if things are going great, I'm terrified. I'm scared. Actually, at that point, there's signals in my head telling me that you might fail, but this time, not in a good way. So I think people need to realize that a lot.
Host
Well, there's that quote, right? There's no growth without discomfort or something. For sure.
Robert Nikic
It's true. But people read all these quotes and.
Host
They don't really do anything with facts.
Robert Nikic
So, I mean, I want anyone that's watching this podcast, I really encourage you. The next time you experience a problem, next time something happens, your husband comes to, your wife comes to you, your boss comes to you, you need to sit there and analyze. Okay? This is happening. There's nothing I can do to change it. I can get stressed, I can get pissed. I can feel many different types of emotions. What can I do right now? Take this situation. Not just fix it. I'm going to fix it. Of course I am. I'm a problem solver. So what I'm. How am I going to take this now? How? After I fix and apply it to make it better, more efficient, and solve other problems along the way. So that's what. That's the perspective people need to have.
Host
Yeah. Turning lemons into lemonade, 100%. Yeah. A lot of people fold under pressure or tough circumstances.
Robert Nikic
A million percent. That's why there's. Entrepreneurship is just an overused term because if you can master the trait of not folding under pressure and learning how to leverage failure, learning how to take problems and smile because, you know, at the end of the tunnel, it's going to literally generate you millions of dollars. You'll do great.
Host
Yeah.
Robert Nikic
When we started selling Crest, you know, we had a small supplier years ago. This goes way back, way before we became top 50. And the supplier just disappeared. They dipped on us. We had customers we delivered for. We have orders to fulfill this years and years ago. At the end of the day, what do you do? How are you going to get access to. You know, at that time, we needed $20 million in capital to work with the partners that we work with now.
Host
Holy.
Robert Nikic
How are we going to do that? So what are we going to do? How are we going to do it? You know, take that situ. If we. That situation wouldn't have happened. We would never be in the position we are today. I am thankful to God that that Supplier disappeared.
Host
Wow.
Robert Nikic
Whoever was behind it, whatever's behind whatever the reason was, if you were watching this podcast, I thank you from the bottom because it is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Because if it wouldn't have happened, there would be no change.
Host
Damn.
Robert Nikic
A lot of people just get stuck in that same cycle. Comfort. Right. So. And genuinely at that time, I was comfortable. Things were going great, our stores were making money, our supplier was delivering. But we have grown to what? We've grown now. Probably not.
Host
Yeah. It's such an interesting dynamic because a lot of people chase comfort 100%.
Robert Nikic
I'll create problems.
Host
Yeah. But once you're at that comfortable lifestyle, it's almost like, what's the purpose?
Robert Nikic
Yeah. From there, some people find it, some people actually enjoy the actual comfort. I don't know personally how when it's too calm, like I said, I get stressed out. I'll create a problem and then that problem will solve 30 other problems that would have happened. And it'll make us tons of amounts of money and make our stores tons of amounts of money and so forth. So you gotta fight for what you want. You gotta fight for what you believe. And that doesn't come with comfort.
Host
Absolutely. Robert, this has been cool, man. Been really interesting mindset stuff. Where can people keep up with you?
Robert Nikic
Potentially get involved with Yunified Instagram at Robert Nikic for the most part. If you want to get in touch with me for why Unified, just go to yunified.com that's why unified.com and yeah, you know, be the shark. You don't want to be on the other side of the actual table pitching your idea to the shark. You should be the shark and you should jump onto a model that's actually proven something that works and has higher odds than actually just starting a business on your own.
Host
Absolutely. We'll link below. Check them out, guys. Thanks for coming on, dude.
Robert Nikic
Hey, I appreciate.
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Digital Social Hour: Episode Summary
Title: Be the Shark: E-Commerce Success Simplified | Robert Nikic DSH #1188
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Robert Nikic, Founder of Why Unified
Release Date: February 18, 2025
In this riveting episode of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly engages in an in-depth conversation with Robert Nikic, the visionary founder of Why Unified, a rapidly growing e-commerce franchise platform. The discussion delves into Robert's unique approach to e-commerce, his experiences with failure, the challenges of navigating a saturated market, and his insights on sustaining business growth in a competitive landscape.
Robert Nikic begins by highlighting the reluctance many entrepreneurs have towards embracing failure. He asserts, “I personally love when bad things happen” (00:30), emphasizing that challenges are not setbacks but opportunities for growth.
Sean Kelly introduces Robert, noting his significant achievements: “we became a top 50 company. Grew rapidly over the last, I'd say, two years” (03:04). Robert attributes this success to Why Unified’s innovative franchise model, which allows entrepreneurs to leverage proven products and brands without the typical risks associated with starting from scratch.
Robert contrasts traditional entrepreneurship with his franchise-based approach. He explains, “Why reinvent the wheel. I think a lot of them are just, you know, number one, procrastinating on the word entrepreneur is really overused” (08:17). Instead of building a business from the ground up, Why Unified offers entrepreneurs the chance to operate licensed franchise stores on major marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart.
Key Features of Why Unified’s Model:
A significant portion of the discussion centers on Robert’s perspective on failure. He candidly shares his history with failed startups, noting, “I've started way before I started Yunified. I tried getting... I was 13” (37:32). This early exposure to failure taught him to capitalize on setbacks rather than succumb to them.
Robert encourages entrepreneurs to:
Robert discusses the challenges within the e-commerce space, particularly the prevalence of fly-by-night companies and scams. He is critical of models like dropshipping and MLMs, labeling many as fraudulent operations. “Dropshipping is a complete fucking scam” (25:08) and “MLMs, you know, they get a bad rep unless you're at the top” (24:45).
In contrast, Why Unified maintains:
A notable highlight is the partnership with the Congressman’s son, which Robert cites as a testament to Why Unified’s credibility. He states, “the intent of actually a congressman's son wanting to do that just shows the legitimacy behind our model” (16:29). This endorsement underscores the trust and recognition Why Unified has garnered within influential circles.
Robert candidly discusses the legal battles faced by legitimate companies in the e-commerce space. He points out that while the FTC is cracking down on fraudulent operations, legitimate businesses like Why Unified often become collateral damage. “There is no credibility behind the model. There's nothing to protect the actual businesses that are joining the model at any capacity” (11:55).
He reveals ongoing efforts to address these challenges through a federal lawsuit aimed at highlighting governmental fraud and defending the integrity of his company. “Well, I will tell you that a federal lawsuit will address this” (20:07).
The conversation shifts to the future of e-commerce, with Robert providing insights into how platforms like Amazon and Walmart are evolving. He observes, “Walmart is actually leveling up with Amazon. I don't, I can't say on a financial sense, but I can say on the business sense they're kicking ass” (34:31).
AI Integration: Why Unified leverages AI to:
Robert criticizes the superficial use of AI buzzwords by competitors, asserting, “There’s nothing behind it, we actually have the software behind it” (28:59).
In closing, Robert offers crucial advice for those considering entrepreneurship:
He encapsulates his philosophy with a powerful statement: “Be the shark and you should jump onto a model that's actually proven something that works and has higher odds than actually just starting a business on your own” (43:08).
This episode of Digital Social Hour offers a comprehensive look into the mindset and strategies that drive e-commerce success. Through Robert Nikic’s experiences and insights, listeners gain valuable lessons on navigating challenges, leveraging failure, and building sustainable businesses in an increasingly competitive market. Robert’s journey with Why Unified serves as an inspiring blueprint for aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to make their mark without falling prey to the pitfalls that plague the e-commerce industry.
Notable Quotes:
(Timestamps correspond to when the quotes occurred in the transcript.)