ModBargains

Mike Brown and Ron Hay have received the Western Region Global Student Entrepreneur Award as well as the International Global Student Entrepreneur Award in 2006 for their website ModBargains.com. By marketing through internet discussion groups, offering a wide range of after stock car modifications, selling at competitive prices, and priding themselves as the first to introduce products, Mike and Ron have been able to build revenues in the millions while full time students at Chapman University. Growing out of the home and into an office with a hired sales staff, ModBargains now features more than 4,000 auto modification products. After receiving a BMW 3 Series as a high school graduation gift, Mike found it hard to find quality modification products and believed that they could be marketed more effectively. The opportunity to pursue something he already loved sparked him to create the website and grow organically by slowly adding more suppliers and products. However, competitive advantage may be problematic for ModBargains. The company claims to differentiate themselves from competition by posting freebies and coupons such as receiving a $50 gift certificate if you go to a dealership to test drive a car, I don't think this is a viable and effective long term strategy to ensure any competitive advantage. In fact, I would not call this a competitive advantage at all. But despite a lack of clear competitive advantage, the company is clearly thriving. In an interview with Young Money, Mike explainsContinue Reading...