Tucker Partridge, a student in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, and Ryan Richardson and Nick Beyer, both students in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, work at Hayseed Ventures in Fayetteville and have been entrusted to run a $1 million business called Scrubshopper.com.

John James, owner of Hayseed Ventures, acquired this e-commerce business a little over two years ago and added it to a portfolio of companies that Hayseed Ventures supports. James hired these three interns with the goal of teaching them the skills needed to succeed in the e-commerce space because retailers are continuing to feel online pressure within transitions in the business world. These three interns work all days of the week to oversee the day-to-day operations of the business, direct customer service, search engine optimization, and digital marketing.

Throughout the duration of the last few months, the business has incurred some substantial milestones. Originally the business was a retailer, selling scrubs from manufacturers to consumers across the United States.

Beyer helped develop a more purposeful approach to the business, suggesting that Scrubshopper.com donate a small percentage of revenue to fund medical mission trips. Richardson has dramatically increased the efficiency of business operations, plugging some big holes regarding customer service, which ultimately affects the lifetime value of the customer. And Partridge has brought along some extremely creative marketing campaigns to help drive incremental sales via email marketing.

James mentioned that without these three interns, the business would not have the purpose and success that it currently has. The aim for this business is to triple in the next year, with the interns solely leading the charge.  John explains his role as a safety net, to allow these University of Arkansas students to have real life business acumen through running a million dollar ecommerce business.