Today we’re excited to be connecting with D’andre Good again. If you haven’t already, we suggest you check out our prior conversation with them here.
D’andre, we are so thrilled to be connecting again and can’t wait to hear about all the amazing things you have been up to. Before we jump into all of that, some of our readers might have missed our prior interview, so can you take a moment to reintroduce yourself?
Hello, I am D’Andre Good, Founder of Urban Goodz. We are a marketplace delivery platform that caters to businesses owned by people from underrepresented groups. Urban Goodz combines the shopping ability of Amazon, same day delivery abilities of DoorDash, and dropshipping and management abilities of Shopify. Our platform shines a light on minority owned businesses within our communities and levels the playing field for small businesses because they don’t have to compete with the larger chain stores. What sets us apart is that we are built with our community in mind, and look to make a difference in our community. Some of the highlights of our journey include: rebranding from Urban Eatz Delivery, to Urban Goodz. The reason for that is that we decided that we would like to deliver ALL consumer goods, also when pitching to investors, I always say that we have grown to include all consumer goods. Lastly, because I always mention that we include the delivery of all consumer goods, and Goodz is a play on my last name. We have received several different awards since our last interview as well. The Trialblazer Award in Houston and Huntsville, Alabama, DEI innovator, Top 25 startup, and placed as the most investable company all from the Houston Business Journal. We have received several other awards as well, that are mentioned on our social media pages.
Alright, so our main goal today is to give our audience an update on what you have been up to since our last conversation. We’d love to hear how things are going and what you are most looking forward to or excited about these days.
Since our last interview, we have grown to now have a $4.5M valuation and now operate in multiple cities with over 17000 customers and continuously growing. We had been selected as 1 of the top businesses in the country by an Investment Accelerator called Gener8tor and received a 6 figure investment that enabled us to grow, and rebuild our app. We actually just rolled out our latest builds at last week and included our vendor management app, something we did not previously have. We have added more functions and abilities to our app as well that include: Pharmacy and regular parcel delivery, a load board for OTR drivers, and we now give vendors the ability to manage and dispatch their own drivers. Vendors, customers, and drivers also now have the ability to visit our website https://admin.urbangoodzdelivery.com and sign themselves up as well. We have constantly had to update our tech to stay competitive. One of the hard parts of our journey is the pitching to investors. As a minority owned business, we have had to get creative in fund raising, because we receive less than 2% of all VC funding and had to learn to not take the denials to heart. The most exciting part of this journey is running into people who really want to support and understand our “WHY” and the need for Urban Goodz in the community. Also, hearing business owners tell us how our platform is making a difference for them and their businesses. We have helped 5 businesses grow from food trucks to brick aned mortars, and have increased our boutique and beauty supply stores to increase their sales by an average of 28% month over month. At its peak, the Urban Goodz platform processed $60K/week in sales.
We have now arrived at one of our favorite parts of the interview – the lightning round. We’ll ask you a few quick questions to give us all some fun insights about you.
- Favorite Movie: The Bad Boys Series
- Favorite Book: Black Faces in High Places by Randal Pinkett and Jefferey Robinson
- Favorite TV Show: The Startup
- Favorite Band or Artist: Jay-Z
- Sweet or Savory: Savory
- Mountains or Beach: Beach
- Favorite Sport (to watch): Football
- Favorite Sport (to play): Football- I played on full scholarship at Youngstown State University
- Did you play sports growing up (if so which ones): Football, baseball, basketball, track
- As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up: Pro Athlete, Lawyer
- French Fries or Onion Rings: French Fries
- Chuck Rhodes or Bobby Axelrod: Bobby Axelrod
- Favorite Cartoon growing up: Thundercats
- Favorite Childhood movie: Home Alone
- Favorite Breakfast Food: Breakfast tacos
Was there a moment in your career that you can tell us about that illustrates or demonstrates the kind of person you are, your approach, ethos, etc.
I had made some mistakes when I was younger due to my own choices. But life is not about where you start, its where you finish. Every flower, now matter how beautiful, always starts out in the dirt. The older I get, the better decisions I make. I try to think about all of the “what-ifs” when it comes to all of my decisions now, especially in business. I have learned to keep on pushing and that things will not happen over night. Also, actions don’t define you, your patterns and routines do, so I try to keep a steady routine of getting SOMETHING done everyday. Something I have learned over the course of my journey is to show up as my authentic self and not be afraid to fail because it is better to fail or get rejected as YOU, than to fail or get rejected trying to be someone or something else. As long as I like what I see in the mirror, I embrace my story because everything, the good and the bad, shapes me into who I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://admin.urbangoodzdelivery.com
- Instagram: @urbangoodzdelivery.com
- Facebook: @urbangoodzdelivery.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dscottgoodurbaneatzdelivery
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/sctHf0XBGtA?feature=shared
- Other: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.urbaneatz.customer&pli=1 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/urban-goodz-delivery/id1527748865 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/urban-goodz-vendor/id6739629608
Image Credits
Image credits go to Urban Goodz staff
