The story of entrepreneur Rishi Shah is all about networking and collaboration. This University of Wisconsin graduate was recently named by Business Week as one of America’s Best Young Entrepreneurs for his business, Flying Cart, a unique, affordable and easy-to-use e-commerce solution for small retailers.

“We are doing something totally different than any other shopping cart solution and hopefully helping small businesses gain customers faster through a network,” said Shah.

Just as users add friends on social networks like My Space and Facebook, Flying Cart retailers create a network through collaboration with other retailers to increase traffic and sales. These retailers agree to provide links to each other within their e-commerce sites. 
 
“This has been doing great. All of our stores are getting a lot more traffic, a lot more customers,” said Shah.

One year ago, Shah, age 25, first discussed his plan for Flying Cart with Ayla Annac, southwest regional director for the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network.

“When I first wrote my business plan, she read through it and said ‘this is good. Keep going. Just know it’s not easy and keep persisting.’ She has kind of kept me going,” said Shah.

Annac tapped into her network of WEN Partners to connect Shah to the Wisconsin Technology Council, Wisconsin Angel Network, UW Office of Corporate Relations and others.

In October Shah officially launched Flying Cart version 2.5.  Headquartered in Madison, Flying Cart has registered 1,300 stores and adds 10 to 30 new stores each day.

Shah continues to work with Annac and others in the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network as he grows his unique e-commerce solution.

“I also gave him advice on how he can approach angel investors,” said Annac. “Because he needs around $300,000 from angel investors to jump start the company.”

The ideal angel investor for Flying Cart would provide not only money but also advice in the e-commerce industry, said Shah.

“We want to add some viral features –make sure every customer that comes in is also referring ten other customers,” said Shah. “It’s taking ecommerce and store networking to the next level and hopefully gaining a stronger presence in the e-commerce world.”