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Wow, has it been a wild ride this past 5 months. Made Amazon Featured Merchant around September, and sales hasn't looked back since. Got dropped by a big supplier, which caused a huge drop in revenue, but now I'm back up to a consistent 70k/month (or more than $800,000 annually, if you hate math). About to enter negotiation with Neutrogena for direct wholesale pricing from them, kind of nervous but this is my next big step, I have to overcome it. I'll probably have some help with me during negotiation. Instead of hiring a consultant, which is more cost effective in my opinion, I've decided to hire a full time CEO that will directly assist me with expansion (more on that later). All this sounds fancy, but in reality it's just simple business decisions. I need help, I need competent and experienced help, someone who is more fit, better equipped to run a business than I. I've had a couple people in mind. One guy who is a little expensive, but has worlds of experience and connections (this guy comes at a 6 figs price tag, minimum). The other is my business banker, very savvy and smart young guy. He has what it takes, but does not offer nearly the experience the first guy is. But he comes at 2/3 the cost. Decision decision decision... Mmmm...
My next objective is to expand into toys/electronics, really thinking about it. I'm ready to make a large purchase if the price is right, probably will import them from China. I've sent a guy to Guang Dong (or Guang Zhou or something like that, sorry Chinese folks) to check out a few manufacturers, hopefully he'll bring back some good news. Anyone has experience with this? I'd appreciate some pointers. Originally I wanted to hire a broker for a pain-free importing process, but my CEO-To-Be assured me that he has the capabilities to handle it himself without having to go through a broker. That'd be a nice saving that'd help my bottom line, if he can pull it off.
I'm so behind with my book keeping for this tax season, it's not even funny. I'm actually a little scared that I might fuck something up, since I'm trying to do everything myself. Hopefully the Feds won't come knocking on my door any time soon :D
My goal for 2012 is simple, and attainable: Pass $1million in revenue. Move to a bigger warehouse/office. Hire more people, and give more. I was an active philanthropist before (mainly getting involved with charity events in my home country, Vietnam), but work has me too occupied and I've not had the time to pay attention to it.
Of course, as busy as this gets, I'd always try to get a few sneak peeks at tl.net, check up on progaming news, etc... I think I'm a tl.net member for life, no matter what I do 
Back to work now, wish me luck!
  
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Wow someone sounds ambitious. Dont have any experience in the field my self. But try to be confident your obviously have done a good job so far. So keep on doing what your doing. gl :D
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Wow it's wonderful that it seems like you're really breaking through in business and hopefully will have a really stable operation (I only say that because my impression of entrepreneurial projects is that a sizable majority end up failing).
The CEO decision sounds hard because it looks like the only difference between them is the experience and the contacts, two things nearly impossible to accurately quantify. I suppose it comes down to your gut feeling on them and whether you want to be more aggressive or conservative. Hats off for being willing to make these kinds of choices, I don't think I could get into business at all.
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Good job man. I have some experience both in distribution, but also as an employee of one of the companies you are working with. I hope it all works out for you. Where are you out of?
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Congrats! The first million is the hardest. Glad your hard work has paid off.
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what exactly is it that you do/own? are you like a middle-man type that gets products from industry and then sells them?
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On February 12 2012 12:40 Roe wrote:
what exactly is it that you do/own? are you like a middle-man type that gets products from industry and then sells them?
I believe he sells beauty products on Amazon.
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On February 12 2012 12:40 Roe wrote:
what exactly is it that you do/own? are you like a middle-man type that gets products from industry and then sells them?
I believe the correct term that describes my business is: "online retailer"
@Primadog: Thank you, it's harder than hard work, believe you me that's why it feels so much more rewarding.
@TheAmazombie: Thank you, much appreciated. I base out of CA, but I may move my warehouse to TX or somewhere on the East Coast, since like 90% of my customers are from there.
@jubil: yes I know, and their compensation takes a sizable chunk out of my profit, but I strongly believe it's a worthy investment, if I get the right person.
@thedeadhaji: cool, will look him up, thanks for the recommendation
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I remember your first blog a while ago, I hoped then that your business would continue to grow and I am very happy to hear that your hard work is still paying off!
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Congratulations. If you've made it this far and dedicated (which you obviously are), it won't be too long before you're looking at even higher goals.
As far as sending someone to China, I hope he has a backbone. Those guys are extremely good at negotiating. I still shiver everytime I think about my experiences with them. Have you looked into parterning with other retailers on Amazon or online retailers? You can save a lot of money by extremely large bulk orders and combined shipping from overseas, provided you're willing to trust other people and deal with a bit more hassel. With the volume you're dealing with, it looks like you'd be aware of this; but it seems this is the first time you're dealing with foreign manufacturers?
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Ah TL, people from all walks of life. Good luck reaching that first million!
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Be careful about sourcing supplies from China. Make sure you can verify their quality all the time.
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On February 12 2012 13:30 jacosajh wrote:
Congratulations. If you've made it this far and dedicated (which you obviously are), it won't be too long before you're looking at even higher goals.
As far as sending someone to China, I hope he has a backbone. Those guys are extremely good at negotiating. I still shiver everytime I think about my experiences with them. Have you looked into parterning with other retailers on Amazon or online retailers? You can save a lot of money by extremely large bulk orders and combined shipping from overseas, provided you're willing to trust other people and deal with a bit more hassel. With the volume you're dealing with, it looks like you'd be aware of this; but it seems this is the first time you're dealing with foreign manufacturers?
You are very right about the Chinese being masters of negotiation Well, the way I thought about that is: I have a price in mind that I'm willing to buy, and won't go any higher. So if I get it at that price, great! If I can get it lower, even better! Should be a win-win situation for both parties if both know exactly what they want.
As far as partnering with other retailers on Amazon, not sure if it's a good idea, since I'm directly in competition with them, would be kind of difficult to team up, I'd think? That is a good suggestion though, that I could probably try with local businesses or something. Yeah, this will be the first time I'm importing goods from overseas, but I have hired experienced people in this field to assist me with the process, so it's not "that" scary.
@Ciryandor: Agreed, will be super careful with that one.
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lol, are you the same guy as the one who posted this some time ago?
On September 21 2011 22:55 Sky101 wrote:
At roughly 3 pm Pacific Standard Time on September 20th, 2011, my status went from New Merchant to Featured Merchant.
I've been selling cosmetics, fragrances, and beauty/health-care products on Amazon for several months now. Looking back, I'm quite proud of everything that I've done to lead my store to be featured today. Many many 2-hours sleep nights, and days where I only have time for 1 single meal (dinner). I literally poured in all my time, energy, effort into this business. And finally it's starting to pay off.
Before yesterday, I was doing on average maybe 15-20 orders a day.
From 3pm to 11:59pm yesterday, there were 60 orders, for a total of 75 orders for the day.
Many people already told me of how becoming a Featured Merchant would bring in so much more business. I didn't know it's THIS much more. I'm currently overwhelmed, with joy and happiness, but also physically. I'm thinking it's probably time to hire more people. I'm currently hiring 1 part time employee to help me with generally everything. But that won't be enough for the coming days ahead, especially with the holiday season approaching.
I've been making very very good money even with the New Merchant status. At this rate I'm hoping to be a millionaire in several years. A man can dream <3
September 20th, 2011 will mark a major milestone in my life.
Congrats on your success man! Work hard and it pays off!
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Austin10831 Posts
Congrats, Sky. Always nice to see TL members do well.
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Awesome that you are out there getting what you want.
So was it worth all the hard work? Do you feel like a better person now?
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I think you are wasting your money on a CEO.
How much of that revenue is profit?
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
This is really awesome
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always good to see another vietnamese do well
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EPT
