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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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United States3921 Posts
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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Austin10833 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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Wow, and you started from scratch?
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great work man I hope your buisness will stay on a good course. Maybe I am too defensive but if I were in your position I would consider to not expand wildly now and try to stablelize the current situation, which you seem to have quite a lot of work with allready ^^ , so maybe see how your buisness works for the next year, build up some money in your bank get good employees and than see how you can expand.
But that's just me and I wish you the best in your endeavours
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Awesome stuff, best of luck to you for the next few months and definitely celebrate that $1m!
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Gogo become a mirrionaire!
If you make 1mil in revenue how does that translate into profit for your company?
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On February 12 2012 19:12 icydergosu wrote:
I think you are wasting your money on a CEO.
How much of that revenue is profit?
Currently, roughly 30-35% of that is profit. I'm probably going to end up paying him $100,000, which is roughly a 3rd of my profit. But if he can assist with my expansion, he's going to bring in more money than what I'm spending on him. Plus I have someone to share my workload, and guide me on the right path. So, no, it's not really a waste, if you think farther ahead. If I intend to stay at my current revenue, yeah, he'd probably be too expensive.
@Wohmfg: Hmm, to be honest, I feel the same. More headaches (seriously I'm taking a lot of Advil/Tylenol now more than before), always having a sense of urgency, like I'm being pulled in so many different directions, no time for any leisure activities (though, one can argue that making money is a fun activity in itself). I do feel good though, but I'm always in a worried state, it's annoying sometimes. Plus my mood has come from happy-go-lucky to intense, serious, and generally hard to get along with (especially if I'm behind on something). I think I need to spend time learning Yoga or work out to relieve stress or something.
@Kukaracha: Yes, I started with 2 empty hands. Well, I had like $10,000 left over money from all of my previous business ventures (that failed :D) but that was pretty much my entire starting capital.
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I think the only thing you don't want to have is the mentality of hiring someone for business admin. because you don't think you can do the job. Unless it's creative, as the boss you should be able to do anything you hire someone else to do. Otherwise, how are you gonna manage this employee and get max productivity out of them?
Some people you can bring on short term to learn from them and acquire their skillset but I definitely think you should look to improve your own skills using this CEO and then get rid of him down the road or bring him on as a partner so he has a bigger incentive to grow the company.
Otherwise, if this guy really is that much better at doing business than you, what's to stop him from learning your operation, contacts, and methods, and then starting up his own version to compete with you?
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On February 13 2012 20:38 StorkHwaiting wrote:
I think the only thing you don't want to have is the mentality of hiring someone for business admin. because you don't think you can do the job. Unless it's creative, as the boss you should be able to do anything you hire someone else to do. Otherwise, how are you gonna manage this employee and get max productivity out of them?
Some people you can bring on short term to learn from them and acquire their skillset but I definitely think you should look to improve your own skills using this CEO and then get rid of him down the road or bring him on as a partner so he has a bigger incentive to grow the company.
Otherwise, if this guy really is that much better at doing business than you, what's to stop him from learning your operation, contacts, and methods, and then starting up his own version to compete with you?
A guarenteed 100k paycheck?
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On February 13 2012 21:11 zalz wrote:Show nested quote +On February 13 2012 20:38 StorkHwaiting wrote:
I think the only thing you don't want to have is the mentality of hiring someone for business admin. because you don't think you can do the job. Unless it's creative, as the boss you should be able to do anything you hire someone else to do. Otherwise, how are you gonna manage this employee and get max productivity out of them?
Some people you can bring on short term to learn from them and acquire their skillset but I definitely think you should look to improve your own skills using this CEO and then get rid of him down the road or bring him on as a partner so he has a bigger incentive to grow the company.
Otherwise, if this guy really is that much better at doing business than you, what's to stop him from learning your operation, contacts, and methods, and then starting up his own version to compete with you? A guarenteed 100k paycheck?
That's really not much in the business world, especially if a guy is that skilled and experienced. Plus, the mere fact that you are an employee rather than a shareholder is a huge factor. Everyone wants to be on the equity side of the equation.
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Congrats!
You should do a blog about how you got to where you are now, with all the past failures and stuff. Would be interesting and inspiring, I'd imagine
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On February 13 2012 20:38 StorkHwaiting wrote:
I think the only thing you don't want to have is the mentality of hiring someone for business admin. because you don't think you can do the job. Unless it's creative, as the boss you should be able to do anything you hire someone else to do. Otherwise, how are you gonna manage this employee and get max productivity out of them?
Some people you can bring on short term to learn from them and acquire their skillset but I definitely think you should look to improve your own skills using this CEO and then get rid of him down the road or bring him on as a partner so he has a bigger incentive to grow the company.
Otherwise, if this guy really is that much better at doing business than you, what's to stop him from learning your operation, contacts, and methods, and then starting up his own version to compete with you?
Good point StorkHwaiting, that's exactly what my plan is, to acquire as much skills and knowledge as I can from him while inviting him on as my partner down the road. He expressed his desire to be my partner a while ago, so this should be easy.
You're absolutely correct in the possibility of him starting a competing business with me. There are things that I can do, precautions that I can take, to make sure this doesn't happen. Anyway, all your points are valid, and I've considered them all before, but thanks for the reminder Will be helpful to always have that in mind.
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EPT
