How I Started A Million Dollar Business From My Mom's Basement

Summary

Steve Salazar shares his entrepreneurial journey of building a seven-figure business from his college dorm room, which later moved to his parents' basement and then into warehouses. Initially selling music and merchandise, he pivoted to e-commerce, leveraging his family's reading glasses business. After facing challenges with eBay's algorithm and supplier issues, he discovered a niche product and scaled the business using Instagram marketing. Eventually, they transitioned to their own website, grew their revenue, and sold the business, achieving financial freedom.

Takeaways

• 🎵 Steve Salazar started his entrepreneurial journey in college, initially selling his music and merchandise.
• 🎓 Despite his friends' excitement about college, Steve felt depressed about following a traditional path and was determined to avoid the 9-to-5 grind.
• 💼 Steve transitioned from music to e-commerce, leveraging his experience selling items on eBay and Amazon.
• 👓 His first major e-commerce success came from selling reading glasses from his family's kiosk on eBay, scaling it to $20,000-$30,000 per month.
• 📉 The business faced challenges when eBay changed its algorithm, and some suppliers went under, forcing Steve to pivot and try selling new products.
• 📸 Steve boosted his sales by using unique 'hero images' for his product listings, which helped them stand out on eBay.
• 🏠 After college, Steve and his brother moved back into their mom's house and transformed it into a warehouse, eventually upgrading to a dedicated warehouse space.
• 📈 The business grew to $50,000-$60,000 in monthly revenue, but hit a plateau until Steve started using Instagram to drive traffic, eventually reaching a million followers.
• 🛍️ To reduce eBay fees, they built a standalone website, which helped them maintain and grow their revenue across multiple platforms.
• 🎉 After achieving $1 million in annual revenue, Steve and his brother sold the business, which gave them the freedom to pursue other interests.

Q & A

What was Steve Salazar's initial motivation for starting his own business?

Steve Salazar was initially motivated to start his own business to avoid the traditional path of going to college, getting an internship, and then working a nine-to-five job, which he felt would be unfulfilling.

How did Steve Salazar's music career influence his entrepreneurial journey?

Steve's music career, where he sold songs on iTunes, t-shirts, CDs, and other merchandise, provided him with initial revenue and the experience of marketing and selling products, which he later applied to his e-commerce venture.

What was the first product Steve Salazar sold on eBay, and how did he source it?

The first product Steve Salazar sold on eBay was reading glasses, sourced from his family's kiosk at the Mall of America.

How did Steve and his brother John grow their eBay store's sales?

Steve and John grew their eBay store's sales by listing more reading glasses, sunglasses, and accessories, eventually expanding to around 500 or 600 listings, which led to a significant increase in monthly sales.

What challenges did Steve Salazar face when his eBay business started to decline?

Steve faced two main challenges: eBay changed their algorithm, which negatively affected his listings' visibility, and some of his main suppliers went out of business, leaving him without a source for some products.

What strategy did Steve Salazar use to find a new product niche after facing challenges with his eBay store?

Steve used a strategy of deep-diving into eBay and Amazon's product categories to find a niche where he could build 1000 listings and potentially dominate the market.

How did Steve Salazar leverage Instagram to grow his business?

Steve started an Instagram page for his business, initially posting poor-quality pictures. He then invested in shoutouts from larger Instagram accounts, which helped him gain followers and drive traffic to his eBay store.

Why did Steve Salazar decide to create a standalone website for his business?

Steve decided to create a standalone website to stop paying eBay's 10-15% commission on sales and to have more control over his business's online presence.

What was the impact of having a standalone website on Steve Salazar's eBay sales?

Surprisingly, Steve found that his eBay sales did not decrease significantly after redirecting traffic to his website. The external traffic from Instagram had improved his listings' search ranking on eBay.

How did Steve Salazar ultimately exit his business, and what was the outcome?

Steve and his brother decided to sell their business to another company that sold similar products. After months of negotiation, they reached an agreement that provided them with financial freedom to pursue other interests.