How I built a $200,000 side hustle in 1 year while working full-time

Summary

The speaker shares their journey of building a successful Amazon FBA business from scratch, scaling it to over $200,000 in revenue within a year while working full-time. They discuss various strategies like online and retail arbitrage, private labeling, and the importance of consistency, adaptability, and networking. The speaker also outlines their plan to scale to a million-dollar business by focusing on wholesale and brand direct strategies, leveraging business credit for capital, and sharing lessons learned along the way.

Takeaways

• 🚀 The speaker built a business from scratch to over 200,000 in revenue in one year while working full-time, with a goal to fund a European family trip.
• 🛍️ They discovered the Amazon FBA reselling business model through a Facebook group focused on travel hacking and YouTube research.
• 🔍 Amazon FBA strategies include online arbitrage, retail arbitrage, wholesale, brand direct, and private label, each with its own learning curve.
• 🤰 The speaker started their Amazon journey while pregnant, quickly setting up a business and learning to source products for resale.
• 📈 Initial months showed growth in revenue and profit, but also highlighted the time-consuming nature of retail arbitrage and the need for efficiency improvements.
• 🛑 A shift to online arbitrage using software like Kipa Product Finder allowed the business to scale without the need for physical store visits.
• 📊 The business saw significant revenue and profit growth, especially during the holiday season, leading to over 200,000 in revenue for the year.
• 💼 The speaker learned the importance of consistency, adaptability, and the impact of seasonality on business performance.
• 🔄 Networking and connecting with others in the same business provided opportunities and reinforced the viability of the business model.
• 📈 In 2024, the speaker aimed to further scale the business to a million dollars in revenue by transitioning to wholesale and brand direct strategies.
• 💡 The use of business credit cards and leveraging promotional periods provided capital for business growth without significant personal investment.

Q & A

What was the initial goal that motivated the speaker to start their business?

The speaker's initial goal was to take their family, including parents, grandma, and aunts, on a European trip since they had never been before.

How did the speaker get the idea to start a business related to travel hacking?

The speaker got the idea from a Facebook group called '10x travel,' where people shared tips and advice on travel hacking, and noticed the potential of generating income through business expenses.

What are the different strategies involved in Amazon FBA reselling mentioned in the script?

The strategies mentioned are Online Arbitrage, Retail Arbitrage, Wholesale, Brand Direct, and Private Label.

What challenges did the speaker face while starting their Amazon FBA business?

The speaker faced challenges such as being pregnant and in the third trimester, learning how to set up a business, and managing logistics and finances all within a short timeframe.

How did the speaker manage to ship their first box of products to Amazon on the day they went into labor?

The speaker had prepared and shipped their first box of products using a scanning app called Sellagram, which helped in finding profitable products to resell.

What was the speaker's revenue and profit in their first month of retail arbitrage?

In their first month of retail arbitrage, the speaker generated a little over $1,000 in revenue but only $125 in profit.

How did the speaker adapt their business strategy to improve efficiency?

The speaker adapted by transitioning from Retail Arbitrage to Online Arbitrage, using software like Kipa Product Finder to find winning products to buy and resell from home.

What was the impact of the Black Friday and Christmas season on the speaker's business revenue?

During the 30-day period between November 19 and December 19, coinciding with Black Friday and Christmas, the speaker brought in about $51,000 in revenue with a profit of $11,600.

What lessons did the speaker learn about owning a business from their first year of running the Amazon FBA business?

The speaker learned the importance of consistency, adaptability, understanding seasonality, and the value of networking in owning a business.

What is the speaker's plan for scaling their business to a million dollars in revenue annually?

The speaker plans to transition to Wholesale and Brand Direct strategies, leverage the work of virtual assistants, and continue to improve business efficiency to reduce the time spent on sourcing.

How did the speaker utilize business credit cards to scale their business without using much of their own capital?

The speaker opened multiple business credit cards and leveraged their promotional offers, such as 0% APR for 12 to 15 months, effectively providing a loan-like capital that didn't need to be paid off until the end of the promotional period.