Hey everyone, I read MLF back in 2015 and it fundamentally changed my thinking and motivated me to come up with a plan to finally leave my corporate job. Two years later my business is now doing over $150k/mo in sales.
Here's my story
When I was in high school I started dabbling with selling misc tools and other items I found in my father's industrial hardware store on eBay. I ended up finding a fairly profitable niche on items and they started selling well. So well that my sales attracted the attention of the manufacturer (I was undercutting them on eBay). They quickly put a stop to it. I had the opportunity to attended a trade show with my father and we found some good closetout deals to sell in his store. I mentioned that some of them might sell well online as well. When I graduated from High School, my father gave me a very unique graduation gift...
One day I came home and the UPS driver pulled up and started unloading a large amount of boxes. I asked my dad what all of these boxes were for and he said it was my graduation present. The 36 boxes contained 500 pairs of bucket boss work pants. Pretty strange, however the margins were good and they sold well. It took me a while to sell them all, I was even fulfilling orders out of my dorm room for most of my freshman year at college. Those work pants ended up paying for a good portion of my first year's tuition.
Throughout college I purchased and flipped a house and continued to sell misc closeout items on ebay. I made pretty good money for a college kid but nothing to make me consider going full time with it after school. Selling closeouts on ebay is a tough game as sourcing can take a lot of time and once they are gone they are gone.
I keep thinking about the niche I had in high school that was very profitable but the mfgr put a stop to. Well the company was having these built in China and simply private labeling them. I went on Alibaba and found a company that was making a similar item, and I figured I could just create my own brand and sell them myself. I got a quote for a sample, but I was too scared to spend the money to get one shipped (very heavy item). I knew it would be successful but kept making excuses on why I shouldn't. This was back in 2007 and I would have make a killing. Lesson learned.
Once I graduated and got a real job, I GOT COMFORTABLE. I started making okay money and liked not having to work at night dealing with the ebay stuff. After my first 2 years of working, I got bored and started to brainstorm different business, but nothing really sparked me. I ended up moving companies and taking a position at a Fortune 100 company a making good money and got REALLY COMFORTABLE.
After about 5 years, I read the MFL and it gave me the kick in the a$$ I needed. I decided I was going to quit wasting my free time playing video games and start spending it developing myself so I can one day gain my own financial freedom.
Over the next 6 months I spent a lot of time reading and researching business ideas. I read a reddit post about a guy who was crushing it with private label FBA and I really consumed myself with learning everything FBA (I did not buy any of those ridiculous courses, all the info you need can be found for free). I found an item that was selling pretty well and found a supplier that could make it. I didn't pursue it because I felt the niche wouldn't be big enough (boy was I wrong!).
Several months passed and I found out my wife was pregnant with our second child. We were making good money but our daycare costs are very high so if we wanted to maintain our same lifestyle I would have to bring in an extra $900/mo. I went back to the one lead I had on a product and said screw it, I might as well try it out even if I only make a few hundred a month.
I ordered samples and pulled the trigger on the order. I launched several different variants of the product at the same time. My first sale was in July 2016 and sales picked up quickly. By August I was scrambling to place another. In December I was making the same as I was at my corporate job, but I refused to take money out of the business and kept reinvesting it in inventory and sku expansion. By Spring of 2017, I could not keep up with both my corporate job and the business and I knew my job was holding me back. I was working 8am to 5pm and then once the kids went to bed, I fulfilled orders from the garage until 10pm. I didn't have any time to work on the business (just in it) and I was getting burned out so I quit my job in May of 2017, at the time I was doing $50k/mo in revenue. By August I was at $100k/mo and last month I did $160k.
Currently I am working on growing the business I have 2 employees (I probably need to hire about 3 more}. My family and the business will be moving down to Phoenix, AZ in July/August to be closer to family and to escape the cold winters. We live in North Dakota now (not recommended).
If there's interest, I plan on documenting some of the info I discovered on my journey while I grew my business so I can give back and add value to the community. Thanks for reading and I look forward to meeting everyone!
Here's my story
When I was in high school I started dabbling with selling misc tools and other items I found in my father's industrial hardware store on eBay. I ended up finding a fairly profitable niche on items and they started selling well. So well that my sales attracted the attention of the manufacturer (I was undercutting them on eBay). They quickly put a stop to it. I had the opportunity to attended a trade show with my father and we found some good closetout deals to sell in his store. I mentioned that some of them might sell well online as well. When I graduated from High School, my father gave me a very unique graduation gift...
One day I came home and the UPS driver pulled up and started unloading a large amount of boxes. I asked my dad what all of these boxes were for and he said it was my graduation present. The 36 boxes contained 500 pairs of bucket boss work pants. Pretty strange, however the margins were good and they sold well. It took me a while to sell them all, I was even fulfilling orders out of my dorm room for most of my freshman year at college. Those work pants ended up paying for a good portion of my first year's tuition.
Throughout college I purchased and flipped a house and continued to sell misc closeout items on ebay. I made pretty good money for a college kid but nothing to make me consider going full time with it after school. Selling closeouts on ebay is a tough game as sourcing can take a lot of time and once they are gone they are gone.
I keep thinking about the niche I had in high school that was very profitable but the mfgr put a stop to. Well the company was having these built in China and simply private labeling them. I went on Alibaba and found a company that was making a similar item, and I figured I could just create my own brand and sell them myself. I got a quote for a sample, but I was too scared to spend the money to get one shipped (very heavy item). I knew it would be successful but kept making excuses on why I shouldn't. This was back in 2007 and I would have make a killing. Lesson learned.
Once I graduated and got a real job, I GOT COMFORTABLE. I started making okay money and liked not having to work at night dealing with the ebay stuff. After my first 2 years of working, I got bored and started to brainstorm different business, but nothing really sparked me. I ended up moving companies and taking a position at a Fortune 100 company a making good money and got REALLY COMFORTABLE.
After about 5 years, I read the MFL and it gave me the kick in the a$$ I needed. I decided I was going to quit wasting my free time playing video games and start spending it developing myself so I can one day gain my own financial freedom.
Over the next 6 months I spent a lot of time reading and researching business ideas. I read a reddit post about a guy who was crushing it with private label FBA and I really consumed myself with learning everything FBA (I did not buy any of those ridiculous courses, all the info you need can be found for free). I found an item that was selling pretty well and found a supplier that could make it. I didn't pursue it because I felt the niche wouldn't be big enough (boy was I wrong!).
Several months passed and I found out my wife was pregnant with our second child. We were making good money but our daycare costs are very high so if we wanted to maintain our same lifestyle I would have to bring in an extra $900/mo. I went back to the one lead I had on a product and said screw it, I might as well try it out even if I only make a few hundred a month.
I ordered samples and pulled the trigger on the order. I launched several different variants of the product at the same time. My first sale was in July 2016 and sales picked up quickly. By August I was scrambling to place another. In December I was making the same as I was at my corporate job, but I refused to take money out of the business and kept reinvesting it in inventory and sku expansion. By Spring of 2017, I could not keep up with both my corporate job and the business and I knew my job was holding me back. I was working 8am to 5pm and then once the kids went to bed, I fulfilled orders from the garage until 10pm. I didn't have any time to work on the business (just in it) and I was getting burned out so I quit my job in May of 2017, at the time I was doing $50k/mo in revenue. By August I was at $100k/mo and last month I did $160k.
Currently I am working on growing the business I have 2 employees (I probably need to hire about 3 more}. My family and the business will be moving down to Phoenix, AZ in July/August to be closer to family and to escape the cold winters. We live in North Dakota now (not recommended).
If there's interest, I plan on documenting some of the info I discovered on my journey while I grew my business so I can give back and add value to the community. Thanks for reading and I look forward to meeting everyone!
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