IS ENTREPRENEURIAL FREEDOM BULL$#@T?

The E-Myth, by Michael Gerber was a book that first described people who wanted to be their own boss and start their own business as someone who was struck by an “entrepreneurial seizure”. And not in a good way. In fact the truth is about the opposite of what those caught up in the seizure expect.

The point made by Mr. Gerber is the illusion that working for yourself somehow provides you freedom is an absolute fallacy. Furthermore; he’s right.

The idea that being your own boss means you set the rules as an entrepreneur is equal parts wishful thinking and flat out wrong. Instead of you being your own boss every one of your customers is your new boss. And they don’t pay overtime. Additionally customers are King so if they decide your work is not good enough, even after you have done your best, they won’t pay you. At least the boss has to pay you even if your work is below some arbitrary standard.

The point is that while the concept of having your own business is attractive there is so much that goes into it in terms of sweat equity most owners of small businesses are lucky if they make minimum wage for the first few years. Most small businesses fail in the first 5 years because they don’t prepare the business to grow in a sustainable way and be able to operate without them in the long run.

DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS

Maybe you want to be a pie maker and operate your own bakery. Or maybe you want to run your own carpet cleaning company or pest control business. Or perhaps you don't know what you want - but you want something different than what you have now. You know there is something more for you out there.

If you are setting up a retail business you have tons of fixed overhead long hours and all of the related responsibilities. If you are setting up a service business essentially selling your time and skills; you are out of business when you are on vacation until you hire more people.

THE E-COMMERCE MIRAGE

 A number of years ago the concept of e-commerce started to reach the mainstream and people saw some immediate benefits of running an e-commerce company. Many e-commerce companies set themselves up as retailers offering drop ship services to avoid big stock positions. Having low overhead and high potential for selling every way was very attractive, however,  these became more and more commoditized and harder to gain entry in over the past few years because so many people are selling the same stuff.

It was perceived by many that since it was a technology based business the location of the business was less important than it was compared to retail or manufacturing. And that is absolutely right and remains a strength of e-commerce selling.

Secondly the costs of e-commerce “out of the box” software pricing has come down so much that the upfront development costs have become essentially moot. Once you’ve picked a good platform the ongoing costs are a nice little predictable monthly fee vs. the old days of having a bunch of developers, servers and headaches. This is a huge positive.

I run www.kyasi.com for $29.00 per month and they keep making the platform better every month! (We've sold this brand since this article was first published.)

Still even with a solid e-commerce system you need to get customers to notice you and buy from you. This has made Google, Facebook and Twitter multi-billion dollar companies overnight because they have been the gate keepers up until just the last year or two. This has become the new barrier to entry. Getting customers to buy from you ain't cheap!

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE

The 3rd generation of e-commerce is taking shape now. The marketplace platforms offered by Amazon, Newegg, Sears, Rakuten, Walmart, Staples and many more are giving would be entrepreneurs a way to acquire & service customers without breaking the bank.

Reports have indicated that Internet searchers who have buying intent are starting their searches at Amazon.com now. And it is more than half of those that intend to buy who begin their search at Amazon. Amazon already has an estimated 244 million active customers with credit card details on account globally. Amazon Prime continues to grow and create unprecedented loyalty.

Over the last 6 months I have tested and can tell you there is a way to leverage Amazon.com to build your virtually automated business to sell private label products. I want to qualify that by saying over the long run this can be a very sound investment, but it will take a lot of work and effort to get it off the ground – just like any business. The main difference is that the starts up costs are low and therefore the risk profile is much easier to accept and to test.

HOW CAN AMAZON HELP ME?

 The idea of selling on Amazon.com is new to some, but others are aware of the Amazon marketplace. The marketplace is responsible for nearly 40% of the total transactions on Amazon and it continues to expand. To say that the marketplace is an integral part of the Amazon strategy is an understatement. It is not going away. It is growing. 

The key components of what it takes for a successful Amazon business are below:

• Your own private label product – This is a critical component. If you sell the same product everyone else has access to you will be fighting for razor thin margins and ultimately will not succeed. (YES EVEN YOU CAN DO THIS!)

• A tried and true method to develop and source your product – Having your own brand of product is easier than people think. However, understanding how to select a product and then source it is something that needs to be well understood. (IT'S NOT AS HARD AS YOU THINK.)

• How to kickstart the product on Amazon – This last piece is the component that will determine if you succeed or fail. Amazon, like any other search engine, can be optimized to show your product and reward your company with sales. (THIS IS THE SECRET SAUCE.)

For years all of the learning that went into starting your own brand, establishing manufacturing or sources relationships, setting up your own e-commerce platform, hiring people and managing technology has been an impossible challenge for most people to overcome. It became the barrier to entry and remains a barrier for most. Even today if you fail at achieving all 3 items above you will have almost no chance of success.

However, about 6 months ago I found a solution that taught a step-by-step formula on how to start from square one to your launch on Amazon in just 8 weeks and learn the most vital ways to overcome the 3 issues above.

Each and every week there are specific tasks that were smartly organized to teach the fledgling entrepreneurs how to build their business step by step that leverages Amazon.

REAL RESULTS

Today there are countless examples of graduates of the program that are generating $5,000, $25,000, $100,000 and even over $1 million per month in sales on Amazon in their own private label business. Imagine being able to have a million dollar business while Amazon does most of the work. After joining in October of last year this month my combined Amazon sales will pass $50,000 this month and are growing steadily. There are others who are doing even better. Best of all there is WAY more to come.

 * Graphic shows real sales of a real graduate of the program. There are many many more examples like this one.

What do I mean by Amazon does most of the work? Amazon sells it, collects the money, ships it and manages the returns and inventory and will deposit your net proceeds(after Amazon variable costs) every couple weeks into your account.

Although like any business there is considerable work to make a business truly succeed the ability to have variable costs that scale in a positive way is undeniably attractive. When you are on vacation everything continues to operate without you physically having to be there. Best of all when you are working on it - it doesn't feel like work. It feels exciting and your energy is renewed as you reach milestones along the way.

There are endless examples of selling hundreds of units in just a few hours and enjoying the fruits of that labor while the Amazon warehouses leap into action and deliver world class execution. There are also many examples of offering products in 28 countries with FREE 2 ground service for Amazon Prime members and all you had to do was put a little inventory in Europe, Canada and the USA.

DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE?

I would highly recommend this business model to anyone considering starting his or her own company to look at this solution first. People are changing their fortunes everyday using this system and there is no doubt that it works. It has worked for me and I have watched it work for others.

Imagine going on vacation for weeks at a time without having to worry about your business. Imagine having resources in place to help you with your business everyday with a low variable cost. Imagine being able to sell products world wide at a profit and grow to become truly free. I have done all of the above and you can too.

The world needs more entrepreneurs and would love to welcome you to this elite club!

To learn more check out www.startsolid.com where we share free tips and tricks for entrepreneurs around the world.