Al's Business Journal

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of building momentum by making incremental steps forward when starting a business. Now I’m seriously considering contradicting myself just one day later.

I read through a couple of interviews in Proven eBay Course with two separate entrepreneurs who started successful businesses selling test strips on eBay. In both cases, they were able to automate the business from a very early stage. They don’t touch the money, the product, meet the suppliers – in fact, I’m a little confused about what exactly they do! However, the bottom line is very clear; they both are making money selling test strips with very little on-hands management.

Now, I’m starting to think that the best way to start a business is to jump in wholeheartedly and build an automated system from the get-go. However, as opposed to taking small steps forward like I wrote about yesterday, this approach seems to require bigger leaps and bolder planning up front.

On one hand, you could really immerse youreslf into the business and take small steps forward by doing everything (advertising, sourcing, selling, shipping, etc). On the other hand, you could immerse yourself in building the strategy behind your business and get other people or businesses to actually do the work. I’m starting to think the bigger, bolder, and automated model would not only be more rewarding financially and educationally, but also more sustainable and repeatable in the future.

I haven’t completely made up my mind one way or the other yet, but I can’t wait to look back on this question in the future once the answer is well in hand.

Finished
* Read the interview transcript with Jim Cockrum and Kevin Johnson
* Read the interview transcript with Jim Cockrum and Ben Mannino

Next Steps
* Read the “Best Match Made Simple” eBook by Doug Feiring
* Read “Selling on the River” by Steve Lindhorst
* Start advertising for test strips

Questions
* Should I start small by doing things myself, or start big by automating things now?

Sometimes the hardest thing to do when starting a business is actually taking the first step to just do SOMETHING. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the enormous amounts of information coming at you, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll start to over analyze every little decision. This can certainly lead to “analysis paralysis”, which is sometimes leads to not doing anything at all. The easiest way to overcome this affliction is to just take a small step forward.

Today I took my first small step. Although I still haven’t quite decided to focus on eBay or Amazon, I scoured through the toys and books sections of two thrift stores today in hopes of finding a good deal that could be sold on either site. Utilizing my iPhone scanning app (Profit Bandit), I found three toys selling for around $6 each, but are fetching over $40 each on Amazon and eBay. I realize that this isn’t going help me pay a bill this month or put food on the table, but it’s a small step in the right direction.

Finally, I’m starting to realize that this journal needs to have some structure. Otherwise, I’ll run the risk of babbling without any real purpose of usefulness in the future. Not only is this journal supposed to capture my thoughts, feelings and accomplishments as I start this business, but hopefully it will also serve as a useful resource for someone else in the future. In an effort to add some clarity to my journal, I will add three sections to every post: (1) Finished (2) Next Steps (3) Questions.

Finished
* Bought Profit Bandit for iPhone to scan products for Amazon pricing.
* Looked for books and toys at the Salvation Army and the thrift stores.
* Bought 3 toys to be sold on eBay.

Next Steps
* List toys on eBay for sell.
* Finish reading Proven Amazon and eBay Course materials.
* Understand the criteria for selling on Amazon, including Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA).
* Place an add on Craigslist for test strips.
* Create Golf Starters eBook and squeeze page.

Questions
* Should I use FBA to sell golf sets on Amazon?
* If I start with test strips in Virginia, what do I do when I move to Pennsylvania where it’s too competitive?
* What is the best way to make at least $3000 per month profit in 8 weeks?

As with any new job, the first week is all about consuming as much information as possible to establish a solid foundation upon which to build. Much of my day was spent reviewing webinars, forums and eBooks about selling on eBay and Amazon.

The first place I started was with the area I love most – analytics. As a classically trained marketer / brand manager, I hold a special place in my heart for analyzing business metrics and using the “nums” to make sound business decisions. I introduced myself to Terapeak today and simply explored the hot categories and sellers on eBay. I familiarized myself with the golf segment and noticed that the other sellers who feature the same products that I do tend to get a lot higher sell through rates. The next step for me is to figure out why!

I also read quite a bit about how to source products to sell on eBay. It took me a couple hours to go through approximately 25 suggestions and take relevant notes. Over half of the ideas I just couldn’t see myself trying, but there were several that were completely new to me and seemed exciting enough to pursue.

The only problem is that after reading through everything pertaining to eBay, I moved forward with trying to understand how to start an online business from scratch through Amazon. I began getting very excited about the idea of using the Fulfillment by Amazon service to not only enhance The Golf Starters, but also to start anew with new niches that I could start working on immediately. So essentially, I’ve confused myself – do I want to start on eBay or Amazon?

The benefits of starting on eBay are relatively well documented: easy to source products locally and start selling today. Beginning an Amazon fulfillment business, however, seems a little more complicated on the surface.

To get started on Amazon on the right path, it seems I would need to invest a little more money up front. It appears that I need to buy a scanner, subscribe to data service for that scanner, and subscribe to services to help categorize and price my products for Amazon. Admittedly, the initial investment of $300 – $500 seems relatively small in the overall scheme of things. However, after investing a huge chunk of change in this coaching program with no real results to show just yet, this “little” investment forces me to pause and evaluate my options again.

Sell my widget on eBay, or gadget on Amazon? My gut tells me to go with Amazon. My lifestyle is quite transient and it would be much easier to simply send my products to Amazon and have their fulfillment service manage my sales and customer service. I would be able to move about the country freely and not worry about putting my business on hold when I’m out of town or out of the country.

With an eBay business selling a locally sourced widget, if I move to an area where that particular widget is in short supply or the competition is too fierce, that income stream could come to a complete halt. I need to figure out if this fear is legitimate or just my brain trying to talk itself out of a perfectly good idea.

Well, if I haven’t made a decision yet, it’s not going to happen tonight. Let’s sleep on it and get ready to gather more knowledge tomorrow.

Today marks the beginning of a new business adventure for me. I have decided to get serious in 2012 and find a way to become a successful entrepreneur online, and I took my first step by joining the Jim Cockrum Coaching program. After 8 weeks of one-on-one coaching, I intend to have a working model to generate $3000 per month in income from a single niche.

Although I started my online business (The Golf Starters) a little over a year ago, I haven’t had much success. Most of the hardships have been due to working too long and hard in the wrong areas. I started realizing in November that I needed to re-think my online strategy and probably seek some help. So here I am starting at day one, ready to meet this challenge head on.

I have met with my mentor and have read through my first week’s assignments with both eagerness and a little trepidation. Eagerness from the undeniable fact that I need to find a reliable stream of income within the next 6 months to prevent the death of my soul – going back to corporate America.

The fear comes from the fact that this coaching program is firmly arranged around the concept of selling locally sourced products through online retail sites such as eBay and Amazon. I am not completely enamored with the idea of becoming a full time “power seller”, but I do realize that any initial success found here might be just enough to launch my online career (and keep my from working 12 hour cubicle days again).

So what are the tasks this week?
1. Start a business journal to document my journey (you’re reading it now).
2. Read a ton of information about identifying hot products and ideas to sell on eBay.
3. Review a few webinars and tutorials on how to do research on eBay through Terapeak.
4. Start implementing the “Proven eBay Course” training and start sourcing a product.

These are just the tasks that I was assigned this week. I have a few of my own that I want to continue driving forward as well. These include:
1. Create an eBook for The Golf Starters for beginner golfers.
2. Update the squeeze page and Aweber account.
3. Create a Facebook fan page for The Golf Starters.
4. Contribute to forums and Facebook to start generating a following.

Whew! Just looking at the list has me trembling a bit. It’s a lot to accomplish – so I guess I’d better get started now!