Knowledge is power, and experience is priceless.
In the last six years of Amazon FBA business, I’ve learned 10 important lessons. I’ll discuss some of these strategies that will boost your sales. Believe me, these are invaluable pieces of advice that I wish I had known before I started out on this journey.
These tips will help you become an Amazon pro in no time.
10 Amazon FBA Lessons = 10 Pro Experiences
Let’s unveil the 10 most important lessons
Lesson # 01 – Revenue is not profit; cash flow is everything.
Keep in mind that revenue does not equal profit. Because money and numbers can be so misleading in the Amazon FBA business, you need to know both inside and out through an understanding of cash flow.
I personally have made $10,000,000 in sales. Let’s analyze it from a cash flow perspective. Let’s suppose.
- I invested almost $100,000 in product development.
- I added hundreds of thousands of dollars to my Amazon fee.
- An additional $10,000 was spent on shipping, packing, and handling.
- Ten grand more for PPC
- LLC costs another $10,000.
How much money do I still stand to make?
Just 5%, or almost $10,000 more, out of $10 million in revenue
And listen to the amazing part.
I put them back into the business. This is it; the $10 million fantasy is over. Your seemingly huge amount of money is actually feeding back into a never-ending cash flow loop. So, don’t let revenue alone excite you.
Let’s take a look at the cash flow management of one of our clients.
This is the cash flow management of one product in our client’s Amazon FBA business.
On Shopkeeper (Amazon cashflow management tool), it shows that:
Total revenue = £32,405,959
Total Profit = £7,778,571
Profit margin = 24%
Here comes another amazing part.
Our client wants to put this 24% profit toward the rollout of a new product. So, how much cash has the client received? As for extras for luxury life, there are none.
Lesson # 02 – Don’t compare your Amazon business with others
Comparison in Amazon FBA business is a toxic mentality.
When you hear other Amazon brand gurus in your niche boasting about how much money they are generating, recall the number one lesson. Instead, have a growing mentality – gain as much knowledge as possible from people who have achieved greater financial success than you. It’s possible that they’re up to excellent strategies for launching products, listing optimization, efficient PPC advertising, or something else, and you’re completely unaware of it.
Even more commonly, I come across businesses that just boast about revenue while also hiding the facts by not disclosing how they are mixing revenue with profit. Remember as you climb the career ladder that there will always be someone ahead of you. However, that’s not always a horrible thing to hear. The lessons they teach can be useful to you.
Lesson # 03 -People want to know what reality is.
Many bloggers and podcasters who boast about their success as Amazon sellers are actually just puffing themselves up.
Many sellers have told me that their profit margin is 60%, but I know that’s not true. After putting a lot of time and effort into a product, the highest profit you can expect to make is 20%.
So, honestly share your business journeys. If you’ve failed, talk about it like it happened to you. Offer your audience actual, learned insights. This is something I’ve always done, and I’m not saying it to boast.
So, in short, networking is another word for business. If you are sincere in your presentations, you will strike a chord with your audience. One of the main factors is that people enjoy reading straightforward facts. They are curious as to what goes on behind the scenes at this apparently great business.
Also, I found that readers stayed on those blogs for longer than average. So, share the highs and lows and the wisdom you learned. Since most people have yet to begin their entrepreneurial adventure, you will already be ahead of the game from the very beginning. I think it’s important to step back at the end of each day and assess what unfolded so you can gain clarity.
Lesson # 04 -Overcome fear and anxiety in launching products
Recently, I’ve felt a great deal of dread and fear. There is usually a lot of anxiety whenever I have to launch a new product. Conducting a large-scale survey to gauge people’s reactions to your product’s layout can shed light on its potential success in the marketplace. Even so, it will prevent you from moving forward because you plan to spend a million dollars on it.
Here are three things to remember.
- Launch a product that fulfills a real need in the market, like a soothing lotion or a preventative medicine. Learn about how to differentiate your product.
- Bring to market a product that will be in high demand.
- Learn the difference between risk and uncertainty by keeping tabs on the data.
There are good chances of success if you use the tips above. You’ll experience worry, but you’ll ultimately succeed because you’ll grow in confidence as you get an understanding of the difference between uncertainty and risk. Like jumping from a great height. You have some anxiety, but you quickly learn to control it.
Lesson # 05 -Get everything into writing
In the business world, documentation is very important.
Get all promises from your suppliers and manufacturers in writing. Ignore their assurances that you “shouldn’t be concerned. We’ll handle it anyway.” Putting all your faith in their word could end up costing you some serious money in PPC advertising. I notice this a lot among my clients.
When manufacturers’ promises don’t pan out, sellers often turn to PPC advertising in the mistaken belief that their goods will rise to the top and make sales. However, unrealistic expectations are just that—unrealistic.
So, make sure to include their statements in the follow-up email and request confirmation of them.
Lesson # 06 -Think big beyond just making money
Whether you choose to drop ship, wholesale, or use Amazon’s private label, you’re certain to make a profit, whether it’s tiny, average, or huge. Don’t act itchy. Don’t waste your money on junk products and then on PPC marketing, Amazon account management, or anything else to rank that same product. Because, in the end, people are not going to buy it. And this is reality.
Simply put, if you sell low quality products, nobody will put their faith in you in the end. Instead, sell something in which you have genuine faith and interest. When you sell a product that you are passionate about, you can access parts of your brain that would otherwise stay locked away. This way, you will sell quality. It’s the key to expanding your Amazon FBA business into new markets.
Lesson # 07 -Crowdfunding is another “profit” to launch a product
Crowdfunding is the next phase after coming up with an idea for a Passion Product.
It’s completely insane to put your nest egg (savings) on the line for an idea you’re testing. Prefer to use crowdfunding at every step of business.
Before you do that, there are numerous things you can do to help the audience realize your idea, such as creating an Instagram account, asking questions in Facebook groups, presenting your concept on a YouTube channel or podcasts and so on.
Use a crowdfunding platform like Indiegogo or Kickstarter. Along with financial backing, you’ll gain an audience’s trust in your products. In the same way, Kickstarter helped me raise $20,000. That was WOW for me!
However, keep in mind that you won’t be successful in crowdfunding unless you have a truly groundbreaking idea. Therefore, you shouldn’t risk everything on a single idea. You need to test at each phase. One approach for accomplishing this is through crowdfunding.
Lesson # 08 -The real secret of doubling sales
You have big plans to increase sales by a factor of two or three. Yes, I am aware of it. For the same reason that it is the dream of mine and every other businessperson. However, this will be impossible if you limit yourself to one or two products. After all, the profits are minimal, and the revenue is feeding a losing loop of cash flow.
Sales can be doubled or tripled just by accelerating your business – launching new products with succeeding profits. Launching a second or third product is challenging because of the potential disruption to your cash flow cycle and because it might cause excessive anxiety over the product’s performance. You’ll get a lot more out of it once you get your hands on it.
Lesson # 09 -Avoid Simple Mistakes
There are an ample number of ways in which you might waste thousands of dollars on Amazon. It may be as simple as eliminating listings or as significant as a lack of attention paid to listing optimization, PPC advertising, Amazon seller central management, inventory management, product research, etc.
One of my failures was launching a product that had no buyers. For instance, I was selling PNB in jars. It was unwanted by all. Attempt failed. I had to get rid of everything in stock.
Therefore,I suggest you gain knowledge from the mistakes of others, watch videos and listen to podcasts, and make as few mistakes as possible.
Lesson # 10 -Don’t fail in the first step
Researching the product is always the first step, and you should never fail at it.
Your company’s success or failure hinges on this action. Even though I touched on the topic earlier, I felt it was important to reiterate it here.
At eComFist, we solve every problem that a seller may have. However, there is no hope for a product’s success if it launches without proper market research and analysis.
And if our expert Amazon consultants suggest that such clients liquidate their inventory, they begin wasting money on PPC advertising. Crap. Simply wasting money on waste.
Don’t rush this important activity. We can provide help if you’re having trouble with it. You only need to contact us.
What is the lesson you’ve already learned?
When I taught other sellers what I had learned and shared what I knew, there were always one or two things that they had already tried, failed at, and learned.
So, tell me, what do you already know, and what are the most important lessons you’ve learned from my 10 lessons? With your feedback, we can improve greatly.
