Originally posted on The Daily Mastery

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I’m always on the lookout for a good business opportunity.

I scour the interwebz for business ideas and google things like ‘How to Make Money in 2018,’ or ‘Make Money Online’ – whatever Google’s autocomplete suggests really.

I’m the dude who tries to make money from creative projects but quickly realizes that he doesn’t have enough of a creative edge to stand out. I’ve tried starting a YouTube channel, a podcast, and a rap group; all to no avail. (They were all fun to try out though.)

My drive for money probably isn’t the best fuel for creative efforts. It was just my luck when I stumbled upon something more my speed:

Amazon FBA

Once I saw it, I knew it was going to be a money maker.

“Cha-Ching,” said my brain.

What is Amazon FBA

FBA stands for Fulfillment by Amazon. So I guess it’s redundant to call it Amazon FBA because that would make it Amazon Fulfillment by Amazon. But that’s what people call it, so we will get with the times.

Let’s say you had a business selling dog collars. You have a website, a Facebook page, and an Instagram shop to attract customers and sell to them.

They order online through one of your platforms. You receive the order. You pack one of the dog collars, which are all stacked in your garage. You take the package to a nearby courier to have it shipped. You contact your buyer about the status of delivery. You do everything again for the next order.

In a nutshell, Fulfillment by Amazon takes care of the logistics side of your business.
They’ll store your inventory in their fulfillment centers. They’ll pack and ship your products. And they’ll assist your customers if they need anything.

Storage. Shipping. Support.

If you were to use FBA for your dog collar business, this is how it would go down:

1. Take all your inventory from your garage and send it to one of Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers.
2. Start selling.

And that’s it!

Of course, there is way more to it than that, but a great load is, indeed, taken off your shoulders.

You do all the marketing work (as you’ve already been doing); direct them to your Amazon listing page, and Amazon will take care of everything after an order has been placed.

Suddenly, you’ll find that you have more time for your marketing efforts and for coming up with ways to improve your product for your customers. You can finally focus on your business.

You’ll also be able to park your car in the garage instead of on the sidewalk. And your dog won’t be exhausted every day because you take him with you whenever you take a package to the courier.

Everything I just described put plainly in this video. Thanks, Amazon.

All this is well and good. You understand how Amazon can make your life a little easier. But what if you don’t currently have a business selling anything? What should you sell?

This is an unplanned cliffhanger, but the answer to that demands a whole post to itself. Stay updated! Subscribe if you want to live!

Why You Should Get Into Amazon FBA Right Now

Amazon is a Huge Marketplace

Diving into Amazon FBA to sell your dog collars may seem daunting. There are already so many sellers selling dog collars. How could you possibly compete?

Amazon's Sales. That is a lot of money.

This is data on Amazon’s sales in the past years, as well as forecasts for 2018 and 2019. Amazon made 177.9 billion dollars in 2017 and is expected to bring in around 231.6B to 238.6B in 2018.

That is a tremendous amount of money. 0.001% of that will already make you a millionaire.

Projected Retail E-commerce GMV Share of Amazon in the United States from 2016 to 2021

Amazon is one of the biggest marketplaces in the world. Of all the purchases made online in the United States in 2017, Amazon took 37% of that.

It might be tough to become the number 1 seller of dog collars, but all you need is a little piece of the pie. Selling on Amazon puts your product in front of Amazon’s millions of customers. People on Amazon are looking to buy things, not just browse as they would on Facebook or Instagram.

E-commerce Sales as Percentage of Total Retail Sales in Selected Countries 2017

The above graphic shows that e-commerce only accounts for 9% of all retail sales in the United States in 2017.

E-commerce’s share of total retail sales is only expected to increase in the next few years.

E-commerce Share of Total Global Retail Sales from 2015 to 2021

As per your concerns regarding competition and market saturation, I hope this is evidence enough to convince you to get started with Amazon FBA. There are so many people out there who are willing to buy your product. You just have to be visible and on the right platform.

I guess the business adage of, “Location, location, location,” holds true just as much in cyberspace.

Any Time, Any Place

If you were to rent space at a mall for your store, you’d be constrained by place and time.

Place: Your customers will only be those who physically go to your store.
Time: Malls close at night; there’s a limited time to sell.

What makes selling on Amazon an amazing opportunity is that it is open for business 24/7, accessible from anywhere in the world.

Amazon works nonstop to pack and ship your products straight to your customers’ doorsteps. Their massive customer base becomes yours as well; everyone around the world, who has an internet connection, becomes a potential customer.

You know what they say, “It’s always 4PM somewhere in the world and time to shop on Amazon.” Imagine that, making sales from Sunday through Monday, 24 hours a day.

Final Thoughts

While I’m being a hype man for Amazon (unpaid, unfortunately), don’t forget that there’s still real work to be done. Jumping into the biz without researching and devising a plan is a sure way to make you cry a river.

But if you’re serious enough and willing to put in the work, then Amazon will help you out and do half the work for you. Amazon will store your goods, ship your products, and provide customer service for you. They’re also running all day long and right at the fingertips of every person with a connection to the interwebz.

Is the Amazon FBA business model dead?

Far from it.

As I’ve shown, Amazon is a gargantuan beast that is showing no signs of slowing down. E-commerce’s share of retail sales will continue to grow as more people are getting connected to the internet; online payments are becoming safer, and shipping is becoming more efficient.

Building a business on its already successful platform greatly increases your chances of doing well. There are still loads of selling niches to get into.

Time to get on that Amazon train!