Andrew Youderian
•
April 14, 2012
It was 5:00 on a Sunday, and I still had hours of work to do at the office. My girlfriend – who lived nine hours away and was in town for a rare visit – was sitting alone in my apartment, anxiously waiting for me to finish (and likely reconsidering the wisdom of her choice to date me).
How did I end up in this position? I never really intended to go into investment banking, a field notorious for long hours and insane work schedules. But it was an enticing job right out of college, offering solid job experience and the chance to really see how large businesses worked.
Our schedule wasn’t nearly as strenuous as many of the bigger investment banks, where 100-hour work weeks are the norm. Still, the 60- to 80-hour weeks, unpredictable schedule and inability to commit to people and/or plans quickly grew draining, especially for work that I didn’t love.
I made the decision to quit and started to save as much money as possible. I kept my beater college car longer than necessary in order to save more money – a car so hideous I had to hide park it blocks from the office. I banked 100% of the bonuses I received and earned a reputation around the office as a bit of a miser. In the small amount of spare time I did have, I read Tim Ferriss’ “The Four-Hour Work Week”and started dreaming about my future plans. I was laying the foundation for my escape.
In November of 2007, I quit. It’s both an exhilarating and slightly terrifying feeling to leave a good job to start your own business. After a solo cross-county road trip, I settled down to start building my future. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. I did, however, know the required characteristics I wanted my new venture to have. It needed to:
It’s amazing how a total lack of income motivates you to action. After exploring a number of potential ideas, I quickly settled on e-commerce as a business model that fit all my criteria. I opened up a bank account with $1,500, created an LLC and picked a niche: CB radios.
It’s about this time I think my mother lost total faith in me. Already somewhat distraught that I’d quit my job, she now had to let friends and family know her son had left the finance world to hawk CB radios via the internet! To be honest, I had a few doubts myself, but because my research methodology (outlined in my eBook) indicated CB radios might be a viable niche, I took a leap of faith and started Right Channel Radios.
Within a month I had my website online and live. Bootstrapped and designed by myself, it wasn’t going to win any awards, but it was a working prototype that could take orders and test my idea’s viability. Shortly after launch, I received my first order. As any business owner will tell you, few things compare to the thrill of your first sale, and it provided an incredible motivational boost.
Over the following months, I threw myself entirely into growing and improving my business. I hungrily learned as much as I could about online marketing, SEO (search engine optimization), my customers and my new market. Sales began to grow, albeit sporadically. My girlfriend (now wife) Annie could tell from my mood each evening how orders had been that day. I continued to bootstrap the business, reinvesting the earnings and my own sweat, but never adding any additional equity apart from my original $1,500 deposit.
Slowly but surely everything began to pay off. Within a year, I was making enough to support myself and Annie. I hired a part-time virtual assistant (VA) to help manage business operations. Within two years, I launched a second e-commerce site, TrollingMotors.net, and shortly thereafter hired my first full-time local employee.
With a great team in place to run most of the daily operations, I decided to take a break from growing the business to pursue a goal of mine: long-term international travel. So in February of 2011, Annie and I departed for a seven-month working vacation that took us to more than 20 countries. The trip was financed largely by over 2 million frequent flier miles I had generated by paying to fulfill business orders.
Teaching in India
Hiking in Patagonia
Sailing in Greece
After an incredible trip, we returned home in November. Despite being gone seven out of 12 months, it was a record year for revenues with my businesses collectively generating $1 million in sales and setting the stage for well above that in 2012. It was my best year ever in terms of income, and I earned significantly more than I ever did investment banking.
Four years and numerous businesses later, I’ve decided to start sharing my knowledge on this blog. My hope in writing is to help others who, like me in my banking days, want to build a better life for themselves through entrepreneurship. While my path has been unorthodox, it’s one that can be re-created by anyone with the determination to make it happen. This isn’t to say that building your own e-commerce business is easy – far from it. I think with entrepreneurial “success” stories, it’s tempting to indulge the good and downplay the bad. I want to intentionally avoid that.
Building a cash cushion so I could afford to quit my job required frequently saying “no” to myself and delaying my gratification. Starting my first site was hard, really hard. It required a lot of work, much of it tedious, with little visible success for the first few months. Staying motivated with little to show for your efforts is extremely challenging in the early days of a venture.
Business success of any kind, e-commerce included, requires significant sacrifice and work, but I’m here to tell you that the investment is absolutely worth it. I believe there has never been a better time in history for individuals to start their own businesses. For online ventures, the risks are small and the rewards significant. If you decide to head down the same path I have, I hope the information I share here will help you along the way.
Thinking about starting your own business? You’ll definitely want to download my free eBook, a detailed guide to starting a profitable online store. It’s based on my experience and full of information I wish I knew when starting my first site.
Looking for Your Dream Job? Hiring? Check out the eCommerceFuel Job Boards which lists curated opportunities to learn in roles with interesting, leading eCommerce businesses. If you’re looking to escape the corporate world and jump into eCommerce – but don’t have much relevant experience – our curated internships and entry level jobs may be perfect.
Run an Established eCommerce Business? You may be interested in the eCommerceFuel Private Forum. It’s a vetted community of 1,000+ high six, seven and eight figure store owners. You can learn more about it here.
211 Comments
Wow!. Your blog inspired me. Thank you.
You provided great information for people like myself who know nothing about this ecommerce industry. I do know that I have 14 years experience working hard as a makeup artist in the beauty industry, and now I’d actually like to work the smarter. I’d like to open an online store to sell Makeup. I have my EIN number, seller documents a vision and that’s it. I know the brands of products I’d like to offer, but I’m not sure how to go about buying these items from the manufacturer or locating a drop shipper. I do know that I need a more stable income, and you’re proof that ECommerce works!
Help!
Thanks for sharing, Tri! I hope the content I’m writing is helpful and best of luck…
Hi Andrew,
I was thinking of launching a new ecommerce site and while i’m searching for some source for dropshipping,it just happen that i hop on your blog. And out of nowhere i find myself learning from reading your blog.
It gives me a lot of ideas on how to start a relatively good business, but to find a good source of products that offer dropshipping is not that easy. Can you advise us on where we can find a good source of manufacturer that offers drop shipping as well?
Thanks and Regards,
Vinz
Hey Vinz! Glad you’re got some value out of the content. I’d recommend this video which walks through how to find quality suppliers that drop ship:
https://www.ecommercefuel.com/drop-shipping-wholesalers/
Andrew thanks for this article as well as others that you have written. I owned my own business BI (before the internet) I would love to build a business up again, utilizing e commerce. Let me ask you this? How did you decide on the products that you would sell? And from one Armenian to another, thanks, again, Judybee
There are a lot of different things I considered Judy. Probably the best way to get a thorough understanding of my process is to download my eBook, where I really go into depth on what I look for in an online niche:
https://www.ecommercefuel.com/profitable-ecommerce-ebook/
Again Really Really Great e-book…….it really gives you soooooo much info and saves you so much time and short cuts… excellent job and we really appreciate all the long long hours that you put into it…..
Firas.
Thanks Firas! Glad you enjoyed it.
“she now had to let friends and family know her son had left the finance world to hawk CB radios via the internet!”
best line in the article – very funny!.
The old saying is business was location, location, location and with the internet the new saying should be niche, niche, niche. To me the hardest thing is picking a good niche. You need the right balance of demand without too many competitors.
Are there any tools or services useful in choosing a niche?
Do you offer any one on one consulting ?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Greg
I don’t at this time, I’m sorry – Greg! In terms of finding a niche, I’d recommend downloading my eBook. It’s a detailed primer, largely on how to pick a great niche market.
I did download your book and went thru it. I have picked five different product ideas and am trying now to locate a supplier. I did find the book helpful!.
Greg
Greetings Andrew!
What an awesome story! Congratulations on your success.
Thank you so much your information. I bumped into your site by chance. I have been reading and you-tubing so much for ideas to start my own business.(drop shipping on Amazon) I am so glad I found you here. I dont need to keep browsing anymore..You make it so simple and easy to understand. I am totally inspired by your story and your willingness to help others.
Thank you for your time and all your valuable info. I cannot wait to read you ebook.
Best wishes to you!
Thanks Pappi! Appreciate the kind words and best of luck.
Andrew,
I just want to say! This is Great and many Congrats!
Thanks Naeem!
Hi Andrew,
As a newbie in this e-commerce field, you are an inspiration to me. I struggling to decide if I should do this full time as my day job consumes a lot of my time.
Thanks Tham, and good luck!
Hi Andrew,
I am so please to meet you. I met you through the brown box formula training course which I am currently on. I just read your story a while ago and what gets me really excited is the fact that you said you have a great team that helps you with your business, meaning you were able to set up a structure to help you while you had a nice time with your wife. I’ve been thinking about how to get a team because I’ve got great business plans and ideas and I know I won’t be able to do it all by myself. I still have my job. I’m just about to build my very first site, http://www.deluxegiftssupplies.com. I’m excited and will visit your site often from now on to get info. Please point me out to resources that will help me as I go along, organize a great team for my businesses. I would really appreciate this. I work as a missionary and need extra income to fund the various charity projects I do. I need to be able to successfully combine my missionary work and the businesses. Thanks.
Best of luck with your new site! For resources, I’d recommend reading through the posts on the is blog as well as my “Toolkit” page:
https://www.ecommercefuel.com/toolkit/
Thanks a lot.
Hi Andrew, I’ve only recently come across your good self via the Shopify blog. Your story is fantastic, well done for getting to where you are now! I own a few ecommerce businesses including an agency set up to help retailers sell more, it’s very liberating when you see success. Out of interest, would you like to guest post on our blog webtise.co.uk/blog? I think your story and expert advice would be a great fit. Thanks for all the awesome content on this site too btw! D
Thanks Daniel! Would enjoy posting on your blog, but currently am slammed with some projects. Will be adding you to my follow-up list and will be in tough in the future. Thanks!
No problem Andrew. Glad to hear things are busy! Speak soon.
Hello Andrew.
Fantastic article. Thanks so much for writing it – i’m sure you’re giving insight and help to thousands of aspiring drop shippers. Congratulations on creating a beautiful lifestyle for yourself.
I’m seriously thinking of starting an commerce/dropshipping business. My question to you is: do you have any tips/suggestions/advice on how to best go about selling a “kit” online that comprises of 5-6 different existing products (and therefore different manufacturers/distributors)?
My idea is to source the 5-6 different existing products, repackage them in a beautifully designed container, make and include a “how-to” DVD, and then resell online.
Do you have any experience in sourcing various products, getting them repackaged, and dropshipping them without needing to buy inventory, or having lots of different orders to different vendors/suppliers?
Thank you kindly in advance, and all the very best to you.
Derell Geide
Derell,
Glad you enjoyed it! Doing what you want from a drop shipping perspective would be difficult if all the products are sourced from different places. If you could find one supplier that carries them all, it might be feasible. But if you need to source all the items from multiple suppliers the shipping costs and logistics could be complex to try to automate. Sounds like you might need to stock the items at that point to accomplish what you want in a cost-effective manner.
Good luck!
Hi Andrew,
Liked your Ebook very much, was eager to know about your Stores. Can you please send me its addresses.
Thank you very much for your hardwork.
I have added your ebook to my facebook.
Regards,
Ashish
(Delhi, India)
Hi Ashish, glad you enjoyed it! You can see one of my stores at http://www.TrollingMotors.net.
Congratulations, I Love your story and your rise to success with all of your e-commerce businesses, very inspiring and the traveling part of your story was amazing as I love to travel and I hope that one day I will be able to do more of that myself!
I actually just started this last month by clicking on an advertisement that had Amanda Bradley (I think if I remember correctly) showing how to post links for income so I clicked on that and then got into making money from home on the internet. I had been taking notes and watching some videos and calling to talk with a specialist to get started.
From there I ended up with a different department and I have now invested over $4,000 for a continued coaching and training for a 6 month or so period which teaches multiple streams of income in the e-commerce field (very informative). This past week I spoke with another department and they wanted anywhere from $1,000-$3,000 to build me a website but I could pay a small amount on a monthly payment plan. Wish me luck because I am really concerned about that decision that I made and I still even did the download for your e-book which I want to say I really appreciate you offering that at no charge and I look forward to reading it.
I say this because the value that can be placed on the wealth of information from personal hands on experience one has can and does happen in more cases than not become a money making tool it self! So, especially with this dive I just took with all of that money up front for education which I know there are some tax advantages to a home based business but it is a lot to take on upfront and of course I just started learning and I am not making income yet but I am so overwhelmed and on information overload!
No seriously though, I am already a partner in another business and I have an 18 month old with me 24/7 which does make it a little hard to focus on the computer all day long (and two teenagers), so any advice you have for me is greatly appreciated! P.S. I read through almost all the blog posts too and I think that your story, experience and level of communication is very valuable to so many people everywhere, so again thanks for sharing!
Hi Kimann! Thanks for sharing. My advice to you? I hope this doesn’t come across poorly but I’d slow down and stop spending money so quickly. Is the coaching a good value? Perhaps. But from where you’re at, I think it’d be beneficial to invest a bit more time in learning on your own. Then, when you have an idea of what you really want to do you can move forward slowly. I’d recommend doing most things yourself first (like building a basic website) and THEN outsourcing them. With Shopify.com, you can easily build a site for $25 / month – not $3,000 – and you’ll know how to update it.
Hope this helps and best of luck!
Andrew
Hey Andrew,
I have always wanted to start an eCommerce business. I knew that the internet was going to take off in a big way back in the mid-ninety’s. I took a shot at it in 2007 and ended up getting ripped off by a group with a lot of hype. Yes, I fell for it. I wanted so much to start a business but knew nothing about keyword/competition analysis, content, analytics, seo…etc.
Well to make a long story short…I started the eCommerce site on a part time basis about a year and a half ago. After a lot of work, a lot of trial and error, especially in finding the right store hosting company that would have the ability within their system to support multiple drop-shippers, I am in eCommerce land up to my ears. We are in a highly competitive industry, however after our due diligent analysis we believe we have a shot.
Your story is inspiring, I know, I can relate and then some. I downloaded your ebook at the end of last year and due to so much going on around me, it is now that I get to sit and read your ebook, I too have giving up my position, I have been in the IT industry, to pursue the dream of being involved on the internet doing business. Your story has re-inspired me to sit and read your eBook.
There are still some parts of this learning process that I do not have a complete understanding, so I hope you would not mind if I would, if future posting/communication, ask a question or two. I have been in the work force for the last 40 years, I have had enough of working for someone else. The eCommerce business is my dream of retirement, to have a relatively lucrative business that can be operated from anywhere in the world, as long as one has an internet connection and a phone. So, my congratulations for your courageous plunge into the Internet Marketing world. I am sure a lot of hard work went into it, and, thank you for sharing your experience. I am sure it is helping a lot of people that are going through the same experiences.
Regards
Timothy W. Rodriguez
Sorry to hear about the unfortunate times back in 2007, and I wish you the best as you’re gearing up again. Good luck, Tim!
Hello Andrew,
I’m building my first ecommerce right now and reading your story was so inspiring for me! You can’t imagine how useful your ebook was for me. I will keep it forever as I want to know all the strategies and methods by heart.
People that are opening a new ecommerce without having your ebook as a ressoure are missing something important!
Thank you so much for sharing all this knowledge with your public. This is an amazing gift you are giving us all!
Sorry for my English, I’m a French speaker.
Continue your good job! I’m sure I won’t be the only one to follow you!
Thank you again!
Katy
Thanks Katy! Glad you’ve found it so helpful and best of luck with your new store!
I’ve been listening to your podcast since episode 1 and it truly is inspiring. I’m now in the process of building my first site and I will surely re-read this post whenever I need the boost in the coming weeks/months.
Thank you for sharing your story!
Thanks Melanie! Glad you’ve been enjoying it!
Thank you so much for this informative blog. I know it takes a lot of time and energy to make such a comprehensive blog. You have encouraged me more than anyone to go for my dreams of entrepreneurship in the world of e-commerce. This is something that I’ve always wanted to do. The world of corporate America is often times a one way ticket to a life that has passed you by. I’m so ready to break free from this box. Fear is a powerful thing that spreads like cancer. It has prevented me from doing so much. I’m now ready to take that risk to secure my future. I wish you much success for all the good and light you bring into the world. I have to download the e-book and read it in it’s entirety. I know that’ll it be highly informative. Let me know what I can do to support you in anyway.
Thanks Marcy! Really appreciate the support, and best of luck as you’re getting ready to break out. 🙂
Hi Andrew,
Thank you so much for sharing your e-book and your personal story.
A couple weeks ago I had a disturbing conversation with my Manager. From that day I’ve been really bothered and my wheels having been to turning.
My 2 girls are my #1 motivation for starting an e-commerce business but the conversation I had definitely lit a fire under me.
I will definitely will be using the details you’ve outlined.
Thanks again
Jody
Toronto, Canada
Very welcome, Jody. Good luck!
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Hi Andrew,
This is an awesome story. I love that you were inspired by Tim Ferriss in the pursuit of freedom.
One quick question for you. After the grueling first month of building your website, what exactly did you do to generate your first sale? Did you buy ad space on website, magazines, etc? Or did you focus entirely on SEO and didn’t see your first sale until a couple months in?
Thanks!
Jimmy
[…] model has been an amazing way to learn eCommerce and has provided the lifestyle flexibility for some incredible adventures, but I’m ready to step into a business that holds the potential for larger […]
Andrew,
Great story. You are seriously my inspiration right now! I have read your entire free ebook, as well as Tim Ferris’ 4HWW. I’ve just negotiated with my first supplier, and it was surprisingly much easier than I expected it would be. Luckily I live in NYC, and have the ability to meet many wholesalers/dropshippers face to face. Now with a small site built, products, etc… it’s time for the sales!
I am curious about the same thing Jimmy (question above) asked. The internet landscape has drastically changed from 2007 to now, do you think that makes starting out, finding a viable niche, etc… more challenging?
Looking forward to more of your posts.
Thanks,
Lindsey
Andrew,
As a baby boomer who was successful in the direct mail business many years ago, I have had a hard time making the transition to online marketing. Your story and ebook really convinced me it’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. I really appreciate all your help and support moving forward.
All the best,
Kevin
Hi Andrew,
It was really influencing story. I am zero in eCommerce but reading your life, I had also started following it. I am from India and not as much as you in terms of financial aspects, running a small website/blog and earning some how. I had dedicated an article relating to your life, hope you like it.
Please give me suggestions:
http://www.khmedia.in/2013/12/12/influencing-person-andrew-youderian-ecommerce-builder/#sthash.7icWuuqD.dpbs
This article is like god sent to me…for the last one year or me, i had been wanting to start something n my in in the e-commerce business. I work for a private company, and support my house. hence i cannot think of saving and then giving up the regular income for a few months for my entrepreneurial dream. i came across your site when i was searching for ebooks on e-commerce. what i liked about your write-up is that you have been brave enough to say that all was not hunky dorky, and the road laid out. i have downloaded your ebook and will take it up for reading ASAP. Million thanks again for the motivation!!!
[…] Andrew built six-figure stores with US$1,500. Johnny did the same with US$200 while living in Thailand. […]
Andrew,
Truly an inspirational story, thank you for sharing this. I have read your e-book and I have to say that I have NEVER seen a “freebie” that has as much relevant, common sense content! The best part however, is how you drive home the point that it is WORK and it is based on a lot of common sense and research, not a GRQ scheme that is launched on a whim. That kind of honesty is getting harder to come by.
Hi, just discovered your blog. Simply amazing.
Just one question. You encourage all the time to build our own ecommerce websites. Is this mandatory? Why not just concentrate all the efforts selling on ebay instead?
I am curious about what you think
thanks!
Pablo
Such an inspiring story. I downloaded all your podcasts for my commutes. Keep it up! 🙂
Great intro Andrew!
I am also in the same boat, have spent a year building an eCommerce site, have have been struggling with SEO. Looks like you have lots of great articles, which I plan on reading over the next few day.
Thanks for sharing you knowledge.
Bryan