How a 24-Year-Old Newbie Entrepreneur Never Has to Work a 9-5 Again
May 11, 2022
You never know when something will happen to you that will change the course of your life forever. For Dan, that moment came when he attended a talk at the coworking space WeWork.
A college dropout struggling to make ends meet, Dan was inspired by what he heard. The speaker, Tom, was earning $200k per month selling products on Amazon, and he was sharing all of his secrets, including the best way to get started.
Taking the initiative, Dan approached Tom after the talk and told him about his current situation. He shared, “I need something I can go 100% in on.”
Still, he wasn’t about to follow a path blindly. “I wanted to follow somebody who had ‘been there, done that,’” he explained.
That conversation took place a short three years ago. What happened next is a testament to the power of hard work, determination, and having an inside track to what works in the world of ecommerce on Amazon.
Six Months to Launch
If you’ve ever attended a conference, master class, or talk given by an expert, you know that there’s an inevitable rush to the stage. Attendees want to get advice, share their stories, and take a selfie with the “guru.”
Dan wasn’t interested in any of that. Instead, he wanted to learn directly from a master. He also recognized that he had to offer value in return. So, Dan got creative and offered to work for Tom for free.
He used the hands-on learning experience to launch his first product and build an Amazon store. Within six months of working with Tom, he was selling his first product through his very own Amazon business.
Taking It to the Next Level
The rapid pace at which Dan found success can be attributed to a combination of both his commitment and having a mentor who taught him the ins and outs of Amazon ecommerce. Once Dan realized that he had the skills and know-how to be successful online, the sky was the limit. He was ready to spread his wings, sell the business, and use the cash to finance new ventures.
The question facing Dan at this stage was how to sell the business that he worked so hard to build for an amount that was fair and made the sacrifice worth his while.
After all, there’s a lot of uncertainty when it comes to letting go of your baby. You want to make sure you get paid, and it’s important for the process to go smoothly. Getting caught up in red tape or the countless other complications that can potentially arise is never pleasant, and it can have negative financial consequences.
Again, Dan had a little bit of help in this department. “What first led me to Empire Flippers was my friend Andri who had sold his business four months before I did.” Being able to get an unfiltered assessment of the selling process gave Dan the confidence he needed to list his business on our curated marketplace.
“Having Empire Flippers there to facilitate everything was awesome because they put everything into a spreadsheet, and basically broke down my entire business.” Dan is describing the steps we take in our valuation process. We help business owners determine what their value is worth, and we can even help you take steps to maximize the selling price before you decide to list your business.
Facing Uncertainty
Even with friends in your corner and assurances from a business broker, there’s it’s natural to feel some doubt. This is especially true when you’re selling your first business. Dan also had another concern: “The fears that come up when people are trying to sell their ecommerce business is that the buyer will just take control of your account and not pay you.”
What Dan felt was 100% normal, but the situation he described is completely avoidable when you work with the right marketplace. We worked with Dan to make sure he understood our process and could proceed with absolute confidence.
After seeing our team in action, he said, “they had a good system for making sure that doesn’t happen.” What Dan is referring to here is our system for thoroughly vetting all buyers before we connect them to a seller. We make sure they have the funds to buy the business they’ve expressed interest in, and we take a series of additional steps to facilitate the transaction. “There’s all these steps to make sure that I don’t get scammed,” Dan summarizes.
Having a pool of vetted buyers is vital, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. We still have to find the right match and ensure that both the buyer and the seller feel good about what’s happening. Dan says, “it was awesome working with them because they’re really responsive. They would always get back to me same day.”
“There’s a Lot of Demand Here”
Dan also took some time observing how our marketplace worked from the outside. “It was inspiring seeing all the businesses that were selling on Empire Flippers. Like, seeing one get listed, sold, listed, sold… it was like, ‘oh, there’s a lot of demand here.’”
“It’s great that Empire Flippers gave me this opportunity at such a young age.” At 24 years old, Dan already has a successful business exit under his belt. Now he owns a condo in Vancouver, which before, had seemed like an impossible dream.
“It makes me feel super stoked about the future because I have all of these other businesses that I’m working on, and I now have some cash behind me to actually put it to work and build what I want to build.”
Now comes the burning question: If Dan had to start over again, would he still work with Empire Flippers? Dan’s answer is a resounding yes. “I would 100% recommend Empire Flippers if you’re looking to sell a business because they have such a solid team of people; they have a long list of really interested buyers, and I would definitely sell another business with them.”
Ready to Make Your Move?
Whether you’re looking to a buy or sell a business, we can assist you with the next steps. Throughout our history, we’ve helped people buy and sell their first online ventures, and we are proud to have a long list of customers who continue to return to us again and again. To learn more about how our process works, schedule a time to speak with our team.
