When the 4 Hour Work Week came out it practically changed the way I viewed the world. Everything turned into a variable, a system; but one chapter stood out more than any other – Automation.

 

Being the massive geek that I am, I naturally gravitate towards technologies that make my life better. Before the 4HWW came out, my only thoughts on automation were huge industrial factories that optimized every step of their process. After reading these three sections of the book, I realized there was so much more to it.

 

On page 203 you’ll see a gorgeous diagram titled The Anatomy of Automation that visually shows the author Tim Ferriss’ eCommerce process from start to finish. You don’t have that page bookmarked? It easily breaks down who does what, what interacts with what and most importantly, where Tim is in the equation. Hint, he’s not.

I dreamed of this diagram for months and as I began to grow my Amazon business, I realized our models weren’t that different from Tim’s and are much simpler.

 

How to Build a Wholesale Freedom Business

 

I broke down the entire wholesale business model into phases and I came out with just three: Sourcing, Prepping and Fulfillment.

 

I also used this model to grow my business while enjoying Paris for a week!

 

Out of the three phases, we technically only handle the two, the Sourcing and Prepping as Amazon does all Fulfillment when someone buys our inventory. This leaves two main areas to focus on.

 

If we view Sourcing and Prepping as major-systems and each task as sub-systems, we can do some pretty interesting things. To easily focus on just one major-system we could use a prep-center, leaving only Sourcing.

 

Doing just this, we’ve essentially eliminated 75% of tasks within our businesses, allowing us to focus on what’s most important – getting new suppliers.

 

Jumping into the sub-systems of Sourcing isn’t all complicated: Research (using our criteria) potential products, add suppliers to Vendrive to stay organized, contact each supplier on our list, scan price lists of suppliers we were approved for, and place orders with those who fit our buying criteria, let our prep center know of the shipment, and restock as needed.

That’s it. All the work you technically need to do while growing your wholesale business, although simplified.

 

Getting More Automated…

 

Already our business is pretty streamlined, but I’d like to take it a bit further.

 

*Even if you aren’t using a prep-center, the prepping major-system can easily be streamlined, automated or further outsourced by breaking down each process as an individual system.

 

Here’s a list of every sub-task included in Sourcing:

  • Research potential products on Amazon (the Reverse Sourcing Method)
  • Add ASIN, company contact info and important notes to Vendrive before reaching out
  • Make the initial phone call or email to get the account
  • Scan price lists
  • Place initial orders
  • Place restock orders

 

Out of this list, I would comfortably outsource/automate 4 out of 6 – I would ease into having someone else place orders for me and I like the phone calls myself but there’s no reason they couldn’t be handed off to someone else easily.

 

So out of the three major phases of this business model, 90%+ of the tasks can be automated or outsourced without major costs. Virtual Assistants can be had for $3-5 per hour, prep-centers charge per unit and tools are incredibly affordable and bridge the gap to allow this all to work perfectly together.

 

Let’s dive into some specifics:

 

Researching potential products and adding to Vendrive – If you can do it, so can a VA. It just takes some training and time and they are off to the races. Why not hire a local college kid as an intern?

 

Scanning Price Lists and Placing Initial Orders – Although I would hold off and place initial orders myself, having a VA scan price lists using a tool like Price Checker 2 or Tactical Arbitrage is a breeze. Alternatively, you can start training a VA or intern to calculate appropriate initial orders and reviewing them before being placed. This frees up your time while both training your team and protecting your capital (as all orders wouldn’t be placed without your approval). Eventually, they get very good at analyzing products and wouldn’t need your approval.

 

Placing Restock Orders – Easier than placing initial orders, have a team member use a tool like Restock Pro which does the heavy lifting calculation-wise, you still approve the order and move on.

 

In both of the ordering tasks, you would simply approve each order, but the team member would be placing it (after being properly trained to do so) This way, you’re ultimately making the decision, just not doing the manual part of the task.

 

Listing Optimization – Imagine if each listing you touched got better over time? More sales and more money month after month. If you have the skillset/knowledge why not train someone to do it for you at a cheaper per hour cost like a VA or intern?

 

Fun fact, this can also apply to Amazon PPC for products that have enough margin!

 

I want you to begin looking at every task in your business as a specific system that can be made better, handed to someone else or automated entirely. From here, life gets pretty interesting and you begin seeing things as they are – a collection of systems to be worked on.