Another common question we’re asked is how much money do you need to really start a wholesale Amazon business. The simple answer is: however much you have right this very moment.

 

There is no definitive number of dollars one needs to start a business. The only difference is the actions you’ll need to take depending on how little or how much you have.

 

For instance, the more money you have the quicker you can scale and the less money you have the slower you’ll be able to scale, and shouldn’t take money out for quite some time. Either way, whether you’re starting with $500 or $50,000 you still need to get started.

 

There are only two ways to grow a wholesale Amazon business or any retail based business for that matter: Put more money in or take less out. (you could also do both, but I’m making a point here…)

 

Although this is a shorter post, I ensure you the lesson is just as strong as any other post. We tend to make up a great deal of excuses, fictional barriers that hold us back, sometimes greater than any real physical barrier. It’s important for us to question these barriers in our mind and find solutions.

Change your perspective from seeing stop signs to seeing obstacles. Always remember, the obstacle is the way!  

A lot of you have been reaching out asking what our sourcing setup looks like. Although I’m not 100% sure what you mean by our sourcing setup, I’m going to share essentially what our business looks like.

 

What we actually look like sourcing….

 

Hardware

 

Getting started, I thought I would need everything under the sun. A scanner printer combo, a massive computer capable of hacking the CIA and anything else you could fantasize about.

 

Once I set all of that fantasy aside and got down to business, I realized you really don’t need much. Using a software like Dochub.com allows you to never need a printer/scanner. The total cost of the software is $6.99 a month, which is incredibly affordable alone, but when it saves you from dropping $100+ and the cost of new ink every month, it’s kind of amazing!

 

The only hardware you truly need is a computer. Getting started, I happened to have a Mac desktop, but eventually, it died (it was 8 years old, what a trooper!). I thought I couldn’t live, let alone work without a desktop computer and two monitors. Turns out, just like everything in life, you adjust and keep moving forward.

 

Making the decision to purchase a laptop was a tough one, but I gave myself and my business a challenge: to run the whole operation from a $200 Chromebook. I found out, it actually doesn’t hurt you at all. I already had systems in place to ensure I was incredibly productive and all of the software I use to run and grow the business is online. No download required.

 

An interesting thing happens when you realize you can run a six-figure plus business from anywhere in the world from a $200 laptop that weighs less than a pound…. Freedom?

 

Software

 

This is where I go deep. Hardware is minimal, but honestly, software isn’t far behind. Before Vendrive, I used Inventory Labs, Restock Pro (still use for now), Price Checker 2 (for scanning price lists) and Doc Hub mentioned above to stay paperless and lightweight.

 

We built Vendrive because we were pretty fed up with having to jump around from software to software, with precious data not being shared between each tool. So we fixed the issue and Vendrive was born.

 

If you’re interested more in our sourcing process, you can read more about it here.

 

Logistics

 

This one isn’t talked about as much as the rest, but it’s incredibly important. All we’re talking about here is your shipping logistics and whether you have your own small-large size warehouse and a team or use a prep center like I do.

 

It’s honestly 100% up to you, but in getting started (to keep expenses down and profits high) I suggest you go the prep center route to really smooth out your processes and focus on what’s most important; sourcing new inventory!

 

Automation(?)

 

Again, not really talked about as much and you could argue that this is a subset of the software section. Automation for us means offsetting some data based task like restock order volume, inventory analysis ect….

 

Although this isn’t a massive section by any means, I want to bring it up and make you aware of the idea that many of the tasks within your business can either be automated, delegated or deleted…. Once you begin questioning everything you do within your business you can begin making some amazing, progress driven, decisions towards growth.

How much inventory should you order and when? A major problem that plagues new sellers who haven’t been faced with an issue that could have a major impact on the profitability of your business.

Btw, I already taught you how to scale up wholesale products on Amazon.

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