Guest post by Kev from Life Success Engineer
Not everyone that starts on Amazon succeeds. There are many reasons for this but in this blog post, I wanted to share the top ten hard truths why people fail with Amazon FBA Online Arbitrage. This comes from 30 months of working with many online arbitrage sellers and seeing the patterns of success and failure.
Here are my top ten reasons why people fail with Amazon FBA Online Arbitrage. You can use this list to do a review of your own mindset and business operations.
1. False Expectations
When somebody starts doing online arbitrage, their expectation may be that success will be easy and rapid. This may come from false messages within online communities from those that are successful, but it must be stated that at the beginning of any business — the learning curve is sharp.
It is those that persist through the challenge of finding profitable products at the start that reap the rewards later.
2. Lack of Data/Emotional Selection
The data that Amazon gives does not lie. They give us all the information we need about products and therefore we must use it to our advantage. We should never assume anything or use emotional judgement. “I would buy it” or “I think it would sell” does not lead to long-term success.
3. Chasing Sales/Revenue & Not Profit
When you see the sales screenshots online, this does not share the full true story. Nobody knows what the profit margin is, and it is a trap to chase the revenue number.
All sellers must focus on profit and not get sucked into competing with other sellers racing to the lowest price.
Related: Avoiding a Price War on Amazon
4. One Man Band Mentality
The reality of business is you cannot do it all yourself. You need help.
You may be able to start this business alone but sooner or later it will run you down and you will become overworked and your business will suffer. Start with the team building in mind.
5. Systems Mindset
Systems in business are critical for success.
For example, at McDonald’s, every task that they do throughout the day is done exactly the same way every time it is done.
Always think in terms of step-by-step procedures and start writing them on documents to send to your team.
6. Lack of Investment
You need to invest in your business. This can be via your resources, your team and different services.
RepricerExpress is a perfect example. The investment in this quality service is far greater than trying to do everything yourself.
7. Accounting (Purchasing)
You need to have a system in place to manage your accounting to the decimal point. Discover the best accounting software for Amazon sellers.
8. Accounting (Money Management)
This is the most fundamental principle in business. Without good money management, you will not be successful long-term. Begin by writing down all your expenses and be clear on your outgoings so you don’t fall short of cash. Cash is king in business.
9. Expanding too Rapidly
There are many scenarios when expansion is the right thing to do, however, there are many more when expansion is not the right thing to do.
10. Fixed Mindset – Lack of Learning
80% of success is mindset and the other 20% is mechanics. It all starts with the way you think. The ultimate reason for failure will always be mindset because no matter what happens, it is those that do not give up will succeed.
That’s it! I hope this blog post has been useful! Want more free Amazon training? Here you go!
Related: An Expert Guide to Help You Smash Retail Arbitrage on Amazon
About the Author:
My name is Kev. In 2015, I took massive action and started a business on Amazon. Within 6 months, I quit my full-time Electrical Engineer job and we have now gone on to sell over £1,000,000 worth of physical products. We created a team of virtual assistants and physical employees, which gave my family the freedom to build the lives we wanted. On my Life Success Engineer blog, I share my journey and everything I have learned along the way. Read my story or check out my YouTube channel.
Read more from this author:
- RepricerExpress Success Story: £60,000 in The Last 30 Days
- How to Do Retail Arbitrage on Amazon with RepricerExpress
- How Kev Blackburn Uses RepricerExpress to Gain a Competitive Advantage
- How Can FeedbackExpress Improve Your Amazon Business?
- Expert Tips to Help You Prepare for Q4 on Amazon
- FBA Seller Kev Blackburn Shares His Amazon Account Suspension Story
