How an Aircraft Mechanic Made $1.7M in 17 Days
No airplanes involved
Have you ever wondered how long it would take to make $1,000,000 from selling your Amazon FBA business?
The answer might surprise you. Jeff Deveau was able to make almost double this amount within 17 days. We should also mention that he started his FBA business from scratch just three years prior to making his business exit. This business model can be extremely lucrative for those who put in the long hours right from the start.
In the beginning, Jeff was relatively new to the online business space, having started his first digital asset in 2013 within the social media services industry. After some trial and error with his media services venture, Jeff finally found his calling with Amazon FBA. Within three years of managing his FBA asset, he sold it for $1,700,000 in just 17 days. Coming from a nine-to-five job background, Jeff couldn’t have imagined this outcome when he started the business.
The Exit from “Normal Life”
Before jumping into the world of online business, Jeff had worked as an aircraft mechanic as well as across multiple industries, including real estate and hospitality. Realizing that he was unhappy punching in his time card every day, Jeff made the jump into the online business world. Although he knew that having to start from the bottom all over again would require more work up front, he was certain that greener pastures were just over the horizon. His story is certainly a fascinating one and reminds us of a Chinese proverb: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” This is what Jeff was looking for.
Jeff started out as an aircraft mechanic, but he grew tired of this line of work and decided to move to Southeast Asia, where he worked at different resorts. After a few years, he moved back to Vancouver and started work in the real estate industry. However, after eight years, tired of the daily grind, he lost his motivation and wanted more freedom. Jeff decided to generate a side income with the goal of financial independence and early retirement (F.I.R.E), so he began an FBA business in 2015.
Running an Amazon FBA business
Although Amazon FBA requires long hours to reach the level of success Jeff has reached, the freedom to set your own schedule is well worth it. “Before, when I clocked in, I would look at the clock all day; now, I can get up when I want to and work on my computer — and I enjoy it.”
This is an aspect of the Amazon FBA business model that many online entrepreneurs love, along with how easily it is to scale these types of assets. Keep in mind that Jeff was working on his own, having started the business without any help. Considering the effort required, establishing and growing a similar brick-and-mortar business to the same level would be nearly impossible. Another aspect of the FBA business model that prospective entrepreneurs find lucrative is the Amazon marketplace, which customers love and trust. This, coupled with Amazon’s ability to provide their sellers with ready-to-go fulfillment services, makes this business model great for those who are not particularly ecommerce savvy or do not come from a retail background, like Jeff.
The rapid growth of Jeff’s business within such a short time was only made possible by having the profits funneled back into the business. A lot was on the line for Jeff because his entire life savings were in the business.
Jeff points out that although many people are making serious money with FBA, now more than ever, “there’s a lot more tied up in ordering more products [and] launching new products” than they are aware of. This was when he realized that selling his Amazon FBA business would help him reach his F.I.R.E goals sooner.
Jeff’s Options to Sell his Business
When it came to selling his FBA business so that he could achieve financial independence and retire early, Jeff had several options: Firstly. he could reach a private deal after spreading the word among his private network of contacts that his asset was up for grabs. Next, he could list his business on an auction site. Finally, he could use a broker. Each option had its pros and cons, so he needed to think long and hard about his choice.
With a private deal, he might find it quick and easy to get an offer, but he knew he would be missing out on a larger pool of investors who might offer him more money. With an auction site, while he would create a bidding war for his asset, he might again miss out on getting more capital should the auction close before reaching his ideal asking price. In the end, Jeff decided to use a broker (Empire Flippers to be exact) to help exit his FBA business smoothly and securely. He was also keen on this option because he wanted to get the ball rolling with building his profit and loss (P&L) statement and scheduling calls with real, potential buyers, thus avoiding the tire-kicker sellers will often waste time with during private acquisitions.
Based on Empire Flippers record of having sold over 70 Amazon FBA businesses in 2018, Jeff was confident that he had chosen the right option to help him achieve his exit goals. Jeff’s next step was to find the right buyer.
Selling to the Right Buyer
Amazon FBA businesses are highly sought after because of the amount of profits you receive for a little initial hard effort. The reason most investors are constantly looking for these types of businesses is that most of the hard work necessary to get them generating a consistent cash flow is front loaded. When you purchase a business that is already generating consistent income, you skip the hard work of finding a great product that sells and building a brand name that your target audience will learn to love and trust.
Most buyers are looking for a turnkey business, meaning one they can pick up and run with minimal effort required to learn how to take it over and manage it. Buyers are looking for an investment opportunity not a full-time job. If you can establish your business as this solution to their needs, just as Jeff did with his FBA business, you should have no problem finding an eager buyer interested in acquiring your business.
If you have ever grown your own Amazon FBA business — or any other business model for that matter — as your first asset, you will most certainly feel a personal connection to it because of the years of hard work you put into scaling it to its eventual level. To many sellers, finding the right buyer is just as important as finding the right business is to many buyers. Due to the time and effort you spent growing the business, you want to make sure that it will be handed off to someone who will pick up the torch and continue running the race. It is often about more than the price; it is about finding someone with whom you connect and who, you feel, will continue to make the business a success. Once Jeff had established a connection with a buyer he was prepared to sell to, the real fun began.
Jeff’s Lifestyle Change after His Exit
Once Jeff had sold his Amazon FBA business, he finally gained the freedom he had been seeking all those years. He no longer needed to worry about punching in a time card, and he was free to make his own schedule. Not only did he have a large capital windfall from his exit, but he had the freedom to reinvest this capital into his next passion project and the foundation to set himself up for F.I.R.E.
If you happen to be going down a similar path to Jeff’s and looking to set yourself up for an early retirement with an emphasis on financial independence, plan your annual budget goals well in advance. Having clear goals about how much you will need to survive will help you take the necessary steps today to achieve them — without taking over 10 years to do so. To make your money work for you, reinvest any additional income you receive from online assets or offline expendable income into stable sources that you can use to retire early, just as Jeff did. A great benefit of choosing the online route to achieve your retirement goals is that you can flip your business for a profit or use it to permanently escape from the nine-to-five grind — just like Jeff.
