25-Year-Old Makes $8500 Per Month Selling Hair-Care Products On Amazon Fba 2021

It'S always better to do something you actually care about. That'S what business is it's finding, where the problems are and learning how to solve those problems for a profit. Now people want to buy from people and they want to hear stories and they want to relate to myself who are pretty much doubling every month. It was very overwhelming, and so i was it was like my 30-day sales it just kept going up and it kept going up. I was at one point doing five hundred dollars a day, pretty like almost like a few times, and it was like whoa where's. This even coming from and then of course i went out of stock. I think the biggest advice i would give is don't go for the trends. My sister actually also started an amazon business inside of the pandemic after i did mine and hers failed miserably, and it wasn't because she's not a good, but she has her own another business. Now, that's doing very well. It had like it has nothing to do with the person right, like you have to it's finding the product that makes sense for you, hey everyone, i'm tatiana, and today i have another amazon, fba success story to share with you: you're going to love, danielle she's a 25 year old civil engineer and she loves what she does, she loves her career, but she wanted to create a new stream of income for herself and she saw an opportunity to do so during the pandemic. So that's when she discovered selling on amazon and she launched her first product in september of 2020. She now does over 8 500 a month in sales she's on track to launching several new products, opening up a shopify store, and the cool thing is that the product she decided to launch was based on her own experience. Her own experience trying to manage the damage done to her own hair, so she has her own target market and so she's really good at marketing her product, because she is, you know the demographic that she's trying to sell to. So in this interview, you're going to be learning a lot um. Thank you so much danielle for taking the time to be here today. Thank you for being here to motivate and inspire and share uh your experience with others so that they can learn from it danielle. Why don't you get started by just sharing with us a little bit about yourself where you're from and how you discovered, selling on amazon uh, thanks for having me on here by the way? So, as you mentioned, my name is danielle, i'm from southern california, which is where i currently live and i'm a civil engineer. I actually work for a public agency and i love being a civil engineer. I went to usc for my undergrad and then i went to iowa for my master's and which was an interesting experience and i cut my hair a few years ago which got me into hair and then which eventually led me into my business. And it's just been a whirlwind: i'm the youngest of three i'm only 25 years old. I don't know if you consider that younger old, you probably don't consider it that young, because you're pretty young too yeah we're roughly the same age, i'm 27, so we're oh wow. Yeah well so that's interesting! So how did cutting your hair lead you into your business um tell us about how you discovered online business and then how did you discover selling on amazon, yeah, so uh? When i was, i think, a junior in college yeah. I was in it was about 2016.. I had a lot of damage on my hair. It was completely breaking off. I have really fine hair, so it just it's very sensitive and i had it straightened a couple of times and it started falling out. So i had to cut it all off. I cut it to about one inch and it became this like whole hair journey for me, because there were so much tutorials and stuff on youtube at that point, and so that's when i really started to learn about my hair, learn how to care for my hair And it got me really passionate about the industry as a whole, and so at one point i actually was making my own hair care products and then eventually it was just like when i was looking at starting a business, and i can talk about that journey. Also. Okay, but i i kept i kept thinking, i should probably try to do something around here, because i'm interested in it right - and i saw that in your videos as well. You said it's, it's always better to do something you actually care about, because i mean, if you think about it, you are already investing so much time into learning about your hair. You probably read dozens of articles watched so many videos invested so much time into figuring out how to recover or heal your hair from the damage, and now that's knowledge that you have that you could put to work and put to good use because chances are you're. Not the only one who's dealing with this challenge, we're not all that unique and if we have a challenge and and that's what that's, what business is right, it's it's it's finding where the problems are and learning how to solve those problems for a profit and so 100, so you, you started to make your own products. So what what were you making yeah? It was about probably 2017. i was making like you know, deep conditioner styling products. I still make a lot of my own stuff, but i i sold it for, like. Maybe a summer right before i went to graduate school and i realized i really hated having to kind of get up and do something because someone placed an order. Oh, it was like i don't like that, and so it makes a lot of sense now how i eventually got to what i'm doing, because it's very passive, i don't know, i don't have to respond when i get an order. So, okay, so you made your own products and you were just selling them kind of in your house or like with friends and family or at like like markets or where were you selling these um conditioners? I was selling them on etsy and then i also had my own shopify store, oh wow and etsy. Actually i should have just done etsy. It was like i learned a lot from that. Actually, because i kind of did too much too soon right. I was trying to so hard to establish my credibility and be like i'm a real business, so i should have a shopify store and oh i'm gon na - do facebook ads, even though i know nothing about them right, but all of my business usually came from etsy And it was so simple there and it's like wow. If i had just started here, i wouldn't have spent as much money at the beginning and it could have been a much more natural growth okay. So so your introduction with your business, was selling on etsy um, but the challenge of that was that whenever you would receive an order, you'd have to like get up and process that order, and you know it doesn't matter where you are. What time of the day it is, you know you got to get up and do that, so that was a bit inconvenient. I did not like that. No, i did not totally. I was doing that for a period of time myself, not on etsy but um. I used to sell like fulfilled by merchant and i would have to process all of my own orders and you just at a certain like when you're small scale. Okay, it's fine, but if you're, actually you know your business is growing, it's not very sustainable and then you start to realize that there's got to be an alternative solution. So is that what you discovered yeah, so i had stopped that, especially if i was in graduate school, i just didn't have the time for it right and then, as probably 20 in 2020. I think before the pandemic started, i really wanted some passive income. That was really important to me. I just felt like it could be really good, even if i could just have an extra thousand dollars a month. It'S like wow. What could i do with an extra thousand dollars a month, and so i started looking at different things. I was looking at getting atms into dispensaries. I live in california, so it was like. Oh an atm, that's a good idea! That'S a good idea, so i sent a bunch of emails out to all of these dispensaries that had just been permitted. No one emailed me back okay, i had looked at doing like leggings on amazon. At this point, i knew nothing about amazon, but i was like talking to developers in india and being like okay. How can i make it like organic bamboo, threading or, like you know, just very just trying to get the wheels turning and then i looked at audio books, recording audio books for the amazons ecx i mean i was really. I was throwing a lot of darts at the board. First yeah very creative. I love that though, like that's. The entrepreneurial spirit is to you know, think of different ideas and not everything you follow through with, because it might seem like a great idea, but then you do more market research and you realize it doesn't really work that way. I had a similar idea once that i was really excited about. I was thinking like i want to create more passive income. Why don't i rent these and i my challenge was you know i would go out at night and i'd be wearing high heels and by the end of the night my feet were so sore. I'D be walking barefoot and i was like i need to have these. You know those fast flats, those flats that roll up - and i thought well, these need to be available in the nightclubs or they need to be available in the bars or places where girls go and wear high heels. And so i thought a vending machine that sells these fast flats or these types of flats that roll up in these types of environments, where you know women, would wear high heels and and then later get drunk and then want to take them off. I thought, oh, that makes perfect sense and i ended up doing more research and realized it just didn't it wasn't as easy as it sounded. It was a good idea, though yeah. Well, that's why it's like you got ta have a lot of ideas right, because it's not every idea that is going to produce the results, and so you know the more the better. It was definitely a learning experience. I think i started seeing videos on youtube like ads, because i started looking at these other videos about diff ways you can especially at this point the pandemic had started. So there was a lot of new content about ways to get pat more income, and so then i started getting targeted right right and i came across uh amazon and so then i started learning more about amazon and fba and i believe that's when i found your Channel and then i also found jungle scout, oh cool, and so it was pretty much your channel and jungle scout that were really my complete foundation and building blocks of getting into amazon fba happy to hear that they've got a wonderful channel. They have very educational videos, they were. They were really helpful, especially at the beginning, because there's just so much you don't know so. I first started with um like these smoking pipes and i don't smoke. I don't know why all this stuff is really. I don't even smoke, but i'm in california, so i know they're such a demand, so i was looking at these silicone smoking pipes. I did everything i placed the first order and they were like in like deposit down and everything, and then i realized i couldn't sell them on amazon. They started removing all of those types of related products right right, yeah. So then i moved on to sewing needle racks i moved on to so did you owe some money from that? First order, were you able to get a reason we lost? No, i lost the money for the initial deposit. I think it was like 345 dollars yeah and also all the like logo, design and packaging design for that company name. It was just, but it was just like it was fine. It was only at least it was only a few hundred dollars. I didn't do like an order of a thousand units or something i did a very small initial order. Yeah, that's good, and then i i watched i was watching a bunch of webinars where they would try to sell you something, but at the beginning they would give you maybe like 20 minutes of actual content, and so i was watching a lot of those just trying To figure out like maybe just if i can get any types of helpful hints, i just need something to connect, because i could feel it was so close right. So close right, and so i kept coming back to hair i'm like. Maybe if i can just do something around here and that's when i found the extra long satin bonnet and it wasn't like a super sexy item, it didn't have like super low competition and super high demand. But it was niche enough to where it wasn't. Super saturated - and i knew i could demonstrate it, which i remember, which is what you always said on your channel, something you can demonstrate, or you can build a brand around and that's what i was really going for right yeah. It is an advantage like not. You know that's the thing. Is people ask me all the time do i have to be the face of my brand and the answer is absolutely not most. Amazon sellers are not the face of their brands. I just happen to decide that i'm okay with that and i knew it would be an advantage. So if you are willing to do that, if you are willing to kind of model your product demonstrate your product, then it is going to be an advantage for you. But you don't need to do that to experience success. So it's great that you kind of you decided that i'm going to be comfortable enough to like share this and demonstrate it, because i'm sure that was very advantageous. Because when you look at your competitors, you see that most people are not doing that they don't have a face of the brand or, and so that gives you that little bit of an edge that other people don't have yeah. It was really helpful because i'm my target customer i'm who i'm selling to, and so when i see all my competitors and they have a lot of like stock photos and then they'll just put their bonnet on or something so automatically. My listing is already standing out because it's a new face. I also have my sister, my sister's, actually my main listing image. Oh wow, because i see i told her my money maker, so she's, the main ones, i'm also in it. A couple of her friends have been in it. A couple of my friends have been in it. I'Ve just had different models, but they're all very different, showing them using the product, and just it's been really helpful. Yeah. That'S that's awesome! So, okay, so you discovered this bonnet um and then did you source it overseas or locally, and how did you find like? Was that? Was there any challenges with sourcing or was that pretty easy yeah? It was difficult because also what i learned once again on your channel was you should look at the bad reviews of your competitors. Think and then also i use the product. So i know what problems i have with the existing products, and so i was custom designing a product that didn't exist, and so i'm sitting there trying to explain to them what exactly i'm looking for. I don't know how to draw. I wasn't gon na pay for someone to design it, because i would still have to do the same thing with them so either way i was gon na have to figure out a way to verbalize exactly what i was looking for and it was really difficult. I had reached out to quite a few and i got nowhere because they didn't understand what i was asking i had actually kind of given up. There was a couple of weeks. I just wasn't talking any suppliers. I was so frustrated and then this one person responded and she got it, and so then that kind of reignited the light. I didn't end up going with that supplier, but then it was like okay. So then i talked to a couple of more and then i had a sample and it was just like everything finally came together, so i i was on alibaba. I kept everything on alibaba, i messaged them through the alibaba messenger. I did my orders through trade assurance which really helped i had to get a refund at one point for a sample because, like there was a whole, it was a whole thing, and so it just helped provide a lot of like lower risks. Yes, it just gave you a lot of security and it was really easy to streamline everything. Yeah yeah, that's so that's a great lesson. Just you have to be persistent because you had an idea of what it is that you wanted, and it was important too, because you knew that you had to differentiate yourself from the other people selling bonnets on amazon. You don't just like, and that's a really important tip is, is looking at the competitors looking at their negative reviews and their positive, but taking the negative reviews. Okay, is there anything that i could improve? It doesn't have to be a huge improvement, but just something minor. That would make a significant difference in the experience of the customer, and so that's what you had found and yes most many suppliers will say no or they won't respond because they don't have that relationship with you and it can be frustrating. But you were persistent enough to continue requesting this from suppliers and eventually someone actually understood what you were saying and took action with that. And that led you to getting your sample. And so that's just kind of a great lesson, because i think that a lot of people are challenged with contacting suppliers that they find it very frustrating and um. Sometimes they don't have any luck with it, but it is it's just a numbers game. It'S like the more you contact the higher the likelihood of you having success with any one of those suppliers. So you got your samples and then i guess, did you like your samples and then you placed your order. What happened next yeah? I had a couple. One of the supplier i'd originally planned to go with, because i felt like we connected. You know it was like okay, yes, but then it was like the stitching was kind of off it didn't last very long, and then this other supplier, where she was kind of going back and forth with me. I was saying i wanted this specifically and she was saying well, have you thought about this, and instead of just kind of writing her off, which could have been a very real thing like? No, you don't know what you're talking about. I want to do what i want she sent me both. I was like you know what i want to try it. I want to see what you're saying and inmates - and it was she was right. She was 100 right, it was a better decision and so the product was really good. So i made a quite a few changes to the typical satin bonnet that you sleep with at night and but one thing i started off with the single layer, just a single layer of satin. I ordered, i think, 300 bonnets and what happened was because it was only one layer. It would start ripping at the seams. So that was another big mistake i made at the beginning, because so usually it was fine, but sometimes it would just it would just rip, and so it was incredibly overwhelming, incredibly stressful, incredibly anxiety causing, because all i'm thinking is am i about to get a bad Review am i about to get someone's rip, and so of course i was fixing it. I was upgrading to double layer and it was much more durable and strong, but it was like during that time my stomach was constantly hurting, because all i was thinking was this could ruin my business before it even started: yeah yeah yeah, that's and you know, that's Part of the the journey, though i had i went through the exact same thing. When i first released my product on amazon. You know it, it's like you, don't really have the customer feedback. Yet, yes, you tried it on yourself, but you're, just one person and for me like when i got my samples i tried them. I was like oh yeah, they're perfect. They lasted a long time broke, but then, when i had a lot of customers ordering them, i started to see like a lot of people had like the bones poking out, or they would like the the um, the clap the clasps would come off, and so i Started to realize, oh, this is a deficiency in the product um, because it's just not high enough quality. So then i started to make adjustments each time i would order. I would change one more thing with it. Um in the beginning, i had just private labeled it. I didn't do anything different. I just ordered it straight from the factory, but with each new shipment. I would make some changes based on the customer feedback and that's what ultimately led it to being unique and high quality. But in the beginning it's like you have to make those modifications and you kind of, as as you gain more experience and more customers they're going to give you more feedback. And it's going to allow you to know what it is that you should change absolutely and it helped too because, like i have my sister, i have her using it. I give it to my mom, and so they would say things also and then, if i had a customer, say it or then, if i would notice it, it was like okay, then i'm making the change, because this is it's been a pattern now right, right, yeah That makes sense, okay and then um in terms of making these modifications um. I know it was challenging to communicate initially with the supplier, but in terms of cost was it quite um quite a bit more expensive to modify the product or just um, not not too significant the extra expense? It was a little more expensive. What i found is a lot of the suppliers. They want to give you what they have in stock right, they're, going to keep trying to force it on you too. They really want you to have what you what they have in stock, so when you're asking them to create something from scratch, they're automatically going to try to charge you more but um. So at first it definitely was more expensive, but as i've increased my quantity that i've purchased it's gone down more, so it's much more comparable right and um, but in the end i'm also able to charge more because i have a unique product. That'S actually meeting the needs of the customer, so i was, i was able to. You know balance it out. Yeah, that's great! Okay! So then you have your products, they arrive, i guess with amazon fba, you immediately start fulfilled by amazon, so you don't have to manage the orders yourself and uh and then what happens with your launch? Did you see success immediately or was it a work in progress? I actually just got chills with the question, so i launched september 1st 2020.. So of course, like my mom bought one. My sister bought one sure, but i got i think three orders my first day: zero reviews brand new just from the ppc um yeah. It'S the pay-per-click ads yeah, and i've done a lot of. I was using jungle scout to find my keywords right for the advertising and building my listing and so jungle scout. I cannot recommend enough. I don't use it anymore because it's not currently something i need, but especially when you're first starting out it is a tremendous resource yeah. So i built my listing using them. I did all my keywords back end of my listing using them and i built my advertisements using them in the keyword list that i currently have. I still have from when i was using jungle scout yeah, yeah for sure it's it's so important. I just made a video about why keywords are so important if you have an amazon business, a lot of people don't realize how, like the keywords, are what is going to get your product visible, because that's how amazon functions, amazon's a search engine similar to google and If you don't have the right keywords like quality keywords in your listing in the back end in your ppc campaigns, then it's going to be so hard for your listing to rank, because when someone's typing in bonnet on amazon, the only reason your listing would show up Is if your listing has the relevant keywords? So it is absolutely critical and i think not enough people take the time to learn how to do really good keyword. Research, because the very obvious keywords are like the main keywords, but everyone's ranking for those keywords. And so, if you can have a mix of like long tail short tail, broad um, you know exact match those types of keywords. That'S what's really gon na you know lead you to having success with the search rank and also with the campaigns yeah it was. It was really um needed, i'm so glad i found them also, and so they even like just in those bullet points creating my bullet points, and i'm saying you know it's supposed to be a certain length right and like so make putting it in the big highlight Of each feature, in all caps, like all of those things, are important my description - i was doing it in html so that i could have different formatting stuff and it was just like when you went to it. It was a good listing on its own. Just from the start - and i think that helped having a really good listing - that's something that looks like you know, halfway done yeah for sure that's, and so i was getting consistent sales from the launch wow. So so from the get go, you had three sales. The first day, and then the next day, where you seeing again the same sales or larger number of sales. What was that? What was like the trend for your sales yeah? I was getting sales every day and at that point it was just random people. Finding my listing connecting with it and making the purchase, and so probably in the that first month or so well, in the first month i sold over 100 units wow, i had done about um. I think 120 units and i was like i have something here - okay, because at that point i think by the end of the month i had maybe five reviews: wow wow, that's really good! So that's that's! That'S no small feat. So you definitely are on to something, and so how did that feel, making that first sale or the first three sales on the first day like what was that feeling of you know people buying your products and you not having to fulfill them yourself, i'm like well, But well, this is it. So what am i quitting my job i'm going to make like this is going. I it was all of the validation it was validation like i knew this was a good idea. I knew it was designed with thought and intent like i. I knew i really liked it, and so it was just a matter of other people like i hope they get it. You have to get it right, but it seemed especially like now. So at the time i was using um, i was clicking on request a review and doing things like that and then eventually i was using jungle. Scout'S automated review request button. Now i use this other service. It'S called uh ecom engine feedback, five and so they're less expensive because they don't have their only feedback, whereas jungle scout, of course, has a large suite of tools right and so now i do that. Still the request to review really standard, i don't do a custom message. I just do the standard amazon request feedback, those companies requesting feedback. So now i have over 200 reviews. Wow, that's amazing, i mean is really. Those tools are really helpful. Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, and so when i read the reviews and i've seen so many times, people say thank you or people, say wow. Who came up with this idea. This was a really good idea or people saying like well. This is, this: is the best bonnet ever i got another one. You know it was just like yeah, it's it makes you want to cry, it gives me chills it's just like i'm so glad it can help people yeah and um. It'S like i so at first. I started out with black and extra long and then i added more colors. I made a double layer, of course, and then i made more colors and then i made a new um length. I did a shorter one because at first i had the extra long, because that was more niche right, more less competition right then, i made the regular bonnet that's just kind of like regular length just for big hair and then i added scrunchies and then i'm adding, Like a few more products, it's just like girl, you've been busy busy, always just, but you know for so long, the listing just with the extra long black. That was really all i needed. I designed the images in microsoft. I wasn't even using canva at the time it was just really basic yeah, but it worked yeah see and that's that's. The key is that when you have a quality product, that's unique and that that works that does the job you don't necessarily need to do. A million and one different things with marketing, because people find you and they refer you, they refer you to their family and friends, because they had such a great experience. They'Re, like wow like this worked for me. I'Ve tried so many different bonnets, and this was this. One was actually really helpful and it actually did the trick and um. So then they refer you and that word of mouth marketing is, is priceless. So it's it starts with having a high quality product. It'S like and that's why i love that you, you picked a niche that you sincerely have a true interest in a passion for because sometimes - and it's like it doesn't have to be that way. It'S fine! If you just pick any product, just to you, know, make money online, but look at how advantageous it has been for you to actually really understand the product really understand the audience really understand like who it is that you're serving um. It'S only going to benefit you in the long run. So um do you have your like on your amazon listing? Do you have a bit about yourself and like your story, talking about how, like you discovered this and your your story about your hair in my original listing, i had you know, i'm i think my sentence was i a woman designed the product, a woman uses the Product when it's using them for other women right now, i have the a plus content, because i have my trademark on my logo and so at that point i mean world was my oyster yeah yeah. Now you get so i have, and now i haven't exactly so. I have um an about the company and i say that it's woman owned it's a small business. It'S a black woman owned because my target, most of my customers are black or people of color, and then i say it's designed in southern california, because that's important too, that i'm not overseas. Just someone just trying to push out a product that doesn't know anything about it right and then i think on my on the actual store, my storefront. I have that, but my my motto is hair care engineered better and it's like because i'm an engineer yeah. I like that. I was problem solving. I was thinking behind it and i made i innovated a product for you all because you're me, i'm you like we're here, yeah yeah, i got it, and so i have that on my storefront. I love that and you know so. That'S so great. I think it's so important that you are sharing your story, because people want to hear stories um in the past people. You know a lot of corporations, they never had. They never shared anything about themselves. You wouldn't know anything about the company about the product. You wouldn't know anything about the owners or the company that you're buying from, but now people want to buy from people and they want to hear stories and they want to relate and um. You know you're a little bit limited on amazon with what you can. You know aesthetically and how you can share it. If you have the a plus content that makes it a lot easier to share your story, a picture of yourself so that people people can put a face to the name, but now that you're selling on your own website. You know that's where you have full control. Um your website, you design it exactly how you want you share. Whatever message you want: you're, not limited and amazon. You know, there's certain things that you can and cannot say: they're, amazon's customers on your website capture the leads they're, your customers. You can communicate with them as often as you want, so you have full control on your website and that's why the goal with selling on amazon is like start on amazon use amazon and take advantage of the fact that you're going to gain exposure to customers that You wouldn't be able to gain exposure to if you were selling exclusively on your website. Like first day, you launched - and you have three customers like they just magically discovered you with the help of ppc campaigns, but on shopify doesn't work that way, because people aren't searching for products on shopify. They have to find your website directly, which is really a brand new website, so start on amazon and then like. You, can eventually start your own shopify store and like split sales between the two or more people over to shopify. But i love how you just started. Your business and i love just like the natural progression and where you're going with it, yeah and shopify, is quite a beast. It'S very different from family. It was well i first i designed i created a website initially, and i actually coded it myself, because i have a a little development skills very limited, but it was good enough and so at first that was just something. So if someone looked it up, if they wouldn't be like, what's this company, they could go to it, they could see a picture of me and then they could find the amazon listing from there. Now i've created my shopify store and it's it's nice. I like it. Fine, i wanted you know. It'S shopify also has its little limitations, which i really don't appreciate. I, like i've, gone in the back end of the code quite a few times to tweak things because - and i just think like i have a privilege because i have a background - that's kind of adjacent to it, but i think about so many other sellers. It'S like that's, not fair that they would have a lot more difficulty in customizing. Certain things yeah, so that's just you know. There'S like wordpress is great because it's you can pretty much do anything on wordpress. You can create anything on wordpress, and so when i first started selling on my own website, i was first a wordpress store, um and although it i could do anything i wanted in terms of custom design, it was just there was always challenges when it came to Checkout there was always something i always needed to have my developer uh. You know on skype available for like the next fire to put out, and it was very stressful, so eventually, after, like i think, a full year, i eventually just said you know what i'm just gon na go to shopify and yes, there are more limitations, but shopify Was made for e-commerce, wordpress was made for blogging, and so you can really tell the difference. So when it comes to like the customer's experience, checking out, you know getting those email receipts, you know it's just such a smoother process than wordpress. So, in spite of their limitations, i still feel like they're, one of the best places to set up an e-commerce store. Oh yeah for sure i have right now like one of their free templates and i'm going to be buying one of their like higher end ones and customizing that, for my oh sorry for my next launch, um for for the launch of some of my new products. Awesome, okay, well, tell me a little bit about so. Where are you now? I know in terms of sales three sales first day, how are you doing now with sales and um? You know uh, what's your product line, looking like now, what was it last month? Maybe i was, it was pretty shocking, as you saw in my um screenshot. It was like my sales were pretty much doubling every month. It was very overwhelming, and so i was it was like my 30-day sales it just kept going up and it kept going up. I was at one point doing five hundred dollars a day, pretty like almost like a few times, and it was like whoa where's this even coming from and then of course, i went out of stock because it was like unprecedented growth that i did not at all. It'S a good problem to have, and so then i had to. I had already it's a good problem to have. I need to fix it, though, so i had my new inventory coming in and then it got stuck in customs with fedex. It was such. I was out of stock for like three weeks: oh wow yeah. So not no point. It was stuck in with fedex for two weeks at least yeah. So then what happened and um? So now i came back and stopped. I was actually still making sales consistently, which was pretty shocking, so my extra long black is still my best seller. If i made 500 in the day, it was probably 300 going from the extra long black like it's. Just people love it. I don't. I always thought they would want the other colors. They just want the black. Okay, that's fine, but um. Now it's like well, when i was out of stock people were still buying my products, even though, of course, i wasn't ranking as well - and i didn't have the problem product that they wanted. I was still doing over a hundred dollars a day just period, and so that was also really validating to me and then now that i'm back in stock, i'm doing a few hundred dollars a day still. But i just i want to get back up to where i was, but now i have to like prove myself to amazon again. Well, that's still great it's great that you're still able to still generate sales in spite of that and now you're also selling on your website. So you have two sales channels yeah. So i just started my shopify store. I'Ve been playing around with facebook ads a little bit, trying to figure out how to optimize those campaigns and just um understand how that beast works because it's a whole monster in itself. And but really i started my website because my new products that are coming out well, one of them specifically, i didn't - want to sell on amazon because uh they have this. You know how it goes with amazon. You have a lot of copycats right. People see a good product and they want to copy it, and so, with this product, i'm selling i'm actually going to be getting i'm going to have patent pending status in about three weeks or so, and so give it. Thank you so because i feel so protective over it and also because it's a higher price item, it would be selling around 50. I just i can't give away that referral fee to amazon without increasing the price of significantly yeah, and not only that. But for me a big sticking point was the 30-day refund period on amazon and for products like you know me with a waist trainer you with the bonnet like when someone returns, that you know you're not going to be able to sell that again, because it was Worn um so that if you have a high ticket product, you know your cost per unit is significant, and so it can backfire. You know if you're selling, that on amazon and if it's a product that does have you know a higher refund rate, so it does make sense to sell on your own website to kind of reduce the cost of those refunds. Yeah, absolutely the bonnets. When i get it, though, i always get like. Oh it's unfulfillable now, even though even if they only use it a few times, it's going to be unfulfilled. If it's on someone's head like that's just it, what it is, what it is yeah it's, but so that's been um interesting too some you know if they just don't like the color, they will turn it, and so now i just can't really sell it again. Right. Yes, it's a little disappointing yeah! That'S why that's! The thing is, like customers, love amazon for that reason, because they never return any product, even if they just don't want it anymore, um, which is why amazon has grown so much because they are customer centric like they know what they're doing right. But for us sellers, you know it's not really a great um. You know policy. However, we can decide that you know it's there's the advantages of selling on amazon outweigh those disadvantages for sellers yeah. Absolutely, and it's it's fine. I'M gon na, like i'm gon na, i offer free shipping on my website. I really do try to keep that same amazon model. I offer amazon pay as a payment, so it's like i i wan na. Also, i wan na give them that same experience, but just come to my site. Instead, yes, that makes sense, and if you can do a better price on your website, then that will incentivize them even more to just shop. On your website yeah, i was considering doing that even reducing it by 50 cents or a dollar, i think, would probably help yeah yeah for sure so now you're doing um roughly was it eight thousand dollars a month yeah it was over. It got around 8 500. Close to 9 000. wow, very significant, so um, you know this and when did you launch your product september, 1st 2020. wow congrats? So that's amazing success and during a pandemic too, so now that you're, you know you're you're, seeing success with your business um. Where are you at? Are you still working at your job and doing this part time on the side, just whenever you can squeeze in the time for it? What'S your schedule like? Yes, i still work for my job. You know, as i mentioned, i've put a lot of years into school for this career, so i do plan to stay here a while, mostly also, though like. If i had a job that um was really demanding. I had to work 60 hours a week. It would be different, but i only work 40 hours a week. I have every other friday off. My weekends are my weekends. After the work day, it's aft it's done, and so i do have a lot of time to work on my business, especially with the time difference with um alibaba, usually they're waking up when i'm finishing work anyways, and so it does work really well, and i also I just i don't i have i just i can't it's just it's too good. My job is too good to walk away from it, and you know what like that's this is i love that you're saying that, because so many times we i get on these calls and people just can't wait to quit their jobs and that's yeah. That'S a lot of people like most people, really don't like what they're doing so. If you are part of the few who, actually you love, what you do you are fulfilled by it. You love, you know every you know how your schedule and everything is working out. Then great, like stay with that. There'S no reason to leave that, especially since you put in so many years in schooling to to get you to where you are now. And then your amazon business is a way that, just as you intended just a way to make some income on the side, and hopefully eventually it can become a source of passive income. Once you start to automate it, and you know, there's a lot of systems that you can put in place to do that um. But you never there's no reason like just because you start an online business or an amazon business does not mean that you have to quit your job by no means it's absolutely your choice. It'S just a way to create another, a new income stream. That'S independent of your current job, it's absolutely especially because i'm young, i don't have children, i don't even have a pet there's, just no need it's like. I have time for both. So at this point in my life, it's not necessary a few years down the road. If i end up having a child, it's like okay, maybe i'll, go to halftime on my job and and i'll do my business. But at this point it's like, why would i turn down a very significant income stream? There'S, absolutely it just doesn't make sense totally. So i don't it's going to take a lot for me to quit my job. Honestly, it's really it's really nice. I have a lot of benefits. You know i i can't i pinch it. I don't walk away from my dad. I love it. Okay, so then um, what is you know my audience? Um i mean you're, a subscriber and you've watched my videos and i know you've seen some of these success stories. Um, do you have any pieces of advice for people who are watching you and hearing your story and thinking about man? She did it and she took the plunge and she started her business. I just i want to do it, but i don't know if it's for me it is intimidating to start anything new. Do you have any advice for people watching absolutely continue watching, first and foremost, but i think the biggest advice i would give is don't go for the trends. My sister actually also started an amazon business inside of the pandemic. After i did mine and hers failed miserably, and it wasn't because she's not a good, but she has her own another business. Now, that's doing very well. It had like it has nothing to do with the person right like you have to it's finding the product that makes sense for you just because something made sense for someone else doesn't mean that's like the right fit for you, and so just because something, oh, it's The pandemic, let me start selling mass there's a lot of people who are selling mass right now, and will they be buying mass two years from now like that? Just doesn't make sense, so you have to. I think the biggest thing is it's going with the products that you actually connect with. I think that is by far going to take you the furthest, yeah yeah. I love that and i love what you just shared there is, you know sometimes people, because i would share my my product publicly um and transparently and people would say: oh aren't you worried about people, copying you and competition, and all that i'm like yeah, there's gon Na be a small percentage of people who do produce the same product, and i even had a few people who, like they literally duplicated my website and just put their logo on it, and you know copied my product and everything was very similar. But it was never as successful as my brand, because people don't need two of the same thing. You know like you, make your product unique in your special way, and you know people only needed one of you know we don't need two apples. You know there's like an apple and a microsoft and all these other uh. You know tech companies, you don't need two of the exact same thing um, because it's unnecessary so bring an edge to whatever it is that you're doing and make it make it uniquely. Yours and that's how it's going to be successful. That is why your business is successful because you brought yourself to it and you um, you treated it like you know. This is a product that i'm i'm sourcing and using myself i am the customer, and so i'm going to approach my business from that standpoint, so i can create the highest quality products and the best customer experience and um. You know ultimately like you, don't have to have if you're, if you're going to try and copy someone else's listing, it's only going to get you so far. That'S that's just how it is. You know so and that's yeah. That'S why you have to customize products. You can't just go and find a product on amazon, that's selling really well and then duplicate that it doesn't work anymore. I did like seven years ago, but you know the game has changed on amazon quite significantly and uh you can't you can't get away with that anymore yeah and it's, i think, um with all of the changes i made in my bonnet. It'S just like when you, when you stand out and you actually put thought into creating a product that will improve upon what's out there. It shows like that's all you have to do just create a good product so um. This has been your introduction to entrepreneurship. Um. Do you see yourself continuing down this path? I know you want to continue. You know your career, but do you see yourself continuing to grow this brand and maybe develop other brands and down the line? Have you really enjoyed this journey so far yeah? I definitely will stick with entrepreneurship. I actually never saw myself as an entrepreneur, i'm very risk-averse. That'S why i work for a public public agency, i'm very risk-averse. I like you, know, reliability. I like structure, i'm i'm an engineer, i'm very black and white. These are the things i crave and in entrepreneurship, it's not at all like that, and so i did not think i would be an entrepreneur even throughout this journey. I said multiple times at the beginning. I don't know if i'm cut out for this. I don't know if i have the stomach for this. If i got a bad review, i wanted to cry. I'M like i'm, not tough enough for this business, but it's just like the payout is so worth it and it's so i love the freedom. I love that i have total control over everything. I do love control and i i just love seeing something something you've created and seeing it impact other people seeing other people post a picture. It'S like oh yeah, there's nothing better, so yeah. I don't think i would create other brands. My brand is actually when i was creating the hair care products in 2017. It'S the same logo, it's the same concept. It'S all natural glow is what it was. Then all natural glow is what it is now and it's. My baby and i love it - i'm gon na just continue to nurse it and nurture it and um try to just. I really want to just make it bigger. That'S my goal yeah! Well. I have no make a little empire you're on track to building that empire, because you have definitely been off to a great start and you're an entrepreneur with passion and again you believe in the product. You use the product and that's the most important thing, because then you're able to truly market the product, because if you don't really believe in what you're selling or if you just you're, not in congruency or you're, not being authentic, then it's going to limit your ability To market your product, because there's going to be a part of you, that's holding back, but if you truly believe in your product, you're proud of it - and you know it works - then you're going to you're going to get creative with your marketing. Because you know people are going to benefit from it, yeah absolutely well danielle. Thank you so much for taking the time to um to share your story with us. I'M sure that you are going to inspire many people who are um. You know sitting in the chair. Thinking, oh, you know i, i would love to start a business. I just don't know if it's for me and it's not for everyone, but these stories help people relate and um can can be the thing that helps them kind of make that take that first step. Motivate them to make the first move, because it's really you have to give yourself a chance at success and oftentimes. We don't give ourselves that chance, so taking that first step is what is going to lead to success. So thank you for your time here today. I will put your link or whatever you'd like to share in the description box, maybe your product, if you want to share that or a way to contact you i'll, share that with the viewers today um, so that they can get in touch and awesome. Thank you guys so much for watching. If you have questions, let us know in the comment box. Let us know what you enjoyed about this story about danielle she's, amazing. Thank you. So much danielle again for sharing your story, because we do appreciate on this channel people who are bold and willing to come on to share their stories. Because it's through stories that we learn and if you guys want to share your success story with me and with our viewers on this channel just reach out email me info tatianajames.com and we can set something up so again, thanks danielle, and we will see you guys Next time,