Dan Vas is the founder of Ecom Freedom. He’s got a bunch of courses that teach you how to start and scale your own ecommerce business, whether using Amazon FBA or Shopify dropshipping.
But what would he do today if he lost everything, had very little money, and had to rebuild his ecom empire starting from scratch?
What steps would he take? What type of product would he choose? Amazon FBA or Shopify?
And realistically, just how much startup capital would he need?
Read on for my Ecom Freedom review.
Shopify’s great if you’re a creative person wanting more freedom and flexibility, Dan says.
The downsides are that you have to drive your own traffic, figure out fulfillment, and deal with customer support.
Amazon’s better for analytical people who just wanna pick a good product, look at the numbers, and make data-driven decisions.
Amazon’s got all the buyers already; you just gotta get in front of ’em.
And since they ship and serve customers, it’s more hands-off.
The crappy part, though, is dealing with all their friggin’ fine print.
Still, Dan would probably start with Amazon FBA, get that popping, then open up a Shopify store later on.
Either way, the most important thing in this whole equation is the product.
You gotta find something that solves a problem and adds real value.
If possible, try to improve the product so it’s better than the competition.
Then create a brand that resonates with your target market.
Finally, ensure the quality of the product is top notch and so is the labeling and packaging and inserts and all that jazz.
To make sure you’re on the right track, Dan suggests verifying that your potential product is being sold successfully by multiple sellers or Shopify stores already.
Read negative reviews to see how you could tweak it to make it better.
And you want something that can be sold for no less than $30. Otherwise, it’s just gonna be too tough to make a profit after all expenses and fees and whatnot.
From there, can you source it from Alibaba or even domestically for a price that makes sense?
To fill in the knowledge gaps, you’ll wanna enroll in the best ecommerce course out there, which, in Dan’s biased opinion, is his EcomFreedom course.
Inside, there’s over 50 hours of instructional content that’ll take you from zero to a profitable Amazon FBA or Shopify business, depending on which one you roll with.
Anyways, once you have your product, what are some ways you can improve it?
Well, you can enhance the design, its function, or its quality and durability, right?
Again, use negative reviews to guide you.
Also, find your top three competitors and oder their product. What did you like, what didn’t you like?
Hire a branding expert off 99designs or Upwork. They can help with logo, fonts, color palette, et cetera.
Come up with a strong brand mission and vision. What do you stand for?
In terms of budget, Dan says you’d need at least $3k to $5k to do all these steps the right way.
If you don’t have that, keep working your day job, find ways to cut your living expenses, and keep saving until you do.
Then, when you launch your store, don’t be foolish and quit right away.
Rather, keep your day job so you can fund your business and really get it off the ground.
Once your Amazon FBA or Shopify income is double what you make at your 9-5, that’s when you should walk away, Dan says.
Again, if you’d like his help, and to accelerate your success, he recommends you enroll in his Ecom Freedom course.
It’s a one-stop shop for anyone who’s serious about finding freedom through ecommerce.