WTF So I just dick'd my butt

Syrup Beaver said:
@fly - it’s been nigh on 10 years since you self-evacuated from corporate America

1. What was most surprising about your journey?
2. Who was your most unexpected champion?
3. Where do you think you should have spent more time earlier?
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Indeed it has!

1. Trading security for freedom can be terrifying, but overall worth it. Being an independent contractor, you have to 'eat when there's food on the table'. Which is great - when there's food. There were certainly some lean times. I always had the fact that I could go back to corporate IT in my back pocket, but I really don't like losing. That was a great driving force.

And while my Amazon FBA stuff has been a bit more consistent, its still tough, expensive, and fraught with danger. I unknowingly did some patent infringement early on, which could have gotten my account closed. Thankfully it did not. And bootstrapping an FBA business is just hard due to the cash requirements required to put in these orders. And since everything has to come over on a boat, sometimes its a full sixty days before I can start to put that money to work. Tens of thousands of dollars of float. I want to literally throw up every time I have to send a wire.

2. I mean, probably @APRIL, as she blazed the path for me. I think she left corporate America like a year or two before I did and showed me that it could be done. I'm not good with change, so there's no way in hell I would have done this without her. And if I think about it, probably my mom too as she's been working for herself as long as I've known her. I had some great role models! :lol:

3. I wish I had discovered UpWork earlier. I wrongly assumed that I wouldn't be able to compete there with offshore IT companies. But there's a huge swath of people who want to onshore their work. While it's hard to get started there, it has been worth it. I actually had a friend hire me to do an infrastructure review and then give me a rating. That really helped get the ball rolling.
 
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Domon said:
If that wasn't such a wholesome post, I would ask if @APRIL is making $200 a day yet
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I don't really have any idea. We don't share finances. She's probably about to go way over that soon though. She's taking over my Amazon.com business and also probably buying an SEO company from a lady who is retiring.
 
fly said:
I don't really have any idea. We don't share finances. She's probably about to go way over that soon though. She's taking over my Amazon.com business and also probably buying an SEO company from a lady who is retiring.
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Damn, my ex was on _all_ my finances. Took two years to get her off everything.
 
Syrup Beaver said:
Man, the FBA stuff is terrifying at scale haha. Good on you for pushing through.

I’ve heard tales, like this one guy that bought a pallet of fidget spinners right at the peak of saturation and lost his ass. :nevx3:
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It truly is. I throw a giant hunk of money into a hole, get some pictures, then hopefully if everything goes well 30-45 days later, I get product. I've been working with my supplier for like 10 years now, but I still have a panic attack every time I get the call to confirm the wire.
 
Oh, another great story. So my supplier was doing something called double invoicing (or something like that). He would charge me $xx per unit, but then supply a lower cost to CBP so that I could save money on import duties. They never told me this. And I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, so really never looked. Once I figured it out, I freaked out. If CBP figures this out on their own, the fine is something like 300% of total retail cost of the goods.

So I ended up paying like $5k in make-up duties and penalties. And another $5k for a lawyer to handle it. I'm such a small importer, I probably could have just gotten away with it and moved on, but I'm pretty risk averse.
 
fly said:
It truly is. I throw a giant hunk of money into a hole, get some pictures, then hopefully if everything goes well 30-45 days later, I get product. I've been working with my supplier for like 10 years now, but I still have a panic attack every time I get the call to confirm the wire.
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I would never not find that nerve wracking
 
fly said:
Oh, another great story. So my supplier was doing something called double invoicing (or something like that). He would charge me $xx per unit, but then supply a lower cost to CBP so that I could save money on import duties. They never told me this. And I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, so really never looked. Once I figured it out, I freaked out. If CBP figures this out on their own, the fine is something like 300% of total retail cost of the goods.

So I ended up paying like $5k in make-up duties and penalties. And another $5k for a lawyer to handle it. I'm such a small importer, I probably could have just gotten away with it and moved on, but I'm pretty risk averse.
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It's really because you're importing Chinese spy technology isn't it?
 
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