Mechanical Failure

My small shipment to Amazon that was delivered the 14th has still not been processed. I don't know if it's because of the holidays or not. Before I bought a lot of things, I wanted to use that as a test to see if the shipping credit offset any of the fees. If nothing happens by Monday, I might submit a help ticket, even if it is the holidays. I shipped it under the name of the company I couldn't use for legal reasons. After that I changed it to my name. Maybe that's throwing them off.

I finally found some things to sell to get the business off the ground! It's some older software. Including shipping, the cost was $45.20 for 50 pieces. If it all sells, the net profit would be in the $150 range. It depends on how much sells and whether any prices will have to be reduced and when things actually sell. I expect some items might take months. It's a mixture of educational type programs and a few games. Not the bad, violent games mothers warn about. Choosing what to sell involved moral choices.

One of the problems with building an inventory is that I'm constantly faced with moral choices. The cheapest and easiest things to sell always seem to be things I know God wouldn't want me involved in. The main one is Disney products. The people at Disney aren't known for being moral, if you know what I mean. They use lobbyists. I have to assume some of what they're lobbying for violates Biblical principals and actively fights against Christians. Supporting them is basically funding the persecution of Christians. Morally, I can't be involved in selling things from that company. The same goes for a certain type of movie or book, etc.

I had a chance to buy a 200-item lot of Christmas movies for 35 cents each. Most of it was Rudolph and Miracle on 34th Street type things. But at least one title I wasn't comfortable with. Since it was a bulk lot, I didn't have the choice of rejecting individual titles. The profit would have been enormous. Pay 35 cents. Sell for $9.98. Even after fees, it would have been awesome. Spiritually, I couldn't go there.

If you're a regular reader, you've heard me mention spiritual hindrances in my life. The inventory I was supposed to get today via UPS was delayed. The message: "A mechanical failure has delayed delivery. We're adjusting plans to deliver your package as quickly as possible. / Delivery will be rescheduled." I've never had anything delayed by mechanical failure. The truck broke down? The truck crashed? UPS delivered my barcode scanner. It's not very useful without inventory.

As I was typing, an email came in. My delivery is rescheduled for Monday. I hope my box wasn't injured.

Getting up and running and profitable looks like it's going to take longer than I'd hoped. However, I've seen a silver lining. The shipment coming in Monday took me an evening to put together. I had to go through hundreds(?) of titles, check the cost, check the profit, check the sales rank and put an order together. It took hours to get it all done. Later on, it suddenly hit me that depending on sales I was making $100 to hopefully $150ish for one evening's work. I need to build up the finances to be able to do that and more all the time. That's my goal: to duplicate that evening over and over with more profitable merchandise.

Parting the Red Sea

There's some good news. The computer problem I was having where I'd press the power button but it would immediately shut down is gone. Yay!

I've been looking for a product to private label. I found a possibility in the computer area. While doing a little research for it, I accidentally came across some headphones selling for $37.25 shipped, limit two per customer. They sell for $109 on Amazon with Amazon selling them for $137. Profit per pair would have been about $50. However, money is tight trying to get the business off the ground. If I'd bought some of those, it would've meant delays in buying something in bulk that might be better to sell in the long run. Remember that first little shipment I sent to Amazon the other day? It's still not processed for sale. I decided to pray about the headphones and try to pin down a price on the product in the computer area. I was finding ranges of prices and not a concrete price.

While I was praying and looking, the headphones sold out. It was depressing. Eventually, I thought of Moses at the parting of the sea. They reached the sea, and Moses starting praying about what to do instead of doing something. This is how God responded.

Exodus 14:15 And the LORD said to Moses, Why cry you to me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.

I've already been praying about the business and praying for opportunities. When a really awesome one arrived, instead of going forward I ended up praying and missed out. It seems that there's a time for prayer and a time to simply go forward.

The computer product costs $12 per piece plus shipping and a minimal cost for retail packaging if I want that done for me. There might be a little extra cost involved that I haven't accounted for, but it would be minimal. The retail price on Amazon is about $40. After all the fees the profit's about $28. It's not something that would sell tons and tons. It's something that sells steadily. The problem is I'd have to order 50 units at a cost of $600 plus the packaging and shipping, etc. The headphones would have been the right thing to do, but you can see how the profit on the other item is higher overall. Nevertheless, I think next time I might go with what's in front of me as a certainty instead of waiting for the "perfect" opportunity.

Coffee's pretty easy to get into. For about $300 I could order the first shipment of my own brand. Or tea. The profit's low, though.

Setback City

Getting the business off the ground is proving to be nearly impossible. I'd planned to buy a couple of cases of two different products when the business debit card arrived. It got here early. Both products sold out that same day before I could get home to make the purchases. It was discouraging.

A site that sells overstock goods had a partial pallet of new electronics equipment. I decided to try that instead. I made a spreadsheet to figure out the profit. After cost of goods, shipping costs and Amazon fees, I would've made something like $50 or less with no guarantees of selling it all and no guarantees that the retail prices wouldn't fall and turn the profit into a loss. I looked at another partial pallet of laptop coolers for Macs and did a spreadsheet. After all the costs and fees, that one would lose about $130 with no chance at all for a profit. It was discouraging.

It turns out that once I start selling things I have only 30 days to file a Doing Business As(DBA) form. I went to the county courthouse to get the form. They don't have them. They said a lawyer does that, then the courthouse files it. The state doesn't have them online. I can't find one anywhere. Various web sites will file one for me, but the fees are too high. After a lot of struggling trying to find a way to pay for it, I finally decided not to use the business name. If I use my own name, I don't have to file anything or incorporate or do anything special or pay anything. It's discouraging. I wanted to open up my Amazon store with the business name and slowly build a brand name. It's actually cheaper to start an LLC, but I would automatically need legal and tax advice for that.

I found some Sony MDR10RBT wireless headphones for $88.50 a pair. On Amazon they sell for $199. After all the fees and shipping, the profit would be around $70. However, I'm not allowed to sell them in New condition. Amazon sells them and artificially keeps the price high. The last time they sold on Ebay was last month for $129. A bunch are for sale there now. I have no interest in selling on Ebay, but I had to look just in case. Not being able to sell this brought some discouragement. I found other products like this that I'm also not allowed to sell. Apparently, certain electronics are extremely profitable.

Is there any good news? Almost. I stumbled onto a product I could sell. I spent a lot of time researching how to manufacture it at home. It appeared that I could simply import the raw material from its native country, import plastic containers from China to hold it and seal the containers with an induction sealer. At the last second I compared the ingredients on the two main sellers. They're identical, which tells me both of them are using private labeling from the same company. It also tells me that there's more processing that would have to be done to the raw material than there appeared to be if I wanted to compete with the top two sellers. It was kind of discouraging.
However, I was able to find two companies in the country of origin that do private labeling for that product. Sadly, both have minimum requirements that I can't meet right now. But it would be a product I'd be happy to sell once I was able to.

I'm seeing hindrances at almost every turn. Those two wholesale items selling out the same day I was going to buy them was especially noticeable. Are the roadblocks from God or the devil? I can't tell. My whole life's hindered in some way. This is pretty normal. Blessings seem to come in drabs and dribbles while the obstructions look like mountains. It's not all bad, though. I'm learning a lot without making disastrous mistakes. Right at the last second, the hidden flaws have become apparent before I could commit to a failing course. Maybe the breakthrough is right around the corner.

Trying To Move Forward

Remember the problem I mentioned the other day about my computer in which it sometimes wouldn't start up when I hit the power button? It's still there. The emergency Windows patch didn't fix it. It was probably for something else. I don't know what's causing it, but it seems pretty benign so far. I'm going to live with it for now.

I'm still trying to get the business off the ground. Monday I was able to open a business checking account. I'm still waiting on the debit card for it. Two days after I opened it I got a pre-approved credit card application in the mail. That was kind of funny.
I ordered a free business shipping sampler from the post office. I'm still waiting on that.
I got a shipping scale from Amazon. I weighed and sent my first shipment to them to be fulfilled by them instead of my having to mail things. It was only a couple of items to see how things are going to work in practice. If the items sell at current prices, the profit would be about $6. It depends on how the fees and credits are applied. The fees are straightforward. Before doing too much in the way of purchasing, I need to see how the shipping credit works and whether it cancels out some of the fees and how it works with Fulfillment by Amazon. I've read their pages for how it's supposed to work, but you know. I need to see it in action.

One thing's clear. I technically don't have enough money to start a business. Sourcing products where I live has proven extremely difficult. My best option is to order bulk lots online(shipping costs to me then on to Amazon), but that tends to take bulk cash, although not always. I could use some serious prayer for this. I can't afford to make a mistake. I've found some things I could buy, but the profit margins make me uncomfortable. Plus, the sales ranks are merely okay instead of great. Most of what I'm seeing is more suitable for a retail location than selling online. Not to mention I still need to buy most of the shipping supplies I need. It's a little overwhelming and feels like too many closed doors in the way. To make this work, things have to begin smoothly and profitably. It really comes down to handing it over to the Lord and trusting.

I have a business name picked out, but I can't reveal it until I file the paperwork to make it official. That costs over $300 and is on the back burner. I need to make a lot of profit to afford that. My first shipment is headed to Maryland. It could take a week to get there and be processed. Time to sell is indefinite.

Starting a Small Business

How many times have I said on here that I'm not rich or not made of money? Sadly, it's still true. However, I'm going to try to change that. I've been looking into selling things on Amazon and considering the possibility of opening a local store. I can't afford a store, and it doesn't make sense at the present. But later on, if I had enough inventory laying around, it might. I've been looking at buying things by the lot. I couldn't do that long-term without developing the need for a storage facility. At that point I might want to look at a location that could store things in a back warehouse and sell them out front. That would be down the road and take a lot of thought.

Without going into all the details, it makes sense right now to start a small, part-time business. My general plan is to sell used books and new wholesale products until I can afford to incorporate. If all that goes well, the plan would be to start my own brand of products or use private labeling. One future possibility I'm thinking about is a jacket that's not cold. I can't seem to find one that's comfortable and warm and can keep the wind out and looks nice. Maybe that's a niche I could fill. It's a thought.

I have $2 in inventory so far. I found a $2 book that sells for around $13 on Amazon. There's more where that one came from. Before I can list it, I need some shipping supplies. Next week looks like ordering a few supplies and a case or two of wholesale products and looking at a tax ID number besides my social security number.

If I can be successful with a small business, I could afford professional editing for the books and real covers and perhaps a little advertising.