So you've made it out of the rapids of the raw start-up phase of your Amazon or e-commerce business. You've got a keyword niche defined. You've got some kind of product to market fit with at least one or two products. You found a decent supplier and a decent quality product. And you've made your sales and you've got to the point where you're maybe making five figures a month. Congratulations.

 

At the point, it’s just rinse, and repeat, right?

More keywords, more products - more marketing spend.

In a word: wrong.

Here’s why.

 

The truth is that most people I work with who are doing between 10 and $20,000 (or equivalent) a month have some pretty dangerous flaws in their businesses.

They don't really know what they're doing yet. Which is completely forgivable - but still  dangerous to their businesses.

It's rather like constructing some kind of primitive craft and then getting out on the water. The first thing to do is to see if it floats. The next thing to do is make sure you bail out any water and stay afloat. However at some point, you have to fix the holes in the boat or ultimately the craft will just sink (sooner or later you or your crew will run out of energy to bail it out).

 

So, yes,  more keyword research and finding a new supplier and a new product is a very great plan. However doing what you've done to get you here won't get you to the next stage.

 

What you need is to systemize your business.

Hence this mini-series, especially designed for $10-20K/month sellers.

To fix the holes in your boat, and lay the foundation for serious growth and sustainable, safe sailing through the choppy waters of Amazon and ecommerce!

Systems that tend to be messy or non-existent: 

Org chart

Financial functions (Accounting)

Stock management

Org Chart 

Think FUNCTIONS not just “ROLES”

Think about how they relate to each other

Operations - COO

HR dept - HMO

Finances - CFO 

Marketing - CMO

CEO - set strategic direction 

Operations - COO

R & D (new product dev)

Supply/Manufacturer liaison

Logistics

Amazon/Marketplace account management

Customer Service

 

Roles - plan downwards; implement and outsource “upwards” 

Marketing - CMO 

Brand Manager 

Photography

Graphic design

 

Email marketing assistant

Chatbot marketing assistant

Social Media

 

FInances - CFO

Accounting

Finance (making sense)

 

Accounting includes: 

Accountant - tax accounting, 

Corp tax

VAT

Managerial accounting

Projected

Book Keeping

* Lucidchart