I started an e-commerce business with $5,000 upfront after writing about financially independent Amazon sellers. Here's how I doubled my budget.

• Inspired by successful e-commerce entrepreneurs, I decided to effort my manus astatine trading connected Amazon.
• I group a $5,000 budget, capable to motorboat thing basal and an magnitude I was comfortable losing.
• Teaming up pinch a friend doubled nan budget, and now we person $10,000 to activity with.

Reporting astir financial independency for 3 years has introduced maine to a slew of money-making strategies.

There's nan classical buy-and-hold existent estate approach, which has ever intrigued (but besides intimidated) me. There are lesser-known strategies for illustration franchise investing, which tin require a sizable upfront investment, and flipping sneakers, which tin beryllium low-budget but time-intensive.

And past there's e-commerce, which seemed to maine to beryllium nan astir approachable — and pinch a batch of imaginable upside.

One entrepreneur, Shan Shan Fu, told maine really she does $40,000 successful monthly gross trading socks and tights connected Amazon; another, Joe Reeves, designed a minimal wallet that brings successful much gross successful a period than he utilized to make successful an full twelvemonth from his time job. They some started their e-commerce companies arsenic broadside hustles.

Sure, it took clip and committedness to create a merchandise and build a brand, but their descriptions of launching Amazon shops did look comparatively straightforward. Fu, who has a inheritance successful consulting, relied connected free YouTube videos to get started. Reeves signed up for Helium 10, a celebrated package that Amazon sellers usage to turn their online businesses. Included successful nan subscription is an online people astir FBA (fulfillment by Amazon) that he tuned into.

These conversations sewage maine thinking: Is starting a profitable Amazon business … simple?

Were these e-commerce whizzes conscionable that: whizzes? Or, could anyone — including a 31-year-old newsman pinch immoderate savings and a mates of free hours aft activity — make money trading things online?

I decided to find retired for myself and archive each item of nan process from commencement to finish.

Teaming up pinch a friend to double my $5,000 budget

When I considered really overmuch of my ain money I wanted to put successful this experiment, $5,000 seemed reasonable. It was capable to motorboat thing (after all, Fu started her Amazon shop pinch conscionable $2,000), and it was an magnitude I felt comfortable losing if nary 1 ended up buying my product.

A bigger fund would beryllium amended — I'd ever heard that startups costs doubly arsenic overmuch and return doubly arsenic agelong arsenic you deliberation — and location seemed to beryllium an easy solution: Double nan founders to double nan budget.

My cofounder, a friend and erstwhile roommate, wasn't difficult to find. He lived 10 paces down nan hallway from maine astatine nan clip successful our three-bedroom flat successful LA. Both erstwhile collegiate tennis players, we'd met playing a different racket athletics called paddle tennis astatine Venice Beach. Like me, he spent much clip teaching tennis than playing it since graduating. Our laundry room, which doubled arsenic communal retention space, overflowed pinch rackets, shot hoppers, and tennis shoes.

We'd been toying pinch nan thought of starting an e-commerce business since nan outpouring of 2023 erstwhile I mentioned 1 of nan Amazon stories I was moving on. He was arsenic funny arsenic I was and besides had nan savings and bandwidth to dedicate to a broadside project. Double nan founders would not only mean double nan fund but double nan skillset and double nan network.

Our 3rd roommate was besides entrepreneurial, juggling respective broadside hustles extracurricular his time job. That spring, our communal room transformed into a spot of a warfare room. Some of our early steps included messing astir pinch Helium 10, searching for high-demand products, and doing outreach connected Alibaba to understand really to find and pass pinch manufacturers.

The task slowed down erstwhile I moved to NYC that summer. We mislaid our warfare room and, pinch it, momentum, but recommitted successful nan wintertime of 2023. We made a financial committedness — we would each put up $5,000 of our ain savings — and reached retired to experts successful nan manufacture for advice. The much group we told astir our project, nan much obligated we felt to travel through.

We needed each nan accountability we could get. Anyone tin dream up an thought successful their communal room — that's nan nosy and easy portion — but taking that thought and turning it into thing tangible requires commitment, momentum, and guidance. The execution portion is nan really difficult part, particularly erstwhile you're some moving full-time, person dependable paychecks, and don't needfully need nan business to work.

It's half arsenic hard, though, pinch nan correct partner.