When I was first starting my Amazon business back in 2015, I wanted to make sure I had enough capital to fund the business. So I made a plan (I called it my 90-day hustle) and I implemented it every-single-day.
Here are some things you can do to quickly build capital to invest in your Amazon wholesale business.
Make a plan, and dig in!
Cut expenses:
- Cable bill
- Coffee
- Cigs and booze
- Subscriptions
Resources:
Transportation and storage
- Many storage facility offer first month’s rent for free
- Home Depot rents large pickup trucks for $20 for 75 minutes.
Where to sell locally:
- Craigslist
- Offerup
- Local Facebook “Swap” groups
- Local auction houses
When you have Zero funds to invest
- Check craigslist and facebook marketplace for free items
- Check local app called “Nextdoor” for free items.
- Check for your local large trash pickup days -look for solid wood furniture
- Last day at yard sales – roll up on Sunday with truck offering to take everything that’s left away for free
- Apartment complexes towards beginning of each month – contact manager to haul away items from eviction units
When you have $200 – $500 to invest
- Visit local online and live auctions
Where to source:
- Thrift stores – Take advantage of coupons, sales days, and senior day discount
- Storage auctions
- Auction houses – online and live
Things to source
- Solid wood furniture, dressers and highboys, but avoid entertainment centers; avoid bedframes and headboards
- Best furniture is mid century modern, rustic, Tuscan, shabby chic, and french provincial.
- Brand name clothing, shoes and purses
- Collectibles
- Plus-size men’s and women’s clothing
- Old records from recognizable bands
- Electronics – old video game consoles, turntables – avoid lamps and old TVs
- Gold jewelry
- Tools like blowers, lawn mower
- Patio lounge chairs
- Old fans
When you have $500-2,000 to invest
Where to source:
- Pallet auctions from liquidation.com – focus on Amazon returns pallets
- Wholesale companies
Things to source:
- higher-value items
Now that you have some leverage here are some tips to increase your available capital:
- Drive for uber or Lyft
- Rent out a room on airbnb
- Buy RV and rent it out on airBnb
- Every 6 months, request a credit line increase on all of your credit cards, including retail store cards. You may not use the additional credit, but showing larger available credit over time should improve your credit score, making you eligible for other forms of financing.
- Apply for a Small Business Development loan
- Search google for local and federal grants
- Apply for a business Line of Credit with your bank or credit union
- Partner with investor who is looking for hands-off cashflow
- Put all purchases on cashback credit card
- Use cashback sites for all online purchases of any kind
Implement as many of these tactics as you can to build your capital quickly so you can fund your Amazon startup!