Books remain hot on Amazon, but your business will change over time – and you must adapt accordingly

By Sharon Fussell, September 15, 2016

In any successful business it is necessary to ‘think outside the box’ on occasion to solve issues or meet challenges.

For many, it is the lack of ability to think strategically or move quickly enough to adapt to change that sounds the death knell for them. Sad, but that is just how commerce works in our capitalist system.

Some people experience devastation to their business, experiencing economic and social pain. Others see opportunities in problems and work to meet challenges head on. There are always winn ers and losers.

Over the next few years, many businesses will experience tough time. Brexit will sort out the weak from the strong – and while change may be good for some, it could prove devastating for others.

I have to admit I’m really looking forward to taking advantage of the wonderful opportunities that Brexiters claim are out there. Admittedly, I am failing to see the vision as yet… but who knows? I’m waiting with bated breath.

I know I’ve discussed business changes I’ve made in past eletters – and I’ve always tried to move with Amazon changes, adapting accordingly.

In business there is a bottom line you must embrace to succeed at any level. You need to make a profit.

In retail this usually means purchasing a product for X and selling it for Y, with the difference between them going into you pocket.

If this doesn’t happen, you’re either working for nothing or heading for bankruptcy. Of course, the level of X and Y differs from business to business. I wouldn’t really envision having a business where I had hundreds or thousands of employees and turnovers of millions of pounds.

Success is personal, and for me it is earning enough income to do what I want to do. In my case, it is quite a modest quest.

For example, we spent seven weeks in France this summer following Wales in the Euros. Due to the fantastic success of the Welsh team, we ended up going to a few more games than we might have originally expected.

Many fellow supporters (including me and my family) just did not want to leave France, wanting to continue the journey with the team.

Luckily, we were able to adapt our plans. We booked additional hotels and travelled further than anticipated. Our usual holiday in France entails around 1000 miles of driving. Over the span of the tournament we covered over 4000 miles!

But we were lucky. The extra costs and time required to follow the team were all manageable. As long as there is WiFi reception, my 100% Internet-based programme means our income is not affected. We do not have bosses or employers to beg for additional time off.

We heard many tales of people losing/leaving jobs when their employers refused to allow them to stay on in France, and in some cases refusing to allow employees who are fans to have any time off at all during the tournament.

Feelings were strong. To put it into context, Wales hadn’t qualified for a major tournament in most supporters’ lifetime. The last time the Dragons had made it to the final stages of a significant competition was 1958! Consequently, many fans felt there was no way they weren’t going to be there to experience it.

As I mentioned, the only way we were able to do this was because we have an adaptable business. In fact, I am typing this eletter from the comfort of a Luxury Lodge in West Wales, featuring breathtaking views and fresh eggs every day collected from the chicken coop! We’re taking a short break to celebrate my upcoming birthday.

We were forced to adapt when the Internet went down in one of the gites we were staying at in France and while not ideal, we fixed the problem by spending a couple of hours in McDonald’s every day. While the food may not be to my taste, they tend to have wonderful reception so needs must!

We are self-employed, so no bosses to worry about there. Our children are grown up and don’t need us to be around 24/7 so the timing of the event was good to us.

In the past we would’ve had to make allowances for financial considerations. And we had a storage unit with 24,000 books so we had to be at home to post our orders, or put our account in holiday mode and not have any orders. This would have been financially damaging, especially if we had wanted to be away for seven weeks!

So it is making tweaks to the way we operate in business that resulted in us being able to take advantage of a great experience as the Dragons roared in France!

I discovered my 100% online programme quite by chance and have developed and adapted working methods over the years.

For those of you that have followed my working methods in that time, you will have seen the changes I have shared with you previously.

My most recent programme, Copy Paste Profit, involves a similar concept that takes advantage of low pricing on Amazon to sell on other online sites. ‘Flipping products’, so to speak.

My new programme does not follow this exact methodology. I think it is simpler to operate and potentially more lucrative.

Another former product was Automated Amazon Profits. In 2009 Amazon moved the goalposts for selling books (and other products of course) to include Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA). This enabled us to ditch the units and work from home.

While we still bought books from charity shops and so on, they were processed and sent to Amazon fulfilment centres instead. They would send out our orders freeing us from standing in line in post offices sending off our books.

This was wonderful. But then Amazon changes, including the introduction of the Kindle and increasing FBA-related charges started to eat away at sales and profits. Suddenly, selling via the FBA programme was not so wonderful.

With dwindling sales and profits we could have given up, thrown in the towel and looked to do something else.

The problem for us is that we know books are still hot products on Amazon. But making money in a very competitive market where sellers seem to enjoy pushing prices to race to the bottom is quite a challenge.

My new programme has tapped into a way to take advantage of low priced selling. Using a secret research method that I believe is unique to me, I find suitable products that take advantage of low pricing to ensure I can buy for X sell for Y and pocket the difference.

I have no interest in trying to compete with silly pricing that makes profit-making extremely challenging. No more traipsing into charity shops and around car boot sales trying to second guess which book will make a profit on Amazon. And no more post office queues!

My new programme involves working on my sofa for a couple of hours a day, at a time of day that suits me and allows making the most of events that would probably elude us if we had conventional jobs.

Keep a look out for my programme over the next few months. If you’re interested in giving me feedback on the concept of my programme then please drop me a line.

To recap, the programme is 100% Internet-based. You can work at hours to suit you, day or night, from the comfort of your home.

You do not store products – indeed, you don’t need to handle any products at all. Previous experience of selling books is advantageous but not necessary. You don’t need transport or to leave you home to commute.

Start up investment is minimal – although you do need a computer and Internet provision. Profits vary, but overall are very good… an income of £30,000-£40,000 for part-time work is a conservative estimate.