How I Started a 7-Figure E-com Brand While Working A 9-5

It’s been a hell of a journey that led me to creating my first 7 figure brand (I don’t wish to disclose the name, but it’s a branded crystal jewelry dropshipping store) that allowed me to quit the corporate world back in 2020. An abundance of trials and tribulations led me to that point. Let me share with you the good, the bad, and the ugly to hopefully inspire you on your entrepreneurship journey.

First off, let me emphasize that it took over 10 years of failures before I finally hit some traction. Let me go over the hustles I’ve done over the years:

• Selling virtual in-game items in a game called Diablo 2

• Online poker (not entrepreneurial but the romance of working for myself was still there)

• Ranking websites with SEO for Google Adsense commission

• Developing my own product to sell on Amazon FBA

• Multiple failed dropshipping stores

My main point is that it took me many attempts before I stumbled upon my big winner. A lot of people dabble in starting their own business but give up after 1 or 2 tries. We live in an instant gratification society where everyone wants their desired outcome now.

Just look at how full the gym is after Jan 1 and how much more empty it is in Feb. Great things take a long time and people don’t want to actually put in the time and effort. All it takes is one home run and you can get life-changing results.

Onto the good stuff.

8 Lessons I Learned:

1. Always have a source of cash flow to fund your ventures. I never understood why anyone would want to start a side hustle without any kind of income or cash reserves. You can take more risks and have more leverage if you don’t have to worry about whether the rent will be paid next month. Ideally you’ll want a job that’s not going to take a lot of mental bandwidth so you can focus more on your business. I worked a remote 9 to 5 where I only had 2 hours of actual work a day. That meant more time to grind.

2. Never stop learning. I don’t mean learning about the useless stuff they taught in school. I mean real practical insights and knowledge from people who are where you want to be. Immerse yourself in podcasts, books, courses, subreddits, you name it. We’re so lucky to be born in the age of the internet where you can learn anything within a few keystrokes. Use your commute and gym time to listen to audiobooks.

3. Surround yourself with killers. It’s super cliche but you are indeed the average of the top 5 people you hang around with. If all your friends are losers who play video games all day then how do you expect to win at life? Life is the best video game that you can win at. I lived in Atlanta where there weren’t many people with my mindset so I had to resort to making connections online. Don’t be afraid to pay for a mentor if you have the funds.

4. Don’t get complacent. I thought I was the shit doing $1k+ profit days for several months straight. I started to chill more and lost my initial hunger that got me to where I wanted in the first place. Eventually, the business started to wane and after ioS 14 came out, the store was close to dead. I should have kept finding more winning products. I should have found other traffic sources and not only relied on FB. Lesson learned.

5. Be a creator, not a consumer. Do a self-audit of your daily routine starting from waking up to bedtime. It’s staggering how much screen time people waste just mindlessly scrolling. Delete anything that’s not helping you towards your mission. You can always reinstall them later. Social media, dating apps, Netflix, all big time wasters. If you don’t want to delete IG, then at least unfollow all the big booty IG models and meme pages. Replace them with entrepreneurs and thought leaders. Thought leaders > Thot leaders.

6. Delegate and systematize. Create SOP’s for your VAs and employees as soon as your business gets big enough where it makes sense. It’s good to get down in the trenches when first starting so you understand how all the moving parts work together. Do anything non-technical yourself first (customer service, order fulfillment, social media management, etc). Then when you want to outsource, record videos on Loom and draft up SOPs to systematize your business. Once you can afford it, outsource daily life tasks such as meal prep, cleaning, etc.

7. Don’t let your emotions get to you. You must keep on the grind even if you’re feeling shitty. It’s normal to feel demoralized after life gets you down. It was actually a break-up that pushed me to get this first successful business off the ground. It inspired me to work like a madman. Harness that energy and you can achieve great things. Whatever is going on in your life, don’t let it stop you from achieving greatness.

8. Remember your purpose. Why do you want to be an entrepreneur? I’ll admit that I did it for the wrong reasons at first. I wasn’t a super happy person and thought that buying nice things would make me happy. And I thought doing my own business was the path towards that. Well I was able to afford to buy some nice things eventually but I still felt empty inside. My new purpose is to take care of my mother and future family. I also want to help other people become better versions of themselves and make money online. What’s your purpose? Write it down and put it near your desk.

Here’s a video from the legend Sam Ovens to tie all of this together. I recommend dedicating 2 hours of your time and really take what he says to heart:

I’ve since moved on from this store but wanted to use it as a case study to impart some wisdom onto random internet strangers (that’s you!).

In essence, pick something that matches with your current skill set. Study high-value skills such as sales, copywriting, and AI. E-commerce, agencies, creating Youtube content are some good hustles to get into right now. Front load the work and go all-in on whatever you pursue. Then you can outsource most of the operations and enjoy life a little bit more.

Feel free to DM me if you have any questions, I would be happy to help.

Instagram

Twitter

Let’s crush it 🤝

-Bill Lee