How does one move from a felony to build a $20 million online business?
At the age of 17, William Rivera was booked for a felony, a bad start in life for a young man who had hoped to avoid a run-in with the law at all costs. He was in high school at this time, with a GPA of 2.3 and very little hope in life. Because they couldn’t even afford many of life’s necessities, paying for a bond was even more difficult. The mom turned to a bond company to help free her son and scrambled other resources on the pain of defaulting on house rent.
A stint in custody, however, taught Rivera valuable life lessons; the essence of freedom and the need to make money to respond to life’s needs and emergencies.
The tough lessons learned in the strong arms of the law instilled in him a desire to make a difference, in his own life and that of society. Another key shifting point for him was not being able to pay for his mom’s surgery.
After this unfortunate encounter, he completed high school and made the transition to an Amazon store, working and earning minimum wage. He would leave Amazon employment to set up his own business in partnership with Amazon which propelled him to six figures and financial stability.
This is the story of hard work and grit in overcoming a run-in with the law to build a $20 Million Online Business.
An employee at Amazon to doing Business with Amazon.
In high school, he was a very competitive student, actively participating in sports but in his own words didn’t have any business acumen. At the age of 18, after leaving high school, Rivera attended a networking event. A shy boy who couldn’t communicate effectively, he feared attending the networking event but went anyway determined to change his situation.
It was at this event that a business idea struck him. The idea of Shopify drop shipping. This is the idea of taking a product that you don’t own and selling it on a website at a higher marked-up price.
He visited Aliexpress.com, the Chinese equivalent of Amazon.com and purchased trendy bracelets for $2. He then floated the bracelets for sale at his site for free. The only amount the buyer was to pay was the $8 shipping fee.
Making the first $10
Leaving the networking event with a wealth of knowledge on how people made money online, Rivera never rested on his laurels. He combed YouTube for more information and read books on how he could make money online. He continued working the warehouse job at Amazon as he tried to flip products.
He saw people flipping iPhones and did that, saw people flipping cars, and did that, saw people drop shipping sneakers and did that. He tried everything.
While working at Amazon he also had to keep up with one disadvantage. He didn’t have a car. So, half of his paycheck went into covering Uber costs to and from work.
Then one day while at work, he received communication via his gadget that he had made $10. And this was the turning point for him. He now had proof that he was not crazy and that his idea was working. This is all he needed to change his life.
At the sight of this first $10, he quit his job and went full force into the business of drop shipping. He took his last check at work and used it to continue to seek knowledge on how to perfect his idea. He paid someone who was an expert in this to teach him the intricate details of how he could muster and profitable run drop shipping.
The bracelets would help make him his first $50,000. This was his first successful business.
From Drop Shipping to Amazon Wholesale
When he turned 21, Rivera abandoned drop shipping because it was quite involving. This is because it involved the creation of multiple websites for products, and running ads, and one needed to be tech-savvy to stay afloat.
He found a home in a new business called Amazon Wholesale. This involves opening wholesale accounts and buying the products of well-known brands at wholesale prices and selling them on Amazon.
In Amazon Wholesale, you don’t need to create a website, you work with the Amazon website. You do not need to be good at marketing and you do not need a lot of capital. You sell on Amazon where already 80% of Americans shop, so you do not run any ads. You don’t create any product and Amazon is your website.
The only three things you need to start the business are an LLC, a reseller permit and a place to buy from. While the cost of registering an LLC varies by state and country, the resellers’ permit is free in most states.
Secret to building and scaling Amazon Wholesale Business.
For Rivera, the journey to Overcoming a run-in with the law to build a $20 Million Online Business came with some key lessons;
- Open more wholesale accounts.
- As you build better relationships with companies where you purchase products, they keep dropping their prices.
- In this business, the more hands you shake, the more money you make. Build relationships with companies you are buying from. Network with suppliers.
- The more buying power you have, the more products you sell.
- Establish credit lines with these companies to be able to buy more products. Establish good relationships with banks.
Quotes from William Rivera and Lessons in Business.
- I was obsessed. If you are not obsessed about something, you are going to be average. Watched over 200 videos on online businesses and how to market and sell products.
- Because he now runs a successful business teaching people how to make money through Amazon wholesale and drop shipping, he seeks knowledge. One day he paid $7000 to attend an event to teach him how to effectively run webinars, which is his big business now. From this he learned a valuable lesson, “People who pay, pay attention.”
- Anybody good at what they do is obsessed with what they do.
- Money is everywhere. You don’t see it because society programmed you to think it’s hard to get.
- Starting your own business teaches you more about business than business school ever could.
- Success happens when your dreams mean more to you than your excuses.
- I was learning every time I lost money.
- Focus on one thing and become an expert and you will get a seat on the table and provide value at the table.
- The secret to getting good at something is to be bad at it first. But people don’t want to be bad at it. They don’t want to take risks.
- The reason people are not successful is delay. Delay in making a decision.
- All businesses work. What makes the difference is the people in the business. And their decisions.
- You can only grow from what you have been exposed to.
- I am where I am today due to pure grit, hard work, consistency, networking, and optimism.
- Two things can take you out of your current situation, desperation or inspiration.
- Seek mentorship.
- Learn from mistakes.
- Start noticing opportunities.
- Fid fun in the process.
- Share what you know.
Conclusion on Overcoming a run-in with the law to build a $20 Million Online Business.
Rivera has made a fortune through his webinars teaching other budding entrepreneurs in the online business through his Ecom Degree University. This story of determination and hard work teaches us that the future belongs to the risk-takers who faithfully and courageously convert ideas into action.
That’s the only way a felon failing in his class can emerge from the ashes to build a $20.1 million business.
A Gambian Orphan’s path to Real Estate Fortune in America.
Related articles: How two teen brothers turned junk into gold.
