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Massive Scale Cross-Border Amazon Arbitrage

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<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1733425718471-webp.61414/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57131-15565e652076feaa91f314a3a8c03791.jpg?hash=zED4VtCSke" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1733425718471.webp" title="1733425718471.webp" width="550" height="142" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> This week&#039;s goals:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>DONE</b> Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol>Active listings: 48,215<br /> Account health score: 192 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 2<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Account manager contacted me and said he raised a case to try to get my money out of the old account.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Didn&#039;t hear back from my vendor today.</li> </ul></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1733511657672-webp.61439/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57147-090ade9edfff71998926e88317418920.jpg?hash=tFI_QT3LiO" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1733511657672.webp" title="1733511657672.webp" width="547" height="138" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> This week&#039;s goals:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>DONE</b> Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol>Active listings: 46,788<br /> Account health score: 192 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 0</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1733601074901-webp.61475/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57171-93ec11803b90defce51621da5805bdb5.jpg?hash=cbld8JNlFp" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1733601074901.webp" title="1733601074901.webp" width="538" height="131" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> This week&#039;s goals:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>DONE</b> Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol>Active listings: 45,605<br /> Account health score: 192 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 0</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><h2 class="bbHeading"><a class="u-anchorTarget" name="-weekly-update"></a>Weekly Update&#8203;<a class="hoverLink" href="#-weekly-update" title="Permanent link"></a></h2><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1733638108316-webp.61491/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57180-2b8064197ba7fed4a89e00ad7dbf0e49.jpg?hash=jYA9CFDAVX" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1733638108316.webp" title="1733638108316.webp" width="200" height="222" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> This week&#039;s goals:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>DONE</b> Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol>I failed pretty hard on my goals this week. I don&#039;t have any legitimate excuse - I just didn&#039;t do the things.<br /> <br /> Last night I chatted with a guy I know who is also trying to get a business off the ground. He said the thing that is holding him back is that he is obsessed with Fantasy Basketball and spends all his free time on that. I felt like it was a reflection of me. Even though I am doing order processing every night, I know the other things I need to do, and I don&#039;t do them.<br /> <br /> I&#039;m going to keep the same goals for the coming week since the priorities are the same:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper">I read most of your thread, but still only understand the half of it <img src="/community/imgs/emoticons/em-smile2.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-shortname=":)" /><br /> Still appreciate your weekly progress!</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1733680513577-webp.61497/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57184-0304a53a7f72002c3bb7c701827291a4.jpg?hash=DdTaSLHwdt" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1733680513577.webp" title="1733680513577.webp" width="546" height="145" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> This week&#039;s goals:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(1 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol>Active listings: 56,780<br /> Account health score: 192 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 0<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Forced myself to sit down and do some very high-leverage coding tasks. Changed my listing logic to list in more cases and keep more items in the queue. This is why my active listings jumped so much since yesterday.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sent a message to my vendor unrelated to my problem just to stay in close contact. He is traveling this week but I will try to schedule a meeting with him next week when he&#039;s back.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Poked my friend that signed up for a seller account but never gave me the permissions to use his API keys. He says he can do it tomorrow.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Had a brief board meeting (with my wife). I&#039;ll do at least one late office day this week to get in some sustained focus time at a more reasonable hour of the day.</li> </ul></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1733770500652-webp.61544/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57213-23f3aa3f0535a91c8df96a8b6871340a.jpg?hash=w5yKquQikL" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1733770500652.webp" title="1733770500652.webp" width="545" height="137" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> This week&#039;s goals:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(1 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol>Active listings: 73,141<br /> Account health score: 192 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 1<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The warehouse called me up panicking because we have so many orders to dispatch. They were saying it takes a long time to do the preparation and they don&#039;t have enough people. I think this shouldn&#039;t be so bad - I should visit them and come up with a practical way to speed things up.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Loaded up more </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Was doing fulfillment until late and didn&#039;t get in any coding. Tomorrow will work late at the office and get some done.</li> </ul></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1733856422088-webp.61567/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57227-3c1aacb44fdb1f746df2ed7df4621204.jpg?hash=Vb-vJ7DQjs" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1733856422088.webp" title="1733856422088.webp" width="544" height="144" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> This week&#039;s goals:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(2 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol>Active listings: 97,037<br /> Account health score: 192 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 1<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stayed late in the office to work on this business.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Brought up my GitHub project and sorted things quickly.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">There is a performance consideration with the scraper I want to make: it needs the same API call which is the bottleneck of my script that updates my product. So I can do it but it will slow down my bot. Or I can add more API keys. Alternatively I can write a web scraper to do this.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Decided to just modify the scraper and then solve the API key issue later.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">After checking out my code I realized I already have everything I need, except for more API keys. So I reached out to a few more friends to see if they would sign up for seller accounts.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Instead I started working more on my order tracking:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Refactored my order tracking to be on a per-item basis. In the DB it was previously per-SKU and in the tracking spreadsheet we have it was per-order. Per-item is the most granular it can get, so this will allow me to track all items throughout the journey, even if it does make the spreadsheet bigger in some cases.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Added a tracking event concept and populated some that I&#039;m already getting. Still a ways to go with the tracking, but the basics are in place.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Handled a special case in documents generation to make it more consistent.</li> </ul></li> </ul></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734023381134-webp.61633/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57264-3fd55a819d764100a270ee5cb45691cd.jpg?hash=7WtvUCyqrZ" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734023381134.webp" title="1734023381134.webp" width="552" height="139" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> This week&#039;s goals:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(2 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol>Active listings: 97,037<br /> Account health score: 192 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 0</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734030481160-webp.61642/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57270-a3e99910e0196936a19ee07c708eacec.jpg?hash=2ArpwiISdZ" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734030481160.webp" title="1734030481160.webp" width="551" height="139" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> This week&#039;s goals:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(2 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol>Active listings: 100,116<br /> Account health score: 192 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 6</div>
 
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<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734114181918-webp.61659/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57279-712f7adc7f1ef1a034f85ade0270d32a.jpg?hash=0fTuVhO6x6" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734114181918.webp" title="1734114181918.webp" width="547" height="136" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> This week&#039;s goals:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(2 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol>Active listings: 98,875<br /> Account health score: 192 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 0</div>
 
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<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734200536453-webp.61669/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57284-ce1232b29d1d9bdf043e2f4e5bfaf703.jpg?hash=tikrdHhdoN" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734200536453.webp" title="1734200536453.webp" width="551" height="138" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> This week&#039;s goals:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(2 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol>Active listings: 97,722<br /> Account health score: 192 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 0<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Woke up today feeling like it&#039;s time for a change.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Contacted an investor I know well and told him about my business and that I need to raise some capital to grow it 50x. He said he wanted to know more, so I recorded a ten minute explainer video. He&#039;s interested but asked what deal I&#039;m looking for. I didn&#039;t really know and need to get back to him.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Then I contacted another friend who is a banker in M&amp;A and fundraising. She agreed to help me review my pitch for free and give me advice.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I know that here in the Fastlane we generally look down on accepting outside investment, but I&#039;m kind of trapped at the moment due to lack of funds. I have working capital constraints and I really need to work on this thing full-time, but don&#039;t have the money to quit my job.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">So I&#039;m thinking about two options:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Sell the business outright for whatever I can get. The figure in my head is $5m. Not enough to be wealthy and retired, but I would probably just start another business with the money and make that my get-rich project</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Sell a minority stake for enough money to handle the working capital, pay equivalent salary after quitting my job, and set up whatever logistics I need and last for about a year, after which I would probably then look to sell the company for way more. The problem is that I&#039;m not really sure how much money I need. I guess if I kept the same valuation as the first option then I would take $1m for 20%</li> </ol></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If I seriously run out of money before getting any investment then I do have rich friends that would either loan it to me or maybe would be interested in an equity stake</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Looking at the options above the second one makes me a lot more money but also poses risk. Because I am continuing to violate the C in CENTS and Amazon can pull the rug out from under me at any time</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Started making a simple pitch deck describing the business, the market, the future plans and prospective financials. Will polish off a first draft tomorrow and share it with my banker friend for a review</li> </ul></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><h2 class="bbHeading"><a class="u-anchorTarget" name="-weekly-update"></a>Weekly Update&#8203;<a class="hoverLink" href="#-weekly-update" title="Permanent link"></a></h2><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734259184934-webp.61694/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57303-f43878053f7669fbaca8a021af01883e.jpg?hash=awOycr_nWC" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734259184934.webp" title="1734259184934.webp" width="200" height="242" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> This week&#039;s goals:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Push vendor to start with faster international solution</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(2 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>NOT DONE</b> Launch an updated scraping bot that identifies listings by compliant competitors</li> </ol>Not great on my goals this week.<br /> <br /> I had a bit of an awakening yesterday and am going to change a lot of the things I am doing and take better action.<br /> <br /> Goals for the coming week:<br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Flesh out business plan and investor pitch deck</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Solve working capital issues without selling equity</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Make time for coding</li> </ol></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734288575424-webp.61700/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57306-4b4b9419b72c1eda43387cf010e17086.jpg?hash=5O4dLfR2iF" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734288575424.webp" title="1734288575424.webp" width="549" height="146" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP) </b>Flesh out business plan and investor pitch deck</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP)</b> Solve working capital issues without selling equity</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(1 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(119 / 200 k) </b>Get to 200k active orders</li> </ol>Active listings: 119,207<br /> Account health score: 196 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 0<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Set a timer for 30 minutes and did coding:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Added a subset of my &#039;compliant&#039; competitors list to a &#039;trusted&#039; list</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Loosened up blacklisting rules when I find that there is a &#039;trusted&#039; competitor on the listing</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Wrote queries to find ASINs that may now pass those rules and then fed them into the bot</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tried to get my friend&#039;s API keys working but the US keys were broken. Wasn&#039;t able to figure out why</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Worked on my investor deck and wrote out my capital requirements. If I asked for all the money right now it would only be about 600k USD, which is not that much. I also think that I should exhaust my debt options before going for equity, because that will maximize my valuation. So I will look at a small business loan or personal loan to finance the working capital for now. If I can hold out without selling equity and grow the business 2-3x, then there&#039;s that much more money in it for me.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Calculated that I really just need about 60-70 orders per day to be at job-quitting income. I&#039;m already at 20-30 now - so I decided to modify my weekly goals already and try to hit 200k active orders, which is double where I was yesterday.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I also have zero reviews on my account because I haven&#039;t been soliciting them. This is something that factors into me winning the Buy Box, so I sent out my automated solicitations.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Emailed my banker to look into a personal loan for handling the current working capital requirements. Should hear back from him tomorrow.</li> </ul></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734381208530-webp.61729/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57324-937a1dbcf8c04d0252f39e5fa9d4a298.jpg?hash=qI8TSzPQ_p" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734381208530.webp" title="1734381208530.webp" width="551" height="140" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP) </b>Flesh out business plan and investor pitch deck</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP)</b> Solve working capital issues without selling equity</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(1 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(136 / 200 k) </b>Get to 200k active orders</li> </ol>Active listings: 136,112<br /> Account health score: 196 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 0<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Today was a big networking day. I had meetings set up with three different people for various things. The last meeting started at 9pm and ran for two hours, so then I had to rush to complete my fulfillment before midnight cutoff with Amazon. Didn&#039;t get coding time in.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It looks like growing the catalog is giving my orders a boost. Fingers crossed that the trend continues and I&#039;m able to find enough ASINs to get up to 200k active.</li> </ul></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734461683734-webp.61757/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57341-70f3a5845df4f5e69f6229c4b0e79554.jpg?hash=qCsiHS_632" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734461683734.webp" title="1734461683734.webp" width="544" height="132" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP) </b>Flesh out business plan and investor pitch deck</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP)</b> Solve working capital issues without selling equity</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(1 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(139 / 200 k) </b>Get to 200k active orders</li> </ol>Active listings: 139,295<br /> Account health score: 196 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 2</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734545876367-webp.61821/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57380-eac8d2a50569b790082b7c3362682ae6.jpg?hash=q1bDtfBLkg" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734545876367.webp" title="1734545876367.webp" width="546" height="140" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP) </b>Flesh out business plan and investor pitch deck</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP)</b> Solve working capital issues without selling equity</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(1 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(139 / 200 k) </b>Get to 200k active orders</li> </ol>Active listings: 140,134<br /> Account health score: 196 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 2</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><b><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734633572214-webp.61851/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57399-48e9f8c07efe59e65295d98752952d29.jpg?hash=R6UmfWnMdz" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734633572214.webp" title="1734633572214.webp" width="545" height="134" loading="lazy" /></a></b><br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP) </b>Flesh out business plan and investor pitch deck</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP)</b> Solve working capital issues without selling equity</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(1 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(139 / 200 k) </b>Get to 200k active orders</li> </ol>Active listings: 138,960<br /> Account health score: 196 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 2</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/screenshot-2024-12-21-at-9-38-23%E2%80%AFpm-webp.61877/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57417-3b7d948ce363d205f8b5c44b101b0001.jpg?hash=YMDgt69hpu" class="bbImage " style="" alt="Screenshot 2024-12-21 at 9.38.23 PM.webp" title="Screenshot 2024-12-21 at 9.38.23 PM.webp" width="548" height="140" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP) </b>Flesh out business plan and investor pitch deck</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP)</b> Solve working capital issues without selling equity</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(1 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(139 / 200 k) </b>Get to 200k active orders</li> </ol>Active listings: 138,960<br /> Account health score: 176 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 2</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734807846106-webp.61881/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57419-905018f8f37c640878fc7f65032a5b21.jpg?hash=RtdzuR-mxI" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734807846106.webp" title="1734807846106.webp" width="555" height="146" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP) </b>Flesh out business plan and investor pitch deck</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP)</b> Solve working capital issues without selling equity</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(1 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(139 / 200 k) </b>Get to 200k active orders</li> </ol>Active listings: 135,450<br /> Account health score: 156 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 2</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><h2 class="bbHeading"><a class="u-anchorTarget" name="-weekly-update"></a>Weekly Update&#8203;<a class="hoverLink" href="#-weekly-update" title="Permanent link"></a></h2><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734846430691-webp.61911/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57444-88d28d6ea052297756e5972d4b7cda3e.jpg?hash=JD-woMBG4a" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734846430691.webp" title="1734846430691.webp" width="200" height="272" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP) </b>Flesh out business plan and investor pitch deck</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(WIP)</b> Solve working capital issues without selling equity</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(1 / 7 days)</b> Make time for coding</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>(139 / 200 k) </b>Get to 200k active orders</li> </ol><h3 class="bbHeading"><a class="u-anchorTarget" name="-goal-failure"></a>Goal Failure&#8203;<a class="hoverLink" href="#-goal-failure" title="Permanent link"></a></h3>I did not achieve my goals and have been bad. Not that I haven&#039;t been working - every night I&#039;m up until 11 or 12 doing fulfillment. I just am totally out of it by the time I finish all that and then either want to sleep or vegetate. <br /> <br /> <h3 class="bbHeading"><a class="u-anchorTarget" name="-investor-meeting"></a>Investor Meeting&#8203;<a class="hoverLink" href="#-investor-meeting" title="Permanent link"></a></h3>On Monday I have a meeting with my vendor / potential investor and will give my pitch. Here are the key points:<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It&#039;s an investment + partnership</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You invest an amount that allows me to leave my job and focus on this full time plus a few other costs - less than 1m USD</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Get 10% of the company</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I come and help improve your operations, which have a lot of issues. You don&#039;t have anyone doing this right now or capable of doing this</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You sell the international movements to me at cost and you use a solution that gives a better transit time</li> </ul>This will be the starting point of the discussion. There are variations of this that could work, like for instance we could do a swap where I take ownership of the operations and deal all the headache. Or there could be an option to buy me out after a year or and option for me to force a sale after a year.<br /> <br /> <h3 class="bbHeading"><a class="u-anchorTarget" name="-yo-yo-pricing-strategy"></a>Yo-Yo Pricing Strategy&#8203;<a class="hoverLink" href="#-yo-yo-pricing-strategy" title="Permanent link"></a></h3>I have an idea for a pricing strategy to capture more sales, because I think I&#039;m seeing a pattern with my current pricing strategy. I price to win the BuyBox, then after some time my competitor under-cuts me, winning it back. We repeat this pattern until either I win it permanently or the competitor does. If I permanently lose, I just keep my price at my lowest possible or I remove my offer completely.<br /> <br /> Instead I will find out when I hit that floor, and if I don&#039;t win the BuyBox, I will raise my price significantly, to restart the loop. That way I still get more time winning the BuyBox even though I don&#039;t have the ability to price the lowest.<br /> <br /> <h3 class="bbHeading"><a class="u-anchorTarget" name="-next-week-goals"></a>Next Week Goals&#8203;<a class="hoverLink" href="#-next-week-goals" title="Permanent link"></a></h3><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Have investor meeting and learn the terms of a deal that they would be comfortable with and the valuation approach they would use for investment</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Implement yo-yo pricing strategy</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Improve automation of at least one fulfillment process</li> </ol></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734890340771-webp.61925/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57451-17f5933f8b9a1cdd25adcedc2af72c76.jpg?hash=fUaZsNBTPZ" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734890340771.webp" title="1734890340771.webp" width="550" height="141" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Have investor meeting and learn the terms of a deal that they would be comfortable with and the valuation approach they would use for investment</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>DONE</b> Implement yo-yo pricing strategy</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Improve automation of at least one fulfillment process</li> </ol>Active listings: 134,645<br /> Account health score: 172 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 3<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Implemented my yo-yo pricing strategy in a quick and dirty way. Will have to see after a day or two if this provides a meaningful boost to sales</li> </ul></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 62811" data-quote="StrikingViper69" data-source="post: 1151776" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=1151776" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-1151776">StrikingViper69 said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Now you have orders coming in, can you get a VA to take over the fulfilment side of things? </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>Yes. I&#039;m just waiting to resolve some cash flow issues. I need to pay a recruitment fee to get the VA.</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 127560" data-quote="GoldFibre" data-source="post: 1151785" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=1151785" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-1151785">GoldFibre said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Yes. I&#039;m just waiting to resolve some cash flow issues. I need to pay a recruitment fee to get the VA. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>Onlinejobs.ph?</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1734983220805-webp.61954/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57471-d2fdc36edd6f20aa6fa22a03192a9b84.jpg?hash=Ym4mEaZcRQ" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1734983220805.webp" title="1734983220805.webp" width="551" height="142" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>WIP</b> Have investor meeting and learn the terms of a deal that they would be comfortable with and the valuation approach they would use for investment</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>DONE</b> Implement yo-yo pricing strategy</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Improve automation of at least one fulfillment process</li> </ol>Active listings: 132,485<br /> Account health score: 172 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 1<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Called my vendor operations because so many orders are late - they said customs is held up and I asked them to give me daily updates</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Spoke with the head of the vendor about the investment proposal. He said he likes it and will discuss with his stakeholders. I know all of those people as well. Didn&#039;t discuss valuation or % equity. I am supposed to hear back from him on Thursday or Friday.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Met with my last mile vendor at their warehouse and sorted out a number of pending issues. Also pressured them for a rate decrease now that my shipments are increasing</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Spoke to my friend who had a few tech startups and has taken VC money before. After discussing different options he said the dream is to take no money at all, have a business that spits out cash and then sell it when I&#039;m ready. Roughly this is what the Fastlane books advise as well</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Decided that I&#039;m going to push my vendor to let me start shipping with UPS until they sort out their own supply chain</li> </ul></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1735072871455-webp.61965/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57477-fcccfff7d41a359bff168290c9683e61.jpg?hash=pZJgkvWFV5" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1735072871455.webp" title="1735072871455.webp" width="549" height="141" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>WIP</b> Have investor meeting and learn the terms of a deal that they would be comfortable with and the valuation approach they would use for investment</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>DONE</b> Implement yo-yo pricing strategy</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Improve automation of at least one fulfillment process</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>WIP</b> Diversify supplier risk</li> </ol>Active listings: 131,087<br /> Account health score: 176 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 2<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kept thinking over and over again about my conversation with my vendor/investor and something didn&#039;t rub me right. And eventually I got really angry thinking about how they never improved the service for me but now I&#039;m offering them a stake in the company. On top of that I feel like something else keeps getting implied every time I have a conversation with them. I was reminded of something smart someone said on this forum: &#039;never have one of anything&#039; So this morning I decided to diversify my supplier risk and reached out to 15 different companies in the US to ask if they would be interested to take up the origin side of this operation.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Later in the afternoon I met another friend of mine in the industry and asked if he knew anyone. He is connecting me with the CEO of a similar company in the US that might be willing to take on the business.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I had three of these 16 companies write back to me, with two of them having positive answers. I responded to their questions and asked for a call to go over the SOP before doing a test shipment. One of them sent me pricing.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">For the test shipment to work I will have to set up my account finally with UPS and also arrange a customs broker to do my clearance here. I finally signed the contract and sent in all the paperwork. I also asked them to recommend a broker.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Then at night I spoke to one of the potential US vendors over video chat. They are handling other similar types of business and seem like a really good fit. While speaking we got onto our local market and the guy was interested in a certain type of business. Luckily through my network I personally know the CEO of the biggest company here and was able to give him an immediate introduction. So the relationship is off to a good start. We agreed to do a test shipment once I have UPS and my customs broker lined up, and then after they understand the operations process better we will discuss pricing.</li> </ul></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/attachments/1735155912930-webp.61978/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/57/57486-8e49bc7dbb8370c2692022bf1faa1bd2.jpg?hash=EMy1P7WXr8" class="bbImage " style="" alt="1735155912930.webp" title="1735155912930.webp" width="550" height="140" loading="lazy" /></a><br /> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>WIP</b> Have investor meeting and learn the terms of a deal that they would be comfortable with and the valuation approach they would use for investment</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>DONE</b> Implement yo-yo pricing strategy</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Improve automation of at least one fulfillment process</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><b>WIP</b> Diversify supplier risk</li> </ol>Active listings: 129,735<br /> Account health score: 176 (At Risk)<br /> Policy violations: 2<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Was with my family for Christmas but found time to chase my contact at UPS to come back to me on activating my contract</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Started making a UI for a monthly/weekly/daily P&amp;L. Didn&#039;t finish writing the DB query for it or the selector for the different accounting periods</li> </ul></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper">Do have a question. Where do you see the volume of operations going? Do you have a potential daily profit cap that you can see happening, or is it purely a liquidity thing where the sky is the limit given enough capital?<br /> <br /> Just wanted to gauge the scalability.<br /> <br /> Great work by the way! love reading these updates</div>
 

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