Current business trends don’t always play by the rules set by brick-and-mortar establishments; it is where you figure out what works best to prosper and set your own rules. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted. It is for those who dare to be different, buck the trend, and set an example.
With the increasing number of internet users, several business streams have cropped up in this space. It is where both buyers and sellers interact virtually; the only thing physically real about it is the products. The best part of running an online business is you don’t have to maintain the infrastructure a conventional business would. This not only saves a ton of investment capital but also doubles the profit.
Tommy Rodriguez is one such entrepreneur who realized the potential of doing business online a decade ago. The 34-year-old grew up in Boston, often having to raise himself. Being homeless as a kid, he discovered the power of finding solutions on his own. He worked several odd jobs to survive and become financially independent. Unable to find the satisfaction he was looking for in many of the jobs he had, Rodriguez went back to get his GED and failed. This also did not lead to him finding fulfilling work.
At 24, Tommy Rodriguez was a confused young man who had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. But in 2012, he saw an advert on Twitter that encouraged him to try out his entrepreneurial skills. It was a tweet about CPA marketing aimed at earning money quickly. The ad offered a free trial upon sign-up, and Rodriguez had no time for second thoughts.
He became desperate to learn the strategies behind CPA marketing and started working 18–20 hours a day. After grasping the basics, he learned the right tactics to generate leads with the right content. He even tried reverse marketing to put food on the table.
With time, Rodriguez started making money, and his interest in the field of marketing grew. He even rejected full-time job offers with higher pay just to keep learning the ins and outs of marketing. He thought about sharing his hard-earned knowledge to empower others and also create a network to spin money. He then discovered dropshipping on eBay and was instantly attracted to the opportunities it offered. He created a store and branched out to Amazon which had higher traffic.
He focused all his attention on selling on Amazon doing the same business model which had ten times the amount of buyers. It is aimed at helping both customers and sellers to be more profitable.
After 3 and a half years and eventually teaching dropshipping on Amazon, he eventually created a service called Amazon automation in mid-2017. It’s a hub for drop shippers where Tommy and his team get paid to maintain the e-stores of clients who don’t have much knowledge or time to do it themselves.
After using the traditional virtual assistants from mid-2015 for his own stores, he got rid of the old methods of virtual assistants and established his company in Colombia, and started building an in-house team by hiring people and training them. To fast track his team’s progress, Rodriguez even created an app named TROD that works as a sourcing and selling tool for his company Automation Empire.
He is currently working on expanding his dropshipping franchise to other fields, helping more people have a secure source of income. He believes in earning money by helping people and not exploiting them. This is where he has drawn a line between himself and other entrepreneurs in the space.
This is a Contributor Post. Opinions expressed here are opinions of the Contributor. Influencive does not endorse or review brands mentioned; does not and cannot investigate relationships with brands, products, and people mentioned and is up to the Contributor to disclose. Contributors, amongst other accounts and articles may be professional fee-based.