FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish Joins Us On The Steve Jobs Inspired Join Up Dots Podcast
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Introducing FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish
FBA Amazon expert John Cavendish is our guest today, on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots free podcast interview.
Although that wasn’t always the case.
John Cavendish is a man who boldly tackled the side hustle whilst maintaining his role as a Director of Kurbis Engineering before travelling the world .
And that my friends is what we strongly suggest on Join Up Dots.
Start creating your online venture whilst still working for a living until that moment when you can step away and go for it bigtime.
And today’s guest is certainly going for it big time with his new platform teaching the world to smash it on Amazon Europe.
How The FBA Amazon Adventure Started
Before starting his Amazon Europe journey, our guest had zero experience with running an online business.
After university, he joined the corporate world in London but rapidly realized that it was not for him and so after launching his first Amazon brand in 2014, he was soon able to quit his job to travel the world and network with other successful Amazon sellers from around the globe.
Today, he’s generating 6 figures of revenue per month from over a dozen products in Europe.
His experience led him to develop a specific, step-by-step system to find success with every product launched and now has developed his company FBA Amazon Frontiers.
He did this because so many sellers he met had great businesses on Amazon.com, but had completely dismissed Europe.
He’s since made it his mission to help sellers overcome the barriers to entry in the EU and find success by bringing their products into Europe.
Interesting stuff, and I am sure many of you out there will be scribbling down notes through this show.
So what was the first product that he brought to market that really showed that he was on to something big?
And do people need to create the product themselves or can they jump on the back of the affiliate route?
Well let’s find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only FBA Amazon expert, Mr John Cavendish
Show Highlights
During the show we discussed such weighty topics with John Cavendish such as:
How John started his business, by working around his full time employment for just a few hour each day and why he feels that you can do the same too.
Why it is so important to surround yourself with the most positive people that you can find, which John has managed to do in abundance and is now reaping the rewards big time.
Why having an exit plan in a business is such a good idea, as it will allow you to transition to what you want in life instead of getting trapped by what you have created.
and lastly….
Why he feels that Amazon UK is such an amazing opportunity for anyone nowadays. How many businesses have a process that can be followed step by step for a new entrepreneur.
How To Connect With FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish
Return To The Top Of FBA Amazon
Full Transcription Of John Cavendish Interview
Intro [0:00]
When we’re young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here’s your host live from the back of his garden in the UK, David, Ralph.
David Ralph [0:25]
Buddy and welcome to Join Up Dots. Is it a business show? Is it entrepreneurial? Is it motivation? Is it conversation is it tears is anguish? Who knows, and I never know what we’re gonna get from the show. But all I know is that we press record and we see what comes out at the other end. And today’s guest said to me, can we edit if I say something stupid? And I said to him, No, I live on saying things stupid. And so I’m sure what I’m gonna do the same. He’s gonna He’s a professional. He’s a professional. He’s an English man. He’s got that kind of English subtlety of his voice and his actions, you’re gonna love him. He is a man who boldly tackled a side hustle whilst maintaining his role as a director of Kirby’s engineering before travelling the world And that, my friends is what we strongly suggest on Join Up Dots. Start creating your online venture whilst working for a living until that moment when you can step away and go for it big time. And today’s guest is certainly going through big time, with his new platform teaching the world to smash it on Amazon Europe. Before starting his Amazon Europe journey our guests had zero experience with running an online business and after university, he joined the corporate world in London but rapidly realised that it was not for him. So after launching his first Amazon brand in 2014, it was soon Albert to quit his job to travel the world and network with other successful Amazon sellers from around the globe. And today, he’s generating six figures of revenue per month. But yet, I’m going to say that again ladies is going to become doubly exciting and sexy for you hear six figures of revenue per month from over a dozen products in Europe, he’s experienced led him to develop a specific step by step system to find success with every product launch, and now has developed his company FBA frontieres frontieres frontiers are suddenly become friendlier. Because so many sellers he met had great businesses on amazon.com, but had completely dismissed UVA. He since made it his mission to help sellers overcome the barriers to entry in the EU and find success by bringing their products into Europe. Interesting stuff. And I’m sure many of you out there will be scribbling down notes through the show. So what was the first product that he brought to the market that really showed that he was onto something big? And do people need to create the product themselves? Or can they jump on the back of the affiliate route? Well, let’s find out as we bring them to the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. JOHN Cavendish. Good morning, john, how are you sir?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [2:43]
Morning, David. That’s an amazing intro. Thanks for having me on.
David Ralph [2:46]
It is lovely to have you on. You are you’re just cute, john. Yes. Cute. Can I come across and chase you around the room with a bucket of water? Can we get used up out to the kind of passion level that I’ve got? Can we have FBA? frontieres? Because I think it’s it sounds a little bit sexier. Can we bring that into your world?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [3:04]
Of course you can. And yeah, I don’t think I ever get to the same energy level that you’re you’ve got at the moment, like I think it would take me Yeah, about five shots of Yaga Meister?
David Ralph [3:12]
Well, the verb said the drugs don’t work. And I think they do, john, I think they do deep, deep, deep down, it works very, very well. So let’s get you onto the show. Because I was doing some virtual stalking on you, john. And I’ve got a bit of a complaint. I’ve got a bit of complaint, I went over to your LinkedIn profile, and I couldn’t get your timelines worked up. Are you still director of Kirby’s engineering? Are you a full time guy? Are you in the side hustle? Tell me the truth, sir.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [3:39]
Good question. So basically, I when I came out of university, I was doing what all like English people tend to do and do a graduate scheme. Yeah. So you know, I was just learning being an engineer. And I was really thinking, like, Is this all it is, you know, are we just gonna, I’m just gonna go nine to five every day for the next 40 years and then retire. So, you know, I started a side hustle. And well, I started contracting as an engineer, and I started service engineering. So that was a way of me to, like, expand my income and explore like working for myself. Like, soon after I did that, I discovered Amazon and realised that I could use some of this extra income to start a real side hustle, like an a real automated business that I could operate from anywhere in the world. I could travel, I could do what I wanted. And yes, so I haven’t operated Kurvers for a couple of years, but it’s still open a company in England.
David Ralph [4:32]
So as I was saying, in the introduction, six figures per month, six figures per month, you’ve actually become more attractive to me Do you really have. So that’s it sort of blow your mind as you’re as you’re doing this? Because when you say I discovered Amazon, I think to myself, well, we’ve all discovered Amazon, we all use it. We all buy our Christmas shopping on it, you know, how did you see in a different light that has led to six figures.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [4:57]
So, yeah, I mean, I say six figures a month. Feels like a video game, when you’re like an Amazon business kind of feels like a video game, like numbers go in numbers come out. It doesn’t feel like all this money. But yeah, about two or three years ago, there was lots of this hype about selling on amazon.com in the States, and lots of podcasts, were pushing this idea of, you know, start an FBA business sell on amazon.com. So I saw that I did some training. And then I realised that why wonders launch something in the UK. And because the UK is such a, you know, quickly expanding market. And I was in a perfect position to get in there soon, because I understood. I thought I understood English people. But yeah, maybe
David Ralph [5:36]
you can understanding English people can Yeah, but basically, we walk around, we moan, we get drunk, and we wake up the next morning, and we go again. And that’s basically it. So so. So we’ve Amazon, because I was doing a bit of googling, I do do my research. And it blew my mind that the search results by Amazon UK are exponentially bigger than Amazon or amazon.com, or whatever. Well, why is that? Why are more people online searching Amazon, UK when we are a small, tiny little island, controlling the world?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [6:11]
I think that’s because you’re in the UK. Based
David Ralph [6:18]
on me and throw it back, like I’m a charlatan and a fluid stem, and I just open my mouth and I spout these things I search, and he does it globally. I can set it up globally. And it tells me that there’s a huge trend, a huge trend of Mr. Clever clocks.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [6:35]
Okay, I’m sorry, I’m sure more people in America are looking for homes in the UK. And they just, they just can’t find what they’re looking for.
David Ralph [6:42]
Oh, you’ve got an attitude. Now, john, you’ve got the attitude like my wife has with me. You see, I can I can sense it. I can sense it in there. So we’ve we’ve answered English. So what we what we doing wrong then with Amazon fulfil for all of us, who are just using it as a quick route to get the wife are present so that we don’t actually have to go down the shops ourselves. What are we doing wrong? How have you seen it with different lights?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [7:07]
So the main thing about Amazon is that Amazon isn’t really a brand driven platform. It’s driven by feedback and you know, customer reviews and customer opinions of products. So if you can start your own brand, there’s no reason that you can’t compete with all of the biggest brands out there. Like for any pretty much any product going because you can be the person that has the best customer service, you follow up with your customers to get customer reviews. And you can outperform even the big brands who have been in some way like Tesco or Asda for the last 50 years.
David Ralph [7:39]
And what does that mean your own brand? Do you actually have to create your own product? Because Amazon is pretty much sort of affiliate basis as far as I’m aware. So do you actually have to bring your own product to market? Or can you Nick somebody else’s and start vlogging? It I suppose in a way that test goes and Sainsbury’s do Really?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [7:57]
Yeah, so actually, this is completely different from affiliate marketing. So with Amazon FBA, you’re physically holding your inventory. So either you’re doing as you said, you’re buying other people’s products from wholesalers, or actually, from other websites and putting them up on Amazon, which is not what I do. Or you’re actually starting your own brand, you look for a good opportunity on Amazon, you do all your data, you do your research, then you find a supplier either in Europe or China, you get some you get your branding produced, you slap some labels on and you send it into Amazon as your own brand. And they actually hold it in their warehouse. So you know, when you’re buying something on Amazon, and it says, sold by such and such and fulfilled by Amazon, that means actually the inventory is owned by somebody else, but it’s in Amazon’s warehouse.
David Ralph [8:37]
So I’m not going to have my my spare bedroom fill up with boxes. And I’m not going to be sitting there licking labels and all that because deep down john, I’m lazy, deep down. I’m lazy. I’m looking for a route on Amazon. That means that I’ve got a small Chinese child doing the work for me. Is that how I can operate?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [8:55]
Either indoors, small Chinese children do anything? But yeah, in general. That’s exactly that’s exactly what it is like, to be honest, I’ve been I’ve been in the UK for about two months in the last two years. I never touched my product. I don’t go to the UK very often. The only issue was last year I tried to try and sell this like in American what four foot by three foot product. And I got all the returns at my parents house in the UK. And they were not very happy about that. In the summer, and they had a they had a dining room full of like 2025 kilo boxes.
David Ralph [9:28]
So what went wrong with that one? Why didn’t that fly?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [9:32]
Actually it flew flew fine. It was just that it was such an expensive product that I didn’t want to destroy the returns or don’t want to do what I usually do with returns. So it just meant that I had to send them somewhere and I didn’t think about it before I sent them all there.
David Ralph [9:45]
It says Why is your life like them? Because you’re a single guy, you’re a globe trotting. Are you like Indiana Jones explain what your life is like now than
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [9:55]
I imagined my Indiana Jones that I am based most of the year. In hoochie Minh city, Vietnam, and but I travel a lot, I get up when I want, I tend to get up very early actually. And then you know, work out the gym in my building, you go to the pool, do a bit of work, I’ve got a couple of staff, so I meet with them. And just enjoy life, hang around with friends, like the best thing about being here is the community. Like there’s so such a good community of other guys who are killing it online doing a six figures, seven figures a month. And just it’s great to be like networking everyday with those type of people. And that’s like another way of like massively increasing your success is just to just hang around people who are doing really well and always want to talk about business and
David Ralph [10:38]
chill. And you wouldn’t have got that surrounded by because I worked in the City of London for years. And it literally was, get through the day, get to the pub, come home on the vomit comet, a train with people throwing up all over you. And then you’d you’d go again, you you’ve probably lived that life as well. And I don’t remember there was a lot of karma on go from it be brilliant, you know, this is an amazing idea. So could you could you have done that? You know, do you need those people in in Hoshi men to really support you? Is it possible to do it in an environment that’s not conducive?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [11:11]
And yeah, you can do it anywhere I started this, I ran the business for the first eight months, like from 6am to 8am in the morning while I was living in London, and then I walked to work and did my shift and then came home worked a bit more. I mean, I think London’s a great place to live if you’re a young single earning good money, and you know, working the nine to five, because that’s what everyone’s doing. But if you’re working for yourself, I just don’t see a reason to be based in London anymore. Because you know, all you have everyone I knew there ever I know there is still doing the nine to five. So who do I hang out with during the day?
David Ralph [11:42]
And most people are actually just working to afford to live in London. You know, I’m, like 40 minutes outside London and I can sort of just whizzed up on the train, and I’m there in about 35 minutes. And and it’s great. But yeah, I know people and I say to them, you know, what’s your monthly outgoings? And they tell me and I said, Well, what’s your monthly incomings? And I think, Well, why don’t you just move somewhere else? Why don’t you just do that, and you can count you on the internet, you can create that. But while I’m interested in yours was that you? For the people listening to this thinking, I’ve never thought of Amazon. And obviously they’re going to come over to your your platform, which I’ve been looking at it. It’s something that that you can do for literally two hours in the morning, two hours in the evening is not something that will take over their life, will we start to see some kind of monetary rewards reasonably quickly?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [12:32]
Yeah, I mean, in terms of time, operating? Yeah. I mean, I think I do a weekly newsletter. And I think I I write down how much time I spend. It’s usually like less than an hour a day managing my six figure a month business. I’m just spending all the rest of my time on new products, new ideas and working on this business teaching. So yeah, it’s definitely something that you can start off an hour or two a day. It’s just about taking like small steps every day, just like with everything else, like making sure you’re doing something every day. Just because everything takes time like sourcing products in a finding opportunity, then sourcing products, then getting quotes. And yeah, I mean, it usually takes, I would say, eight to 12 weeks between having an idea and having a product live on Amazon.
David Ralph [13:13]
It’s nothing. That is nothing, isn’t it eight to 12 weeks if the rest of your life is at least more comfortably financially than you’re presently at.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [13:23]
Yeah, definitely. I mean, I started this business originally with like a 5000 pound order. And I think I never put more than 10 in ever of my own money capital to start this business.
David Ralph [13:33]
Why? Okay, so this is a stumbling block for many people. So there is a certain amount of investment that’s got to put in, it’s not something that you can, because because a lot of businesses like my one Join Up Dots, it literally was just time I didn’t really put much in I bought a microphone, I bought one or two little things, it was just time. So with this, there is a certain amount of investment that’s required, or can people really bootstrap it at the beginning?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [13:58]
You definitely need a few $1,000 I mean, I’d say a minimum of five really to get a decent product launched. But I mean, that’s what you’re what you’re buying is your sort of buying momentum. As you said, when you started out, you know, you had to go from zero whereas an Amazon although your products at zero, you get a good product and you know, follow the rules and choose a good product, it should start selling relatively quickly. And you’re kind of buying your initial momentum. So you can go and I’ve got friends, I mean, this isn’t typical. Obviously, you’ve gone from zero to 100,000 a month for the product in three weeks. Really three weeks. Yeah, three weeks. But I mean, that’s that’s an experience guy who’s knows what he’s doing and spent like a lot of money on inventory cuz obviously most people run out of inventory instantly if you’ve got to that kind of sales volume.
David Ralph [14:43]
You see, I should have found that young Chinese kid earlier. You see, I know I know. You don’t condone it but but that’s my market. That’s my market straight into that. So I think this is brilliant because as I say it’s something that’s around us and we’re not being surrounded by by box. And because I was interviewing a guy, and he created his first ebook, before he realised about sort of drop shipping and other people doing it. And he said he actually had 100,000 of them in his house, and his wife and his neighbours and stuff, we’re putting them into boxes and an artist, that’s hassle. And I said to him, what do you do now? He said, Oh, don’t do anything he’s just done sort of automatically buys all of them shipment companies around the world. Is it something that is linked through to your programme? Does your programme teach people step by step by step? Or is there a lot of, Okay, this is the basics, and then over to you. And they’re spending all their time on YouTube and googling and trying to fill in the blanks.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [15:44]
So our programmes sort of morphing as we speak. So basically, our programme was launched as a way of helping Amazon sellers already in the USA, of getting into Europe. So people that want to, you know, slashed the learning curve, and basically double our business in six months. Because if you’re already selling on the states, and you have products, you’ve already skipped the stuff which takes time, which is the finding a good supplier and launching it and making sure it’s a good product. So it was literally hold their hand move across from USA to Europe. And that’s it. So if you were coming in completely green, then you’d need to definitely some more background information. But as we speak, we’re upgrading the course and adapting it so that you know people newbies get started. But a lot of this information is available online at the moment. And we send out free weekly emails giving you information about about some of these things already.
David Ralph [16:29]
In that when you look at it now, is it something that is totally okay, you can do more and more products, but is FBA frontiers? Is that something that is your sort of legacy work? Do you look at this and think actually, it is if I market this, right, and all of us no matter what we do, whether we love that our jobs or whatever, we’re in it for the kitchen? No, no getting away from it? And is this something that you think to yourself? Yeah, this could be my legacy work, this could be the big thing.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [16:59]
Um, to be honest, I think Amazon products is still a big thing. There’s just so many opportunities with products, still, FDA frontiers will grow will be a good side hustle for me. And I like helping people and I like making making an impact. But there’s nothing else like an FBA business that you can launch a business and sell it for a million dollars. 18 months later. I have two friends that have done that already. And there’s nothing else like that.
David Ralph [17:24]
You got a bunch of friends. I mean, yes, sir. Yep. They’re all crushing it all over the place.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [17:32]
Mostly idea. associate with good people. And now everyone’s everyone’s great. And everyone’s super friendly, and move out to Saigon with me. That’s that’s a dream if you want. Oh, see,
David Ralph [17:42]
you say you see, ladies, gentlemen, this is your Avenue, your avenue to riches. So john, your Mum and Dad, I’m always fascinated with this. Because you are doing a degree you’re doing your engineering course. Life is good in your mum and dad’s view. And they’re going around for their cocktail parties and pop up saying, well, John’s doing very well. He’s got a good job in the city of London. And then you say to them, Well, actually, I’m going to throw it all in and I’m going to move to Vietnam. And what’s there? Was there a kind of parental discussion? Because it seems to me from every single interview that I have, no matter how old the person is, there is a poll with Oh my god, what are the parents gonna think?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [18:24]
I’m not I’m not that old. David. How old are you? But 2828
David Ralph [18:30]
is still old enough to be free or Happy Birthday for next week, is still old enough to feel like you’re free from your parents. But actually, you still think Oh, God, I got a phone mom and tell her
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [18:42]
to be honest. My parents, my mom, especially been very supportive, like supportive, whatever I want to do is still when I see her now she does she doesn’t listen to me. She doesn’t know I come on podcast at the moment, I think. And he’s always like, Oh, do you need some money? Let us know if you’re doing okay in Vietnam is always is always pretty good.
David Ralph [19:02]
And so you don’t go back to her and say No, mom, six figures six figures a month back at your mom.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [19:10]
I’ll tell her if I sell my business maybe.
David Ralph [19:12]
So So does she not know financially? Your mom’s offering you cash? Does she still think that you’re struggling kind of backpacking student?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [19:20]
Um, no, she doesn’t have a backpacker. But now she’s just caring. And that’s great to have parents to support you. And I can always go back like as, as she tells me, I can always go back to engineering if I need to. You can always go back. I’m not going back to engineering course.
David Ralph [19:36]
And I’m not gonna go back to insurance and banking. And I can promise you all the insurance people out there clamouring clamouring to have me back with their company. It’s not gonna happen. It’s not gonna happen. I’m gonna cut you off from that. So your mindset, your mindset is obviously totally different now to what it was maybe two years ago, three years ago, when we’re in that kind of rat race. We’re in the For what I’ve got, are you totally now to the position of thinking no is never about what I’ve got is about what I can create. Have you got the mindset of creation, which holds so many people back until they totally believe and they can see that it’s possible and it’s actually working? They’re kind of reluctant. Are you more creative with your thinking now than ever before?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [20:22]
Definitely now more than ever before, but I think your thinking adapts continuously as you get older. Meanwhile, as time passes, doesn’t it? I mean, there’s still the thoughts that maybe one day you’ll slip back or that it won’t, you know, it won’t last. But then you talk to your friends and you realise, yeah, yeah. As as time goes forward, everything’s always getting better. And you know, even if you have a small setback, the setback will make you grow. And I’ve had setbacks, and I’ve had things where I thought I wasn’t gonna have enough cash to pay pay suppliers or things like that. And once you come through, you’re like, well, I’ve learned that I won’t spend so much money ever again. No, it’s all good.
David Ralph [20:58]
So So talk about those moments, because these are the moments these are the classic Join Up Dots. When you look back on them and you got caught. It was a nightmare. It was an absolute nightmare. I laid in bed, probably my Dubai up to my neck thinking, what the hell am I going to do? And when you look back on them, you think, actually, thank God for that, because my life went totally in a different direction. How did you overcome those moments of sort of despair, really, because we all have those dark dots in our life.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [21:23]
So for about nearly a year ago, now, I I being sort of lazy and bootstrapping, when I started, I didn’t register trademarks for any of my brands. When I when I launched Amazon, and didn’t do any real research. I just went on to the trademark UK trademark site and did my basic searches. And yeah, so then I tried to register my trademarks, and get some very threatening letters from some UK companies who own I think, quite different trademarks from what I was doing. But you know, basically cease and desist stop using our trademark, we’re going to take you to court for 80, grand, all of that kind of stuff.
David Ralph [21:58]
was that? Was that the names that they didn’t like?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [22:02]
The names? Yeah, just the name of my product in that type of category. Okay, so it was? Yeah, it’s very stressful time I talked to a lawyer was like, Oh, yeah, you know, yours isn’t similar, but they have, you know, 15 million in venture backed financing. And they’ll take, they’ll drag you through the course for a year over it, and you’re probably going to win. But yeah, it’s, it’s not worth it. So at the end of the day, I had to change my brand name changed my change my company name, go through all this pallava. And, but at the end of it, I now know that you should always register your trademarks before you launch your product.
David Ralph [22:36]
You know, I’ve never registered Join Up Dots, you know, made me think maybe I should, maybe I should do that. How do you do this? How do you register a trademark?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [22:46]
You can do it yourself on on the UK, everything. Government base is really good on the internet, you can actually register yourself, but I would always get a now I would always get like a London lawyer, a trademark attorney to do it. Because they’ll do. They’ll make the wording a lot more broad for you. And I’ll also keep tabs on it so that nobody else registers one similar to yours. And it’s not that expensive. It’s I think I paid them in processing fees, like three or 400 pounds, plus the plus the government fee.
David Ralph [23:14]
Oh, it’s always money in the bank in the long run.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [23:17]
Yeah, definitely. And it’s definitely worth having somebody word it legally properly rather than just right. Yeah, I do. I do where
David Ralph [23:24]
I talk to people in America. Yeah, you got to be careful, you have got to be careful. Well, we’re gonna play some words. Now, john, and then we’re going to delve back into your conversation. Jim Carrey,
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [23:34]
My father could have been a great comedian. But he didn’t believe that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job. And our family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.
David Ralph [24:00]
And when you listen to that, that the question that I always sort of want to know really is he talks about you might as well do what you love. But most of us don’t know what we love until we do stuff. You obviously or at least it sounds like you love what you’re doing. But was it just at the beginning? Just something to do something to try it the love come later?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [24:21]
Yeah, I would definitely say so. I mean, I originally was just looking for different ways of making money online. So originally, like everybody else, I decided I wanted to be a blogger, and then realise that I am not a writer at all, like I can’t motivate myself to write and my grammar is terrible. Yeah, just wasn’t for me. So when I heard this, it really clicked with me is like my kind of like systematic engineering background that I like the steps and the steps are so simple, between you know, for wanting to launch a product, it’s just, you know, if you know, I just basically went through them earlier, and it’s just you find a product, you put it on Amazon, and as long as you done your research itself. But I mean, the other thing is like I think too Many people get like started business thinking, thinking they’re gonna love it forever. But they don’t build, they don’t build it on like a scalable framework. And that’s what I love about having an e commerce business is that it’s scalable, and you can systemize every role and outsource it. So even if you love it now, if you don’t love it in two years, you know, you can hire a manager and they can run it for you. It’s not a break. It’s not based on you as a person.
David Ralph [25:25]
Because, you know, I’m the host of Join Up Dots. So I’ve literally have to be here on the microphone. So it’s bloody lucky that I love doing it. Because otherwise I’d be thinking, Oh, my God, I can’t do this for the rest of my life. And that’s not what I want to do. And I’ve got Katy Perry parties to go to, how am I? How am I going to do it, but you can still you know, be able to structure it in the right way. You can always look at anything you do. Once it’s your own business, and paint yourself closest to the door. I’m a total believer on anything that is going to restrict me. I don’t do until it’s at a time. That’s right. For me and Ben, I’ve got control of it.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [26:04]
Definitely, I completely agree. And it’s also like the different books you read about business when you start out like thinking Grow Rich, or what’s curious is your book called? Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Rich Dad, Poor Dad, but something that really affected me was reading the millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco. Okay. I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned it before on your show?
David Ralph [26:27]
No, I don’t think I’ve heard that one actually tell us about it.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [26:30]
So basically, he runs a simple the fast lane forum, which I’m not actually a member of. But I love his his book, because it’s all about creating a fast lane business. And he talks a lot in terms of Lamborghinis, because he’s obsessed with Lamborghinis. But he talks about, like, you should build a business which is scalable, which has a massive upside, and which you can grow and sell in three to five years. And then you can do whatever you want for the rest of your life. So even if it’s a business that you don’t love, but you enjoy working on, you know, you can build that for three to five years, you can flip it for enough money to live forever and and invest your capital and do what you want. You know, you can do charity work if you want to.
David Ralph [27:08]
So So is an exit plan. Is that something that you should really start with at the beginning?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [27:14]
Yeah, I mean, definitely making sure that your structure is right, so that you have a company that you’ve started just for your Amazon business, so that you can, you know, just flip the company if you need to. And also just making sure that it’s not a mess financially. So you have all your books updated, especially in the UK, when you’re paying VAT and stuff. I mean, that’s really simple, you get somebody else to do it. But having a separate company and having, you know, books completely separate is so easy and so important.
David Ralph [27:38]
Because that’s the only thing that I have, I don’t have any other staff, I have one guy that I hire, every now and again, just to deal with the influx of emails, majority of time I deal with all the emails myself, but the only person that I’ve got is an accountant. And he is good. And Neil and Neil, I’m saluting you, if you ever listen to this, he has saved me 1000s and 1000s and 1000s It’s unbelievable. And I just can’t be bothered, like you don’t like writing I find it hard enough to structure my invoices into one format actually doing it as well. It’s just it’s just not worth it. It’s not fun, is it?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [28:14]
Not completely and that was my first hire was a bookkeeper who’s actually an awesome guy. And he’s now my operations manager was at you know, again, the Philippines was managing a team for a big American company back end, we started working together and then a year later he quit his job and works in the full time now.
David Ralph [28:30]
And it’s this is kind of excite you that you’re growing a business but you have employees because ultimately you have a responsibility to keep it going for them. As you know, that’s that’s why I’m absolutely adamant but I’m a solopreneur the show I love it when I get emails saying oh David and the team because actually it’s nice systems I’ve just got systems in place, left right and centre that means that things are automated and things sort of take care of themselves. But does it sort of bother you when you think oh, Blimey yeah you know if I if I decide to stop this what’s happening to him?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [29:04]
Well, I don’t think that’s the reason for me to continue but it’s great to be able to support people and have people you know live off something I’ve created.
David Ralph [29:11]
But you don’t want to support the little Chinese kids do you see you’re not you’re not going down that route
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [29:16]
and support them by paying their parents properly.
David Ralph [29:19]
How do you say you’re so good I can’t get any bad out you at all kind of I’ve been trying my hardest to bring you down to my level john but it’s not going to happen
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [29:30]
that was my train of thought I already did something really smart to say I’m gonna go and now it’s completely gone on my head.
David Ralph [29:35]
Oh well we welcome to Join Up Dots that’s what we do. So when you when you listen back to sort like the the Jim Carrey speech and stuff are you are you one of these kind of people that go back and meet your old mates down the pub and just wax lyrical you no one’s gonna come on. You should just leave Look at me This is amazing or do you just kind of keep that message board of right people that come to you
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [29:59]
and I think all my friends Are people like back in London who say that at least they want to do so they want to leave? But most people say that don’t they? I’m sure you, you catch up with your old insurance mates and they’re like, I love what you’re doing. Now, I just wish I could do that. And you say, Are you doing on the side, you can do this, this and this. And then they’ve taken zero actions six months later, when you meet up with them again. I,
David Ralph [30:22]
yeah, I get I get a lot of requests on LinkedIn from people I used to work with. And I go, oh, David, you know, I’m thinking of doing this. And I’d be really interested for you, you know, your advice and your help. And then I would say yet no problem at all, I can connect you with this person who’s also doing that, and I will, you know, help you out pop up. When I come up on cue so much, this is gonna change my life. And then about six months later, I get another one. And it’s a totally different idea. I haven’t done anything with that idea before. And my my motivation has dwindled to support people in my previous life, because I don’t they just keep telling me how rubbish things are. But they just not doing anything about it. And I can count it on fingers, toes, and every part of my body that pokes out the amount of people that have actually come connected with me from my past, and said to me, I’m thinking of doing something and I just don’t understand it, john, what, when they can listen to you, they can listen to me, they can go on the internet, and they can see all these people doing stuff. Why are they just reluctant to take that first step?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [31:24]
I think like with everything else, it’s just fear of fear of failure. Because that’s the only thing that holding most people back. But I’ve I’ve had exactly the same experience as you like talking to old people, you know, people from my previous life and engineer who want to launch products want to build something, and then they’ll have the ideas, no, come back and say, I don’t know if it’s for me. And I’ll say, Well, you know, what’s not for you, in terms of just making some making extra money on the side, or buying extra house next year, or whatever you want to do with it? Like I say, I don’t know. And it also got me and I’m free to them. And you know, if I’m consulting with somebody who’s already got an Amazon business, I’m charging 500 bucks an hour. Yeah. So take advantage to me.
David Ralph [32:02]
I would take advantage of you, john, we’ve never met before. But you look like a man who would like to be taken advantage of. I just get that. That’s that sense of it. That sense of it. So looking at your life Now, obviously. And we’re going to step back into the Amazon, because that’s the reason that you’re here. Well, what’s on the sort of the next step forward? What are you looking to do? Is it just scaling? FBA from frontiers? Or if you’ve got other things niggling away that you think, yeah, I’ll probably be doing it in a couple of years time.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [32:31]
At the moment, I’m looking at the scaling FBA frontier, still scaling my Amazon business, because it’s kind of I was gonna describe it earlier as like a perpetual machine, like you launch something and then the machine drives itself and make makes you want to work on it. Yeah. So I still am still excited about getting my couple of staff to launch products in Europe, and just keep doing it. What I do see coming up on the radar, actually is Amazon, Australia. So that’s going to go live pretty soon. And that’s going to be like our next frontier, hopefully, on FBA frontiers. So all of our students that have got it we’re hoping to get into Europe Next, we’ll be helping to get them into Australia or into Japan or into every frontier market is coming up.
David Ralph [33:11]
You know, going back in time, I remember doing a little business. I’ve forgotten I did this, actually. And it was Amazon arbitrage. Are you aware what Amazon arbitrage is? Showing you do?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [33:21]
The same as online arbitrage. You just buy it and then you resell it.
David Ralph [33:24]
Oh, you’re good. You’re good. You’re good? Yeah. And I didn’t realise I went before I started this I just bought Amazon was Amazon. I didn’t realise is Amazon, Germany, and Amazon, France, Amazon all this? And I was making quite a bit of money by buying something in Amazon, India, and then putting it on Amazon UK and then selling it. And is that something that can be brought in to your business? Or is it better to just go Nope, clean? Just work with one platform, make it all nice and easy.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [33:51]
It’s Yeah, as you said, it’s something that could easily be bought into the business. But the problem with arbitrage is you’re not building an asset in a sellable asset as part of the company. Because it’s all based on you finding these deals. And if it’s not you, you don’t if you’re not there to find the deal, it’s again based on you as a person that business, not as your staff ordering more of the same thing from your supplier. Yeah. And you don’t own the listing. So I mean, I’ve got I know, I know guys who may, you know, maybe do six figures a month in sales on arbitrage. But it’s just such a such an effort, because you’ve got to be buying like one to $2,000 worth of merchandise every single day. Yeah, in order to have enough merchandise to be able to sell that much. And then it just turns into a do I think, well, compared to FBA, what I’m doing just a slug,
David Ralph [34:34]
in my opinion, is I love what you’re doing. I really do. And if I wasn’t doing this, I’d be all over it. I’d be all over it. And to be honest, in a year’s time, I probably would be all over it anyway, you know, because you get to a certain point when the money is coming to you naturally I’m finding that at Join Up Dots now, and I have so much free time now. You think to yourself, well, it’s nice to have a little challenge at something else. Work on you know, and you get to a certain point in your life, but it’s not kind of work, it’s play, and it’s money tree play, it blows my mind really that, you know, I’ve got time I’ve got all Thursday and Friday off, I think I’ll bring this in. And people say, I’ve been you’ve got an app that I haven’t you got a noun, you’re happy with what you’ve got? And you think, Oh, no, why can I have some more? Because it’s, it sounds fun to try this. I think I think what you’re doing sounds brilliant.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [35:27]
It’s fun. And it’s definitely something you could even do with your kids. It’s like a side project. Something like you can help choose the products together, you can evaluate the samples together. Other people have done that. And that’s great little side business. And obviously, you can have you have my input.
David Ralph [35:42]
Yeah, I think I might do that. Actually, you you’ve now sold it to me, because we my kids, my kids are, the younger ones are 12 and coming up 16. And I’m very aware that I want them to be able to, you know, earn their own money and just have the life I’ve got now and not just go into an office and go on the train and all that I want them to do something. And my son is very kind of computer based and very analytical. And he likes a process. So this would be right up the street. So literally, is there not sort of age limits on Amazon? Can Can 12 year old kids sell stuff? Or does it all have to go through their parents?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [36:20]
I was thinking about your 12 year old son making 20 grand a month. And then you’re asking, asking to borrow money off him? Never mind. Yeah, you need a real company really. So you’d want to start a new because you’re in the UK, you’ve just start a new UK company. That’s 12 pounds. Torture accountant and open a bank account for it. And that’s it.
David Ralph [36:41]
And so he could do this, my my my little daughter wants to come in your name. But yeah, laying in his bedroom, he could actually create his own products and and find the market and there’s a process that he could follow.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [36:54]
Definitely, completely.
David Ralph [36:56]
Wow, john, john, I think you’re most my most favourite guest ever. Not only have you you know, it means that every time I go down the pub with him, I don’t have to put my hand in my pocket. Please Asia,
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [37:08]
so he’ll be going out is a max black NatWest black account.
David Ralph [37:13]
Hey, so tight, so tight. He’s got a job each week, he doesn’t have three hours, and 25 quid for his age. He’s good. And we actually called him squirrel because you’ll never see his money where he puts his money. I don’t know he squeals it away somewhere. But this this is this, I think this is for all people out there to be able to inspire their kids to think in a different way and become entrepreneurial in a kind of low risk, low entrance point, I suppose. You know, this is this is gonna be in it.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [37:48]
Yeah, definitely. I mean, if somebody of any age can start this, and if you’ve got the money, I mean, you can basically you can validate everything they do. You can talk about stuff together and are gonna be a good bonding experience that you might have kids so I would definitely do something with them.
David Ralph [38:02]
When I was a kid, it was just pornography. We were trying to seek out and now now they’re, they’re sorting out businesses left right centre is a different world in it.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [38:10]
When I was a kid to have the internet, so yeah, easy. Well, then,
David Ralph [38:13]
we didn’t we had VHS video recorders. tameable you had to try to rewind it so that your mum didn’t know you as watching it. It was it was problematic. He can’t just stream and stop. It was it was issue issue. I want I was once watching. I’ll be honest with you. I’m a young lad. We’ve all been there. I was once watching a pornography film that my friend lent me and I had the volume really low down and I was kneeling at the front of my bed so that me mum couldn’t hear it and stuff. And she came up the stairs and I suddenly heard and I thought what boom, and I press the play button and my video had broken, and I panicked now what you would have thought is turn the volume down off the telly and turn the telly off. And then she wouldn’t know. But I just panicked and threw a blanket over the TV. And then she walked in and said, you know, why is there a blanket over the TV? And I said, it’s cold? Well a stupid answer. What a stupid answer. And she looked at me in that kind of knowing way but mums know what’s been going on. And she went, Okay. Okay, and she just sort of backed out the room and away she went. So yeah, you’ve changed my son’s life. I’ve taken away the ability of putting blankets over his TV and Xbox and creating money. This is what it’s all about. Well, I’m gonna play the words now john from somebody who actually did create a lot of money and he created a company that is it’s inspiring even to today is Steve job.
Steve Jobs [39:31]
Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college, but it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow Your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.
David Ralph [40:06]
Now allow you words that resonate to you, john, because you created what you’ve created. Would you have listened to those words when you was in London with a sort of an closed off air?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [40:18]
I still would listen to them. But I wouldn’t have believed as possible. Like, just because the path I took and expanding so quickly, like now I know what’s possible, but until you see it for yourself, a lot of the times you just don’t believe it. Do you? like did you imagine that? How many? How many listeners you’d have five years ago?
David Ralph [40:35]
Now? And I’m happy with both of them. I am happy with both of them john, Veera and our Yeah, thank you for listening. I really appreciate it and our, our death as well. But no, you’re absolutely right, you’ve got to actually see it grow around, you don’t use those words to hit home. So when you listen back to those words, now, I asked literally everybody this question, do you have a big.in your life when you think that was it, that was really when my path really started going away I wanted
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [41:03]
I think kind of is always at the not the lowest point but the most frustrated or lowest point in your life, like basically, when I wanted to start working as a nine to five engineer and I want to go contracting. And that was the first business I started at the end at the start of 2014. And just I was so fed up with not having any money left at the end of the month, and just with the nine to five life in London.
David Ralph [41:29]
And so the biggest biggest inflection point, and you can really put yourself back into that. And emotionally you can feel the connection to that and think, well, what a different person I was when
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [41:39]
I completely I just wasn’t a happy person at the time. And here that that kind of reflected on a lot of things like breaking up with my girlfriend at the time because of that. And yeah, all the stuff that went along went along with that thing back in London.
David Ralph [41:53]
She went split up with you now mister six figures a month she’d be she’d be clinging to both legs.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [42:01]
She wasn’t that shallow.
David Ralph [42:03]
She was they all are deep down. They all are numbers, numbers and handbags. That’s what they like in their lives. Or maybe that’s just my wife and my daughters. Oh knows. Who knows. So just before we send you back in time on the Sermon on the mic, do you actually have one bit of advice that you could give to the listeners that are sitting here listening about these Amazon businesses and thinking, Oh, this is a, you know, bit of interest? Is it? You know? How can I say this? Did they come to your course First of all, is there free content on there? Do they google it to find out more information? What would be their starting point?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [42:42]
Yes, I mean, they could come to our site and just sign up to our newsletter, FBA frontiers.com. But you can also go on to YouTube onto Google to search for like selling on Amazon FBA. And you can watch loads of content about it. I mean, the issue is that it’s all kind of jumbled up, and there’s good and bad content out there. I like all the stuff put out by Jungle Scout. It’s one of the other guys that one of the guys I know. He’s an awesome company. So they’ve got a lot of a lot of good quality content. And then just come over to us once you’ve once you read enough.
David Ralph [43:14]
And you can change their lives forever.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [43:17]
And change their own lives forever.
David Ralph [43:20]
Oh, yeah. So yeah. I can’t get any emotion out of you at all. Sir. I’m
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [43:25]
sorry, I’m to English. I think like, I just can’t, I just can’t do it. I can’t, I can’t say we’re,
David Ralph [43:30]
I’m English. I’m English. And I’m like on fire all the time. Yeah, I’m burning burning inside me. Well, this is the end of the show. And this is the part that we call the Sermon on the right when we’re going to send you back in time to have a one on one with your younger self. And if you could go back in time and speak to the young john, what advice would you give him? What age john would you choose? Well, we’re going to find out because we’re going to play the theme. And when it fades you up, this is the Sermon on the mic.
Unknown Speaker [44:05]
With the best bit of the
Unknown Speaker [44:07]
show.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [44:19]
So this is john, anytime under the age of 25. Or could be yesterday, sometimes it feels like so john, stop being anxious about the future. You know, keep doing small things every day towards your goals and you’ll get there eventually. You know, push yourself more. Do what you know what you think you should do. Just give it a go try it. Take more calculated risks, whether it’s financial or just social or go out and do something. If you’re not happy with your situation, change it sooner. Don’t let things deteriorate to a level before you know pain makes you take action. And you’ll be successful anything if you try anything if you try hard enough, so make sure you can actually start doing it. But you just can’t A little business that can be automated because as as you get older, your tastes will change and you’ll want to be able to automate it or sell it.
David Ralph [45:08]
Right Stuff, great advice. And I hope the little john is listening as all our listeners as well Veera now, they’ll be scribbling. They’ll be scribbling down both of them. So john, what is the number one best way that our audience can connect with you?
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [45:22]
In the best way is just to head to FBA frontiers go to contact us and my email is right there.
David Ralph [45:27]
Brilliant. We will have all the links on the show notes. JOHN, thank you so much for spending time with us today. joining up those dots. Please come back again, when you have more dots to join up. Because I do believe that by joining up the dots and connecting our pasts is the best way to build our futures. JOHN Cavendish. Thank you so much.
FBA Amazon Expert John Cavendish [45:44]
Thanks for having me, David. Chat again soon.
David Ralph [45:48]
Well, I’ll tell you what that is got my brain going, that has got my little cogs going. That is something that I think is doable, doable for my kids and for myself, and there’s a process to follow, it makes total sense to me. And so if you’re out there and you’re thinking about starting a business, then you know, the platform’s already there, you grow your brand, you sell your products, you find the market, do your research, see that people are looking for them, put them on Amazon flog them, make your profit reinvest your profit from now, it’s not as easy as that. But if it’s a process to follow, that’s not gonna hold you back, that is not going to hold you back. The hard thing is when you’re making it up as you go along. That’s a difficult one. But I really recommend that you go over to john site, all the links are on Join Up Dots, and start thinking about it because that could be a route into a new life for you. And once you get that route into new life, belief comes along, passion comes along, and then opportunities and you can go off in any direction you want. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Join Up Dots. And until the next time, that was David Ralph, that was Join Up Dots. And we’ll see you again soon. Cheers.
Outro [46:54]
David doesn’t want you to become a faded version of the brilliant self your wants to become. So he’s put together an amazing guide for you called the eight pieces of advice that every successful entrepreneur practices, including the two that changed his life. Head over to Join Up dots.com to download this amazing guide for free and we’ll see you tomorrow on Join Up Dots.
