How A ‘Father of Four’ From A Remote Greek Island Built A Multi-Million Dollar Business In 6 Months…
Hi, and welcome to another ‘1st of the month’ blog post!
With January already a distant memory, this month, I’ve asked Nikos, a student from our 100K Factory program, to share his story about how he has generated over $1,000,000 dollars in six short months, working from the comfort of his own home (on a remote island in Greece!).
Here’s a screenshot showing the 48,856 orders he’s received between June 2016, and the end of December…
With over $350,000 dollars generated in November 2016 alone, Nikos is well on course to achieving a $4M a year business in 2017.
What we‘ll cover in this blog post:
- How Nikos grew his business from zero to $1M dollars in six months
- How Nikos earnt hundreds of thousands of dollars with one of his his first products
- Stumbling blocks along the way…
- A day in the life of a Million dollar business owner
- 10 top tips to ecommerce success
- Nikos’s journey to scaling his ecommerce empire
- Nikos’s very own rolodex of resources
- And MUCH more…
Nikos’s Background
Nikos, a former software engineer, lives in Lemnos, (a beautiful remote Greek island situated in the northern part of the Aegean Sea) having moved from Athens a few months earlier, with his wife and four children, including his newly born baby daughter.
With his family, a million dollar business to run, and a love of kite surfing, it’s safe to say Nikos is a very busy man!
Nikos’s Motivation
Having previously worked 15+ hours a day, Nikos and his wife wanted to live a more relaxed lifestyle, have peace of mind, and most of all he wanted a mobile business that would enable him to work anywhere in the world to give him and his family the freedom, lifestyle and money they deserved.
The Chosen Business Model
Already a member of the original 100K Factory program that we released in 2015, and 100k Factory Ultra Edition that we released in 2016, Nikos had a solid grounding about eCommerce, and in driving traffic using targeted Facebook ads.
Nikos decided to concentrate all his time and efforts on running his own eCommerce business, giving up his busy time consuming job in the process.
Why eCommerce You May Ask?
Well, eCommerce today is a booming industry, and with sales (U.S) expected to reach nearly $500 billion by 2018, it’s one of the fastest growing industries, and it has the beauty of being online as well, offering maximum flexibility.
More and more people are choosing to shop online.
If you are looking to grab a piece of the eCommerce pie, read on and you’ll discover how Nikos has earned over $1M in the second half of 2016…
So let’s hand over to the man himself to divulge all the juicy details!
Prior to working through Aidan and Steve’s 100k Factory program, I had tried to monetize an eCommerce store which I’d set up when living in Athens, but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t get it to work.
I joined the 100K Factory program having been inspired by Aidan and his business partner Steve, they have been a motivational source to me since the very beginning.
Using the original 100K Factory system (2015), I learned Facebook advertising the right way and how to make it work, I was finally able to drive traffic from Facebook and make money from it.
I took that to a whole new level in 2016.
In the last few months alone, I’ve spent well over $600,000 in Facebook ads, with $320,000 of that spent from November to the end of January:
How I Found My FIRST Big Winner…
Following a meeting with Aidan and his business partner Steve in Las Vegas last year (at their Blueprint Academy mastermind event), it finally clicked that I could make a profit using this business model and by leveraging the Shopify platform.
I created a Shopify account and got started right away.
In fact, the very first product I put on my Shopify website made me sales! Unfortunately though, my ‘cost per purchase’ was too high. It wasn’t quite working, so I decided to move on to my next product.
Following my first taste of success, my second product was a T-shirt.
I had some amazing designs produced for me using designers on 99 Designs (https://99designs.com).
Although I had some sales, my cost per purchase was again too high and I couldn’t quite make ends meet. I decided to move onto my next product, this time following Steve and Aidan’s recipe to the letter, and using AliExpress to source my products.
AliExpress is an online retail service comprising of small Chinese businesses offering millions of products to international online buyers. You never need to hold any inventory, and only make a purchase when your customer places an order on your ecommerce store.
On November 3rd, I achieved my highest daily revenue to date; 636 orders with sales of $16,733.70 – all in just one day!
This time I had struck gold, and not only found my winning product, but also my winning niche! I’ve since found another 10 winners in this niche, and it shows no sign of slowing!
Take a look at my Facebook ad campaign screenshot below from my latest winners very first day (the screenshot is from January 12th, 2017):
I am now lucky enough to work with several different suppliers for my products, but when starting out, I highly recommend using AliExpress.
I Made $219,654.04 in January 2017!
So What Advice Would I Give To Someone Interested In This Business Model?
The number one thing I’d say, is make sure you give your customers an offer they can’t refuse, an offer they can’t say no to. This is an extremely powerful tactic, especially when you’re starting out on your eCommerce journey.
Look for a product that your audience is craving, then set about running your ads.
Here’s a sneak peek at my Google Analytics account, 87 active users, and 7 purchases all happening at the same time!
It’s Not Just Money…
And it’s not just money that my stores have been generating, they’re also building me a large list of subscribers, people who have purchased products from me.
The screenshot below was taken in October 2016, and shows almost 200,000 email subscribers (I’ve now far surpassed this number!):
Why Use Shopify?
Shopify is a cloud based platform, ideally suited to small and medium sized businesses, this is definitely one of the best options to start and grow your online ecommerce business empire.
WordPress is fine to start with, but when you start ramping up your business, Shopify will provide a more stable platform, and has a few more features and tools built in to it.
I’ve not looked back since launching my first Shopify store, and providing you get the basics of setting up your store correctly, it can be a goldmine in the right hands. Shopify is an easy platform to use, Shopify have tons of training videos, which are incredibly helpful for beginners with no prior experience.
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Check out Aidan’s ‘Shopify Supremacy In 38 Minutes’ blog post where you can learn how to build and optimize a Shopify store in 38 minutes or less. This Shopify setup guide also includes a downloadable step-by-step PDF and start-to-finish video. It also includes the apps Aidan and Steve uses to make their own stores work, plus free Shopify themes, and WordPress migration tools.
https://www.aidanbooth.com/shopify-setup-guide/
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Stumbling Blocks Along The Way…
As with any business, I encountered many stumbling blocks along the way including, but not limited to the following:
- Economic crisis in Greece
- Credit cards not working abroad (being based in Greece)
- Unprofitable Facebook campaigns
- Unable to monetize my business
- English is my second language
- And many more along the way…
Can YOU Do This?
The answer to that is quite simple, of course you can, any business requires hard work and determination. There will be stumbling blocks without doubt, and this is where many people give up. The key is to keep going, overcome the problems, talk to someone, do whatever it takes, and most of all never give up.
Having tried and tested just about everything in my ecommerce business, I’d like to share with you my 10 top tips to starting and growing your own ecommerce business:
Nikos’s Top 10 Tips To eCommerce Success
- Find a niche that’s easy to sell in
- Use a broad niche, not a small one
- Start with one niche, and stay laser focused
- Start small, then scale up from there
- Set up the basics of your ecommerce store correctly, i.e., pixels, etc.
- Find products that sell on Facebook with an appropriate audience
- Have an offer no-one can refuse
- Have faith, be focused, and learn as you progress
- Learn a method and stick with it
- Go that extra mile and never give up
Having learned the 100K Factory methods from Aidan and Steve, I have successfully built my eCommerce business to an exponential level within a very short space of time. I even took a month’s holiday with my family during this time, the beauty of this business is being able to run it from anywhere in the world.
What If Something Doesn’t Work?
Don’t give up at the first hurdle, try, try and try again…
Change the picture you’re using in your ad, change the name of the product, change the ad audience, change the pricing strategy, keep making changes until it works.
It goes without saying, testing is key, don’t be afraid to test everything on your store to get optimal results.
From choosing different products, testing different pricing, re-writing product descriptions, etc., it is essential to test everything, especially if something is not working the way you want it to. Look at your procedures and methods, and refine them accordingly.
A Day In The Life Of A Million Dollar Business Owner
A typical day in my world starts at 1pm (yes, in the afternoon!), enabling me time to spend it with my family, and often consists of the following:
• Starts with checking emails
• Deal with support requests – forward to my support team
• Look at Facebook campaigns to see how they are progressing, and optimise as necessary
• Create orders for suppliers
• At the end of the day, I go through tasks for the following day so that I know exactly what I need to continue on with tomorrow.
Scaling My eCommerce Empire
Initially working alone, I started making money in July 2016, and by September 2016, only two months later, I had hired ten virtual assistants to help grow my business to the next level (these VA’s were based in the Philippines, I was paying them $3/hour).
I started producing videos to help the virtual assistants with the correct procedures and methods to help scale the business even quicker.
From there, the business grew extremely quickly, and I have since used my programming background to make some of my own apps to save a lot of money and time. I’ve since optimized my process, and now have five virtual assistants (still based in the Philippines).
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For more information regarding how to hire and manage virtual assistants, check out Aidan’s blog post; ‘Virtual Assistant Gameplan’, where he dives deep into the processes used to hire and manage VA’s, and the action plan to help you get started:
https://www.aidanbooth.com/virtual-assistant-gameplan/
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What NOT To Do…
I’ve given you my top 10 tips to starting and growing your ecommerce business empire, but what about what NOT to do, learn from some of my mistakes!
- Don’t have too many Facebook campaigns running at the same time, concentrate on one or two (not like I did and have 20 campaigns running at the same time, each with a range of ad sets)!
- Don’t scale too quickly – scale in small steps so you know what is happening in your business at all times. It’s easy to lose track of where you are if you scale too quickly.
- Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. Test new types of ads, keep learning to find out what works best for your store.
- Don’t go it alone, find a mentor, someone that can help and train you, and make your business a success.
- Don’t give up – ever!
My Objectives – 2017 & Beyond
- Expand to selling products on Amazon
- Automate the daily management my current stores
- Build more stores, monetize, sell and repeat
- Continue to grow my revenue and profits
Useful Tools & Resources
There are many tools that I use to help run my online business, here are a few of the resources that I use every day:
- Shopify – Ecommerce platform: https://www.shopify.com
- 99 designs – Design freelancers: https://99designs.com
- Facebook – Traffic: https://www.facebook.com
- AliExpress – Product suppliers: https://www.aliexpress.com
- Freshdesk – Customer support: https://freshdesk.com
- Wells Fargo – Business banking: https://www.wellsfargo.com/biz
- Online Jobs Ph – Virtual assistants: https://www.onlinejobs.ph
- Time Doctor – Time tracking software: https://www.timedoctor.com
Final Words From Nikos
If you’re thinking about getting into the world of ecommerce, this business model really works. You can work from anywhere in the world, have the freedom to make your own decisions, and if you put in the time and effort, you can literally make as much money as you want.
There is no other business that I know of that allows you the time and freedom the ecommerce model can offer, and there is no limit on the amount of money you can make, whilst securing a financial future for your family at the same time.
Our Thoughts
In conclusion, if you’re passionate about generating passive income from home, you simply cannot afford to overlook ecommerce as your chosen business model.
The 100k Factory method that Nikos followed was first launched in June 2015. It was subsequently followed by 100K Factory Ultra Edition in April 2016. The success seen by students in that program has surpassed anything that Steve and I have ever seen before online.
We’re very excited to announce that we’ll shortly be launching a new version of 100K Factory called 100K Factory Revolution. This will be the third and FINAL edition in our 100K series, and it’s set to shake up with world of eCommerce in a BIG way.
To get on the waiting list for 100k Factory Revolution, click the button below:
Look out for an email from us soon!
Thanks for reading,
Aidan (and Nikos!)
P.S. Leave a comment below, we’d love to answer any questions you may have about Niko’s story, the business model featured in this post today, or anything else.
Inspirational.. I’d be more than satisfied with just 1% of what Nikos is doing. Thanks for giving me belief again!
Hehe, I think most folks would take 1% of what Nikos has achieved.. that’d be $3500/month, based on his November figures 🙂
Amazing story. I’m just getting started, so these numbers are tough to even get my head around. Great to see what’s possible though. Aidan, I clicked on the Waiting List button and put in my information, should I get an email confirming anything?
Hi Clay, you should be taken to the confirmation page after you sign up on that email list, but you won’t get any confirmation email. I’ll email you with more details in the next few weeks.
Great to read this Aidan. I’m also a member of the 100k Factory Ultra program, but I got transferred to another office right when you were starting the program, so I had to put everything on ice.. I’m definitely getting back into it though, and will be waiting to hear more about your new program. thanks – Rob
Hi Rob, great to hear you’re getting back into it, as shown in this post… it’s TOTALLY worth the effort!
What about the advertising costs and product costs? Would this model work for people who don’t have a lot of capital to begin with? thanks
Hi Martin, the only start up costs this business model has are ads on Facebook. We start testing products with a $3/day budget. You only incur product costs AFTER you make the sale, so it’s actually one of the most cashflow-friendly models that we know of.. you get paid, THEN you spend on products (not the other way around).
Congrats, Niko! Excellent info. This is both motivating and provides important exacts and tips. Thanks to Aidan and Steve for being such great coaches.
Nikos success has been truly amazing…it clearly substantiates that ecommerce can be scaled to great heights. In addition, the tips and recommendations that he shares in the post are extremely valuable and having built a more modest, but reasonably successful store, can vouch for their effectiveness. However, there is one aspect of the aliexpress drop shipping business that has not been addressed here that is seriously undermining the viability of this business model…And that is shipping and delivery. By mid November delays caused by either late shipments or huge snags in the ePacket – US Postal system were resulting in overwhelming customer dissatisfaction. Plus, now with the Chinese New Year about to shut everything down you simply can’t even offer products to be shipped in any type of reasonable time frame. I would hope that Nikos could give some insight as to how he is dealing with this; especially given the volume of business that he does.
The Christmas season backlogs can easily be remidied if you have consistent winner in October that is having an uptick in sales. You can forecast sales projections, then Purchase surplus items shipped to you ahead of time or find a Fulfillment center that can ship from the U.S. During peak seasons and off seasons for the vendor.
Hi Barry, thanks for commenting, and I’m glad you’ve seen some success with this model as well!
Regarding your points in the comment, here’s my take:
1. Chinese New Year was a week ago, Jan 28thm and while they do take extended holidays, it is behind us, so things should be back to normal now 🙂
2. The entire country does not shut down and Aliexpress vendors are more likely to be available than many of the bigger Chinese manufacturers. Contact the vendors of your most popular products and if they are going to be on vacation try to find a new supplier that will be available. If no vendors are available you could either display on the product page that your product is on back order and will ship in 2 weeks time and offer a coupon code for the inconvenience or just stop running those ads if you are to terribly worried to keep going.
3. If you do have good sales with a product that has good margin, you should have order them in small bulk quantity and have them in stock to ship faster. This type of buying should lower your product cost. We leverage our USA warehouse and China warehouse to do this, but many people simply send it to themselves, or to other distribution centres that are designed to handle stock delivery for you.
All in all this comes down to planning ahead… there are solutions to everything you’ve mentioned 🙂
This is very helpful! Thanks Nikos and Aidan. I started 100k ultra as well and started to see some results, but my ad budget was too high. So I’m getting back into it. It’s very helpful to hear the success story, but especially the steps that were taken to scale successfully.
Great stuff Susan 🙂
Well done Nikos, since starting on this path with Aiden and Steve I have always believed that it is the way to go and with hard work and persistence I know that I can make it work because I will not quit on it. To hear stories and results from members I find inspirational. Congratulations to you. well done………Garry P
I’m also a member of the 100k Factory Ultra program but didn’t manage to get a good start in 2016 but I will do everything I can to succeed this year.
I am looking very much forward to the end of February to get the big update.
I will make a new beginning and a new test site for the next products I choose.
Thank you for always being honest, fair and inspirational.
You and Steve are doing a great job 🙂
Hi Nikos,
Great to hear a true success story and very well done to you.
Please see comment extracted from the above post below:-
“Following a meeting with Aidan and his business partner Steve in Las Vegas last year (at their Blueprint Academy mastermind event)”
Just curious but how did you afford to go there given your background story?
Would love to know more.
Many thanks
Hi Michael, I can’t speak for Nikos and I don’t know the answer to this question, but he did used to work a day job in Athens, so perhaps he had some savings from that..
This is a new hero on my list.
Thanks for the proof to the world that 100k factory is a good deal
Way to go, Nikos. You are to be commended on your hard work and perseverance. You have earned a new life, and thanks for the inspiration.
Exceptional testimony and results Nikos…very inspirational…thanks for sharing! I’m restarting the 100k program following Aidan’s roadmap on what he would do if starting over again…I’m 100% convinced this works but gave it away due to lack of results. This time round I resolved in my mind not to give up but rather to keep persevering! Your testimony had further helped cement my resolve…thanks again!
Jim from NZ
Great to hear that Jim!!!! 🙂
This was very inspirational. 100kfactoryUltra really do works. I say that because I’ve had some success with it. I’ve learn so much by reading Nikos’s story. My biggest take-away is getting VA’s to help with some of the heavy and mundane tasks.
Thanks for sharing
VA’s are KEY with any kind of scaling.. as soon as you’ve got a winner, you should invest some of that back in to some help. Thanks for commenting Darrell!
Thanks for sharing this Aidan & Nikos.
It’s so inspiring to hear of the success others are achieving with this system – but your results Nikos just blow my mind!
As yet I havn’t found my winner but I know for sure that I will because I wont give up til I do – hearing stories like yours adds more fuel to my motivation!
Thank you both so much for sharing
Barbara
The next test could be the winner Barbara! Keep at it 🙂
I had a death in the family concurrent with the start of 100K Ultra.
I am now getting motivated to restart the program and get cracking.
Tom Harvey
Amazing, inspirational story! Thanks for sharing it Aidan! I am in 100K Factory and got side tracked with my “job” and finding the right niche. After reading this story about Nikkos, I am motivated to get started again!. I especially like the top 10 tips and will re-read this article whenever I feel frustrated or start going off track!
Don’t go it alone, find a mentor, someone that can help and train you, and make your business a success… May I ask where one would find such a mentor? Referrals?
Hi Kelly, there’s plenty of training on the web, even free training on YouTube for many parts of online marketing. Then there are courses like the ones Steve and I release.. so there’s no shortage of training. As far as a mentor goes, the ideal scenario is to find someone who has been there and done it.. Nikos sought out Steve and I.. but it could be anyone really, anyone who has the experience and has seen success with your chosen model.
Wow! Nikos, your success story is soooo Inspirational, Brother! I thought I was already geared up and ready to really Rock N’ Roll my 100k Ultra e-com biz for 2017,..after facing several “setbacks’ in latter 2016…Shoot!…But after just now reading Your story, I’ve amped my intensity & motivation 10-fold! CONGRATS Nikos! Keep on going, Bro! The sky’s the limit,…and I’ll be right behind you! 🙂 The Best is Yet to Come!
Awesome to here that Alain, there has never ever been a better time to start an online business. I thought 2016 was good, but I’m seeing even more exciting things happening and more exciting trends developing in 2017!!
Wow awesome story Nikos! Congratulations. Love hearing success stories from real people. Also a member of both 100K Factory and 100K Factory Ultra. Looking forward to seeing what’s in store with the 3rd and final version of !00K. As a lot of other people have said, got sidetracked, didn’t stick with it and now need to go back and make it work. Also going to get back into Amazon White Label.
Just had my 3rd granddaughter who was born on January 29th, and we now have 3 months without little ones to take care of. So now is the time! 🙂
Congrats on your latest grandchild Susan! We’ll have full details for you about the coming 100k Factory product very soon 🙂
Hi, I am curious what plan did Nikos pay for his shopify store? Etc Basic, Shopify or Advance? Also, if I have a WP site, later on if I were to change to Shopify, can the data be transferred over to Shopify or do I have to build from scratch(just curious)?
Hi Erica, Nikos started with the ‘Shopify’ plan. I’m not sure if he still uses that or has since upgraded to the top plan… but it’s really irrelevant now given what he’s earning 🙂 Regarding migrating over from WordPress, it’s easy! Check out step 4 on this page: https://www.aidanbooth.com/shopify-setup-guide/ . You certainly do NOT need to build from scratch!
Thanks Aidan, very helpful answer. Cheers 🙂
Hi Aidan, Tried to get on the list for the new 100K (I have 100K Ultra) but it would not go through. As I am with Ultra will I get an email?
You’ll get an email Marguerite.
Great to read about Nikos story…It is an inspiration for people like me who is still struggling to meet the ends….Thanks Aidan
Never give up Vishwanath!
Wow! Super success. Congratulations Niko upon your achievement and thank you for inspiring and motivating countless others. Greece is a beautiful setting, too. Thanks Steve and Aidan for programs that change lives personally and globally. For us ‘keep going, newbies’, another push onward.
Hey Red, I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Best of luck with your projects!
Hi Aidan,
So, how do I create an offer no one can refuse?
I think that’s the piece of the puzzle that I’m missing…
Well, firstly, that piece of advice is about how Nikos got his ‘home run’, but you can do very well with mediocre offers and mediocre products as well!
There are a couple of things you can do to create an offer people can’t refuse:
1. Choose a product which is genuinely quite awesome
2. Attractive pricing.. “free plus shipping” is one model that works very well
hope this helps!
Awesome, great job showing everyone what the possibilities can be with focus and dedication.
I wish this open would love to join your program.
We have something coming for you in a few weeks Tavious, stay tuned for an update.
Great stuff Aidan! Is there any way you can bribe Niko to get access to the training videos for his virtual assistants? Also, is he willing to share or sell the software and tools he created to further automate his business? Thank you for sharing this case. It is inspiring, and motivating. >>>> I have an emergency with aged stock on Amazon that is going to be assessed a $2500 storage fee at the end of February. Any tips or ideas to move the 2000 pieces fast would be so helpful as it is listed but not launched or selling. I am thinking of a “Inventory Reduction Campaign” I have been very sick since I shipped to Amazon. I had a Stroke, A mild Heart attack, and a partial amputation of my left foot. I am only now able to start selling inventory that has been there since thanksgiving one year before last (A year and a half). Not what I wanted but I need to get the income and avoid as much of the storage fees as I can. No reviews, no sales, I have a Unique selling position, fair pricing, product is the best in the catagory. I have the best packaging (Gift quality), $15 value bonus included in box, and a portion of sales will go to feed starving children and provide clean water where needed. I could use any and all ideas and other help right away. Thank you so much! Stan Furlough
Hi Stan, I’m sorry to hear about your tough times.. I hope 2017 is a much better year for your health and business.
Regarding your Amazon stock, I would start selling it at break even. Even if you’re losing a couple of bucks per unit to get it moving, that’s fine. The key here is to move it, not to make a profit from it.
Also consider:
1. Selling it on eBay
2. Setting up a ‘giveaway’ page on a blog, and sending Facebook traffic to it
I do think the key for you though, to get stock moving, will be to dramatically reduce the price to the lowest you can.. I think this will help a lot.
Congratulations Niko’s.Very inspiring.We are still testing,testing but have not found the winner.We are taking some time to learn more of audience targeting which seems to be our weak point.Can’t give up now.Started in 2016 with factory ultra so have a lot of hours and investment put in.Thanks Aidan & Steve for everything.Facebook group is awesome as well.Looking forward to the future and success!Good luck to all.
Keep at it Neta, your breakthrough will come! Also, consider using the 100k Ultra FB group to ask questions about targeting.. we can give you lots of feedback there for your specific products if you want to (or example products if you don’t want to share your actual products, but do want to practice finding audiences)
Aidan
If we currently have 100K Ultra, will we have access to the new program or is that a separate purchase?
Thanks for posting Nikon’s story. Very motivating!
Thanks
Hi Vini, details will be released soon. We’ve completely reworked everything, and what we have coming out is very different (in many ways) to 100k Ultra, so it’s like an entirely new program.. but rest assured, we’ll look after Ultra members.
Thank you much for the info! Question for Nikos: how did you overcome the credit card issue? I see you suggested Wells Fargo. Is it possible for a non US resident to create an account with them?
Nikos set up his account when he came to the USA.. I don’t think you can set up a bank account in the USA without actually coming here. We’ve seen many people try. It’s easy once you’re here though, all you need is two forms of ID..
Very inspirational and motivational to hear about Niko’s success. I am curious whether product selection/price or audience choice is more crucial to succeeding. I’m just beginning and had my first add set run on facebook but no sales, as I’m moving onto the next one I have that question in my mind – did the product let me down or the audience, there is no way of knowing without going against the 3 day rule of moving on to the next product.
Hi Julie, I know I speak for Nikos when I say that the product is the most important thing. Nikos emphasized that in his experience, over and over again, the thing that always took his results to the next level were really cool “impossible to refuse” deals on products. So.. Product+Pricing to make it impossible to refuse, then audience targeting after that.
Nikos’s story will definitely inspire many including myself all thanks to the incedible work and effort by Aidan and Steve. It would be unfair for me to not give credit to these two giants especially when I remember how I began my personal eCommerce journey late last year. Being a web developer, I knew something about eCommerce but had no idea whether I could run my own eCommerce business before I subscribed to Aidan and Steve’s mailing list (can’t even remember how I got the invitation). I began watching the free 100k Factory videos that Aidan and Steve shared on the mailing list and I got hooked.
Anyway, long story short I now run my own eCommerce business which I launched last month. I intend to join Aidan and Steve’s 100k Factory program soon, to enhance my knowledge to grow my business. (When I began watching the free 100k videos I had no money to join the paid program).
More importantly, Niko shares some great tips, ideas, insights and invaluable information, which you can catch right away if you have a keen eye.
Congratulations Nikos!
Hi Flavian, thank you for your comments, and congrats on starting your own eCom business! Please let us know how things go for you, I’m sure you’ll do very well!!! 🙂
Aidan, thanks for bringing us Nikos’ story! I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed after ‘failure to launch’ with the rest of my 100K cohort last year. Not only is Nikos’ story inspirational and highly motivating, but the comments here tell me I’m not alone – there are a number of us who are working on getting back to it. In a way, we have an advantage. People like Nikos have gone before us and worked out the challenges.
I hope you’ll have more interviews with the rockstars of this program, to help us keep our eyes on the prize!
Hi Aidan, Great to see some ‘nuts and bolts’ of Niko’s success story… been hearing about his tantalising success at least since 12 day giveaway and 7day business….
Just curious… and understand that there are no ‘averages’ in this business, but would these FB costs to sales $ ratio be somewhat typical???.. i.e. >$600K FB ads for $1 million in sales, and I’m guessing here, might that translate to $100-200K profit after other costs? …Don’t get me wrong.. $100K would be fantastic! (that’s why I’m in Ultra and OMC) was just a bit stunned by the numbers. …
Guess I’ll just follow the system and see!
Hi Nicki, great questions 🙂
What we normally see is much less spend in relation to income. For example, many people (on smaller scales) see $1000 ad spent, $4000 revenue. You might then have $1400 of product cost, which would leave you with $1600 profit margin (40% profit margin). Some people have higher profit margins, some lower, but this is probably a good benchmark I think.
Thanks Aidan, Really appreciate the reply! and the numbers! :))
You’re welcome!
Do I need a business bank account to use Shopify?
I have a verified PayPal account and a personal USA checking account.
Nope, Paypal is FINE 🙂
Hi Aidan;
I am an Ultra Ed member as of last Aug and hit the proverbial 12 week wall in the fall, some of it self inflicted and partially beyond my control nevertheless feel like 2017 is a fresh start and Nikos’s story is like an elixir right about now. I am at he testing stage still going through the program of finding the winning product/niche but saw and read the download regarding Shopify. So many questions arise. I also attended your webinar on Blackbird/Amazon but hesitated to join as I even felt that to be an internal “Shiny object” and need to stay focused on this program as I am working a job that I feel imprisoned in full time job and just lost my savings in a failed business (read restaurant). I feel the doors closing in on me in my late 40’s and may need to ask for a bit of help to get up and over some hurdles (even though your modules are really well laid out!).
We’re here to help you with whatever you need Rodd, you know where to find us 🙂
What an amazing ride Nikos has taken! I invested in Ultra at the end of April 2016 and got it all setup. Was loving it but found a new shiny object in online network marketing because it was with a mate. But now, almost 67, I’m over people.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m a real social butterfly who hasn’t outgrown rock concerts – the louder, the better. But the need to build teams, suck up to people, and put up with their shit – I’m over it!
Ecommerce is certainly the way to go – and with the help and support of 100k Factory Ultra – I’m over the “shiny object syndrome” (apart from maybe the upcoming “100k Factory Soopa Doopa Wiz Bang” edition).
Thanks for sharing your story Nikos 🙂
Hey Johno, I know how you feel, I’ve been in a very similar situation many years ago.. stay focus, you’ll make this work. Distractions are a killer!
Great article. Inspiring and gratifying. I live in Nigeria and want to start an eCommerce business.Though there are many infrastructural challenges here, I know by commitment and persistency we will succeed I want to be on your programme. Take me by the hands.I’ve never disappointed and I will be highly honored. Thank you for your great works Aidan.
You’re welcome.. don’t let where you live stop you.. there are plenty of folks in different parts of Africa who have made this work, and we have members in Nigeria specifically who are working the system as well!! 🙂
Hi Aidan, It’s great to hear this story. I’m one of the fallen members ultra, but I finished every unfinished things, clear my mind and start again with full Power!!! 🙂 Good Luck Everybody 😉
Awesome Tomasz!! Get back into it, hit the reset button, reach out if you have any questions! 🙂
That is amazing man,this gives me belief of that if i keep working hard,i will make it too.
Do you think that this is an exceptional situation as he probably has more money/capital to spend with compared to most of us?
Hi Jimmy, absolutely not! The thing about this method is that you don’t need money to spend up front.. you only spend money on product AFTER you’ve sold it and been given the money for the sale 🙂
Very inspirational! When starting out with Shopify, do you recommend using a general store with products from lots of different niches, or choose a niche from the beginning and stick with it until you find a winner?
Hi Sharon, both options work. I prefer a more ‘specialized store’ approach, as it gives higher conversions, normally means you get more dollars per order, and allows you to get a foothold in a niche faster. There are pros and cons to both options though.
Hi A great story. I’d like to see a net income figure after cost of sales is deducted.
Hi Kevin, Nikos’ net profit margin is about 35%. You can see on some screenshots that he has about 50% ad cost, and then about 15% product cost..
After this new 100k factory and FINAL edition is released will their be updates, including latest in softwares and training etc for members for even years to come since Facebook is always changing their ways on Advertising?
We’ve always updated our programs in the past, and this one won’t be any different Todd. We’re working this system ourselves, so we need to stay up to date ourselves anyway 🙂
I am from Greece and I was thrilled to read Niko’s story. Given the fact that the
majority of people in Greece are in difficult situation, it ‘s great seeing
someone succeeding.
I also just finished watching the 100k factory revolution presentation and
what makes me indecesive isn’t the course itself but the absurdity and
complication of greek taxation system and buraucracy. So I wonder if by any
chance could contact Nikos for some advice of “local” interest, if he is
willing too.
Thanks in advance,
Tina
Hi Tina, if you jump in, I’ll put you in touch with Nikos.. no problem with that. Any tax situation you may have can be solved!
Congratulations to Nikos for his success!
Tina and Giannis, I think there is no problem with capital control anymore. I buy directly from Aliepress using my debit card because it is a generic store.Perhaps in order to avoid the foreign currency fees, it is better to buy a european prepaid card .
I suppose there is no problem with money deposits to a greek bank account from an account abroad…
Thanks for commenting Niovi!
Hi Aidan,
Just looking at Nikos incredible amount of ad spend is somewhat terrifying… even though the sales/revenue numbers are quite staggering.
After expenses, how much of that was actually profit?
I do see from the 2017 screenshots that Nikos’ margins have improved considerably though.
40% to 50% net profit. Remember.. the ad spend is high, but it starts TINY. $2/day and $3/day ads are what we start with, and we scale little by little, but always make sure when scaling that we’re making money.
Can’t sign up for any of the email news letters or wait list. Says not active for the site. Do you have an alternative method to sign up?
Hi Justin, sign up on this website in the sidebar, and you’ll be notified next time we have an opening in one of our programs. thanks!