Ep 161: [Case Study] Building An Online Business Portfolio To Replace Your Income with Angelica

Angelica, thanks for coming on.

Thanks for having me.

I'm pretty excited for this chat just because when you joined the Bob community, you just got straight to work, and it's pretty inspiring, and I'm really, really excited about your growth, and you just bought your first site, so congratulations. How does it feel?

It feels great.

Yeah. I want to unpack all of it. I want to unpack all of it and see how it happened. and how quickly you did it as well. I want to, you know, sort of backtrack a little bit. Uh, you know, what's your background like? You know, where do you live? Where do you work? And what were you doing before you even stumbled across this buying website thing?

Sure. I live in the United States, and I work in the financial industry. I discovered online business buying a few years ago, and I had tried Amazon FBA from scratch and sold out of my items, but it was still hard to, maintain and sustain them. So I decided that I would go with the route of actually buying a business that's already, monetized and that's already gotten some traction.

And, I found one of your videos, and I decided that I should do more research, and, during that time, I was, I was, I had my baby a few months ago, and I decided to purchase the course. I dug into the material, and I decided I was ready to purchase one of the sites after doing some due diligence.

And I was confident and comfortable enough to do it, and I just did it a few weeks ago.

Yeah. Well, there's so much to unpack there. First of all, congratulations on having a baby as well. That's excellent.

Thank you.

Is this your first?

Yes.

Cool. Wow, that's, uh, there's a lot going on at the moment, isn't there? So, let's get to the baby and the business very, very shortly. So, when, you know, you're in the states, you're in, you know, the finance sector, for your career, and then, like, when you started this Amazon business, it sounds like you were drawn into owning an online business before you came across or whatnot.

What kind of drew an online business? Like, what was your reason? Why did you go that route?

Well, my reason was that I knew that I wanted to have children, and I wanted to, well, like my mom, who was an at-home mom and raised us. And I think that she kind of wished she kept the work balance as well as having children in balance. And I saw that growing up, and I kind of wanted that for myself—to give a hundred percent to my children but also give a hundred percent to having a business or working online. Did I answer your question?

That's great. You know, like yours, it's your biggest wish to be able to be there for you and your children, right? And your family, and it's probably the best motivator you can get right there. So when did you look at this Amazon business? Did you take a course? Do you do it on your own? In what year did you start doing this?

I started doing the Amazon FBA in 2019, and I had purchased multiple courses, and I tried to, uh, I did that because I felt like not just one of the courses had gone in depth enough for me to feel confident enough to start it from scratch. So I bought courses on that. Yeah, I had started that in 2019, and I sold out of it. I launched two items, and I sold out, but I was in the red a lot of the time.

It wasn't as profitable as I thought it would be.

Yeah.

I kind of did, and then we had the pandemic, and I kind of just stopped working on that.

Yeah.

I sold up.

So you sold that part of the business, or did you just let it go to zero? What did you end up doing with it? Like, did you?

Mm-hmm. I just decided to sell out of all the items, and then I just closed out that account.

Okay. Tell me about Amazon. An Amazon business. Uh, there have been many people who have come to me with an Amazon business idea before, some successful, many not. Tell me about your experience with the whole Amazon thing. Was it a good experience?

It was a good experience. It was a learning experience. I've never talked to anyone sourcing from another country. I've never talked to anyone sourcing from my own country. So that was interesting—the back and forth and how the logistics work. It was just a learning experience. and then the marketing for the items, the packaging, down to the description, writing the description for the items, and getting a photographer to take pictures of my products.

It was interesting and a learning experience, and I don't regret having that experience.

I think the experience of setting up a business is valuable. It's exceedingly hard; as you know, there are a lot of balls to juggle at once, especially when you've never done it. The big reason is because it's pretty easy to get it wrong with that much to do. But the experience is the sales experience, right?

The marketing experience is like, Why should my branding look like this? You know, what do I need to do to make this product presentable and sellable, even down to the little tweaks that you need to do on the photos?

Mm-hmm.

Very good learning experience. Why not continue down the Amazon route and go towards something different? Did you already find my video prior to leaving or want to make the decision to close the business down? Or, uh, were you just not wanting to follow that same business?

I think it was around that time that I discovered your content. It was just unsustainable. The margins were not worth my time, money, and effort at that time. So, I decided it just wasn't something I could make into a business. It just wasn't really worth my time and money at that time in my life.

Starting a family and starting a business at the same time? Wow. So what, uh, drew you to buying the online business? Was that, uh, you know, something established already or were there, uh, other things as well?

What drew me to it was the fact that I wouldn't have to start from scratch. And that it was all that it was already running, and I felt like I was confident enough. To try something in the online space because I had already tried Amazon FBA, I wasn't a hundred percent confident that I could just buy an online business, but I was confident that, you know, I had some type of experience doing it. I could try it. So I don't think I answered your question. I'm sorry.

It sounds like you wanted to buy something established. But what? I want to add the education piece in a second because it's so vital.

Mm-hmm.

Why, established? Was it just that you didn't want to start something? Or is it that? Yeah. Did you want the money quicker, or are there so many different reasons why?

I think it was a combination of all of those things. It was just hard to get my product on the first page of whatever my keywords were. And so I was thinking about, I guess, how long it would take for me to do that and how much money it would take for me to get to that first page, let alone the top of the page for that keyword for Amazon, and it was just Something that I thought I should invest more time and money into.

It's fair. I mean, I'm working with people in Amazon's business as the hunter for that top spot, and then I've got people that have that top spot, and there's just that much. Money, not just that you need to pay for the data to understand what you need to do to get it to the top spot. You need some really thick skin, and you need that capital to just keep digging into, especially when you don't know when that's going to stop, which can be scary.

It's a good one that you brought up. I've noticed a pattern, uh, that you've got if you went and, uh, bought some Amazon courses, and you probably could have started an Amazon business without, you know, some of the courses, like anybody can.

Obviously, it's going to be a lot harder, and then you went and jumped in and started working, uh, with us as well. Why would you recommend people? To buy programs and education before they go away and do any of this sort of stuff, or what's your experience like with that, and why have you gone away and bought education and got help?

I would recommend doing some research and buying, uh, a course to do, uh, online ventures, or jumping into it if you're not, if you don't really know what you're doing. Like me, you had no clue how to start something, how to run it. I had no clue how to do any of it, so Yeah, I'm right there.

I do like to purchase knowledge and information first instead of piecing things together for free by myself. I prefer more packaged, well, the part of my life that I am in right now. I don't really have time to pull this source, this source, and this source. I really don't trust it, and I think it's best to just purchase an online, uh, course and then decide whether you want to jump in or not.

Absolutely. I'm the same. That much money that I spend on education is crazy, and it's so worth it.

Why did you decide on that type of business?

I bought a content site, and I decided on that one. because, well, I definitely didn't want to try Amazon FBA. at this time. I wanted to get one; perhaps I'll get one in the future. I don't know. I like that it's a little more hands off than the other options, from what I saw. In the other categories, it appeared to be relatively hands off. And yeah, that's really why I just decided on a content site.

Cool. And so is the content site. Is it, how is it, and what's the revenue? Is it, you know, affiliate content? A hundred percent? Is it a hundred percent ad revenue? Is there a split? If so, what would that split be? Is there any information about the product? I know there's a lot in that, but I want to add one additional one.

If you are open to sharing, how much did you buy the site for? Was it four figures? Was it five figures? Was it six figures? What sort of range did you purchase this site for? I mean, there are so many things to break down, so you may forget some of those questions. So we'll come back to it.

Let's start with the revenue. The revenue split is 50/50. Amazon affiliates and display advertising.

Cool. Okay, so what, you know, was the site? What. range. Did you buy the site? If you're open to sharing that.

The multiple was 40x, and it was five figures.

Okay, cool. You bought into this site pretty quickly after joining? not sure. I'm pretty sure it was weeks after I joined. How many weeks did you have before you joined?

It was like two.

You buy how, how long, sorry.

I joined on January 16th, and I think I bought it on January 31st. Then, I bought or purchased the site on January 30.

It's basically two weeks, okay? And how many? I'm sure you did a lot more than that. I started to fill out a lot more due diligence and tongue twister there before you sent me, however many you sent me. How many? Do you remember how many you sent me? Because I remember when you came in and you were sending them, I was like, Okay, who's this new person and who's crushing?

Like she's just going for it. It was cool.

I wanna say, I think I sent you maybe three to four, I wanna say.

Yeah. So that's two a week. I just want to highlight this. That's exceptional work. I can see that you are dry; you've got some. There you are, and you're really hungry for people who are listening. When people join the Bob community, they normally go through the majority of the course up to the part where they finish the due diligence section. And then they go away and start to fill out Juju's framework for their first business.

Usually, it takes most people two days to get all the information because it's brand new and they've never done this before. And it freaks people out because people go far out. It's going to take me two days every time I want to buy a business to fill out this information and equip myself with the data and information to make an educated decision to purchase. However, that's the first time you've ever done it, right?

I'm sure, like for me, you've seen the videos of me in the course of how quickly I can do due diligence, you know, within like, you know, half an hour sort of thing. Uh, so, but I've done that now. It is a bit like saying, I'm a bit of an exception, because I look at how many businesses per week do due diligence.

Mm-hmm.

Compare yourself to myself, but did you notice how much quicker you got after the first one? Like, did you sort of go, Oh wow, this is going to take longer than expected, or did you already realize that this is just the first one? Tell me about your experience.

Yeah, the first one I tried to go, uh, according to how I tried to go, I paused your video a lot and I went, I followed along with you, just applied the, obviously, the different businesses to what you were, uh, explaining, and, yeah, my. My first one took a while. The second due diligence was a little bit easier, and I didn't have to keep on referring so much to your video, but I mean, I still referred to it throughout my entire due diligence.

Yeah,Cool. Okay. What do you think was the hardest part about buying? buying your first website business. I was really worried about getting scammed. That's what I was really worried about. Yeah, that was my biggest concern.

Yeah. Well, how much confidence did the due diligence, uh, instill in the business that you are, in the due diligence framework and the education that you learned, and also, me looking at it, did that help or is there something else that you would've preferred that could have helped you?

Oh, no. I attribute a lot of that confidence in pulling the trigger and buying the site to that framework and your video of step-by-step instructions on how to input the information. I felt more comfortable. I got a better picture of how the site runs and the seller. I felt more comfortable—certainly more comfortable.

Mm-hmm.

Cool. All right. And being scammed is the worst thing that could happen, right? Were there any fears that you had or any other parts of the journey that you thought were a bit harder than expected? Like during due diligence or whatnot?

You know, actually, I was worried about the migration process. And I, because I've never purchased an online business before. I don't even have any clue what I need to give over or what needs to be given to me, and I think that the way that you laid out that information made me feel more confident, checking off things like, Okay, I've received this, I've received that.

I've given this, and I've received that. That was something I was also concerned about.

Yeah. Cool. Now, what sort of advice would you give to somebody who's like, Alright, thinking about an online business, thinking about buying one for the first time? They're just like, I'm just thinking about this, and I want to buy something. What would you tell them?

I would tell them, Uh, something that you told me in our conversations back and forth, don't buy something; just say yes by email. Don't buy something just because you think you're going to miss out on something. Do your due diligence, and then be confident enough to purchase it.

That's juicy. That's really good. There was another person in the group who had a particular niche. and he looked at the business, did due diligence on the business, sent the due diligence over to me, and said, Jared, can you do this as soon as possible? Uh, because of your review, as soon as possible, because I know this site's going to sell really fast.

The broker and the seller already told me that there are other people interested, and this is in the niche that I want. Uh, this looks like a good business. And because it was in a niche that he wanted, he had some blinkers on. and couldn't see the whole picture and all of the risks that were involved in the business. And he kind of really loved the niche, so he wanted to rush into it, but he would've rushed into something that would've been a lot more costly than he was in terms of decreasing and removing risk and then also trying to grow it as well.

So I think that's, uh, I'm glad that you really brought that up because there are that many people that are. and becomes so hot and heavy on a particular niche. They've heard this somewhere else, that your pension is in your passion, and you know, you've got to be passionate about a particular niche, for some reason? However, that's really a double edged sword because if you are super passionate about something, it will be a detriment to you and the business because you can run it at a loss for so long because you're so passionate about something and you can be emotional about it, so you can miss certain things.

I do agree. It gives you the gusto, the willingness, and the wantingness to get through the hard times in business because you're passionate about the niche. I don't think it's the right way to go, though. I've seen that many people come so close, working with me, to wanting to buy something just because it's in a niche. And the other thing is that when they come to this space, they have this ideology that they want to buy a business in the niche that they want.

They can't find it. For a long period of time, they get frustrated, and they go, Well, I'm never going to find a business that I want. And they've got the wrong mindset around it—that they're looking for that niche. And then, when they find that niche, everything else goes out the window, and they want to buy it.

Right. So tell me about your niche selection. Was it even a consideration in purchasing your business? And if so, how much of a consideration?

I think, at first, it was a consideration. But then I realized, it shouldn't; for me, it wasn't. It was kind of, How do I explain this? No, at first, it was a big deal to me because it was a niche that I was really interested in. But then I realized I don't really care that much about that.

I'd rather buy a healthy business that I have some interest in. And not that I'm incredibly in love with it, but I'd rather be in love with making myself confident. Decision when I'm spending that amount of money on a business.

It's wise, very wise, because you can buy a business that's in the niche that you want and grow it, but it can be that much harder than buying something that's in a niche that you're not super passionate about. That niche. Not to say that you have to absolutely love it or that it's okay to just hate it, but I think you should have at least a middle ground within that and then also understand. The niche is important.

Yes. I plan on adding more content to the site and possibly making some changes to the way it looks. So just to have a better user experience, yeah, those are the things I plan on trying to improve on in the future.

I plan on hiring someone to write some content. I think. time, and I would rather hire somebody who is more experienced in writing than I am. It looks a bit outdated, possibly changing up the way the layout is, uh, yeah, things like that. Possibly changing out the images. I want to do more research before I make changes like that. I think my goal is to purchase a few more businesses within the next five years. I would like for this to be able to replace my income, and yeah, just Be a hundred percent mom and work online with my businesses. That's what my goal is.

I think I'll buy more content sites, but who knows? Maybe I'll want to buy an Amazon FBA site sometime down the road.

Thank you. Thanks, Jared. I appreciate it.