INTERVIEW | Make Money Selling on Amazon, Whatnot, and Simple Physical Products with Stephen Somers
Stephen Somers is the founder of Marketplace Superheroes, an online education company that has helped more than 10,000 people build side incomes by selling on Amazon and Whatnot. After starting his career as a data processor in Dublin, Ireland, Stephen built a multi-seven-figure Amazon business alongside his sister and CEO, Lisa Summers. Today, he has sold more than $40 million worth of products, coaching, software, and services and has recently helped his team generate nearly $500,000 in trading card sales on Whatnot. In this episode, Stephen shares how he escaped the traditional 9-to-5 path, built a successful online business, and found new opportunities in live-commerce marketplaces.
On this episode we talk about:
Why Stephen chose entrepreneurship after realizing the traditional career path wasn't for him
How he got his start selling physical products on eBay and Amazon with almost no startup capital
Why you don't need to invent a groundbreaking idea to build a successful business
How entrepreneurs can find opportunities by getting better at one specific part of an established business model
How Whatnot's live-shopping and auction model works and how Stephen's team is making money selling Pokémon trading cards
Top 3 Takeaways
You don't need a revolutionary idea to make money. Some of the best businesses are built around simple, established products or services with one part of the process executed exceptionally well.
Marketplaces can eliminate some of the hardest parts of starting a business. Selling through platforms like Amazon and Whatnot gives entrepreneurs access to customers who are already looking to buy, allowing them to focus on sourcing products and selling effectively.
Entrepreneurship is ultimately about buying yourself more choice. Stephen views financial success less as accumulating money and more as creating the freedom to decide how he spends his time, works, and lives.
Notable Quotes
"The best businesses are actually like just really obvious crap that you just do it a bit better."
"We're trying to buy choice as well. And we're trying to trade so we can get choices."
"You don't have to go out and reinvent the wheel. You just have to, you know, put a different spoke on it."
Connect with Stephen Somers:
Website: MarketplaceSuperHeroes.com
YouTube: Marketplace Superheroes
Instagram: @StephenJSomers
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