During the most lucrative part of the sales year, many sellers leave Q4 with high profits but without a clear plan on how to spend them. Today we give you our top tips on making the most of your Q4 profits. Early in our conversation, we highlight how investing in time-saving tools and software can unlock greater productivity and profit. After touching on how you can save money by switching from monthly to annual plans, we talk about what you should look for when buying new inventory. From purchasing office supplies in bulk, we explore the benefits of investing in your mind by enrolling in FBA seller courses.
Now, not everything needs to be about business. We also discuss how paying off your debt helps you build toward long-term success. We also reflect on the importance of treating yourself and giving back. Near the end of the episode, host Rebecca Smotherman shares details about the organization that she contributes to. Tune in for more of our insights on how you can best use your Q4 profits.
Listen on the podcast player below.
Like what you hear? Tell a friend… and be sure to leave us a rating and a review. Here’s how.
Key points from Episode 62:
Stephen & Rebecca share what they do with their Q4 profits.- The benefits of investing in time-saving tools.
- How time-saving programs can unlock hours’ worth of productivity.
- Snowballing your profits by buying more inventory.
- Why you should consider buying your supplies in bulk this time of year.
- Learning something new and the power of investing in your mind.
- Rewarding yourself for finishing a year of FBA selling.
- The importance of paying off your debts when building long-term success.
- Why giving back is an excellent way to spend some of your profits.
- And more!
Links and resources mentioned in this episode:
BQool Automatic Repricer Free Trial- BQool Review (plus how to get my personal repricing rules that doubled my sales)
- Keepa
- How to Read & Understand Keepa Graphs
- InventoryLab
- Tactical Arbitrage (use code FULLTIME10 to get extended trial)
- Full-Time FBA Trainings
- Jesse Mecham’s You Need a Budget
- Giving idea: Dressember Foundation
- The Reseller’s Guide to a Year in FBA: A Month by Month Guide to a Profitable Amazon Business
- Free Webinar – How to Get Q4 Numbers In January
Right-click here and save as to download this episode to your computer.
More Episodes from the Full-Time FBA Show podcast:
Don’t miss an upcoming episode! Subscribe, download episodes, and review the Full-Time FBA Show:
-
-
- Subscribe on iTunes
- Follow on Spotify
- Follow on Amazon Music (or just ask Alexa to “play The Full-Time FBA Show podcast”)
- Follow on iHeartRadio
- Subscribe on Podbean
- Subscribe on Podbay
- Subscribe on Podchaser
-
The Reseller’s Guide to a Year in FBA
A Month by Month Guide to a Profitable Amazon Business
One of the ways you can make selling on Amazon FBA easier is to know ahead of time exactly what to expect each and every month of the year.
Imagine what it would feel like knowing you were not missing out on any of the opportunities that will come your way this year. Imagine working on your Amazon business knowing exactly what your priorities are, what you need to avoid, and what you need to accomplish during each month to make progress toward making this year your best sales year ever.
Now you can with the course The Reseller’s Guide to a Year in FBA: A Month by Month Guide to a Profitable Amazon Business. The package includes a 275+ page ebook, monthly training videos, a private Facebook group, and more!
Back to the main page for The Full-Time FBA Show
Episode 62 Transcript:
[WELCOME]
[0:00:01.8] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Full-Time FBA Show. In each episode, it’s our goal to help you turn part time hours into a full-time income, selling almost anything on Amazon. Now, your hosts of the show, Stephen and Rebecca Smotherman.
[INTERVIEW]
[0:00:21.9] REBECCA: Hello there and welcome to The Full-Time FBA Show. We’re so glad you’re here with us today. We’re going to be talking about how not to waste your Q4 profits. And hopefully, at this point in December, you are making lots of great sales on Amazon. Also, just seeing those profits come rolling in both December and throughout Q4. So we’re going to be talking about what to do with those profits to make the most of them. Here with me today is my co-host Stephen. How are you doing today, Stephen?
[0:00:48.9] STEPHEN: I’m doing good. It is December and boy, the days are counting down to 2021 and I can’t wait.
[0:00:55.3] REBECCA: Right. Same here, but I’m also enjoying the fact that we are experiencing Q4. It’s the most magical time of year as an Amazon seller and it’s so exciting even this year to see how it’s going, so I can’t wait to jump into this topic today.
All right. I know you have a list of things that we, as a business, our business, a Full-Time FBA that we like to do every year to make the most of our profits and we’re going to be sharing that with our listeners today. Kind of walk us through that list today, Stephen. Was the first thing that we personally like to deal to make the most of our Q4 profits?
[0:01:32.9] STEPHEN: Yeah. When it comes to our Q4 profits, we are starting to get a little bit more money than we’re used to. And we want to make sure we make wise decisions with those funds. So we’re going to talk about different ideas for you to use those profits. Now, don’t think that we’re telling you to do every single one of this, because that might deplete your entire Q4 profits. But when we’re talking about these different ideas, think about which stands out to you.
The first one in the list is to invest in time-saving tools. Like if you are still prepping and shipping your inventory for yourself, maybe like an impulse sealer, a heat gun so that you can poly-bag items and you can — maybe a scotty peeler if you haven’t used that to take those stickers off. Maybe you need a barcode scanner because you’re tired of typing out each barcode number individually. Or maybe you need to get a new laptop, your laptop is on fumes and you need a laptop to help process all of your stuff. Think about those types of ideas — time-saving tools that will help you save some time.
[0:02:32.7] REBECCA: That’s good and that’s something that I’ve definitely been kind of going through, our work processes and seeing, “Okay. What do I need to add to our tools right now that we’ve got the extra money because of Q4, that maybe in April, I wouldn’t spend the money on this?” But now, it’s like, “Well, we’ve got the money, we should invest a little bit in it.”
[0:02:50.2] STEPHEN: Yeah. Since time is money, the more time you save, the more potential profits you can make. Another time-saving tip, this will be number 2. Invest in time-saving programs. So you had that time-saving tools, we’ve talked about time-saving programs. I’m talking about things like Inventory Lab where you have a program that helps organize all your inventory and you can run reports to see which items are profitable for you and be able to set up Amazon shipments so much faster. Maybe a tool like BQool, which helps automatically reprice your inventory for you. Or a tool like Keepa, which helps you make better sourcing decisions.
Time-saving tools are really good, like online arbitrage tool, Tactical Arbitrage helps save hours, literally hours of searching for inventory online. Those tools and others that are out there might help you save some time and make more money.
[0:03:42.1] REBECCA: Yeah, and now is the time of year to be looking at if you’re using a tool and you’re paying for it on a monthly basis. Is there a way that you can switch to an annual membership and save a little bit of money now that you’ve got extra money and profits, you can spend that money up front and save monthly in 2021?
[0:04:01.9] STEPHEN: Yeah, buying an annual membership to something is a great idea, it’s a great tip.
[0:04:06.1] REBECCA: All right. What do you have for third on our list?
[0:04:08.8] STEPHEN: Third is what most people think to do anyway. Buy more inventory. I mean, you’ve got more funds, continue to buy inventory. That helps snowball your profits, the more inventory you have to buy. Just know that a lot of times when we have more funds than we’re used to, to purchase inventory, we might take more risks with that inventory and kind of buy things out of our normal comfort zones. Just be careful not to do that. But buying more inventory is really great, as long as it still falls into your sourcing comfort zones and is profitable, like you are usually sourcing.
[0:04:41.2] REBECCA: Yeah. That’s a really great way to start off 2021, is having a big chunk of sourcing capital to get you started in the New Year. All right, so, number four on our list is about purchasing supplies.
[0:04:53.4] STEPHEN: Yeah, just like purchasing a tool with a monthly membership, transitioning it to a yearly membership. You can buy your supplies in bulk too. The more you’re able to buy supplies that you’re going to use throughout the year, the more you can save on it. You’re saving on shipping cost, you might get a price break because you’re purchasing more. I’m thinking about shipping boxes, inventory labels, shipping labels, printer ink, packing tape, those types of things. If you have a room to store those type of stuff, purchase your supplies in bulk. Because even squeezing out a little bit more money to use for sourcing by buying supplies in bulk, it can go a long way.
[0:05:30.4] REBECCA: Yeah, that’s really good advice. Number five on our list is, invest in your mind. We’re talking basically by making investments right now, so invest in your mind.
[0:05:42.1] STEPHEN: Yeah, investing in your mind by learning something new. One of the things that I teach people during Q4 is to not learn anything new. Well, it’s almost the end of Q4 and now is a good time to start transitioning to learning something new. Branching out into a new way of doing things with your Amazon FBA business and learning something new can really help you broaden your horizons, help you increase your profits, and find more inventory.
If there is a course out there that really stands out to you that you’ve been waiting for, go purchase that course and invest your time and money into it. Right now we have our course, The Reseller’s Guide to a Year in FBA, A Reseller’s Guide to a Monthly Profitable Amazon FBA Business. We got on sale, there’s a coupon code. You can go to fulltimefba.com/yearinfba to take advantage of that coupon code and those saving. Because the price is going to go up very soon. And you can learn something about how to be ready for everything that 2021 has coming for you. We update the course every year, so no matter when you’re listening to it, we’re always updating it with the latest year’s information and the latest things that we’ve learned.
But investing in your mind is something that can really help you. And if you’re in FBA, you already have it because it is our number-one selling course. You can check out some of our other courses at fulltimefba.com/ourtrainings. So the more that you learn, the more you can earn, so invest in your mind.
[0:07:02.2] REBECCA: Okay. And number six, this is one of my favorites. I think we should talk about the little Easter eggs that we are always trying to put in our content. This one is, ‘treat yo self,’ which comes from one of our favorite episodes of Parks and Rec.
[0:07:18.5] STEPHEN: Yes, treat yo self. In every single course, we have a Parks and Recreation Easter egg somewhere. So when you’re going through our courses, you will find one and almost everything that we have out there, we love to treat ourselves. What is that? That just means finding something you normally would not buy for yourself, something fun and just splurge a little bit and use that to reward yourself for a great year of selling on Amazon and treat yo self.
[0:07:46.8] REBECCA: Yeah, and it can be something for you individually, it can be something for your family. Like, a lot of times, we think about things that we want to get for us to do as a family around this time of year, because we’ve got a little bit of extra money. And with it being around Christmas and the kids out of school and what not, we try to find something that we can either take them to do, which is not so much this year, but something that we can buy. Like this year, we bought a big hammock, a big hammock on its stand because the kids have recently discovered that they love hammocks when we’re camping. And we’re like, “Even though we don’t have trees in our backyard, we can get them a hammock to put in the backyard for all year round.” That kind of thing. Just find something that is a little bit of a splurge that you wouldn’t normally get.
[0:08:26.4] STEPHEN: Yeah. I think it’s safe to say that the kids are not going to listen to this podcast episode.
[0:08:26.4] REBECCA: I can guarantee you.
[0:08:32.3] STEPHEN: And get their Christmas ruined.
[0:08:32.9] REBECCA: I guarantee you that the kids don’t listen to our podcast. And if they do, surprise.
[0:08:38.4] STEPHEN: What are you doing? Why are you listening?
[0:08:40.6] REBECCA: All right. There you have it. Go look for those Easter eggs, usually it’s a picture in our courses, sometimes it’s an actual reference, but we love that show.
[0:08:51.0] STEPHEN: We literally love that show.
[0:08:52.5] REBECCA: Thank you. If you get it, you get it. Okay. Number seven, this one is not as fun, but it is just as rewarding, I think.
[0:09:01.5] STEPHEN: Absolutely, yeah. Tip number seven on how not to waste your Q4 profits is paying off debt. A lot of people, their regular strategy is just to pay the minimum on their debt, but they just continue to waste money over and over again just covering interest payments. The better and faster that you can get rid of your debt, the more you’re going to have overall to spend on your Amazon FBA business and on your life. So taking your Q4 profits, while it feels like a sacrifice, it’s actually the right thing to do to pay down your debts.
Dave Ramsey says, “Debt is not a wealth building tool” — and we totally believe that. I read the Total Money Makeover book and it completely changed my life. We were able to get out of debt, stay out of debt. So paying down your debts will actually — hurts a little bit upfront. In the long-term, it’s going to keep you succeeding a lot faster and a lot stronger.
[0:09:54.4] REBECCA: Yeah. We’re not just talking about business debt here. Take some of this extra cash and pay more on your mortgage this time of year, or pay a little bit more on your car payments than you normally would. It will benefit you in the long run in your business if you get a little bit more freedom from not having that debt, whether it’s in your personal life or in your business.
[0:10:15.1] STEPHEN: And the final tip for how not to waste your Q4 profits is to give generously. This is one of the ones that is the most fun for us. We like to find something that’s a great need that’s out there that is needed and give generously. And obviously, when you decide to give, how you want to give, check to see if there’s a tax deduction with that giving. But we’re not just doing it for the tax deduction, there’s a lot of great things out there that you can invest in the future of other people by giving to organizations that are in need.
[0:10:46.7] REBECCA: If you’re looking for a good idea for a place to donate, I am personally raising money right now for the Dressember Campaign. It is an annual challenge that the Dressember Organization does, where every day, in the month of December you wear a dress. So I am wearing a dress every day this month. And it is kind of cold, so you have to kind of be strategic in how you do that. But we’re raising money to go towards victims and survivors of human trafficking and it’s a really great organization that works with other partner organizations to make contributions to those who have for years been investing in the lives of those who are victims of trafficking. And who are trying to stop human trafficking throughout the world. If you are interested in donating to that, you can find that campaign at fulltimefba.com/dressember, and we’ll also have that link in the show notes.
[0:11:42.4] STEPHEN: This is a really great cause and a really fun way to raise some money to help out people in need. If you are not sure where to give, then that’s a great option for you to spend some of your extra Q4 profits to help others.
[0:11:56.9] REBECCA: This is a campaign that I’ve done in years past. It’s something that I personally donated to for several years and we really believe very strongly in the work that they’re doing, so I decided to do another fundraiser this year.
[0:12:09.1] STEPHEN: Yeah. We’ve done the research to make sure that the funds are actually going to the people who need it, so we’re giving to that and we invite you to do the same. So those are some tips on how not to waste your Q4 profits. Your Q4 profits, you’ve earned it so help your Amazon FBA business, build up your Amazon FBA business, tackle some debt, treat yourself and give generously. Whichever one stands out to you the most, go do that it will help you start the year off on the right foot.
[CLOSING CONVERSATION]
[0:12:41.8] REBECCA: All right. Well, I think we’ve got a good list there to go from and maybe you have other ideas of how you’re wanting to use your Q4 profits, be sure and leave us a comment. If you have anything to add to that, you can do that at the show notes for this episode, which is at fulltimefba.com/62. That’s the number 62 because this is Episode 62. You’ll also, on that page, where the show notes are, find any of the links we mentioned and also the transcript for this episode.
[0:13:07.3] STEPHEN: Next week on The Full-Time FBA Show, we have a very, very special guest.
[0:13:11.5] REBECCA: Oh, you’re not going to want to miss this.
[0:13:13.5] STEPHEN: Yes, it’s going to be good. We’re going to be talking about skills for Amazon FBA success and it’s going to blow your mind. I can’t wait to share with you, but I’ll have to wait a week. So we’ll see you next week on The Full-Time FBA Show.
[OUTRO]
[0:13:26.7] ANNOUNCER: That is all for this episode of The Full-Time FBA Show. So head over to fulltimefba.com/podcast, where you will find the show notes and links from this episode. While you’re there, subscribe to our newsletter where you’ll get several free downloads of our popular and helpful Amazon FBA resources including a free eBook. Now, take action on what you have learned today so you can find success at turning part-time hours into a full-time income with Amazon FBA.
[END]
Leave a Reply