The Dropship Unlocked Podcast

James’ Journey To High-Ticket Dropshipping (Episode 132)

• Lewis Smith & James Eardley • Season 1 • Episode 132

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🗣In today’s episode of the Dropship Unlocked Podcast, we’re diving into James’ personal journey in high-ticket dropshipping.

James shares how he transitioned from the 9-5 grind to becoming a successful e-commerce entrepreneur. We’ll discuss the struggles he faced, the pivotal moments that pushed him to take the leap.

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Topics Discussed:

  • The Decision to Start: James talks about the moment he decided to leave his 9-5 and pursue high-ticket dropshipping full-time.
  • The Worst Moment that Led to Change: How tough moments in his life motivated him to take control of his future and start his own business.
  • Advice for Those Starting Out: James shares his insights for aspiring entrepreneurs who are hesitant to take the plunge into e-commerce.

Links and Resources Mentioned:

Key Takeaways:

  • It’s All About Timing: James shares how he took the leap when the time was right for him, and how that decision changed his life.
  • The Power of Mentorship: With the right guidance, you can avoid the steep learning curve that often comes with starting an e-commerce business.
  • Building the Right Support System: Surrounding yourself with the right people, whether that’s a mentor or a supportive community.

Learn More:
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James Flood:

It was nice seeing, you know, four figure sales come in.

Lewis Smith:

Just talk to me a little bit more about the feelings, the thoughts you were having while you're in that job.

Unknown:

It's just not the life that I wanted to live.

Lewis Smith:

Talk to us about numbers, because in the high ticket game, it's quite easy to start getting some big numbers on

James Flood:

board our products predominantly range from 300 pounds up to North of 20,000 but the first advertised sale in total, it was around 2400

Lewis Smith:

that's that's 720 pounds in profit.

James Flood:

And when your first sale comes in, it's a very, very exciting moment.

Lewis Smith:

Welcome to the drop ship unlocked Podcast. I'm Lewis Smith, the founder of dropship unlocked, and with me is our client, success coach, James Eardley. Now when we're not recording podcast episodes or running our own e commerce businesses, you'll find us helping aspiring entrepreneurs launch their own high ticket drop shipping stores. So if you're ready to build your own six or even seven figure online business. Then head over to dropship unlocked.com forward slash, start now. Sit back, relax and let's unlock your potential with the dropship unlocked podcast. In today's episode, we're excited to bring you another exciting and inspiring success story from a drop ship unlocked member. So we're joined by James. He started his E commerce journey not very long ago at all, and has already achieved some really impressive results Exactly. It's always a pleasure to showcase some of the success of our master class members so that listeners and viewers on the YouTube channel can really understand what it takes to break into drop shipping today. So if you've ever wondered how mentorship could accelerate your growth and what it really takes to get started in E commerce, James's story that he's going to share today is one that you definitely want to hear. So let's dive right in and hear all about James's journey and the lessons he's learned along the way. James, welcome to the podcast. Great to have you here. I want to start by going back in time a little bit, and maybe you could take us back to a few months before you joined dropship unlocked, and talk to us through what was a day in the life like, why did you decide that you thought you might want to start your own

James Flood:

business? Yeah, so it's interesting, really. So I've always wanted to work for myself. I settled my first company when I was 23 obviously a decade older. Now, that was in sort of the tele telecommunications area, and sort of pre GDPR days in regards to how it would operate and things like that. And coming from a sales background, I thought natural progression, you know, let's, let's go down that route. And it was really, really good two years with the changes in data protection and GDPR and sort of the infrastructure that you you needed to sort of stay ahead of the game, it wasn't something that I was in a position, slash had the necessary skill set and to sort of continue at the time, and so that that was put to bed. And I loved it. I did everything about it was, was amazing. You know, I had a team, I had a business partner. And, you know, there was ups and downs, but predominantly UPS after that sort of went back into the employment sphere for want of a better term. And that itch is always there. I think a lot of people, including yourselves, will definitely understand that there's that feeling that you want more out of life, that you feel that your potential isn't being you know best used, or you're growing up to it. And it was quite interesting, really, because I came across the DSU program about a year and a half before I actually joined. So I made the decision I did want to it was in the summer or the spring before the year before that, I found you guys did a lot of research and thought, yeah, this is for me was pretty much getting the ball rolling with the home turf advantage book, doing my research, figuring out what it is that my partner and I would like to do, what would be worth doing, and then, and then I got a promotion at work, and I thought, Oh, I can't really do both. You know, the option, you know, I'm gonna have to shelve this for a bit, and, you know, just turned off the subscriptions and stopped putting any time into it. As with most promotions, unfortunately, the novelty wears off pretty quickly. Again, you don't feel as fulfilled as I think you think you're going to. Feel and yeah, within sort of six months of being in that role, I was like, No, that's it. I have to, I have to bite the bullet and go for it. So that was a long answer to your short question.

Lewis Smith:

No, that's perfect to get the context as to what was going through your mind, what you were doing before you joined dropship or noctu, decided to start the E commerce business that you're running now. So we'll get to the E commerce business that you're running now, and what you've seen so far in terms of running that business. But before we do, I want to dive into those feelings or thoughts that you were having as clearly, a very ambitious person, but you were in that nine to five job. You were offered a promotion, but there was something you said that was those sort of niggling at you because you didn't feel like that was where you wanted to go long term. So just, just talk to me a little bit more about the feelings or thoughts you were having while you in that job that made you want to to move and start doing something else.

James Flood:

It's, it's the dream. It's, it's the vision of where, you know, I see in my family's life, you know, in 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. And I do think it's important that, you know, for me, certainly, that I'm pretty clear on what that looks like and going down the career path. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just I wouldn't be in a position to be able to live the life, have the freedom that I wanted. And you know, it's, it's nerve wracking sometimes, because you can, you can get absorbed in the work, especially if you're a bit of a workaholic. You can almost, you know, satisfy those thoughts that are going through your mind with our do this for another six months, and then we'll be there, and it just never really comes true. And I think if you start to draw comparisons with the people who've trod that path before you, and they're 1520, 30 years into that development that you're only two or three years into, and it's like, Okay, what does their life look like? Is that the life that you want to live? And again, nothing wrong with it, but it's just not the life that I wanted to live, and I think now more than ever with the, you know, awareness of what it takes to get on the housing ladder to save for, you know, your retirement, what your child care costs are going to look like. You know, the average job just doesn't give you enough resources to be able to tick all of those boxes. And so it's scary, you know? And I think the fear of not achieving became stronger, and then the fear of just being like, right? I've got to go for this. Yeah, I can relate

Lewis Smith:

to that. You start to think that the biggest risk here is finding yourself in the same situation five years down the line, not the risk of having a go. And maybe it fails, maybe it succeeds is, yeah, that's part of entrepreneurship, that uncertainty. So I understand big picture. What you were thinking, like you said you saw people 30 years down the track, and you thought, that's not the path I want to be on. What I love to hear is the kind of specific moments. And I think our listeners and our viewers will really enjoy hearing about some of those, like, kind of specific moments or turning points in our journey where, like, I remember being in a office boardroom, like, surrounded by people, and it was just, I think I'd just stumbled across the four hour work week, and it was like, fresh in my mind, and I just remember, it was almost like everything just fell into place. And I was like, I don't know the answers as to how I'm going to get out of this, but I'm doing it, and this is the day I've made that decision. Did you have any moments like that where you're like, I can't take any more of this, like this? Any specific moments you can kind of paint a picture for us about I

James Flood:

can, and it was a very exact moment, to be perfectly honest with you. So I wasn't salaried in the last role. So, you know, the more hours you did, the more you got paid. And it was, it was fruitful, I'll be honest, it was, it was a well paid job. And, like, say, I got this promotion and put into a different role. It was like a hybridized role. And I put forward a proposal, which coming from a sales background I understand, like efficiency being one of the main, you know, aspects that can drive your business forward. And I put a proposal together that would truly revolutionize a certain department within the company. And it wouldn't it would only rely on the current systems that we've got in place, it would just be some data tweaks. So from a cost investment from the company, it was almost zero. It was like, here's how you do it, here's what it would do, and here are the long term results that you'd get. It would, you know, reduce staff required to hit certain targets. Those staff then could be moved on into the new areas and the roles they were looking to develop and very quickly, without a conversation, it was just shut down with like, no reason why. Now, fine, it's not for you. But what I realized in that moment was, I've not been put in this position to grow it, to share my ideas, to really put my stamp on it. I. I've just been put in this position to be, you know, do as you're told, so to speak. And I know there's a massive element of that within the job and within the job sort of sphere, but if we're not given the opportunity to, you know, put our ideas forward and have them actually make a real impact in the business, I just thought, This isn't for me and and really it was, it was so dismissive that it was just kind of like, Ah, okay, this is not for me. And I really, really need to. And it was, it was like a switch. There was a few niggly little things before that you can sort of just chalk off to the working environment, but that was really the we're not interested in what you want to add. You just need to do as you're told moment, and it was like bye bye.

Lewis Smith:

Basically, they showed their colors and they saw you as an employee. But clearly, it's important to you to have an impact on the work that you're doing for it to be meaningful. I think that's a bit of a change, actually, as well, with generations coming through now, is that there's a more desire to have purpose and impact in the work that we do, and to have a feel like you're making a real impact. Did you think that as well as the ambition, you're clearly an ambitious person, but do you think that having the impact was a big reason as to why you wanted to have your own business, something that you own fully? Oh, 100%

James Flood:

Yeah, absolutely. The problem with it is, I think the novelty wears off with a lot of things that we do on a day to day basis, and you know more so than within the jobs fair, because you are paid to do a certain thing. This is what we require you to do, which is absolutely fine. Whereas I think you know, as you guys will know, and as I've learned, sort of in the last you know nine months. You know you wear many hats at various different times on different days. You know, you're constantly being challenged with a new boss. You know, there's a new battle, a new challenge that you need to rise to. And I think that those are the areas where you really can make an impact. You know, you hear stories about, you know, people getting cut off in traffic, and it, you know, ruins their day. And it's the argument of, like, you really need to get some bigger problems in your life. And that's what life's about. It's the big problems, you know, and that's where I think running the business really will deliver on, you know, you making a change, having an impact, having the life that you want, but also, you know, a big challenge that you can really get your teeth stuck into

Lewis Smith:

Yeah, it's so true. The kind of different levels of problems that you encounter when you become an entrepreneur. You're someone then James that did a lot of research. By the sound of it, you said you found us, or you found out about dropship unlocked a good year before you joined. I think you said a year and a half. So talk to me a little bit about that, and what your hesitations or skepticisms were. You won't you won't offend us. But I just, I think it's really helpful to know, because there'll be a lot of people that are in that mindset that you were initially in where you found out about it, and then you were like, Oh, I feel like I need to do more research here. So talk us through like, what? What were you skeptical about? What were you hesitant about? So

James Flood:

online courses, master classes and things like that do get a lot of flack in, you know, the general conversation then, and there's some truth to it, because there's a lot of snake oil salesmen out there who will, you know, sell courses on how to create courses, to sell courses type things. And, you know, it's an echo chamber of never really, truly providing any value or growth or structure, and, and, and that's part of the reason why I'd always encourage people to, you know, be sure, you know, get some independent verification, do your due diligence, see what other people are saying. And that takes time. And I'll be honest, it didn't take me very long to realize that your course and community was a cut above, and there were cheaper ones out there, I'll be perfectly honest. However, I made this decision to go with this one, because I feel like the value of what you guys offer with the community calls with just the involvement that each other has, and the, you know, the step by step elements to it was, you know, worth that extra investment. And because, as an example, there was another course, I can't remember the name of who ran it again, rated very well, like yourself, and it was about half the price. But it was kind of like, here's the material crack on, yeah. And while I appreciate that, because, you know, we we look at the investment that's made on a course like this, and we think that that's a lot to make, yet people every year will spend anywhere between 25 and 50,000 across the course of three years on university degrees, and I think a lot of them can be very, very valuable, but I think we have certainly entered a time now where there are a lot of degrees that unfortunately do not have real world application, and people are being coming out of the conveyor belt of education on the other side with an expectation. Information that the job market is going to be like, yes, please come along and they've invested, and they think they haven't invested it because it's a loan. I call it a stealth tax, because I've worked with so many people who in the same positions as I, and I don't have the degree that I'm having to pay off every month for the rest of my life. And whereas they do so, they've had to do an extra day or two work to just earn the same amount of money. And it's a shame. And I feel like if we, you know, reframe what we look at and where we're investing our time and money something that delivers real world application of advertising, web building, communications with other human beings. I mean, I'm not being funny. Name me a business where those three things aren't reliant these days. So it put my skepticism to bed very quickly.

Lewis Smith:

Yeah, that's interesting that, like you say, the industry has a bad reputation. I think that. I think there's an evolution happening right now, isn't there, like you say, with with people moving away from the dependence or Reliance or the norm of online of mainstream education, university education being the gold standard, because, like you say, there are graduates now coming out and then having to go into, like, entry level jobs that don't require degrees because they can't find a job that that is right for them at that stage. So it's funny when people say, like, oh, is is the online course a scam? Or like, Well, is there a guarantee? Am I guaranteed income with it? It's like, well, no, but then is the university sector a scam? You know, I had a degree, I'd went to university, I paid off the loan, but the whole point of it was like, Well, they didn't say to me that at the end of this you're guaranteed a job, and that you'll definitely be able to pay that thing back. So yeah, I totally agree with you. It's like, well, at least with this, the investments, you know, a 10th of the price, or whatever, of going to university of three years, but it's also way more actionable. And you're you're earning while you're learning with it, you're doing it, you're implementing it, taking action. So what was it then, when you had that initial skepticism, that hesitation, that kind of alarm bells ringing of like, oh, the online course industry, you know, big promises. Do they deliver? What was it specifically? Do you think that changed your mind and made you think I'm doing this

James Flood:

anyway? So I'd made the decision that I was going to do something. It was just the case of what and where it goes. Without saying, You guys are the most highly rated community within the Drop Shipping space, certainly for the UK market. So when, when both Emma and I obviously work this me more than her, but you know our time shared together was going to be important. You know, is this something that we can deliver on. And, yeah, it was a simple case of, we need to do something. The reviews are great. And I from a lot of people that I follow, you know, within the business sector and things like that. Alex hormozi As an example, you know, they talk a lot about, you know, upskilling and how a lot of online courses now, the amount of money that's being spent in that industry is increasing, whereas the traditional education sectors are decreasing. Your course will always be as up to date as it ever can be, because you guys are operating within the real world. We're operating within the real world. Yeah, if you again, circling back to university, we're going to go and study like business studies as an example. That's a curriculum that might be 10 or 15 years old, taught by somebody that's not necessarily ever run their own business, and it's all textbook. You know, I want to be connected with my finger on the pulse to people who are dealing with the challenges of the now, and not what hypothetically might be the challenge of the now, and it was an easy decision to make, really, yeah, it's interesting

Lewis Smith:

you highlight that, because, like you say, when we're still running our own e commerce businesses alongside the training, not only can we implement what works, but we can also warn you about things that have a work for us as well. And so that's all built into the program, and there's lessons that you learn through building your own business that you just can't learn on paper. So if you went to study business, and I know lots of people that study business at university, there's lessons that you just can't possibly learn on paper, that you learn within the first week, within the first few months of running ads and getting data back from the customers that you could never learn on paper. So I guess that was quite a big thing for you. Wanted to be learning from people that were in the in the world of action, on the front line, running businesses that were willing to share from their mistakes and and the things that have worked for them. You wanted to be close to those people,

James Flood:

yeah, and it's the trial and error of actually doing the I think, is where your learning truly comes from. And again, that's just speaking from experience. I think the first time that you do embark on a business journey, it's a really, really scary feeling. And that's not to say that right now, every day, I'm not, you know, staring into the abyss of uncertainty, as Elon, Elon puts it, but you know, you get thicker skin, you understand the with consistency and. Making decisions and making adjustments, seeing what doesn't work, and then trying something else out. You will eventually end on a path of this. This works. So, yeah, it having the community, having other people trying and failing and actually doing it yourself. Because, you know, you give us all of the course material immediately. So it's up to us how quickly we get through that. And again, you know, with a degree, it's kind of like you do this, and then you have a bit of a break, and then you do this, whereas with this, it's like, okay, if you want to sit and digest 50 hours worth of content in two to three days and take action on it, and, you know, really burn your brain with it, crack on. You know, that's that's up to you. And again, I think that's what life's about, is taking action quickly, failing quickly, and moving forward that way. Yeah,

Lewis Smith:

and learning, yeah, absolutely. So you had the motivation that was there that we talked about before, and then coupled with the program, you then got the structure to channel that energy, channel that motivation, into daily actions to get you to the point where you're at so far. So diving into your experience so fast, in starting the program, what have you found, you'd say would be the most surprising or impactful change for you so far since joining the

James Flood:

program? Do you mean in relation to myself, or how my life is working at the moment? I think both actually? Yeah, I think both would be interesting angles. So first of all, in yourself, any impactful changes you've noticed in yourself? Yeah, okay, so in in reference to myself, I've surprised myself with my ability to be able to crack on in spite of the certainty, and, you know, it, it's we're very results driven as people. And you know you want to focus on the outcomes rather than the inputs, and I think divorcing yourself from having that gratification early on is important, and that's something that what I tell myself every day is that if I was to change careers, going from sales to software development, I would expect to be at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to earning potential and understanding it would take me years to get to the point where I can earn what I'm earning now in sales as an example, and it's the same in business. And as long as you have that expectation of that this is a learning curve, there isn't necessarily a manager that's going to tell you that you're doing a good job, you have to be doing that yourself on a daily basis and still get up early before work or put in those hours after work. And yeah, I've surprised myself with my ability to just be able to crack on when every week there's a problem, there's a challenge, there's something that needs tweaking or changing. Brilliant, just get on with it. And yeah, I've surprised myself with with my ability to be able to

Lewis Smith:

do that brilliant. Yeah, that's going to then push forward with the rest of the business growth that you've got, because you'll always have that trust in yourself that regardless of what comes up, you'll take the actions necessary, because you've now got that self confidence that you can push through there the early stages of building a business. And trust me, it's always front loaded. So you've been through the hardest part in terms of, like, getting everything up and running, it's very busy initially, but now it's optimizing and being consistent, as you are doing. So also, you mentioned that the surprise and the impactful change that you've seen in yourself, what about for your life? Any positive impacts that you've seen for your life?

James Flood:

Yeah, 100% and again, it circles back to what we were discussing before. I've got a lot of big problems to deal with. I've stopped sweating the small stuff. You know, things will go wrong. There's a little leak here. There's something on the car. You know, cars just cost me a fortune as an example, whatever, whatever. It really doesn't matter. Um, because I can truly see that if I stay consistent with this over time and get the, you know, the same exponential, you know, growth increase that I've had since month one to, sort of, you know, month six, of operating and again and again and again. I'm just that one step closer to, you know, having the financial freedom, the freedom of my day to day decisions of being like, actually, I'm going to block that time out for me, you know, I don't need to turn up, you know, I'm a bit tired today. Actually, I am going to have that lie in because I was working till midnight last night, and I think it's benefiting the people around me. I'll be honest, that my circle has started to change. And I do think once your mindset starts to shift in different avenues, I think you start, you know, what's the word I'm looking for, seeing the world from the lens of different people. And because, you know, not necessarily there's anything wrong with that, but certain people that you might have knocked around with or had conversations with, you know you don't find that you relate to them as much anymore, because you're changing yourself. And that's, that's fine, you know, it's, I'm 33 now I know what's important. I've done the pub scene. I've done the bar scene. It's just not for me anymore. And yeah, I'm happier, James, to answer your question.

Lewis Smith:

Idea of your circle started to change, I think, is, is very, very relatable to a lot of people who start businesses, certainly myself and you know, the the old kind of message, or the thing that people who were in your circle of friends originally, and your contacts might say to you is, James, you've changed, like, you've changed. And they say it like, it's a bad thing. And my response to that is like, Yeah, but you haven't, like, you know, like, life's about change. We're all changing all the time. We're evolving. You're kind of, like, shedding the skin of your former self and moving on and progressing and learning and growing, and so yes, I have changed, and I'm happier for it. That's that's kind of the, the way I view that. But since you have started, since you joined the program, since you've launched your business, have you had any big standout moments that you're like, wow, any big positive moments, I don't know, like best moments so far since doing this, that spring to mind. Absolutely.

James Flood:

I think December was our best month in regards to revenue, and it was nice seeing, you know, four figure sales come in. You know, it's proof of concept. And you know, when your first sale comes in, it's a very, very exciting moment. And, you know, and you always kid yourself, and you're like, Oh, that's it. I've made it now. All right, brilliant. I'll just sit here and wait for the sales to come in. And obviously, as we know, that's not the case. And you know, you keep beating at it. You work, work, work, you're a little bit bare, some results. Work, work, work, little bit better, some results. And then finally, the overall culmination of everything that you've been doing and picks up. December was fantastic. You know, we had a we had a tough time with some family and things, and yet, because of what we had done and the build up to that we were, we made money, which was great. And, you know, it gave me the opportunity to spend a week up in Scotland supporting people who needed it, and doing a bit of work in between, whereas I couldn't have done that with the job, you know? So that that for me, was probably one of the best moments. Yeah, it's so

Lewis Smith:

exciting. When you see those first few sales come in, you see that the large numbers that are coming in, that the money that you can start to make, and the possibilities in terms of freedom as well, the fact that it's all remote, that you've made that money, you can start to see the opportunities that are going to come with that business that you're building. So talk to us about numbers, because in the high ticket game, it's quite easy to start getting some big numbers on board. So what was that the revenue, then, for that that the first sale that you made, if you remember, and also the revenue that you've seen over that best month you've had so

James Flood:

far, yeah. So the first sale we actually made was an organic sale, pre us, even advertising. And it was for like 60 quid. And it was a really nice surprise, because we it just our search engine optimization was working. And I was like, Oh, that's so weird. And but the first advertised sale in total, it was around 2400 we had a nice margin on it. I think it was around just 30% because it was a culmination of a main product and some accessories, so it mish Mosh together. And yeah, it was, it was great that month in total, I think we did just shy of 4000 in the entire month, operating a 30, roughly 30% margin. And you know, the costs aren't massive. Within setting up a dropship company, as as you know, as you teach, the barrier to entry, from a cost perspective, is quite low. So taking into account ads and ads and just general running costs of the business, I don't think we quite made four figures, but we were close. And so, you know, it's, it's not something that I took out and went party, and unfortunately, it's a case of, right, that needs reinvested into this idea, because that clearly worked. But again, it's proof of concept, and it shows that you can make it very, very quickly. Yeah,

Lewis Smith:

exactly. That's what you need initially, is that proof of concept start to make sales, regardless of where you are, and then you can see how it can be scalable. And one of the best things that got me into drop shipping in the first place was the fact that it's such low costs. But those costs that the low cost that it is to start it also remains low cost because it overheads a low in terms of the running shop, by having Google workspace, having a phone line, and then, other than that, maybe some accountancy fees. And then it's just Google ads. The rest of your investment. Goes to Google ads, and you can reinvest the profit to scale from that position. So just just going now to look at the overall picture since when you started to where you are now, what about the total revenue that you've seen to

James Flood:

this point? Yeah, we're just shy of five figures. Yeah, we're approaching the five figure turnover mark, which will be a nice little milestone for when we hit it. As you'll know from the work that we've been doing together, James that our strategy in regards to advertising change towards the end of January, I started following what you guys were teaching more closely, and it. Really, really starting to pay dividends. You know, we struggle to get our spend up for a bit. So, you know, it the cost was only, like 180 for a month, and that was the main limiting factor. And now we've gotten up to the point where the spend is really starting to get going. We're getting, you know, 100 to 150 Shopify sessions a day. The sales are really starting to improve, and the quality of the people that are starting to land on our on our website is starting to improve. It's gotten to the point now where I can manage that quite easily. I understand how to optimize the ads. It's all you know, diarized and very religious into my week to week now, when I need to make changes, what changes I need to make? And now that's freed my time up to move back to the other needle, moving element of the business, which is getting more suppliers on uploading more products and just giving you know that working ecosystem more fuel to work with and hopefully get more results. I'm very excited for the next six months. I'll be honest. It's amazing

Lewis Smith:

how far you've come and how proficiently you're describing the, you know, the whole ecosystem, as you put it now, because you're, you know, you're like, if you think about it, before joining this, all of this stuff would have probably sounded like jargon, wouldn't it? A lot of these like concepts of p max campaigns and optimizing assets and running email marketing, but the fact that you're now doing it, and like you said, You've diarized it, it's not like you went through some videos and understood it, you took action, and it's now part of your routine and part of your business. So that's fantastic. I wanted to ask you, James, you mentioned a big sale there of 2400 pounds, what's been your biggest sale to date so far that

James Flood:

one. So, yeah, that was the, that was the biggest sale. Again, part of the learning curve is, is understanding the importance of communicating with with customers a lot quicker. And there's a, there was a sale that was going to be potentially worth around 6000 the wish fumbled is probably the best way to to put it. You know, they went in a different direction, and I know why. You know we didn't do certain things at certain times, because, you know, we learn a lesson from that. So, so yeah, we've got a potential with what we've got listed for our highest sale to actually be 20,000 plus. So that that's where we're at with our products predominantly range from 300 pounds, um, up to North of 20,000 um, you land one of them, and it's a very good day.

Lewis Smith:

Yeah, that's a nice payday. You. You let us know as soon as you make your first 20k sale, we'll be, we'll be celebrating with you in the community.

Unknown:

That's it, absolutely so. So that sale for 2400

Lewis Smith:

pounds, you mentioned about a 30% margin, which I just did the math on that. So that's 720 pounds in profit. Firstly, where were you when a sale for that amount came through? Could Talk us through that situation, like, Where were you? Did you see on your phone? Was that your laptop? Did you wake up,

James Flood:

sir? I saw it on the phone. We were up in Scotland, as you say, visiting family. We were just checking out at the BNB that morning on the way over to crack on with whatever challenge it was that day. And I was actually looking for the receptionist because I was hungry and I didn't know if breakfast was still on. And I was just a bit like, Oh, should we just pop into the cafe in town? Anyway, we couldn't find her. My phone just went, buzz, buzz. And literally, I looked it, and my missus was just like, is everything okay? And I was like, yeah, it is. And it was, you know, it was, it was a very, very nice feeling, because, yeah, it was big proof of concept. Wasn't expecting it. It's not like my sales background there where you're on the line and you've got the sweat dripping from your brow, and, yeah, you know, you're really digging deep on your script to get it over the line. None of that, I was I was wondering whether I wanted bacon or sausage, and all of a sudden you throw the sale just drops in. It was, it was nice.

Lewis Smith:

It's the beauty of front loading the work, isn't it, because you still did that work that, like you described on the sales call, with a sweat and, like digging deep, but you just did it over maybe a prolonged period of time, in the weeks leading up to it, and like you put it earlier, you were okay with the concept of the delayed gratification. And the nice thing about that is then the gratification comes when you least expect it, when you're thinking about bacon or sausage and trying to find the receptionist, just bam, the universe hits you with 720 pound paycheck. So how did that feel like? Because that must be a strange feeling to like, suddenly look down and be like we just made, you know, 720 pounds profit talk us through that feeling, because a lot of people won't have had that.

James Flood:

No amazing. Again, it's difficult to put into words like how these feelings are, and depending on where you are on, you know, the process and relief is probably like a good word to use, actually, because your self doubt will will hold you back. It's hold it's held me back in various areas, you know, over the years. And you know, you that is one of. The biggest challenges you will need to overcome is your own voice telling you that this isn't going to work. And as long as you keep putting in you know, the reps, you know you can do, that, results like this will come along, and that proves that the optimistic version of you was right, and it's just more ammunition, more information, that will drive you forward. And you know, it's that sale and other subsequent sales that we've had, and you know, not at that level, but just below that level, that again, the frequency of them are starting to, you know, you know, they're starting to get sooner, and the cost to acquire them is getting less, the conversion rates going up, the visitor rates going up, you know, all of these teeny, tiny little metrics over time, plus the reinforcement, and it just makes it so worthwhile. And again, circling back to the job, you're not going to get that feeling. You're just not. I'm sorry. You know, here's your 3% pay rise that doesn't even beat inflation. Ah, great. Bad to work, is it? You know, it's

Lewis Smith:

the reality. It's the reality. Yeah, when you can write your own paycheck, because it's a business that you're running, and you can control those metrics to an extent with the work that you put in over time consistently, so clearly, the trend is looking in an upwards trajectory. James, and I'm excited to work closely with you, continuing moving forward, to keep those trends moving in that direction, to a point where we'll be talking about not needed to be in the job that you're in alone anymore and you've got complete control and freedom over over what you want to do. So how do you when you look forward with those trends continuing in the way that they are, they are continuing. How do you think the success of your E commerce business will change things for you in your everyday life moving forward? So

James Flood:

it's the freedom like I've made it no secret that my ambition with this is to build a monster. You know, I think some people can enter into this. We just wanted to earn a little bit of extra cash, you know, supplement it. That isn't my interest, you know. And I really want to get to the point where we're scaling past, you know, five figure sums per month, six figure sums per month, and then, you know, long term having an exit value on something like this, because of our revenue and setup of, you know, five to 10 million pounds. Well, that's retirement money. And I think you can achieve that with any business, as long as you stick with it for long enough and make the right decisions within sort of 10 to 1520, year window. And so let's say worst case scenario that puts me, you know, early 50s. Okay, well, that's still far, you know, still 15 years under my average retirement age expectation at the moment. And that's the truth of it. You know, you're never gonna earn enough money be satisfied building somebody else's dreams for them. And if you've got that itch, which I have, I think that I'll get to a point where I realized that I am living at my true potential. I have risen to the challenges that I was put on this earth to achieve. And, yeah, it's buzzwords, but I truly think it will change my life, and I will get overall satisfaction out of existing more than I ever would in the job. Yeah,

Lewis Smith:

love that answer. And the nice thing is, you're aiming for that big payday. You're aiming for that exit, but along the way, if you get paid, it's not a bad thing as well, right? It's a cash generating business. Like you said, you can be profitable from the very early months, which is rare in business. I think a lot of people don't get that, or businesses will lost make for the first year, two years, until they eventually start to pay off some of that capital expenditure and really get to the point where they can turn a profit, but you're already turning a profit. So I think I'd challenge you on that 15 to 20 year time horizon there, I think you've given yourself way too long of a time horizon to hit that target. I think you could do it a lot sooner than that, if you've really set your mind to it. So yeah, you're you're on the right trajectory, as James said, and I'm looking forward to following your journey. So James, if there's anything you haven't mentioned at the moment so far, or any credit you'd like to put elsewhere, other than what you said about dropship unlocked so far, is there anyone that's helped you, or anything that's helped you to get to the position that you're at today? Oh

James Flood:

yeah, absolutely. I think your support network is is a big element to this. So obviously, I'm very much the face of our organization today. However, I am working this pretty much side by side with my fiance, and I do not think that we would have developed to the level that we have without not only her support when I've got the doubts, but her skill set as well. And, you know, I think life can be made for two and I definitely think businesses as well. And so, yeah, it's the people that I'm working with. We've got a friend doing some bits on board with us as well. And with everything that's going on in the real world, remove the negatives. Have as much positivity in your life with the people that you surround with and yeah, it's great. So yeah, shout out to Emma.

Lewis Smith:

Final question I want. To ask you, there's a person right now who's out there in the world, like you were listening to this, maybe watching on YouTube, and they're thinking about dropship unlocked. They've seen a few videos. They're skeptical. They know about the online course industry. They haven't jumped in yet. What would you say to them to help them build up that courage to take the leap?

James Flood:

There is going to be uncertainty in every aspect of life that we go into. Some paths are just more uncertain than others. I think it was Jim Rowan that famously said the biggest risk of all is not risking anything at all. And there are risks to not taking risks. Okay, they're just not as obvious. I think, for anybody that has this itch, that has this passion and wants to go down the drop shipping route, I'd say go for it. Just have the expectation that with any career like this can be is that you are potentially starting from the beginning, and there is a learning curve, you know, and if you commit to it, make the changes and make a promise to yourself to stick with it till it works. You can be surrounded by people who are making it work, and that's the truth of it. You know, you can find out of 10 businesses in any sector, three or 456, examples of why it doesn't work. But you can also find 12345, examples of why it does work. And I find the only difference between the businesses and the people who are successful and does work, they're just the people that didn't give up. They're the people that didn't stop in spite of whatever obstacle or challenge came their way. And I know it's easier to say that, and it's easy to hear that, and in the moment, it's hard, and it can be hard. You can get a slap in the face with a return or something not going quite right, or you invest capital in a certain direction, and it might sting. But does that sting more than you fast forward into being 70 years of age, 80 years of age, and you've ran out of time to make these decisions. You haven't got the energy, you haven't got the runway in front of you to make these decisions anymore. And what will your future self think looking back? And I think regret for not making decisions will hurt you more so than ever, just going for something and trying it and figuring out what works and what doesn't to

Lewis Smith:

do it, what I know to end on. James, thank you so much for joining us on the dropship unlock podcast. We loved having you on and maybe in six months, a year from now, we could have you back to share where you're at on your journey by that point. Well, that was another powerful conversation with a dropship unlock master class member, Lewis, what did you think of that? It was a really good conversation. Yeah. Loved James. Viewer on the world and his ability to take ownership and tackle the problems head on. He's got a very bright future ahead. You can tell that he's got that initial momentum, and he's really building upon that now. So yeah, I found it a great chat. If James's experience that he shared today resonated with you and you're ready to start your own drop shipping journey. Remember that it all starts with taking that first step to begin your journey and follow in James's footsteps. Head to dropship unlocked.com, forward, slash, start. Are you enjoying the podcast? We'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment or a review, and we might feature it in an upcoming episode, and for detailed show notes and resources. Visit dropship, unlock.com forward slash podcast. If you found value in any episode of this podcast, please, could you take just 10 seconds to leave us a quick five star review on your favorite podcast app? It helps us more than you can imagine. And who knows, you might just hear your comments read out on the show. Thanks for being a part of our community. Your support helps us keep delivering new episodes to you every week. Okay, it's now that part of the podcast where we're going to answer a question that we've received from a listener. So remember, if you've had any questions come up in your mind while listening or watching today's episode, all you need to do is comment beneath the YouTube video version of this episode, and not only will it be answered in the comment section, but it may also be featured in an upcoming episode. So that's exactly what John has done. So John A, he's asked a question underneath a YouTube video, and he said, How should I start my drop shipping store? Should I set up a limited company or focus on opening a bank account? Thanks for your question, John A, and it's very good question, and the short answer is, you can actually just do both, both of them at the same time, setting up your limited company and your business bank account. And in fact, that is kind of what we recommend doing for various reasons, including simplifying your accounting, legal protection and several more. But these are kind of the initial foundational steps that you'll probably take when you start your drop shipping business. So it sounds like you have been paying close attention to our content. So good work on that. Now to make things easier, because I know the next question is typically, well, then how do I register the company? Or what do I do? And which bank should I choose? We've actually partnered with tide digital bank, and through this partnership for just 14 pounds. 99 you can have your limited company formed for you and also open a business bank account with tide all in one go. And that's actually cheaper than doing it through Companies House directly. So if you want to get started with this, simply head over to dropship unlocked.com, forward slash company, and we'll leave the link in the description below, and you can take care of both tasks really quickly, really efficiently, and that allows you to then start with solid foundations and making sure that you're building your business to be successful from day one. Great question, John, I can tell you're going to get your business set up on solid foundations, and they've been paying attention to the content that we provided around how to get started with a drop shipping business. So thank you, Lewis, for your answer there, we're now going to highlight a recent review that we've had for the podcast, because we wouldn't want to go a whole podcast episode without giving a shout out to somebody who's left a nice review for the podcast. So big. Thank you to Chris Mac Q for sharing your thoughts in an apple podcast review. So Chris said, Thank you exactly what I needed already made the newbie mistake of diving head first into a drop shipping business based on a YouTube video. Glad to have found you guys, and we'll be joining the mentorship program very soon. Good stuff. Well, we're glad that you found us too, Chris and yeah, we've all got to learn the hard way sometimes, haven't we? So great to hear that you're on board, and we look forward to you working with us soon. Thanks very much for your review as well. And and before we end this episode, could we just ask a quick favor view now, if you're listening to this or watching us on YouTube, if you could leave a review for our podcast, it helps us a lot, and it takes you just a few seconds to do so, but your support keeps us motivated to keep bringing you the best content that we can. So we'd love to hear what you think, and perhaps we can even share your review in an upcoming episode two. Thank you for joining us on this episode of the dropship unlocked podcast. We hope you are leaving with new insights and inspiration to fuel your entrepreneurial journey, to kickstart your E commerce business. Head over to dropship unlocked.com. Forward slash, start. It's the perfect place to start and get access to resources that will help you build your business from the ground up. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button for more episodes packed with strategies, tips and success stories, plus, if you enjoyed this episode today, a five star review would mean the world to us, and you might even get a shout out on the next episode. Thank you for choosing to spend your time with us today. We can't wait to bring you more insights on the next episode of the dropship unlocked podcast. You.