Machine-assisted transcript. Unclear words are marked in brackets. The recording is the source; statements describe the speakers’ experiences and views.
00:00:00How I would like to start is just ask you, you know, a little bit about yourself, where you're from, how old are you, and, you know, just tell me a little bit about yourself. First off, my name is Dean. I'm 59 years old. I guess you could say I'm a serial entrepreneur. I've had the opportunity to own everything from Quiznos stores to cruise planners franchises.
00:00:27You know, what made you interested in e-com or building a second source of income, you know, and the idea of an automated e-com business, specifically?
00:00:37My journey in e-com started nearly a year ago. I am not one to jump into anything without doing a tremendous amount of due diligence. Of course. You know, I investigated different opportunities, and this was right up my alley. I sort of like the hands-off approach that e-com has to offer. I like the fact that it gives you the opportunity to, in my particular case, diversify, not just put all my eggs in one basket.
00:01:02So I like having a little bit of savings here, a little bit of money there, and then having this as a separate business. What ultimately made you go with Wealth Automators?
00:01:11You're the third company that I'm partnering with because I've learned from mistakes with the first two. You know, I went with the first company and that was like right out of the gate, complete, you know, I was a newbie and I didn't know exactly what I was doing. They got me in with a small dollar amount and I said, okay, but as I started working with them, I realized that it wasn't necessarily what I was looking for, right?
00:01:32It was strictly like an eBay opportunity and then a little bit of an Etsy scenario, and they themselves did not necessarily offer, you know, Amazon and some of the other things that I really wanted to do, which I really wanted to diversify. I did not want to put all eggs in that particular eBay basket, right?
00:01:47So I then went to another company and they made it sound like it was, you know, it was going to be God's gift, you know, 80-20 split, you know, getting three, what was it, four stores for like next to nothing. And of course I just bought, I just like, I chomped on it to find out that number one, they weren't doing anything legit regarding what Amazon's requirements were.
00:02:07I lost my store within the first, you know, few weeks of them running it, and then on top of that, I found out that their eBay store is, they're doing drop shipping, which is not allowed, you know, by eBay or by anyone now. They were outsourcing their work to teams overseas, so it was very difficult to communicate with them time-wise, language-wise, every way.
00:02:28So again, my wife and I, who put, you know, our life savings and retirement savings into this with a lot of hope, we were both upset. So we were looking towards another partner, because we still wanted to stay in this area, we still believe in the concept, and that's when I reached out to you guys. And right off the bat, what Wealth Automators did, which really differentiated themselves in our eyes, was, first of all, Lamont, you are fantastic, you've been very receptive, you've been very friendly, very, you know, on the ball, you're a straight shooter, which I appreciate, you give it, you know, as it is, which I really like.
00:03:00On top of that, you've introduced me to a lot of your other team members, Greg, Ryan, you know, and so forth. So everyone that I've met, Barbara, has all been very straight shooter, is very friendly, very nice, and very professional, right?
00:03:10But what really, really impressed me, which made me want to make the bigger investment in you, which I just, which I've done, is the fact that, I mean, you guys are so above board the way you do things, right?
00:03:19You're going for, you're looking for branding partnerships, you're looking for, you know, sales tax, you know, certificates, you know, you mean, it's not about rushing to do it, to make the money, it's about doing it right, for longevity, right?
00:03:31Yeah, what it is that, that Wealth Automators is doing with, with you, in regards to, you know, the kind of like blunder that these other, the other automation companies kind of put you in, if you can tell us, like a little bit of what we're doing, and what we've done for you. You guys were phenomenal, you did a free assessment for me, where, you know, I gave you access to my eBay store, I gave you access to my Walmart store, I gave you access to the, you know, the suspended Amazon store.
00:03:57Greg, you know, within your company there, he took the time, even after hours, to dive in, extremely experienced gentleman, really pleasurable meeting him the other day. And, you know, him being able to go in there and say, hey, this is my score for this, this is what we can do for you, and you broke it down very legibly.
00:04:13And then you guys offered me the opportunity, of course, you know, to say, okay, we can get your Amazon store back up and running. The relationship that not only do we have with Amazon, but with the approach that we can take that proves that we do it the right way, you know, by showing, you know, by showing brand invoices with brand names on them and where you're purchasing the product from and, you know, and things of that nature, which Amazon requires, you know, from an e-commerce partner.
00:04:34So that was, that was exciting. The fact that you guys took the time to explain to me exactly how you differentiate yourself in the eBay market, you know, how going, you know, directly sourcing your products that you sell on eBay, you know, from individuals themselves, and thereby having invoices from them and doing the shipping directly from them.
00:04:51So you're saving shipping costs and things of that nature. So really just what I've experienced with you guys and how honest you were about TikTok, you know, like, okay, you know, we can take over the TikTok store and that would be great, but, you know, it's going to be like peaks and flows, you know, and you guys are very, you're very honest and upfront, you know, you'll go months without making anything.
00:05:08And then, you know, you could make, you could explode. It can go viral. Right. So, again, it's, it's transparency, it's professionalism, and it's just the fact that, you know, hey, if I'm on Slack and I communicate with you guys, I do hear back from you, you know. Could you like talk a little bit about, you know, what we did for you in regards to your eBay and what was like happening when we did our audit and, you know, what we did for you to kind of like save your store from, you know, getting potentially restricted or suspended?
00:05:36During that timeframe, when you guys were assessing my, my stores, Greg found that is that there were like 30 shipments that were supposed to go, or 30 products that were supposed to be shipped within 24 hours. And I only had a 96.25 rating, which is extremely close to, if you get below 95 as a rating, you lose your top rated seller status, right?
00:05:58So, Greg went in there and said, wow, literally, if you miss these shipping dates within this 24-hour period, you will be below that 95%. And these are things that I don't know, you know, I mean, you know, I'm supposed to be hands-off and I have no clue. You know, so he took the time to explain everything to me in great detail and said, hey, I'm going to take the initiative if it's okay with you, and I'm going to literally communicate out to all 30 of these buyers and offer them a refund and nip this in the bud before it gets to the point where it's going to negatively affect your store.
00:06:26Your approach has been extremely professional. Like I said, I mean, not only did I go with the other companies, but I also interviewed other companies besides them. And no other company had the professionalism and approach that you guys have. How many stores do you have with us?
00:06:41My sister, I'll just combine the two, but my sister has an Amazon and a Walmart with you guys. And then I myself have an Amazon store, TikTok store, and eBay store. And can you tell me a little bit about, you know, what was your biggest concern, you know, getting started?
00:06:58What were, you know, your biggest concerns or reservations before joining?
00:07:02Well, obviously, legitimacy, right?
00:07:04You know, that was probably the biggest one. So when I use Claude, I do a background check, you know, and things of that nature. Your company was all above board. You know, everything was legit. That to me was imperative. That's number one, right?
00:07:17Number two was, you know, did you guys have your act together?
00:07:20You know, the people that I spoke to, did I feel like they were, you know, I guess you could say real, you know, like real people. So can you tell me a little bit about the onboarding process so far?
00:07:31How's the communication with the team been?
00:07:34What's impressed you, you know, the most?
00:07:37And like the best part of your experience so far with Wealth Automators?
00:07:40The startup with these, with the other two companies were so, it was like, it was so unprofessional. It was just like, okay, give me your EIN number, you know, just give me this, this, this, and you're done. And it was like, no, no, no handholding whatsoever. You know, they didn't give a crap that I didn't know anything about what I was getting into.
00:07:56Where you guys, on the other hand, you literally provide us, you know, with a step-by-step, okay, this is what you need to do. This is the timeframe. This is what we're going to handle. So the fact that you guys were willing to spell out, step-by-step, every step, you know, everything that we needed to do to get everything going was huge.
00:08:11You know, I felt like I was, I had a partner rather than I was just left to my own, you know, my own inexperience to tackle something. And that was really good because I could tell that you guys cared, number one, and that you knew what you were doing, number two. All right. If somebody was looking into Wealth Automators but still was on the fence, what would you tell them?
00:08:30What, what, what advice overall would you give?
00:08:33So what I would share with that person who's on the fence is, give me a call. I will tell you exactly what I'm going through. If I didn't feel you should do it, I would tell you, it's maybe not for you, you know, is the bottom line. If I think there's any opportunity for you, then I would say, go for it.
00:08:47You know, if you, but if you got 20 to 60 grand or whatever you, you know, could spend and you will, and you know what the risks are, you know what the opportunities are. I don't think there's a better company, honestly, than Wealth Automators, you know, to, to use that money to, to do what you're hoping it could do.
00:09:03I honestly feel that even the worst case scenario, I will get a return on my investment. It may take about a year or two years, but at some point I'll make, I'm going to get all that money back. And then, you know, we're, we're, we're growing from there. Is there anything about your experience, um, that I didn't ask you about that you think that people should know any final thoughts or any questions that you have for me?
00:09:22Um, I got to tell you, I mean, we, you and I have talked so much, uh, there's not necessarily anything that I'm not aware of. Um, and I think that in itself says a lot, you know, I mean, I'm at the point now where I'm comfortable just saying, go for it. You know, um, I think we know each other enough to say, you know, what I do think needs to be said to people is you do need to be available.
00:09:40Um, it's, it's, it's, it's hands off, but at the same time, there will be things that you will need to do. Um, you know, you will need to be available if something does occur with your credit card or something like that. If, you know, if there's an OTP or if there's, you know, something along those lines.
00:09:54Um, so is it hands off 99%, you know, 98% hands off, but if Lamont sends you a message, you know, you do want to get back to him as soon as possible. Right. Or if Greg or one of the team members, you know, need to shout to you. Um, and you just need to look at it as truly a win-win situation. You know, the more, the more you're willing to, to understand and be involved, the better it's going to be for, for everybody.
00:10:15You know, obviously once we get over the, the initial things that they have to do, that the new client has to do, then it becomes a lot more hands off. Now, then now it's just reporting, checking in, you know, telling you how your stores are doing and, and, and, and closing it out there. But, you know, initially, um, beginning and starting there, there is like, like you said, going to be a little bit of work to do.
00:10:37First month or two, you do need to be somewhat committed. You know, you need to sign here and you need to do different things and get the business going. And then after that, really, like you said, it's, you know, you guys are really good at, you know, weekly, you know, weekly, bi-weekly communications.
00:10:49This is where we're at. This is what we've invested in. This is what the company is doing as a whole for you. These are the new staff members that we want to introduce you to. I mean, you guys have been really great. But, you know, something else that you touched on a little bit earlier too, is just that, you know, be like the, the patience to let it get done right.
00:11:03Um, in the beginning, which, which is, you know, when you're coming in, that's something that like, like, I think that people shouldn't know. You know, it's not going to be an, like an overnight thing, but it's, it's, yeah, it's a blessing in disguise because, you know, a year from now, they're going to be in a position like where any other companies, their, their, their store is suspended.
00:11:25Their, their name is burned on the marketplace and, um, you know, they're not seeing any return. Um, what we're doing is here. Without, without, it's like a house, right?
00:11:33Either you could build a house on sand or you could build a house with a strong foundation. Right. And what I, what I took from our relationship and working with Wealth Automators is you guys are more about building the foundation with cinder block, you know, rather than on sand. You know, and it took, it takes two to three months, you know, I mean, if you're going to be honest, it takes two months minimum, you know, to get all your ducks in a row, you know, it takes that much.
00:11:52And it's not two months of full-time work, but it's two months of, you know, I need you for a couple of minutes to do this. I need you for a little time to do that. Right. So, you know, and it takes a little bit of time for you to be approved by certain things and whatever. Um, but like you said, after that couple of months, you know, month to two month period, you know, you're ready to pretty much rock and roll.