THE COMPLETE CONVERSATION
Full interview transcript
Machine-assisted transcript, reviewed for transcription errors. Indistinct speech is marked [unclear]. Spoken statements are the speakers’ personal accounts. Interview recording date was not supplied; the publication date above belongs to this branded video edition.
Dean discusses earlier experiences with other providers. His marketplace-policy comments are personal statements; check current platform rules through the provider-claims guide.
00:00Company narrator: Dean says clear communication and meeting the people behind the work mattered when he chose our operating team. In this Wealth Automators review, he describes the store assessment, onboarding and responsibilities that still need an owner's attention. We have organised the original conversation by question and retained his own answers. This is a company-selected account of his experience at the time of recording.
00:26First 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.
00:42My 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.
00:50You 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. So I like having a little bit of savings here, a little bit of money there, and then having this as a separate business.
01:15You'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? It 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? So 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. I 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. So 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.
02:49And 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. On 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? But 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? You'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?
03:39You 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. Greg, 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. And then you guys offered me the opportunity, of course, you know, to say, okay, we can get your Amazon store back up and running.
04:11The 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. So that was, that was exciting.
04:32The 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. So 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. And 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.
05:19During 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? So, 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. Your 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.
06:24My 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.
06:38Well, obviously, legitimacy, right? You 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? Number two was, you know, did you guys have your act together? You 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.
07:06The 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. Where 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. You 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.
07:54So 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. You 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. I 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.
08:37You 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. Um, 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. Um, 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. You 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. First 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. This 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.
10:03it's like a house, right? Either 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. And 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.
10:40Company narrator: Watch the full interviews and read the supporting context at Wealth Automators dot io. Bring your questions to an intro call. These are company-selected individual experiences, not typical or guaranteed results. Business outcomes vary, and capital is at risk.
For further context, read the reviews and evidence overview and how the published figures are reported.