The Dropship Unlocked Podcast

How Neil Made £95k Dropshipping Sales In 5 Months (Episode 110)

• Lewis Smith & James Eardley • Season 1 • Episode 110

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🗣In this episode, Lewis Smith and James Eardley spotlight Neil's incredible journey, where he achieved £95,000 in dropshipping sales in just five months. 

If you've ever wondered what it takes to succeed in the e-commerce world and how mentorship can propel your progress, Neil’s inspiring story is a must-listen!

👉 Prefer to watch this on YouTube? Check it out here ➡️ https://youtu.be/h2RgW60aO5Y


Topics Discussed:

★ Neil's Journey: Discover how Neil transitioned from uncertainty to achieving significant sales in a short time frame.
★ Overcoming Challenges: Hear about the hurdles Neil faced before joining the Dropship Unlocked program and how he navigated them.
★ The Power of Mentorship: Learn about the impact of mentorship on Neil's progress and decision-making.
★ Key Strategies: Neil shares the strategies that led him to success, including selecting the right products and leveraging community support.
★ Future Aspirations: Get insights into Neil's plans for scaling his business further and achieving even greater success.


Links and Resources Mentioned:


Key Takeaways:

★ Take Action: Neil's story emphasises the importance of taking action and committing to your business goals, no matter the challenges.
★ Support System: Having a strong support system and mentorship can significantly accelerate your learning curve and success.
★ Scalable Business Model: Dropshipping offers a unique opportunity to scale your business without the heavy overhead costs of traditional retail models.


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★★★Dropship Unlocked - Lewis Smith★★★

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In today's episode, we will be shining a light on a success story of one of our very own members inside the dropship unlocked masterclass today we're sharing the story of Neil now. Neil has joined and started his E commerce journey not very long ago, but his success is incredible to see in such a short space of time. So again, this is one of these amazing episodes where we love to bring you real life success stories. So if you are wondering what it would be like to join and create your own e commerce business, and you can get this straight from somebody who's just done that exact action very recently. So you won't want to miss this episode. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to this conversation. It's going to be a great chat with one of our valued members, Neil a really inspiring story as well, to share how he began his journey, how it wasn't actually him that even discovered this journey and dropship unlocked. And also just a little bit more about Neil's progress since joining us, and how much action he's taken a long way. So it's gonna be a great episode today. I think you'll really enjoy it and get a lot of value from it. Yes, there's always so many insights that you can pull out of these interviews with people who have just taken this journey a few months ago by taking the advice from somebody who's literally just taken those actions to build a business, is so fresh in their minds. So there's tons of insights throughout this conversation, the way that Neil approaches building his business, the way he approached starting in the first place, lots that we can take away from this episode today. Yep, it's the fall A to Z of taking us from Neil's initial uncertainty, his skepticism, right through to his success and the number of sailors that he's making now, some of the key strategies he's implemented along the way, and most importantly, how our community has helped him at some of those challenges along his journey so far. So this episode is going to be packed with really valuable lessons and insights. So get a pen and paper ready, or just tune in and get ready to absorb some value as we dive into the interview now with Neil. Welcome, to the dropship unlocked Podcast. I'm Lewis Smith, the founder of dropship unlocked, and with me today is our Client Success Coach James Eardley, 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. If you're ready to build your own six or even seven figure online business, head over to dropship unlocked.com forward slash accelerator and sign up for your 14 day trial. Inside the accelerator, you'll gain access to exclusive training, live coaching calls and a thriving community of like minded entrepreneurs. Plus, when you join today, you'll also get a free copy of my book, the home turf advantage. Now sit back, relax, and let's unlock your potential with the dropship unlocked podcast. Firstly, Neil, could you take us back to before you joined the dropship unlocked program? What was life like before you decided to start your own business, and what were you doing? Well, I'm in a career job, so I've been in it now 38 years. So coming towards the end of that career, and it was about 18 months ago, I would say, roughly, and it was my son, to be fair, he introduced me to dropship or not so you had advertising on YouTube, and put the idea in my head, you know, put the idea in my head. And then I moved on a few months, I guess, into three or four months later, I decided to do some research myself, just to make sure what was, you know, potentially, you know, signing up for. And yeah, that's what, that's what I did. And so absolutely, the career job, and my intention is some point to leave that, that career job and focus on the business. You know, it was just some that found the advert then, and what? What did he say to you when he first stumbled across one of our ads and brought it to you? What was the what was the contest? Had you heard of drop shipping before as a concept, as a business model? No, hadn't, not at all. E commerce. Yes, had Yeah, but not, not, not, not specifically, what was specifically drop shipping. So he's, he's thinking back, you you sort of, you're saying, you know, let's start a business, dad, you know, so Well, you know, if it was that easy, everyone would do it, you know. So it's like, I went, you know, we talked about it a bit, and I then he focused on his exams, and I, in the background, did, started doing my research, you know, and I could just go off of reviews and, you know, what I could see without being inside the community, obviously, at that point. And and decided eventually, and short, come on to that. Decided. Eventually to take a plunge and invest, if you like, fantastic. No, it's a brilliant story. I'm being very excited when you told me this story for the day when you were going to tell your son, which has happened now, and you know, he's helped you out, along with the journey as well. So we can get to that as well in this conversation. But firstly, Neil, obviously, a big decision to decide to start your business. You've been in that career for a while. What was your ideal outcome? What was the real driving force behind wanting to start an E commerce business in the first place? Developing myself, really, because I've been in that one of the reasons, one of a few, I guess, because I've been in that career job for so long, I developed within the career job, of course, you know, over time, as a long time, you know, technology moves on, and I was intrigued. But my ultimate goal being where I am in my career. You know, corporate job is to retire, if you like, retire early, and then focus on the business for them, however long I decide to do that. Really fantastic. So the building a business was so that you could eventually get to retirement earlier, and so you could bring forward that date of retirement. So it's a great, great goal to have in mind and bring in another income stream to help you to do that. But why do you think it was specifically e commerce that you decided to be your vehicle to to grow in a business, to retire earlier. I didn't really want to go into a, if you like, more traditional type. I would, I would have stayed at a reasonably happy with where I am, you know, the corporate, corporate world, if you like. But I didn't really want to. I couldn't afford to retire that early. So I decided to, I wanted, needed something. And to be honest, I'd have probably just stayed in the status quo, you know, and just just carried on working until I was into the 60s, and which I'm not quite yet. And then, you know, then retire in a normal manner with a pension, you know, if it wasn't from a son introducing me to it, I probably wouldn't have taken this on board. You know, in the last 18 months, you know, I've learned a lot. Yeah, learned a lot. Yeah. It's fascinating to hear about how your journey started out. What would you say then? Because you said that you knew of E commerce as a concept, maybe you didn't know drop shipping as the specific model that we use, but you knew about e commerce. So what would you say was the biggest hurdle you were dealing with, or even would have dealt with, in trying to start your own e commerce business? If that was something you thought, yeah, I'm going to do this, but maybe your son hadn't introduced you to dropship unlocked. What do you think you may have struggled with finding the content to do that? Because, no doubt it's, it's all available on online, on YouTube and so on. But it's finding it's finding the, yeah, finding the content. And now I know what, what was, what's involved, things like Google ads, setting up your own store, creating your own store, finding suppliers, all that type of thing. All that would have been a lot more difficult without some sort of program to get involved with, really. And I probably wouldn't have done it, you know, I finally wouldn't have taken that step without, without a like a like a program to follow, you know, in a structured sort of way, really. Yeah, I can resonate with you. Neil, I know when I started, I saw initially some content that is out there in the big wide web and the YouTube that seems to go on forever with all the different pieces of information that you can get bombarded with. But there is something to be said about having a bit of a structure behind all of that content. So I guess was there a moment where you decided, look, I'm going to go for this, but I really want to have the structure. And was there a moment where you decided, right, I'm going to go all in, I'm going to go with dropship unlocked, and I'm going to going to make this work. Do you remember there being a ton of moment where pivotal moment you realize that was going to be your your move? Yeah, because I spoke with one of your your colleagues, your team, and he was very good. He was very good. And told me what to expect. I done my research. By that point, this is, this is now moving on to 11 months ago. And I Yeah, and at that point I decided it's quite a big and as thinking back 11 months now, you know, it's, it's strange how things move on. Think back 11 months, it was quite an investment, you know, and don't regret it in one bit, course, but it was at the time thinking, you know, will this work? Is it right for me? And yeah, and that was it, really having that chat with one your team, and having, having had done my research, and at that point, I decided to sign up to the course. Yeah, you went for it and took the leap, yeah, and we're very glad you did, and we're excited to share more about the journey that's happened in that time frame. But since starting the program, what would you say has been the most surprising or in. Powerful change for you so far, Neil, I would say it's probably getting involved in in this completely new industry that I'm in now with my niche, you know, something I knew nothing about, and you know it did the early parts of the course. And add that is probably as far as the business goes, and know that be able to talk about the community side of it in a bit. But as far as the business goes, it's definitely getting, getting to know how logistics work and how Google Ads work. And, you know, it's, there's no one thing, really, I would say, but it's, it's just the whole, whole package, just knowing how it works, or how the industry in my niche works, really? Yeah, that's fascinating. I think a lot of people have that concern about, okay, I'm going to pick a group of products to sell. I'm going to pick a niche that's based on certain criteria to build my new business around. But how could I possibly do that? I'm not an expert in that industry. I'm not an expert in that market, that was obviously your thinking to an extent beforehand. But how has that changed? And what, what have you realized since going into a new industry, about how quickly you can adapt and make it work? But you know, if you, if you get good suppliers, and I've got one good supplier, which I'm selling most of my products from at the moment, and they've been very supportive, you know, and they've, they've guided me, in a way, just one of their traders, essentially, but they've guided me, and, you know, I've had, I've met them face to face. I think that's quite important. I initially met them at the trade show and a trade show so that, you know, I always think they can only do so, so much online that's online is fine, but I think until you meet people face to face and have a good chat with them, you know, they get to know you then, you know. So, yeah, so it was, I think, guidance from from them, and also from a logistics company that I've been dealing with as well, you know, again, that was all new to me. So it's, it's just having this, it's just knowing the people to to speak to within these organizations that can support you on your journey, as well as the master class can as well. You know, yeah, 100% I mean, once you get into a niche, suddenly you're introduced to all these suppliers. And the what I found certainly is that there's so much help from the people that you partner with. If you need to ask about their products, you can quickly become more knowledgeable about their product range and how their business runs. They can give you some real insights, because obviously they're incentivized for you to understand how best to run the business, because the more sales that you generate, the more sales you'll make for them as well. So now it's a very fascinating insight there Neil now going through this journey. Then when you joined up with dropship or not. Firstly, just remind me, Neil, how long have you been with your company for that you're with still today, just over 38 years. Yeah, 38 and a half years. Pretty bummed out. Yeah. So it's a new industry. After 38 and a half years with that, that company, so taking on a new challenge, which I admire massively. And as you went through that the program, and you started to lay the foundations for your business, and what did you find most helpful? And could you tell us a little bit about how you found that that process of going from complete beginner through to having a store built, but once you've done it, you think, you know, gosh, you know something that I'd never done before. So from that step on finding my niche, and you know how you go through the program with with regard the research side of things and deciding what niche you're going to go with, you know initially, and how wide, whether you're going to be specific on products, or whether go to a wider niche, I decided to go into a wider niche within the niche I'd chosen. I had a trade show coming up, so I was fairly quick in deciding, and it's working so far. So that's good building in the the minimum viable store, MVS. Now that was, I've had a little bit of experience of a website building before using software rather than coding myself. But, you know, and Shopify is, is a great tool, you know, I mean, there's some, there are, that's one thing I found, there's some great tools to help you along the way. You know, with apps Shopify, it's great tools to use and finding suppliers and that, because I had a trade show to attend, that along each stage of the journey, some people find things more difficult than others. I actually found the talking to people at trade shows and stuff and getting them on board. So done again before went to the trade show. This is the key bit always, I think, is doing the research. So you know, of the I don't know how many there were, 100 plus traders there. I, you know, I picked, you know, the top dozen, if you like, to go and do an approach, you know, again, early on day one of the of the show, because it's about a four day show at, you know, so they're fresh and that, you know, you you get in there early, and that was them to work then, and then, moving on to Google ads and going live now. I'm, I'm still learning the Google ads so that, yeah, so it's, it's still an ongoing journey, yeah? Well, yeah, yeah, it's always an ongoing journey with business. I think this is something you come to learn, isn't it? You're always learning. If you ever stopped learning something's, something's wrong, and you're gonna plateau. So it's always continuous growth. But you're someone who clearly does their research. Neil, from what you've said You know, you mentioned about researching your niche, researching the program, making a, you know, a very informed decision. After doing a lot of due diligence, looking into things, you didn't just make an impulse decision to join this and there are many cheap, you know, drop shipping, e commerce courses out there. We've all seen them on Instagram and Facebook and YouTube, and these flashy people sitting in front of their sports cars on their mountains trying to lure you in with this amazing guru lifestyle that they talk about. What made you feel that dropship unlocked was different in terms of the mentorship aspect and what we do, where we work directly with you on the coaching calls, what made you feel that was worth the extra investment for you Well, before I got into the community, you know, I knock that door to the community. Of course, you're never 100% sure. You can only be as sure as you can be, you know, I'd heard from a Rita, I'd heard of, you know, the Chinese China model and stuff and and the cheap products, you know. So I wanted a UK based program as well. A lot of them, you know, this, still have good content and stuff, you know, pre content and stuff you can, you can view. But as far as the program goes, I wanted something UK based and what, you know, the mentorship side of things. Having spoken to the team members, sort of, you know, 11 months ago, he was guiding me, you know, with how this, how this works, and you'll come on to more of that. But it was really the UK based side of things, and the fact that it was a mentorship type program, so they didn't, didn't just feed you the information and say, crack on with it. You know, it was actually a two way thing, which was good. And, yeah, that's, that's really my motive, yeah, for joining Bob trip or not. Yeah, fantastic. So I can resonate with you in terms of feeling like I needed some sort of or community, not just thinking about the training program itself. So being aware that the community is is a large aspect of the master class. So within the the community, we do have the the live calls. And I know, Neil, you're a regular member on the live calls. It's always a pleasure to speak with you whenever you've got questions or any of your any support request while you're building your business. What do you think about those live Q and A calls, and how do they impact you as you're building a business twice, twice weekly, normally, the community calls as well. Find them they're good because it was opened us out to the to the wider group as well. Which, generally, which, which is good and and I find I joined sort of, you know, the 11 months ago, the first month or two you listen in, and I wasn't really that vocal on, on the calls, you know, or all the community to be honest, you know. And I've put that right since. But it's amazing. It's amazing how much you you learn in those early, early weeks, early months. And I found the real benefit of the calls was later in the program, because, of course, you've got all the master class information to hand so you follow that things do change, obviously, but certainly with things like Google ads. You know, they do change it quite often, and that's where you need to keep up to date with things, and that's perhaps where you need to to go into one of these calls, either to listen in to see if you know who else is asking a similar stage in the program. Then, as you are and asking a question that you think, or as a question you ask, or wish I'd have thought of that one, or indeed, ask a question yourself, and I find it's, it's week five, the Google Ads thing, which is quite a complex thing to get your head around, is the time, and really, because I built the store, okay, you know, tweaking that, still tweaking it. But the the Google ads, you know, and still is aspect of things, and getting that, getting getting that right. That's when I really needed the benefit of the twice weekly uh, calls, Q A calls, yeah, brilliant, yeah. And I know something that we really pride ourselves on at dropship unlocked is having the most calls of any other program like our ourselves in the industry. You know, we've got twice weekly Q A calls. We've got the collaboration call with the community that you mentioned, we have our live expert sessions that we do. We've got our member store spotlight calls, where we look and help diagnose problems on people's stores. So I'm glad that you're getting a lot of benefit from that side of things. But one of the really unique aspects of dropship unlocked is our in person meetups that we do every quarter. Where we bring the community together in person. I know you've attended all of those so far. How has meeting other members face to face in person and connecting with the community in real life impacted your journey so far? Neil, funny, actually, I missed it was the first one. I think you had the first one, and I remember probably the first post I ever saw was tickets sold out for the event. So, so that first event nearly 12 months ago now I missed. I've attended the other since, and I've got another one coming up soon, which will be good, and they're brilliant. You know that it's just just meeting like minded people, and everyone's really nice. It's similar to to what I was talking about, meeting the suppliers. You could, you know, you got the community and text and you know, you might have a bit of a close connection with some people, but personal messaging. But there's nothing better than than, than meeting face to face. And the the, you know, four or five hours that we meet on those face to face events, just, they just fly by, you know, but it's, it's great to get to know people's journeys, really, you know, where, where they're at the journey. And everybody's got a different story to tell. And yeah, they're, yeah, that they're long, long way they continue Absolutely. Yeah, no. Me, long lasting friendships are made at these in person events. And I find it just really brings everything to life. Obviously, going out on this new venture, Neil, that you push yourself into after being in a long career, and suddenly you want to find people that are in the same position, because we've got lots of people inside the program who are similar to you, Neil, where they've got a nine to five job in the corporate world that they've been in for a long time. So do you find that that's been one of the best things? Would you say that getting in person, obviously, the calls in the community, is one thing, but getting in person, it sort of brings it to life, doesn't it? Neil, would you say that's been one of the best things that you like about the program. I mean, it has that is, you know, it's a social event. So you don't, you can get people's ideas and stuff during those events, but it's really the social side of it, you know, rather than, if you like, you want to separate business and social. The business side of it is the community, I guess, and the master class and the Q and A, you know, and learning that and that. You know, there is a community element around that as well. But the social side is important in any in any business, my my career. You know, if you're if you work remotely in whatever job, it's good to get to get to meet people face to face. You know, definitely, and especially when you go into something new like this. You know, whether it be you guys or your team, getting to know your team, or indeed, other members the community and and that changes. You know, as people leave people, new people join, that's what keeps it fresh as well. You know, it's you know, because you see, you see new people all the time joining, and they've all got a story to tell. That makes it very interesting. You know? Yeah, absolutely. And I know that you're also a valued member of our inner circle mastermind as well. So before those live quarterly meetups that we have with all of the wider community, and we also spend a day together in a room with a close knit mastermind community, really honing into the areas of your business that you can optimize, but I want to go back in time a little bit, if we can, to from where we are now right back to where you first made your first sale. So tell us a little bit about that. If you can, how long after launching your site or after launching ads, did it take before your first sale came in? Yeah, I've been in the community about from five months. Yeah, five months, six months, five and a half months before I launched ads. So I built everything up to that point. And it's one thing you teach in the community is, is, Don't, Don't dabble, move on. And that's the thing you can try and build of a store that's, you know, that's, you know, the best one out there. But that's not the idea to start with. You know, as long as long as you've got something that will make sales. That's important, the thing an important message, that's one of the important things I've picked up on. But it only made a couple of organic sales, so without ads, to that point, in April of that year. But then I launched in the May, and probably two weeks I made my first sale from now. What five months ago, fantastic. And so at that moment, when that first sale came in, firstly, do you remember how much it was for? I don't. But how much was it for? About 800 pounds been on that. Yeah. Okay, fantastic. So an 800 pound sale for your first order. Where were you when that sale came through. Can you remember where you were and what were you doing? What like describe, talk us through the moment when that first sale comes in. What does it feel like? Yeah, now the Shopify coaching, which is quite famous. I don't know whether I heard it on that first sale, to be honest, but I've heard it many times since, and I do, but whether I heard it through. Through the coaching because I remember I mentioned my son, because he was doing his revisit exams. He didn't know anything about the business at that point, so he's wondering what this these coaching noises were. So I was playing it down a bit, but it was, it was a great feeling inside, you know, to think that this actually works. You know, still a long way to go, you know. And that's my first sale, or hopefully many, many more. But it's proof that my products were in demand, I suppose, by at least by somebody, not but at least one person in the UK. And I was, I was, it was a, it was a great feeling. Yeah, that it was case of, well, what do I do now? You know, panic, but, yeah, I know the feeling. I mean, initially, it's that proof of concept that, you know, that excitement, that what you've done, that work you put in, has led to somebody purchasing a product from your website. And then it's like, okay, right now, we've actually got to get the product to the customer, and then, you know, that's, that's the next thing. But so it's been about five months, you said, from that first sale, and so since then, Neil, over the last five months from getting that first sale, what are your total orders, or total sales to date? Today, revenue wise, 95,000 pounds. Yeah, yeah. So just hit the 95k mark yesterday, within a couple of sales. And the good thing about e commerce is, you know, and like a bricks and mortar shop, you can take sales 24 hours a day, even in this country, you know, people having their different, different lives. And I took a sale at about five past midnight this morning. So you know, another a small sale. But you know sales are sale as they say, exactly. Yeah, it always surprises me when you get sales coming in in the small hours of the night. But if that's when people do their shopping, I'm not going to complain if that's when they want to purchase something off the site. But it's very fast moving this. Neil, I know because we spoke yesterday and even a few weeks before that, and you're at the 85k mark, and then you got to the 90k mark, which is the the VAT threshold, and then today, with a few more sales, so yesterday, you've got through to 95k so very fast growing. Neil, I've got no doubt this is this trend is going to continue. So what when you think about, when you reflect and look at the success you've had over this since, since joining, do you give yourself a minute to sort of reflect on, on how far you've come with that level of sales and that amount of work that you've done so far? Yeah, I do, I do. You know, quite often think, you know, 12 months ago, I hadn't even started this, you know, I knew about drop shipping by that point, but I hadn't signed up. So, yeah, you know, 12 months is quite a short time, really, time period, you know, to build any business, you know. So it's, yeah, feel like I've progressed well, you know, bear in mind of got a nine to five job, flexible job, but it's, you know, it's full time job, so or other life, life priorities. It's, it's, yeah, pleased with our progress so far, yeah. And so you should be in you, you're clearly on an a very fast upward trajectory with this business. You know, it's funny, isn't it, how things start? And you said you made that first sale, and then you thought, What do I do now? And then suddenly, before you know it, you're basically at 100,000 pounds, 95,000 as of yesterday, and I'm sure you'll surpass that 100,000 in the next couple of days, probably. So you are right to give yourself a moment, and I know that you're doing this for your son as well, to bring your son in on this venture. But also you mentioned that you're getting close to retirement, and so having working that full time job until you are at the point where you want to take that retirement. I mean, this is a really nice additional income now and a project that you've set yourself up. So I just want to look ahead for a moment, Neil, and ask, How do you think the success of your E commerce business will change things for you in your everyday life? Going into the future, it may things more comfortable. Essentially enabled me to do things perhaps I wouldn't have done before. You know, I'll have a I'll have a pension and everything. Obviously, if I leave a little bit earlier than I was, I would have done without this. I less of a pension, but then I've got a I'll top it up with, with, hopefully a decent income from, from the drop shipping business, you know. So that's my, that's my intention, and, yeah, it'll enable me to not to go mad. But at least, at least have, you know, do things that are perhaps, before I'd have, I'd about to save up for, do you know now, hopefully intention is to just say, Well, yeah, I've got this extra income now. You don't have to think about, you know, London, Australia, or something, whatever it might be. So that extra freedom, it's all tied into the ideal outcome that you sort of described earlier on the episode, which is about bringing that retirement date forward, giving yourself a chance to, yeah, see, see more of the world, I guess, at an earlier stage, rather than waiting for that retirement date. So very exciting. And you are well on your way towards that Neil. And of course, throughout this whole journey, there will have been plenty of challenges that will have popped up throughout building a business, as with any business. So. Tell us a little bit about some of the challenges, and perhaps tell us how dropship unlocked was able to help you through some of the challenges that you face as well. The biggest challenge as part of the program goes, and this is where you know your your your your advice is been really good, and where the you know so engagement has been has been really good is around, um, around Google ads, you know, because there's so much, so much in that, you know, to to understand, you know. So you're spending quite a bit on Google ads, healthy profit in return to to pay for the ads, make a profit, and also all the other things you need to, uh, sort of pay accountants and so on as part of the business. Yeah, some of the fairly minor overheads, I guess, in comparison to what would be a much more expensive brick and mortar style business if you decided to set up. But, yeah, relatively, um, relatively low compared to those. But still, you will have overheads like a business. So anyone coming into this needs to be aware of that. And like you say, the name of the game is making more in profit on a sale than you spend to acquire that customer. And what makes that a lot easier with our home tech advantage model is obviously the level of profit that you make on every sale that you make. If you're selling a product at 2000 pounds and making 600 pounds in profit, you can be quite you don't have to be an expert with ads to make that work, because you can spend 100 200 pounds on on making that sale with ads and still make a nice profit. So it takes the pressure off a little bit, I think, for people who haven't experienced running ads before and but I'd like to understand a bit about your experience with the community, Neil, because you're a very vocal, very valued member of our community. In fact, you now at level seven, so you've got the exclusive invite recently to our coveted level seven members dinner, which we hosted at a nice Michelin star restaurant with all of our level seven community members, which is really fun, really nice evening, and but you're always so present in there. You give so much value to it, and I hope you get a lot of value from it in return. What would you say is the most valuable part of being in that dropship? I'm not community for you, Neil, just go to the dinner. No, it was. That was a great night out here. Really. Somebody enjoyed that. And when I first signed up to this, I mentioned previously that it's it was, it was a bit quiet for the first couple of months as get getting to know how it all works, and just getting into the flow. But it was a conscious decision of mine to to get get fully involved, because I felt that if I got fully involved with the community, I'd get the most benefit out of it for myself. Plus, I hope you guys agree that I give, you know, give plenty back as well, you know, as well as receiving plenty. But yeah, now so try and make all my the other posts extremely complimentary, where there's a somebody who's posted a win, no good, good win or indeed, and this is where, you know, after those first couple of months, you start building the experience. So somebody asks a more technical question, you know, if I'm I'm there to to, to advise as best I can on those as well now, to a degree, so, yeah, that that was, that's really it for me, is to to fully involve myself with, with the community because, because without that, you know, it would be completely different. Adoption locked would be, would be completely different. Even with the Q, a calls and, you know, it would, it would, you know, and the face to face meet up. So if you didn't have that community side of it, it would make it a completely different experience. So, you know, I advise anybody to make the most of the community and get fully involved, you know, but at the same time, give, you know, post good content, you know. So it's not just chat room. It's to, you know, there's a place for that. It's a, it's, it's a place to give support and advice as well. Yeah, get fully involved, and you get them better, the most out of it. Completely agree. Yeah, as with most things, the more you put in, the more you get out. But it's certainly true with community, because when people see that you're leading with so much value as you do, Neil, you end up getting so much more in return. When people are sort of climbing over each other to help you out, when you share your success, or you have questions yourself. So very true, and it's the live aspect that I love so much about dropship. I'm not myself, personally, is not obviously the content is, is the structure that helps everyone get through the program and build businesses. But it's the fact that it's live and you can get on so well with people within the community, that is the part that makes it enjoyable. So it's not just a case of one step after the next. It's actually enjoying the process the whole time. Did, were you aware of this Neil before you started the community aspect? Did? Did you get an idea of what it was you were joining, or did you join initially for the program? Content was the community a bit more of a bonus. Community was a bonus, I suppose. Yeah, yeah, I made a knew nothing about the in person events until I saw that first post. I saw where the tickets are sold out for that first event, and then I don't think you had any more planned in after that. But obviously that one quite went quite well, and so yeah, you've had others since, and more coming. But yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't aware, no, I wasn't really aware of that community side of it. I joined for, yeah, really the content. And, you know, when I had a word with one of your colleagues, really talked through more the content and the videos and the master class, rather than the community. So, yeah, it's been a good bonus, because, you know, you know, a will, a will, I'm sure already, already have made one or two good friends within that community that last a long time. I'm hoping so, you know, that's good, yeah, yeah, fantastic. Yeah, there's so many. I mean, yeah, the friendships are real. It's been great to get to know you Neil, at these in person events, you know, whether it's the dinners, whether it's the actual evening events that we have at the masterclass, or the inner circle daytime events, it's just good to actually get to know the people behind the names in the community make such a difference to understand the real reasons why we're all building these same businesses. So before you joined and you first heard about it from your son, were you initially skeptical about starting drop shipping or joining the master class. Do you remember having those thoughts, or were you quite sold on it by your son quite quickly? I wasn't sold on it at all, really, going back 18 months from that, from now. Yeah, I was. I was a skeptic, I have to admit. Is one of those where you think, if it was that easy, everyone would do it. But of course, you know, to build a successful business, it isn't that easy, you know. But we mentioned, you put the put the work in. You get, you get the rewards, you know. So what I was a skeptic that soon passed when I joined, of course, but before I joined, really? So once I decided to join, I thought, Well, that's it, you know, press the button now, and I'm, you know, click the switch. Gonna make the most of it down. You know, have gone back since, obviously. But yes, yeah, because you do see lots of content that you on YouTube about how well everybody's doing, and the massive houses, massive cars, you know. And I'm sure you won't mind me saying that one of the, one of the first things I remember from that module one week, one video was, this was when you say, you know, if you're here to get rich quick, you know, you're in the wrong program, because, you know, got to put the hard work into to get the rewards out, you know. So I was, I was skeptical, but yeah, so just, just being honest Yeah, I think you have to be and in this day and age with the amount of noise and stuff that's online, you, you have to be skeptical. But I think the important thing that I heard there, Neil, is that you overcame the skepticism, and once you were in, you were all in. I think that the challenge is we, you know, you might end up skeptical about something, and then kind of dip one toe in and be like, Oh, I'm still kind of skeptical, but I'm going to have a go. And obviously what happens then is you get no results because you were never committed in the first place. And business isn't easy. It can be simple. There can be a straightforward path, and you can ask at all the challenges that you get along the way, but anyone telling you it's going to be easy is just like so I think you're 100% right. You did it the right way. You came in with a healthy dose of skepticism, but then as you came in the door, you're like, right? That's behind me now, eyes, eyes on the prize. Move forward. And I think that's why you've done so well. So anyone listening to this who has that skepticism, don't feel bad about that. That's you know, that's natural. But once you commit, once you're in, move ahead. Let's do it. And so looking towards the future. Now, what are you most excited about in your next phase of your E commerce business journey? Neil, yeah, continuing to build the business, making enough profit so I can feel comfortable to move away from a job. And I feel, I feel like move away from a job, you know, my day to day job, my nine to five, if you like, I'll have that time then to really build that sort of my intention is to be pushed, still be part of this community at that point. Because if, if I am, I know, you know, I can really, I can really accelerate things, you know, that's in my my, you know, my gut tonight, my head, yeah, I could really, could really move on with it, with this, you know, and make a make a huge success of it. So that's my intention. Is to remain part of the community for a good length of time, and within that period, at some point, I don't know exactly when, yeah, when things look things are right, to leave a nine to five and then spend that time, spend that extra time alongside relaxing and doing other stuff, but more time, more time focusing on, on, on the business, yeah, fantastic, and pulling the levers that you know will. Do the most good instead of scaling up the revenue and scaling up the profit over time, I think one of the biggest levers you're going to pull soon is probably going to be hiring your first virtual assistant to really, you know, open up the amount of time you have to spend on the things that will really scale and make a big difference for your business. So things like hiring virtual assistants, etc. How do you see your business evolving now over the next months and years, with dropship unlock? How do you see that that growth? Virtual assistance, yeah, I've, I've, I've looked into that, but I haven't taken that plunge yet. But that that will be fairly soon. I think we've talked about this. So uploading products maybe as a start, you know, rather than taking calls and dealing with customers and stuff, perhaps. But yeah, they say letting go of the reins as well, isn't it? Because it's managed my babies, you like and you know, it's, it's, yeah, it's, it's, it's not micromanaging. It is making sure that you you recruit the right people. And of course, you've got to find the right people to recruit plenty of good people out there to do their virtual virtual assistant job, starting gradually, I think, you know, starting gradually, letting them take on some of the responsibility, and then build it up from there to a point where, yeah, you just enjoy the profits, basically. So it's, yeah, that's the that's the ultimate goal. I guess I enjoy it, though. So you know, it's guess. Well now, I mean, whether we'll feel like this in two, three years time, I don't know, but at the job and doing other things, but where I'm at now, you know, I do enjoy speaking to suppliers and that type of thing, you know, so I don't want to off. I feel like I don't want to offload it all even work, even though perhaps the future I could, you know, at the moment, I'm feeling, I want, I want a bit of a handle on it myself, whether that will change in the next two or three years after waiting to see? Yeah, that's natural. And I think as things start to pick up and as sales really start to increase, which I feel like you're kind of experiencing the beginning of right now, you know, for example, when you're on your month long trip in Australia, and it's the middle of the night your time, and you've got customers calling you, I wonder whether your your mind might change about wanting to step back a bit from the business, but I wanted to ask at Neil, so if someone's listening to this episode right now and they're considering joining dropship unlocked, for example, but maybe they just haven't yet jumped in, what would you advise them to help them build up the courage to take that leap? Hopefully, you know, most donor block of trust with this person, I think, I think so. I've done the research for you, to be honest, proved it works. And, yeah, it's a case of, put the work in, put the hard work in, and you'll reap the benefits. Yeah? And it's, you know, it's a good model. It's a good model. Yep, fantastic. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So, something I want to dive into as well Neil, that we we've talked about earlier on in the in the conversation was about telling your son, and there being a point at which you broke the news to him, because, of course, earlier on, he was the one that introduced you to dropship unoct in the first place, kept it quiet while you were going through the build phase, until you're at a point where You're ready to tell him, and he had finished his exams, tell us a bit about that moment when you, when you told him, I'd like to hear about his feelings around you, actually going for it after the initial seeds that he had planted earlier on. He was surprised and pleased. You know, I think he was quite pleased to do it. And he over the over his holidays, he had a bit of a bit of input into, you know, putting orders through and that type of thing, you know. So he's had a bit of experience there back in exam season ago, or study season again now, you know. So it's always difficult, really, still very young. So, yeah, over time, you know, I'll build it up, and then, you know, he'll his his choice, you know, he may or may not come on board, but, but it'll be there for him, you know. So he's doing business studies at a level, so you never know there, yeah, you'll have a few trip tips and tricks that he picks up, no doubt, that he'll want to implement straight away and put the theory into practice with your business. So it's a fantastic story, and involving your family is lovely to hear with building this business. So for somebody else, that if you could speak to somebody, maybe they're listening in the car, or they're listening on their commute to work, and they're in the same position that you were Neil, and we're in a corporate role, and they're on the edge of thinking about bringing retirement early, I guess. What would your advice be to them, if you, if you wanted to, you know, speak to yourself. I guess, 12 months ago, what would your advice be to somebody about joining the program? Yeah, give it a good go. You know, give it a good go. Now I know what I know. You know, I would, I wouldn't have hesitated, you know, 18 months ago and I was thinking about it, I would say, give it a good go. You know, ensure you've got a plan in place. Because, you know, the weeks, months will just roll over. If you're not careful, don't sign up and then do nothing for three months. You know what? I posted the community quite a bit for, especially for those that are new, new, new to the community is, you know, keep things moving, you know. And don't get bogged down in in a lot of it, you know. So don't get obsessed with building a perfect store, for example, you know. You know, it's, it's a case of, keep, keep moving on, but, but, yeah, if you, if you're thinking about it, it's a model that I've proven that works. Yeah, we'll be Yeah, we'll see me, I'm sure you know, into the future. So yeah, it's all about that momentum, isn't it, and keeping that momentum moving from day one, which you've done a fantastic job of, and you've been a perfect example, Neil, of someone who's done that. So we love how engaged you are, how much you bring to our community. I just want to say a big public thank you to you for all that you bring to dropship unlocked how much support you give to other people in the community and how well you're doing with your business. It's great to see. I think you're a credit to your son and your family and your I'd be very, very proud. So well done. Thank you. I can't wait to hang out with you at our next mastermind in person meetup, and also our members meet up soon. And officially, we'd love to welcome you back to the podcast once you maybe, should we say, when you hit 500,000 in sales, half a million, we'll have you back. That seems like a good milestone that won't be too far away next week. Then, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll Yeah, hold you to that. Yeah, good stuff. I look forward to it. Good. Thank you. Fantastic. Thanks for joining us, Neil. Appreciate it. Thanks very much. Well, that was an inspiring conversation with Neil. I love hearing about members journeys when they go from complete novice and beginner all the way through to where they are just a few months later, having put the real solid foundations and Groundworks in unseen success already for their business and really moving towards their e commerce dreams that they've got from when they first joined. Yeah, it's great to hear someone like Neil, who's never heard of the term drop shipping before, 18 months ago, when his son first brought the concept to him through to now running a successful e commerce business, and just as of yesterday, I think he said surpassing the 95,000 pound in sales mark. So really well done to Neil. Great story. And I'm sure that won't be the last we'll be hearing of Neil on the podcast, either. And if Neil's story resonated with you and you're ready to begin your own e commerce entrepreneurial journey, remember that every success starts with a single decision, just like it did for Neil. That's right, always comes down to a single step where you decide that I'm going to take this seriously, and you can follow in Neil's footsteps, and we make it very easy for you to start with a single step with dropship unlocked, as you can get started with the accelerator at a very low cost, and that is dropship unlock.com, forward slash accelerator. Yep, the accelerator is a fantastic first place to start if you want to take that first step the investment starts a seven pound investment, whopping seven pounds. And with that, you receive a free copy of my book, the home turf advantage, and you get to join our supportive private community with hours of expert sessions and training modules to guide you through the way. You also get access to our 21 day challenge to get your business off the ground. So it really is the perfect way to get started on your E commerce journey. 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. Now it's time to answer a question that we've had in from a listener of the podcast. And remember, if you have a question after listening to today's episode and you'd like to ask it to Lewis and I, all you need to do is type a comment beneath the YouTube video version of this episode, so not only will it be answered in the comments, but it may also be read out and answered on an upcoming episode. So that's exactly what Khalid has done. So his question for which I'm going to ask to you now, Lewis, is, how much money do I need to start drop shipping with the home turf advantage model, yeah, thank you for your question. Gallaudet, it's a really common one. We get that a lot um. So first thing is, starting a drop shipping business requires a lot less capital and investment than traditional retail models, as you'll know. So the ongoing costs with this are minimal compared to starting a bricks and mortar business. You've only got things like Shopify, your subscription to Shopify Google workspace, so you get a professional domain and an email and a business phone line, probably 1015, pounds a month, something like that. Canva, maybe for editing a few images. You might want a subscription to that for a month or so, and a few other apps here and there. But in total, it's going to be less than, say, 50 to 100 pounds in overheads to get you started. It's also wise to set aside some funds for your advertising campaign when you get to that point, having a few 100 pounds at least set aside as your budget will help you start to make your first sales. And we don't advise running ads or spending it ads until you have your first few suppliers signed because we want to maximize the the chance of you making your first few sales with that initial ad spend, so that the profit you then accrue from those first few sales can then be reinvested back into advertising. So that budget should help you with your first few weeks of ads, and within that point, if you follow the process, you'll be making sales and can start to reinvest some of those profits into more ads and scaling up your business as well. So in terms of the investment to work with us, there's a wide range of things we offer. We've got everything from our, you know, seven pound accelerator, which you can access by going to dropship unlocked.com forward slash accelerator for a 14 day seven pound trial, to that, all the way up to our full mentorship program, even our in person masterclass as well. So a wide range. For more details, you can check out an episode of the podcast that we did, which was conveniently titled, How much money do you need to start dropshipping? And that was episode 30 of the podcast. There you go. Yeah, great question, very common one that we hear, and did a great job of answering that there Lewis, and there is an episode dedicated to it as well. Okay, so we're now going to highlight a recent review that we've had for the podcast as well, because we love to give a shout out to you when you leave us a review for the podcast. So a big thank you to Nick Greaves for sharing your thoughts. So Nick Greaves said, this is just what I needed, man, a few words, but powerful words there. Thank you for your review, Nick, we really appreciate it. We're glad to hear that you've been enjoying the podcast and that it's just what you needed. If you're listening to us right now before we end this episode, could we ask a small favor? Leaving us a review for this podcast helps us a lot, and it takes you just a few seconds, but your support keeps us motivated. Keep bringing you the best content every single week, we'd love to hear what you think and share your review in an upcoming episode, so please do leave us a review if you haven't already. 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. Now, if you're looking to kick start or even accelerate your E commerce business, head over to dropship, unlocked.com forward slash accelerator and sign up for your 14 day trial of the drop ship. Unlocked accelerator, not only will you receive a free copy of my book The home turf advantage, but you'll also get access to exclusive training, live coaching calls and our supportive and amazing community of entrepreneurs who are all building successful businesses just like you. 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