From Air Force to 7-Figure Amazon FBA Entrepreneur in Less Than 2 Years: Reggie Young’s Story
May 4, 2022
How do you become a 7-figure entrepreneur in the span of two years?
If you ask Reggie Young, he’ll tell you that systems help.
As a former U.S. Air Force officer, Reggie discovered a passion for business while pursuing his degree at the Air Force Academy. During the time he spent serving his country, he experienced firsthand the power of systems.
By combining an efficient structure and consistent way of doing things with a powerful team motivated by the same goal in the military, Reggie ended up being able to develop a skill set that transferred seamlessly to the private sector. After leaving the military, Reggie built an Amazon FBA business and started a digital marketing agency.
Choose Your Own Adventure
Though travel is a standard part of serving in the military, getting to choose your destination is not always possible. Instead, you’re typically given orders and told where to go. And, because Reggie joined the military when he turned 18, he hadn’t yet experienced the level of freedom that would come from being an online entrepreneur. Reggie put it this way – “As I got older, I found more appreciation for the idea of personal freedom, and I wanted to solve problems my way.”
Solving problems his way turned into starting a 7-figure Amazon FBA business and becoming a digital nomad. Reggie has spent the past couple of years traveling the world, mostly in Mexico and Latin America.
The discipline and organizational skills required to be successful in a prestigious branch of the military like the U.S. Air Force translated well to entrepreneurship. By this point, Reggie had grasped the importance of systems, and he also discovered that he really enjoyed helping people.
Reggie combined what he learned during his military tenure with his innate passion to give back to the world, and he used that to scale his business. It turned out that the systems Reggie had learned over the years could be adapted to everyday business tasks such as hiring, training, and keeping a digital agency running smoothly.
Entering the World of Amazon FBA
For entrepreneurs just starting out, Amazon FBA can be a great business model. It doesn’t necessarily require a large upfront investment, and it takes the burden of shipping, warehousing, and customer service out of the equation. This gives motivated entrepreneurs the power to own a business on their own terms.
Plus, the familiarity of Amazon can make it a less daunting platform to build a business around. Reggie explained it this way: “I love Amazon. I’m always buying things on Amazon.”
Reggie’s strategic military background also gave him the ability to look several steps ahead. He took a forward-looking approach and decided that Amazon was the way of the future. “This is where the world is going to end up,” he concluded. And it turns out he was right.
Ultimately, Reggie found his groove with Amazon FBA. “I discovered that is what I want to do. I want to build brands.”
Though Reggie could have tackled almost any entrepreneurial endeavor, he decided to master the Amazon domain. He grew his business quickly, and eventually sold it on our curated marketplace for over $600k. The proceeds from the sale were dedicated to scaling his next venture. He started by hiring more people and launching new brands. From there, he was able to work with more agencies and apply the proceeds toward his goal of “giving back.”
Doing the Research and Coming Face-to-Face with Uncertainty
Reggie had known that if he wanted to give back in a substantial way, he would need more working capital. That meant selling the Amazon business he’d managed to build and scale in a relatively short time. He began looking for a way to sell, and he left no stone unturned during the process.
Reggie had already learned about us early in his digital nomad days, but we weren’t his obvious first choice. “When I went to go sell my business, I contacted 20 different brokers and aggregators just to make sure that their name met the reputation they had.” We can’t fault Reggie for doing his due diligence, and we admire that he researched his options so thoroughly.
“Knowing the volume that has gone through Empire Flippers, I knew that they had experience migrating accounts and handling any kind of issues throughout that process.” All of that is crucial for a successful sale and ticks the boxes for what someone should look for in a broker, but Reggie also had a third, and very important, criteria: “I also knew they had the largest buyer pool.”
Still, even with a robust marketplace and experts on your side, selling a business can come with a lot of uncertainty. “The thing that scared me the most is, ‘am I going to get the biggest buyer?’” And next, Reggie asked himself, “Will this migration happen in a way that I can feel safe and secure about?”
After thinking through his options and interviewing several brokers (including us), Reggie said, “I felt very confident with Empire Flippers throughout the whole process. When I tried to dig deeper into other aggregators and other brokers, I hit a wall of questions that they wouldn’t answer.”
He compared that experience to what happened when he interviewed us. “I liked that Empire Flippers was open before I even had to sign a contract.” He went on to explain that he appreciated the transparency of our process and said, “It’s one of the main reasons why I decided to go with Empire Flippers.”
Never Give Up
Reggie’s story thus far might sound like smooth sailing, but he did hit a fair share of turbulence along the way. “I failed so many more times than I’ve succeeded, and emotionally that takes a toll on you.” Reggie could have given up, and indeed, many of his peers did. Entrepreneurship can be lonely, after all. “A lot of my fellow entrepreneurs would have been millionaires by now if they didn’t quit.”
Perseverance is arguably one of the most important skills an entrepreneur needs to succeed. You can’t always teach grit and determination, but they’re often a prerequisite for breaking through barriers and overcoming the inevitable challenges that come with building a business.
“Not giving up has probably been the hardest part, but pushing through that is so important,” Reggie advised.
What Comes Next?
After making a $600,000-plus sale, what’s next for Reggie? He plans on building more businesses with the purpose of giving back to society. He’s still figuring out precisely what model he’ll implement. He told us that it could be personal development and coaching, courses to help entrepreneurs realize their dreams, or building businesses that also give back to the people and the planet. His long-term vision is to create a charity, and we’re confident he’ll succeed.
Are you thinking about buying or selling a business? It’s never too early (or late) to start! Plan your next steps by scheduling a time to talk with our team.
