Did you make money or lose money by giving up your stable job to work for Amazon?

After being beaten by society, I still chose the iron rice bowl

After thinking for a long time, I decided to talk about my own story. It can serve as a reference and a warning to all sellers who want to give up their current stable jobs and work alone on Amazon.

Because my family kept nagging me, I was already preparing for the civil service exam after graduation when I was in school. However, things did not go as I expected and I was rejected in the interview process in the two years after graduation. I was a little discouraged at the time, so I discussed with my family about going out to work first.

I had no work experience, but had to look for a job with fresh graduates. I was very frustrated at one point, and I began to question my family's decision to let me take the civil service exam. However, after working hard in society for a few years, I realized how correct this decision was.

At the beginning, I had no work experience and was very humble in the company. I was overwhelmed by whatever I was asked to do, regardless of whether it was related to work or not. As a result, my superiors always complained that I was inefficient and slow in doing things. I have experienced too many such bad things in the past few years when I was working outside. In the end, I still worked while preparing for the civil service exam.

Maybe it was because I was quite determined this time, I got what I wanted, a job that everyone thought was a stable job.

If you feel anxious when you are working outside, then the mood of civil servants during their daily work is as calm as a pool of stagnant water. Although the salary of 4,000 to 5,000 is not high, you don’t have to work as hard as before. If you can’t finish the work today, you can do it tomorrow.

I get off work on time and have food to eat when I get home. I have lived this kind of life for a very long time, so long that I seem to have forgotten my age.

But life is not static. Even if there are no accidents, my job can no longer keep up with the pace of life.

The iron rice bowl will not break, but it will not make you full

I know that many people yearn for a stable, iron rice bowl, where they don’t have to work for others or worry about being laid off due to company layoffs. I used to be like that too.

But now I know that such "stability" actually sacrifices something. I didn't realize it when I was single, but when I had my own family and a little one I wanted to protect, the daily diaper money and milk powder money reminded me again and again.

“You should think of a way out.”

I wanted to make some changes, but given the special nature of my current job, I studied it for a long time and finally decided to do cross-border e-commerce. It was at this time that I started working on Amazon.

Afterwards, my wife and I spent a long time studying the product selection and store opening work and opened a small store. I thought I had no eye for good-looking products, so our division of labor in the early days was that she selected the products, and I would go home after get off work to choose the words and put them on the shelves.

It was still relatively early at that time. Amazon and cross-border e-commerce were both new terms. Even if you mentioned them in my hometown, few people knew what they were. After reaping the early dividends, our small shop soon caught up with the income from my job.

This was also one of the key moments in my life. My wife and I discussed it all night long, planning for various emergencies, and finally I decided to quit my job and start working exclusively for Amazon. Of course, my family would definitely strongly oppose it, so I kept the fact that I quit my job as a civil servant a secret for a while.

I didn't tell my family until about half a year later. By then, sales were already quite impressive, with close to 30,000 yuan in revenue a month. It was a done deal and I was making quite a bit of money, so my family reluctantly accepted my resignation.

The following period of time was the most comfortable time I have had in the past two years. There was not much pressure from the product, and the elderly on both sides of the family took good care of us. The comfortable environment made me fail to realize the coming of the crisis.

The main products were removed from the shelves, and we returned to the pre-liberation era

At that time, although our store had many products, the best-selling ones were still the same few. Although there were some sporadic orders from other products, they could not support the sales volume, and the problem appeared in these main products.

It was probably at the beginning of last year. Sellers who have experienced it should have some impression. The wave of store closures at the beginning of the year was well known to everyone. Our store was also affected by this wave at the time. Although the store appealed and got back, the main products were removed from the shelves and could not be taken back. The sales of our small store were cut by half.

The atmosphere at home was very depressing during those days. We left our children at my parents' house and wanted to concentrate on recovering our sales. At least we had to push our other products a little bit. The hair we lost every day could have covered the floor.

Basically, I didn’t take precautions against risks, nor did I prepare a Plan B. As a result, when risks came, we were unprepared and hit the bottom.

Several products we wanted to promote never saw any significant improvement. Although they could fill our stomachs, that was all we could do. We did not have much savings and did not have the ability to stock more goods or open new product categories.

Amazon was in a stalemate, but life had to go on. After much deliberation, we decided that my wife would be in charge of the remaining products in the store, and I would use my experience to find a job at Amazon.

After all the twists and turns, if you must ask me if I regret quitting the civil service, although I have experienced ups and downs in my work at Amazon, and it is far less comfortable than when I was a civil servant, I still don’t regret it. Dreams and life are too abstract. To be more practical, the living standard of my family is getting higher every year. Even though we encountered the incident at the beginning of the year, since we did not take out a loan, it only reduced our source of income. The possibility of our comeback in the future is much higher than when we were civil servants.

Now the family situation has improved a lot. Although our store has not recovered to the previous level, it is still much higher than when my wife worked. I have also accumulated more experience and resources at work. My recent plan is to save up some money and open a store in another station. I think it is very good to have life in my own hands.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone to be prepared to deal with risks, whether you are starting a business or working.

PS. If you want to join the seller discussion group, you can also private message me to let me add you to the group