When the Business World Shifts Gears, Use It to Accelerate Your Business with Agie Sihotang: An EOFire Classic from 2021

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. Brought to you by the HubSpot. Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Finding Founders. Today, we're pulling a timeless EO Fire episode from the archives, so the giveaway may not be active, and we'll be breaking down online businesses, how they're moving rapidly, and how you need to have the right vehicle to keep up. To drop these value bombs, I have brought Agi Shiotang into EO Fire Studios. Agi is a cell phone seller from Indonesia who came to the US at 15. He taught himself how to sell online at the age of 16 and built a million dollar wholesale company in nine months at the age of 25.

0:43And Fire Nation will talk about how your profitability will be affected greatly by your hospitality, how people will help an acquaintance much sooner than they will help a stranger and don't restrict yourself to one niche. If the demand and supply are there, why not go for it and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Augie and our sponsors. The Product Boss, hosted by Jacqueline and Mina, is brought to by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. The Product Boss helps you take your physical product sales and strategy to the next level to create your dream life.

1:14With episodes like, Can I Have a Successful Product Business as a Side Hustle? Listen to The Product Boss wherever you get your podcasts. Augie, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something interesting about yourself that most people don't know. Fire Nation, I hope all of you are healthy. Most people don't know about me Most people don't know that I'm not a big fan of sweets I don't really eat dessert But if you come to the negotiation table With fried banana and a boba drink You will definitely out-negotiate me Oh brother, come down to Puerto Rico I will bring some mofongo Which are fried plantains And you are going to be in heaven And everybody's going to win I'm in, I'm in, I will lose for sure So Fire Nation, as I shared in the intro We're talking about when the business world shifts gear, which of course it has.

2:07We need to accelerate our business and we're going to use this shift to do just that. Now, let's just be honest. COVID-19, Augie, it was cray-cray and it is cray-cray. So if our e-commerce business was hurt because of this pandemic, what can we do? You are absolutely correct. A lot of people were hurt by it, are still hurting by it. Well, as the title says, shift gear, adapt to the surrounding. As an example, a lot of Amazon sellers were affected in March, in mid-March, because Amazon announced that it was limiting the fulfillment by Amazon or the FBA shipment, meaning you can't send most of your products to an Amazon warehouse to store and to have it sell through the FBA program.

2:51As a customer, you might have noticed just delays in your products being delivered to your house. But as third-party sellers, the couple or the few weeks of that restriction created so much damage because people rely on the system. So it was a nightmare for most people. They had to lay off some people. They had to close some of their categories or businesses or products that they're selling. I feel bad for them. But what I found is some creative entrepreneurs started to do the fulfillment of the sales themselves. They might have to store the products in their house or even their apartment. Some even started to look for a third-party fulfillment company, which is pretty simple, by the way.

3:32All you got to do is Google third-party fulfillment company in Los Angeles or New York, wherever they might be, and they will be able to fulfill your sales like an Amazon warehouse would be. Some even started to look into other platforms to sell it. So when the business world shifts gear, they used it to accelerate their business. Now, this is when, as a business owner, business operator, as an entrepreneur, you want to have a fluid model in your business, like water. Water always adapts to its vessel, right? So no matter how weird looking the vessel is, the water will always adapt to it. I understand that a lot of e-commerce businesses are on a survival mode right now, but don't be discouraged.

4:16in your line of business or category, there are gaps in the marketplace. There are problems in the marketplace that have never been faced before, and you can adapt to them and fill the gap. You just have to look and ask everyone you're in business with to see what kind of gap you can fill and use it to accelerate your business. I believe instead of being an online seller, JLD, you need to be an online solver. People have problems. People have problems. Businesses have problems, some that they've never, ever faced before. We're all new to this. We've never experienced anything like this unless maybe you were alive hundreds of years ago, but I doubt it.

4:56So once you are creative, once you become creative and listen to your surroundings, you'll be able to take out that inner problem-solving drive that most of us wrote in our first resume. Fire Nation, if you are able to provide the best solution to your customer's biggest problem, you are going to win, period. It doesn't matter the time. It doesn't matter what's going on in this world. You will win. And I love how you put this, Augie, adapt or die. I mean, I'm going to get a little dramatic here, adapt or die. But the good news is Fire Nation, we're human beings. We've been adapting for 70 ,000 plus years, and we're going to continue to do so.

5:34And it's those e-commerce business owners that do adapt, that can adapt, that are not just going to survive, but they're going to thrive in this new world that we live in. And now I love the phrase, Augie, that your network is your net worth. How can we properly use our network to provide solutions for our customers? I am an absolute believer in that. I absolutely believe that we need to use our network at least to do three things. Number one is to generate revenue. If 10 people know what you do right now and you create the amount of business that you're generating right now, multiply it. Most businesses, not all, but most are a numbers game.

6:15The more seed you throw out there, the more trees you can expect to grow. Proper watering is needed. I get that, but it's a numbers game. And number two, create opportunities. I mentioned earlier that everyone has a problem. Be a problem solver. If you're an online seller, you are shy in talking to people, well, be a problem solver. Be an online problem solver. You can still do that. The more variety you have in your network, the more you can build something smoothly. If you're like me, you might have family members in the construction business. Some are in roofing. Some in framing. Some are in electrical.

6:51Some might be plumbers. If you know everyone well, you can build a nice home using their strengths. It's the same in business. If you're creating a side hustle or you're trying to start a business, see what niche products or exclusive services your network has. From there, create a plan, create a business opportunity. Again, when the business world shifts gear, make sure you use it to accelerate your business. It's a numbers game, Fire Nation. You need to put in the reps, put in the reps, put in the reps. I mean, this is so critical. I can remember so clearly back in my corporate finance days, I knew 100 people were going to say no when I called them and put in that question and put in that offer.

7:35But guess what? I knew that the 101st person was going to say yes. I knew it took 100 phone calls to get to one yes. So I just put in those reps. I needed to make four sales for the day. I needed to make 400 phone calls. It is really that simple. It's a numbers game. Put in those reps and be a problem solver. I mean, it's already the theme of this podcast, which I love because it's such a critical one, but a critical, critical, critical theme to understand Fire Nation and implement in your business. So, Augie, you're in the retail and wholesale industry. So what is the ecosystem like right now for those industries?

8:09Great question. Now, it starts with the manufacturer. Let's take an example, a toy brand like Fisher Price. We all know who they are. They may produce a toy called Learn With Me Zebra Walker. It's a real toy, by the way. It helps toddlers walk. Love it. Now, Fisher Price produces, let's say, I'm going to say all hypothetical situations here, but Fisher Price produces 500 ,000 pieces of this toy. And they're being sold to different retailers. Let's say five of them, Walmart, Target, Costco, Sam's Club, and Kohl's, each buy 100 ,000 units. after the cycle, each retailer may only have 10 ,000 units left.

8:46But where do they go? They have a shelf life, even though they don't have expiration date. But after a certain amount of time, they'll be taken off the shelves. So where do they go? They go to liquidation companies. Well, don't worry about everyone else. Let's just say Indoor Trading gets all 50 ,000 pieces of the overstock, right? Where does a liquidation company sell this to? Now they get It's sold to brick and mortar stores, discount stores, online sellers, Amazon sellers and eBay sellers, mall, kiosk. But let's say the online sellers are selling these on Amazon.com. People return products all the time.

9:21Maybe the person moved or they rejected the shipment. Where do these products go? They're still new because they've never been open. They go back to Amazon if they're in the FBA program, like we mentioned, the Fulfillment by Amazon program. then Amazon will either give you the option of having this sent back to your house or quote-unquote dispose it. Now I'm going to use the word quote-unquote dispose it because the disposal could actually mean that this product is thrown into a liquidation trailer that they sell to liquidators. So liquidators get a chance to buy them again. Now don't worry about everyone else.

9:55Let's just say Indoor Trading gets them, right? So now these will go back to retailers one more time, and then they're being sold to flea market sellers or other retailers. You see, JLD, the cycle that I mentioned is not exactly accurate for all brands. However, most brands will follow that cycle with one or maybe less layer. The point is, if you're selling online or wanting to create a side business, there are so many places you can position yourself in the ecosystem to be successful. There's a spot for you. I like to call myself as the trash man for multi-million dollar businesses, and I'm okay with that.

10:33The best part about it is that you can do this with just your network instead of using a big amount of capital, and it won't take as much time as perhaps your full-time occupation right now. We teach this in our wholesale interactive nexus. Before COVID, we did it in person, but now we move the interactive seminar online and I'll share the link later. But this way, you can make sure that your business can shift gears in spite of the restrictions or damages that a pandemic can cause. You can always ignite, Fire Nation. Always ignite, Fire Nation. Always ignite. Now, Augie, first off, what is a wholesale company?

11:11Break that down for us and then share how somebody could actually start a wholesale company that sells based on consumer demand. A wholesale company can be likened to a middleman. I mean, we're practically middlemen, right? So a wholesale company does not really manufacture the products, but we also don't sell to end consumers. So a wholesale company can be a distributor. A wholesale company can be a liquidator like myself, meaning that we buy from brands. We buy from bigger companies who produce the products, and then we sell them to retailers. Retailers could mean literally any retail stores that you see in person or online.

11:51How can you start a wholesale company that can sell almost anything according to consumers' demand? We mentioned earlier, John, that using your network, you can create opportunities. I love this Asian proverb that says, pearls don't lie in the seashore. If you want it, you must dive for it. Meaning that the pearls of our businesses are there in your network. Believe me, it's there. You just got to find it. You just got to work it. Don't be too prideful to ask your network what you can do or what they can help you with when you have problems. Now, let's create a real example, real scenario. Let's say you work in the landscape company, in the landscape industry where you supply landscape companies with tools and materials.

12:35The pandemic happened. In most states, it's required to wear a mask to function in your business or even to be outside, right? So maybe you can start your wholesale business by finding a source, a company who sells masks, who produces, who imports masks or other PPE and sell those PPE items to the landscape companies that are your customers. That's a true story, by the way. We had a gentleman who came to us and he first bought a hundred pieces, a hundred masks. And then he came back the same day, 500 masks. He came back again the same day with cash for a thousand masks. And then the same day for 10 ,000 masks.

13:14Not even kidding you. He was from the landscape supply industry. He bought these masks to sell to his landscape customers who cannot go out there and work, perform their job unless they have a face covering. He found an opportunity. He filled in the gap. While his businesses slowed down, he still generated income. Everyone wins. He truly did what this course is saying, when the business world shifts gear, use it to accelerate your business. Now that's how you can start a wholesale company. Pearls don't lie on the seashore, Fire Nation. You've got to work for it. You have to work for it. Just like back in the day, guess what?

13:54There may have been a gold nugget or two in the streams back at the beginning of the gold rush, but pretty soon you had to work for it. You had to work hard for it. You had to dig deep, far, and be committed to get those pearls to find that gold. And if you think we're even close to being done, dropping our pearls of wisdom, dropping our value bombs, Fire Nation, we got a little ABC coming. Attentive, bold, creative, and so much more when we get back from thanking our sponsors. We all want the same things for our business. More leads, faster sales, and better insights so we can serve our customers at the highest level.

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16:25that's t-i-d-i-o.com slash fire, tideo.com slash fire. So Augie, we're back and we were kind of going a little bit over different things like masks, et cetera. Talk to us about the PPE world and how we can navigate that effectively. First, I want to wish everyone good health and assure everyone that you can get through this tough time. If you've been directly affected by COVID, my heart goes out to you and your families And I hope you get to where you were before or even better and stronger. The PPE world is an interesting world that I was never a part of. The PPE world was attacked and stormed by brokers who weren't educated in the space.

17:11All they saw was dollar figure, right? Oh, I know so-and-so. I know my cousin's wife's cousin's wife, husband who has masks. And you know what? Let me just post it on my LinkedIn, on my social media that I have these masks and they don't even know the paperwork, the FDA registration. They don't even know the filtration. They don't know anything about it. All they saw was all masks are created equal. All PPE are created equal. You need it. I have it. Let's figure it out. Because of this, many have been scammed or even never received their products. Too many people promised PPE and couldn't deliver.

17:46my company and i myself got thrown into it because we had organizations governmental organizations health organizations hospitals around us that ran out of ppe because their seller or broker couldn't deliver one one governmental agency actually ran out of mask and we live in California, one of the worst hit state here. And in Los Angeles, they didn't have mask at all. The day that they were supposed to receive the shipment from the seller, the seller goes, oh, never left China. So what happened? Well, they just assume, they know me, they assume that we carry PPE because we sell everything else.

18:30We sell toys, electronics, household, kitchen goods, everything, right? So they just called me and said, hey, do you have this type of mask? I said, well, not really, but what do you need? Well, we need 350 ,000 pieces. Well, let me find out. And I called him back and I said, we can actually deliver it tomorrow. How? How? We were able to source them through our network. And we've been privileged until today that we've been able to assist so many organizations with their PPE needs. Now, on the other hand, there are people who do their homework, do the groundwork, and they're successful in the PPE world.

19:03One gentleman came to my seminars right before COVID. And he told me recently that in our wholesale nexus, he learned so many things and that taught him things to allow him to jump into the PPE world and put in the work. And I'm so happy to say that he had successfully until today, brokered over$1 billion in PPE in a very short period of time. That's with a B. He put in the work, he does his homework, and you can too. Listen, Augie, we've had a theme all episode about being a problem solver. And that's one thing that you've been able to do very effectively throughout your entire entrepreneurial career.

19:41You've been able to guide and coach and mentor all of your students to do so, as that example you just shared so eloquently. What is the best way that we, Fire Nation, can actually provide solutions when we have an opportunity that is presented before us? Study, study, study, put in the work. Like sometimes after high school or whatever, we forget that we need to study before the test, right? Not study during the test. So when we got introduced to the PPE world, for example, I spent hours and days studying everything I need to know about the products and the customers. I watched videos, things that were created before COVID about the PPE world.

20:21I have a thing. my mindset was I might be the newest kid on the block in the PPE world, but I refuse to be the dumbest one around. So that's how you can be. You can provide solutions when an opportunity hits, but don't just look at it from a dollar figure. Study it. Put in the hard work. There's no substitute for hard work. It's been said a million times before. Just study, prepare, and then when the test comes, hopefully you can score an ace. I love acronyms and you have the ABC, which is attentive, bold, creative, and you use those words specifically when it comes to making a deal. So break that down for Fire Nation.

21:00How can we use ABC when we're making a deal? ABC stands for attentive, bold, and creative. You go to a doctor. If the doctor's on his phone the whole time, if the doctor's replying emails where you're telling him your problems, do you really want to go back to that person? No. Probably not. So be attentive and talk to your customers, suppliers, everybody around you. Give them your attention. If you have to take a phone call, just say, excuse me, I have to take this or ignore it for a second, but be attentive, making them feel like they're the most important person in that room right then and there.

21:34Now, as entrepreneurs, I can say that is one of the hardest things to do because we have a million things that we got to take care of. But if you really want to close a deal, if you really want to make something happen, be attentive. That's the first one. And then the second one, be bold. A lot of times people are shy to express what they need, what they want, what they expect. But the lack of communication is what creates the disappointment. So if you're bold in what you want and you make it clear, communicate that in the most precise way possible, everybody understands we're here to generate revenue.

22:07We're here to accomplish certain things. So be bold. But the last one is extremely important. Be creative. When somebody says no, when somebody says it's not time yet, when somebody says, I don't need your service, that might be true. You don't want to push and push and push, but you can be creative. We mentioned earlier, every business has a problem. There's not a single business around that do not have problems. So if you're a creative person, you can take out this creative inner person that you are and find out the real problems, find out the solutions using your knowledge as well as your network.

22:43Every Entrepreneurs on Fire episode, I end, Augie, by sharing how important it is to surround yourself with incredible people because you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. It's a great Jim Rohn quote. Talk to us about your belief around this and how you surround yourself with people who push you. In the business world that I'm in, I am surrounded by people who work constantly. Now, that might not be something that we want to work 24-7. However, the drive and the work ethic and the integrity that these people show force me to up my game. I always want to be the hardest working person in the room, but at the same time, I don't want to be the smartest either.

23:25So I surround myself with people who are more professionals, more knowledgeable in certain areas than me, and I make sure I learn from them. Again, be attentive. I'm being bold in who I am and what I do, what I represent, but I'm also being attentive and listen to these people because I don't care what position they are. I don't care if they're a CEO or they're working in the service or the cleaning department. I can learn from everybody. I was raised by my parents, especially my dad, to respect everyone and to also learn from every single person, no matter who they are. And in my personal, as well as my professional life, I continue to do that.

24:02And these types of people push me to be better in what I do. Augie, you dropped so many value bombs. Give us the one takeaway that you want to make sure Fire Nation really gets from everything that we've chatted about today. Of course, give us a call to action, a place that we can learn more about you, we can connect with you, and then we'll say goodbye. Absolutely. Well, I just want you to be the ABC that we mentioned. Be attentive, be bold, and be creative. We are living in a tough, tough, tough time. And most of us have never experienced anything like this before. So please don't be discouraged.

24:38Please continue to be attentive in your business. Continue to be bold and continue to be creative in providing solutions to everybody else around you. Use your network to create a foundation of help. Don't be shy. Don't be too prideful to ask for help if you need some, but always, always do your homework, prepare, study. And I know with hard work and creativity and the people around you, you can also get through this hard time. You can always find me at our IndotradingUSA Instagram, but I also want to give something, JLD. If you go to IndotradingUSA.com, that's Indo like Indonesia, trading like you're trading cards in USA, Indotradingusa.com slash fire.

25:24There will be an opportunity, a limited slot for free consultations with me directly, free of charge. I just would love to hear your professional lives. If you want to get a side hustle going, you want to amplify your online or wholesale business, or simply create a strategy for your current business or journey, go to Indotradingusa.com slash fire. This is my way of giving back. So many people have mentored me. So many people have helped me to get to where I am right now. I want to do the same for you. Unfortunately, there's only a limited slot. So go over there, IndotradingUSA.com slash FIRE.