Starting an online business today is far more easier than it was 10 years ago.
In the past, the people who had an unfair advantage of starting a successful internet business were either I.T. trained or have the resources to hire experts.
But today, the rules of the internet have drastically changed.
Technology has literally leveled the playing field of new online entrepreneurs, creating equal opportunities for anybody who has intentions in pursuing online entrepreneurship as a long-term career.
Today, people can easily leverage on local online shopping platforms such as Qoo10, Lazada, Carousell, Shopee, Ebay and Amazon.. etc, just to name a few.
Take for example, Qoo10 - A korean online shopping portal that has gained popularity in Singapore over the years, already has more than 3 million shoppers just in this small country alone.
They provide sellers with "90% done for you" systems; taking care of many time consuming operational tasks such as product pick-up and delivery, marketing and publicity as well as a website.
Sellers need to focus only on sourcing for good quality products and listing them for sale on the Qoo10 shopping platform - and they are open for business.
Andrew Tan from Singapore is one of Qoo10 most influential Power Seller who has sold over more than a million products on the popular korean shopping platform since he listed his first product for sale in the year 2011.
Today, he has a team who manages his Qoo10 business.
And he dedicates his spare time teaching others how to run their Qoo10 business efficiently, spending no more than one hour a day on the computer.
However, things did not started out easy for Andrew.
Andrew Tan used to be a struggling employee who tried to supplement his income with a part-time Qoo10 business.
He learnt to build the business the hard way, often losing sleep and having to wake up early the next day to go to work.
As a result, his health suffered.
In 2014, Andrew was diagnosed with 'Bells Palsy' - a condition that left half of his face paralysed due to a viral infection.
Being unable to focus on work for long hours like he once used to, Andrew was later forced to leave his job.
As the sole breadwinner of his family, he can only rely the success of his Qoo10 business for livelihood.
But that also came with its own challenges, as Andrew had to change the way he ran his part-time online business to fit his current lifestyle.
His breakthrough soon came when he chanced upon a famous quote by Warren Buffett - "If you can't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die."”
Andrew eventually found a way to automate his entire Qoo10 business without much of his physical involvement.
And he now makes profits double that the amount of his combined income from both his previous job and his earlier Qoo10 business.
Today, Andrew has helped more than 3000 people around the world find success in taking advantage of popular internet shopping portals to start their online business; platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Lazada, and Qoo10.
His students swear by his easy-to-understand systematic approach to starting out a Qoo10 business.
"I like how Andrew always tell us never to fall in love with our products. Instead of assuming what the market wants, just apply his research formula to find out what customers are already looking to buy on Qoo10 and just sell it to them. I have hit my first $10,000 in sales within the first month of attending the class. His method really works"- David Wong, Andrew's student.
"I bumped into Andrew at the coffee shop recently and thanked him for his help. He didn't remember who i was until I told him that I was actually one of his students from a couple of years back. Last year, my annual sales has crossed the one million mark."- Cedric Soh
"I didn't had any I.T. background when I first started out. But I was convinced with Andrew's sincerity that even his oldest student, an 82 year old gentleman could see results, I decided to give it a try. With a leap of faith, I went all out to apply what I learnt from Andrew. And my first batch of products were sold out faster than I expected. - Crystal Wu
In a recent interview, Andrew Tan mentions how being close to the verge of being fully paralyzed and an almost near-death experience changed his perspective both in his business and on life.
"In the past, i chased wealth at the expense of my health. And then later, I had to use wealth to try to gain back my health. If I could share the business secrets with others that I so sacrificed my health to gain, so that people don't have to go through the hardships i went through in starting an online business… I think it's worth it."
Today, Andrew Tan has a successful Qoo10 business that runs without his involvement.
And he now uses his spare time to teach others how to start a successful online business without spending more than an hour a day.
