College Drop-Out Makes it Big with Online eBusiness :: Sell Websites Buy Websites

College Drop-Out Makes it Big with Online eBusiness Reprinted with permission of VotanWeb.com In May, Sam Lave dropped out of college and stumbled upon an untapped market on the internet. Nothing has been the same since. Sam wanted to start an hobby related company due to the interest he developed pursuing a hobby in college. A loyal online buyer and occasional seller, he searched the internet for the hobby equipment he would need. Nobody was selling it. In a single moment an idea came to him that would change his life forever. Mr. Lave purchased the hobby equipment he needed directly from the manufacturer. Once it arrived at his home, he listed it for auction. Ten days later the equipment sold to the highest of twenty-three bidders, earning Mr. Lave a large profit. He began doing this over and over, and eventually earned enough money to make selling on the internet a full-time job. In his first three months, Mr. Lave sold $215,000 in merchandise. Mr. Lave had designed Web sites for cash during college but he decided against building his own website. He had no idea how he would gain publicity for the website and build traffic. On the internet, no traffic equals no money. Mr. Lave borrowed some money from his family and used VotanWeb to quickly identify and purchase an established hobby related website. During his first year in business, sales totaled approximately $900,000. This year, the 20-year-old expects gross sales to reach $3 million. "I basically used an existing website to get my name out on the internet and then built my reputation by providing hobby equipment people want and giving them solid technical support," he says. To keep sales growing, Mr. Lave began to sell a variety hobby products, but his success attracted copycats. Competitors followed his lead and started offering prices he couldn't match without reducing his profit margin. Fortunately, Mr Lave realized he could maintain his profit margins by offering technical support. "For someone who's not a serious hobby enthusiast, this equipment can be challenging to build and operate," he says. "Some of the manuals that come with the products are up to 800 pages long." Mr. Lave added a service section to his Web site and began to provide technical assistance. This resulted in increased sales. In an effort to provide additional technical support to customers, Mr. Lave made a training DVD and started selling it on his Web site.