Kirk Cooper’s life looks drastically different today than it did a decade ago, as the CEO of Ecom Automation Gurus. Before the spring of 2013 when he set up his first Amazon storefront, he was teaching at the high school that he graduated from and trying to maintain the ‘American Dream’ while barely making ends meet for his family of five.
Cooper was absolutely overwhelmed.
While he loved teaching high school students and performed well at his school, he realized that he was never going to make financial gains in a job where his income was determined, not by how great of a teacher he was, but by forces outside of his control.
“I just felt like I was caught up in the rat race,” Cooper said. “I was over-trading time for money and tired of making just enough to support my family.”
So, in the spring of 2013, Cooper set up his first Amazon storefront in an attempt to create a side-hustle that would bring in more income for his growing family.
Since then, he has gone from an underpaid, yet passionate, high school teacher to an eCommerce wiz who now teaches others the secrets of making passive income from automated eCommerce stores.
While his income has transformed dramatically, his profession has not. He is still teaching, but rather than teaching college prep courses to angsty teenagers, he spends his time teaching adults how to realize their dreams of economic freedom through setting up and automating their own eCommerce store.
Side Hustle Evolution to Income Revolution
While it’s easy to look back now and gloss over the rough patches, setting up his eCommerce store was not without its own frustrations and late nights. There was a steep learning curve, but Cooper soon realized that he had a knack for eCommerce and watched his profits steadily climb.
Within time, Cooper’s eCommerce “side hustle” was far outpacing his public school teacher’s salary and he was earning $40,000 to $50,000 each month. He initially kept his day job but realized that he was stretched too thin. He was a one-man show, answering every customer’s service request, fulfilling every order, handling inventory, and implementing marketing strategies to boot.
As Cooper studied his business, he realized that automation was the solution to his time-crunch dilemma. He quickly devised a plan to automate his shop to maximize both time and profit. Much of his time was taken up by fulfilling orders, so Cooper switched to a dropshipping model and hired a team of virtual assistants who he could train remotely.
After rearranging his business model, passive income began to roll in. His profits doubled within a few months and Cooper felt comfortable enough to leave his teaching role.
“This is the way entrepreneurship works,” he said. “You get an opportunity, you develop it, and before you know it, the fire is fueling itself.”
Once a Teacher, Always a Teacher
It is safe to say that long gone are the days when people stayed with one career – or even one company – for their entire careers. Cooper’s story mirrors that of many professionals, who realize that opportunities are endless with online retail.
“The way I see it, jobs and professions are not as stable as they used to be,” Cooper said. “That said, online shopping is not going away. And, as long as you are providing good products paired with good service, there’s less chance of things going awry with eCommerce than with many other fields.”
Cooper, who authored the book, Scratch and Claw: The Path to Entrepreneurial Greatness, believes that eCommerce retailers have to work smarter, instead of harder. This will lead professionals to have more free time to pursue their passions or spend time with their families.
Cooper now uses his love for teaching to help his clients in creating and successfully running their own eCommerce store. His company, Ecom Automation Gurus, assists clients with every step of the process. From using drop-shipping to hiring virtual assistants, he helps any eCommerce retailer work smarter instead of harder. He even offers full store management services, where Ecom Automation Gurus will completely run the business for clients, taking on the full responsibility of the eCommerce store from customer support to site maintenance.
His tale of success is often a motivator for his new crop of students, hungry for financial freedom and a steady passive income.
“I have more free time than I ever imagined and make more money than I ever imagined,” Cooper said. “I have safety in knowing my family is taken care of financially, and I have the ability to mentor and teach others. What more could I ask for?”
About Ecom Automation Gurus
Ecom Automation Gurus creates a fully automated eCommerce store for its users to assist in making passive income. Founder and CEO Kirk Cooper has been featured on Entrepreneur.com and Yahoo Finance. To check out their services and book a call, visit their website here.
