How to Scale with 50,000 Unit Decisions

Scaling an Amazon business sounds straightforward—sell more. Yet, I find a lot of users stuck understanding the how of scaling, which is nuanced.

Ultimately, scaling comes down to asking the right questions. Just like applying reverse engineering.

I learned how to ask better questions from Ramit Sethi's philosophy on personal finance.

Knowing what to focus on

Ramit Sethi writes about personal finance, which doesn't immediately seem applicable to being an Amazon seller. You would be wrong in that assumption. One of Ramit's best perspectives is making $50,000 decisions, rather than $5 ones.

He challenges the conventional advice to cut back on $5 lattes to hit our financial goals. He instead argues that the ~$1,825 /year in savings is trivial compared to larger changes. Changes like negotiating rent or other bills.

In essence, Ramit asks us to focus on what truly moves the needle. The critical few questions that, when answered, unlocks something incredible.

This becomes a superpower when applied to business.

Making 50,000 unit decisions

Let's make this more practical—how can we directly apply this?

Making 50 unit decisions is the equivalent to Ramit's $5 latte. It's helpful, but doesn't add up to much. You'll feel like you're spinning your wheels, working a lot, but getting nowhere far.

This is the "hustle" phase many sellers find themselves stuck in.

50,000 unit decisions are like negotiating your rent or mortgage. It's a single decision that illuminates thousands more. A single decision that unlocks massive opportunity.

An example question is the following: How can I sell/process 50,000 units as easily as 50?

The numbers are not what matters, but the perspective shift is. This is how you begin scaling.

My personal experience

My journey from grinding retail arbitrage to wholesale was a direct result of applying this thinking. So, I asked myself: How can I process/sell 50,000 units a month as easily as 50?

My answer lay in switching to the wholesale based model. I could place 5,000 unit purchase orders as easily as 5. The only difference to me was changing the value in a form.

The next unlock for me was prepping inventory, which was a massive time sink. So, I offloaded all of it to a prep center. Although it cost more per unit, I could then "prep" 50,000 units the same as 50 (from my time constraints).

You can quickly see how this compounds into something incredible, if you want. These are just two questions whose answers enabled me to begin scaling. Imagine answering 5 of these over the course of a year.

Wrapping it up

Transitioning from side hustle to full-time business owner requires a few mindset shifts.

It's rarely the case that you're not smart enough or don't have enough resources. You just need to ask the right questions.