Michael Fenech, co-founder of The EndGame Network, saw success after only six months with the company. The company’s commitment to its client base of Amazon sellers have earned EndGame their trust and their votes at the 2020 Seller Poll for the “Number One Facebook Community for Amazon Sellers.”
At The EndGame Network, which Michael Fenech co-founded with Jamie Paros, is an “Amazon mentorship company.” If you join the Network, you’ll get direct access to their “global networks and cutting edge techniques.” You’ll also receive solutions that will help you bring your Amazon business to the next level, while also developing your personality.
Both Michael Fenech and Paros share extensive connections to the world’s “most prominent and most experienced Amazon experts.” They deploy these connections smartly to help push other Amazon sellers break through to the wider market. Every two weeks, the two founders host a live program where they interview celebrities such as “expert Amazon sellers, Olympic Gold medalists and ex-Facebook executives” to share their success stories and inspire people to follow their example.
As Michael Fenech says, “We care about our group and work hard to bring them usable tips each week to improve their businesses.” He adds that the EndGame Network gives tremendous value at low cost, which is why they have achieved success and won awards like the Seller Poll.
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Jerome Knyszewski: Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Michael Fenech: I suppose my appetite for business models that can operate while I sleep was a significant factor when it came to how I ended up in this career path. I remember I was surfing the net late one night while on a business trip in Los Angeles and came across an ad about eCommerce and that one ad led me down so many rabbit holes that I found myself deeply entrenched in eCommerce daily.
Jerome Knyszewski: Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
Michael Fenech: There have been lots of hard times during my journey. It’s part of being an entrepreneur. Some of the most challenging times, during the growth of our tech company, came from having cash flow struggles.
Like all startups would know, especially if you’re pre-revenue, managing your runway and not running out of cash is the toughest thing to handle because there is no “quick fix”. This got me down, and I must admit I struggled because I felt there was no way out. But we got through it and came out the other side which was a massive relief.
Jerome Knyszewski: Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
Michael Fenech: Like I said, a clear vision is all the fuel you need to keep the drive going. If you have a strong vision, you should never give up. If you do, you aren’t passionate enough, or your dream doesn’t mean enough.
Jerome Knyszewski: So, how are things going today?
Michael Fenech: Things are going great. Our eCommerce group has grown to over 2,100 members, and we are launching more products within our brand. We are also running a series of one day eCommerce workshops for the eCommerce sellers within our group.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though. One of our tech companies is going through a tough time at the moment, but that’s part of being an entrepreneur. We will improvise, adapt and overcome as best as we can.
Jerome Knyszewski: How did grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?
Michael Fenech: By being in the trenches and “doing battle”, you learn about what works and what doesn’t. So applying what works from a constant assessment of my actions is what led to eventual success. Had I have given up, I would not have learnt those valuable lessons.
Jerome Knyszewski: Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting?
Michael Fenech: The funniest mistake I made was assuming that every product I’d launch when I was drop shipping, would be a smash hit and I would make lots of money. I think it was just blind optimism.
I laugh when I think about it now, because in reality, selling products online doesn’t work like that.
Jerome Knyszewski: Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Michael Fenech: I learned that when you launch a product to sell online, you can’t guess. You have to base your launch decision on data, the amount of opportunity there is as well as looking at the competitive landscape.
Jerome Knyszewski: What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my company” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
Michael Fenech:
- Have a product that really solves a problem.
This is mission-critical. If your product or service does not solve a problem, people aren’t in enough pain to pay you to solve it.
2. Revenue should be the number one goal.
Businesses are created to solve problems and make money. So revenue should be the number one goal with every business decision you make.
3. Growth is less important than revenue.
We were fixated on growth which is important, but at the end of the day, revenue wins every time. Can’t stress this enough.
4. Carefully choose who you allow to invest in your business.
This is important. If you are raising capital, whoever invests in your business is now more closely connected to you than ever before. So that being said, you need to make sure the investor is a good fit for your values and direction.
5. The rules of engagement when dealing with big corporates.
Have patience. That’s it. If you are dealing with big corporates and think things will go fast, you’re wrong. It’s a slow burn so, by all means, deal with them, but know it will take some time to reach the desired outcome.
Jerome Knyszewski: How can our readers follow you on social media?
Michael Fenech: You can follow me on Instagram — @michaelfenech. Each day, I provide tips to help people become better entrepreneurs.
Jerome Knyszewski: This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!