A former Centrelink worker who was living pay check to pay check now claims to turn over millions of dollars a year after ditching her job to become an entrepreneur.
As a 19-year-old debt collector, Emma Cunningham knew there was more to life than ‘climbing the corporate ladder’ and waiting for a pay rise.
She shifted her focus to the e-commerce space and with help from a mentor she started dropshipping products on Amazon in 2019 at the age of 24.
After just a few months selling online, she left her full-time job at Centrelink and is now living a completely different life three years down the track.
Emma, from Melbourne, told FEMAIL anyone can start dropshipping and follow in her footsteps, but warned it takes patience, dedication and perseverance to succeed.
The job involves shipping products from the manufacturer directly to the customer without the retailer ever seeing it. The business method is deemed to be controversial to some but it’s also competitive.
Emma Cunningham (pictured) is a young entrepreneur from Melbourne who started selling products on Amazon in 2020 via the dropshipping method. For five years she worked at Centrelink as a debt collector and knew there was more to life
When her online business spiked in April 2020 she quit her 9-5 and now claims to to be a turning over seven figures. Dropshipping involves shipping products from the manufacturer directly to the customer without the retailer ever seeing it but is controversial and competitive
Emma, 27, said she was living ‘paycheck to paycheck’ while working at Centrelink.
‘I remember sitting at work taking calls for Centrelink and just feeling like, is this all there is to life at only 20 years old,’ she said.
At the beginning she invested her time and money to research everything she could about selling on Amazon. She signed up for courses, found a mentor who she paid to teach her, and finally launched her own dropshipping store selling pet products.
‘My target customer was dog owners; I focused on the fact that pet owners – myself included – spend money on making sure pets have everything they need,’ Emma said.
‘I now sell a wide variety of different products, based on market demand and what has the best profit margin. My focus is selling good quality products, but also making as much money as possible from each sale.’
She scaled the business to six figures by the end of the second month of having the store live and is on track to turn over $5million in 2023.
In the beginning she invested her time and money to research everything she could about selling on Amazon. She signed up for courses, found a mentor who she paid to teach her, and finally launched her own dropshipping store selling pet products
Today she’s financially stable, is able to work from anywhere in the world and can afford luxury brands – such as a nice car, handbags and business class flights.
People start businesses for a variety of reasons – for some it’s to solve a problem, for others it’s their ‘dream job’, but for Emma it was mostly about money.
She was driven to become financially independent and set her own path.
‘I’ve always wanted to start my own brand. My dad has owned businesses my whole life so I was definitely exposed to it at a young age,’ she said.
The astronomical growth of her dropshipping business means she’s now able to work from anywhere in the world and afford luxury brands and business class flights.
At the start Emma said she set herself daily goals – such as making $1,000 in one day, which gradually became $25,000 daily and then $500,000 monthly.
But the success didn’t happen overnight. Most of the time Emma would work until 10pm, and at one point in the first year she lost $50,000 from ‘bad business decisions’. She also became lonely working for herself and missed the social aspect of a workplace
But the success didn’t happen overnight.
Most of the time Emma would work until 10pm, and at one point in the first year she lost $50,000 from ‘bad business decisions’.
Almost half of this was due to lack of communication with the manufacturer who sent out different coloured products to customers.
On another occasion Google shut down her Facebook ads, which taught her she needed another form of marketing to advertise her products to customers.
Now she invests millions into social media and email marketing to generate profit.
Emma admits that although she enjoys success and wealth, she grew lonely after working for herself.
To fill that void she started coaching clients met through Instagram on how to do business.
This eventually led her to launch My Amazon Empire at the start of 2022 – her own online educational consulting agency to assists anyone who wants to own and operate an Amazon business or already has one.
Since then the business now employs seven people and has 30 clients and counting.
‘We work in direct partnership with all of our clients, so if they don’t see results, we don’t get paid,’ Emma said.
But those wanting to work with the My Amazon Empire team will need to fork out a minimum of $10,000 for a basic package or up to $60,000 for the top-tier package.
Emma said she ‘genuinely’ believes dropshipping is easier than building a brand with your own products.
In 2020 she launched My Amazon Empire – her own online educational consulting agency to assists anyone who wants to own and operate an Amazon business or already has one. Emma said she ‘genuinely’ believes anyone can start dropshipping but it takes time, patience and perseverance
‘I’ve done my own brand before and know what goes into that, how quickly someone else can come along and replicate all of your hard work,’ she said.
‘Seasons change, product demand changes, and you’ve constantly got to be planning ahead to see success with your own brand.
‘But the easiest way to do ecommerce and make money? Amazon FBA, without a doubt. I now source products from brands that are already so established, the credibility is already there and customers pay whatever they need to to get access to the items.’
As for dropshipping itself Emma says it’s not ‘hard’ but it’s highly competitive because anyone can do it and so many people are already.
‘It takes perseverance and dedication to the business. I think where people go wrong is they compare their day one results to their mentors day 600 and get discouraged,’ she said.
‘Like any business, you need to commit and stick to it and you will see results.’
Emma is also a one-woman-show, wearing ‘all the hats’ of the business, from the director to the marketer, social media manager, photographer and product buyer.
‘There’s a lot of moving parts to doing e-commerce successfully so you need to be prepared to learn and get good at it.
She said those looking for a ‘get rich quick’ scheme definitely shouldn’t consider dropshipping.
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