Donald Wyatt left Florida and moved to Omaha, Nebraska to work for a computer services company that specializes in supporting banks. Then one day he lost his position there. He was forced into a period of self-evaluation, wondering, "what should I do with my life?" He was in an area he didn't love and was considering whether or not he should go back to work for someone else, or "create my own destiny and do something I wanted." Donald wasn't afraid of trying to open a business for himself. He had already run another business for a few years and had started a computer consulting business while in college pursuing a degree in international business and marketing.

About that time, Donald received an invitation in the mail to a StoresOnline Internet preview meeting. "It looked interesting," he says simply. He accepted the invitation and went to the preview because he had a basic interest in the Internet. He knew the Internet can "take the little guy and put them on equal terms with the big companies." When invited to attend and go to a full-day training workshop, Donald again accepted so he could gather more information. Donald had missed the workshop in his local city, but he was so motivated that he drove three hours to Kansas City to catch the next workshop session.

Looking back, he says, "The full-day session was well worth it. Even if you chose not to go with StoresOnline, I thought the presentation that was done was done well. It helped to motivate me and get me moving."

Donald bought StoresOnline websites at the end of the day-long workshop because the speaker had opened his eyes to the possibilities of drop shipping other manufacturer's products. Donald was intrigued enough with the idea that he bought.

"The biggest fear is, 'is this really going to work?'" he explains. "And that fear is about yourself-'can I really make this happen?' Most people can do whatever they want to do."

With that kind of belief and resolve, Donald began his Internet business adventure.

Right away, he knew a product he wanted to offer-travel videos. An avid traveler, Donald was following advice from the workshop by picking a product he was passionate about. And, he figured, with a travel-related business, he could deduct many of the travel expenses he usually incurred anyway. He did his research on the Internet for travel videos and decided the product category was a winner. There weren't that many competitors, and even the ones that were in the market (including such giants as Amazon and Barnes & Noble) stocked only a very limited selection. Donald decided to beat his competitors on the variety of videos he would stock.

He began creating his website soon after he attended the workshop. That was in July of 2003. Donald set high goals for himself. Because he wanted to have a large selection of videos, he decided not to even publish his website to the Internet until he had at least 500 different videos available to sell. Between July 12 and September 1, he found the products, took the product pictures, and created all of the necessary web pages. He also created a unique navigational system within his storefront that would allow potential customers to click on maps to see different categories of videos.

Donald met his product goals and even managed to publish early-in August. His first sale came within hours. In fact, there were only three or four days in September that he did not make a sale. Donald, who had financed his purchase with StoresOnline, was making money with his storefronts very quickly.

"I was able to get up and running and had money coming in before my first payment was due to the financing company for my storefront purchase," Donald explains happily. "My business has funded its own growth."

But even Donald didn't know how much people would like his products. His predictions were so far off that he quickly realized this would not be a drop shipping business.

"My original estimates of what people would buy were underestimated," he continues. Instead of buying a single product here and there, "people were buying 5 to 10 to 15 products at a time. After the first week, I made the decision to start inventorying the product." He built a shelf in his basement and began to carry a small inventory of videos. Then demand for his products forced him to build a second shelf and then a third. By February 2004-only 6 months after he had published his site for the first time, Donald had outgrown his basement. He relocated back to his beloved Florida and moved his business into a 2000 square foot warehouse.

Donald then began his second store. He wanted to make use of his international business background and do some importing. Electric and gas-powered scooters were becoming faddishly popular, so he opened discountscooterstore.com. He simply imported entire containers of scooters directly from China and sold them on his site for less-cutting out the middleman. It was a simple strategy, but one that worked. He managed to get his store published just before Christmas, 2003, and was immediately successful.

He had some problems getting the first shipment of scooters from China, but says, "In any business, you have things that can discourage you. Successful business persons deal with problems and overcome them." Donald had to do some quick maneuvering to get his scooters through customs. He plied on custom agents' emotions and told them, "But kids have to get their gifts for Christmas!" And it worked. He went to the docks, made some adjustments to the products himself, and got them through customs.

"If you want to be successful," he says wryly, "you have to put yourself in the position that you have to be. When you have those days, you try and just remind yourself where you are going and what your vision is."

Donald appreciates the training and tools he receives through StoresOnline. "The tools, from a marketing perspective, that StoresOnline provides are great," he says enthusiastically. "TravelVideoStore.com launched in September, and by December was in the top 90,000 sites in the world. StoresOnline makes your company look bigger than you really are. You can run it out of your home, and no one has to know you are running it out of your home."

But Donald is quick to warn people who believe it doesn't take work.

"Hopefully, people who open a website don't think they will just open it and money will pour in. The biggest mistake most people make on an Internet business is that they don't take it serious enough and treat it like a true business," he says.

Donald sees his stores as true businesses, and works accordingly. He has thrown himself, his heart, and soul into his work by putting in long hours.

"I see the long-term vision," he explains. "The travel video store is going to be a large company."

Donald offered the following advice: "I recommend [StoresOnline] to lots of people. I started a business out of my home. A year from now I will probably be in a 10,000 square foot office. But it is like any other business. You have to have the determination to do the work. The thing that separates successful people from unsuccessful people is that successful people are willing to do even the things they don't necessarily want to do. It's not like you just push a button and something happens. And I'm not saying people should quit their jobs, but if this is something you really want to make happen, you have to be serious about making it happen. You have to make the decision that you are going to do what it takes to be successful."

And the rewards are exciting. "You find yourself checking the Internet in the middle of the night," Donald says gleefully. "On Easter Sunday I checked the Internet after our family went home. I had received 12 orders just that evening. There is a definite thrill when you can do that."

Visit Donald Wyatt's Stores Online at
        www.travelvideostore.com
        www.discountscooterstore.com

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