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Founder@ Interview
Interview with Shola Parker
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“I would say just do it. Get started. Learn along the way. That said, get educated about your sector. If you want to be an online seller like myself, study the host platform’s policies carefully.” – Shola Parker
Today we feature Shola Parker, the founder at The Winning Students. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I’m a serial entrepreneur, online merchant, and mentor. Once upon a time, I was thousands of pounds in debt, working long hours in two jobs as a train driver and teaching assistant, and still unable to pay my bills. I was quite ashamed of my financial situation, given that I had no dependents to account for my five-figure debts. I also had no other means of financial support. My mother is disabled and on benefits.
I battled anxiety and depression and, for a period of about four years, I evaded the bailiffs. Becoming an online seller and entrepreneur crucially turned my life around. I chose to become this because I needed a flexible means of obtaining additional income whilst still retaining my two jobs.
I’ve gone from being thousands of pounds in debt to earning up to £10,000 a week. I now mentor people through my own courses showing them the tricks of the trade of being a successful online seller. Some of my students have cleared £100,000 in their first year, and other students make up to £15,000 a month after just four months.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
The first time I realised I had an entrepreneurial streak was at school when I was around 13 years old. In the playground, I would re-sell sweets, chocolates and crisps to other pupils.
I would typically earn around £50 a day. There was a boy at school who already did this. He had a loyal customer base, but I fancied capitalising on this too. I would go to the local supermarket and buy a pack of 5 cookies for around £1.50 and then resell each cookie in that bag for 50p each. I’d do the same for crisps too. Naturally, with a captured audience, I was able to sell for a premium.
I was quite cheeky to my teachers, but I was also very smart, which probably frustrated them. Naughty kids aren’t normally the ones with the best results. That said, they were always positive and encouraging of my abilities. I left schools with straight A’s, apart from science which I absolutely hated. I was quite content with my B.
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Before running my current businesses, I once aspired to become an accountant. I think this was largely because it paid well and was a career that would make my mother proud. It wasn’t until university that I realised the job just wasn’t for me. I didn’t enjoy it.
After that, I tried my hand at many things: from working in sales and property management to becoming a train driver. And although my education gave me options I felt, at one point, rather directionless. I was also financially illiterate. One of the worst pieces of advice I’d been given was that if I couldn’t afford something, I should just put it on the credit card …
But I soon found out that it was far too easy to overspend.
As soon as I was old enough to get a credit card, aged 18, I did and soon accrued debt in excess of £10,000. This was though car finance, credit card debts, bank loans and interest on overdrafts. When things got really bad, I had bailiffs turning up at my house practically every week. For around 3 to 4 years, I lived in fear of the knocks on door, always advising my family to check before opening.
It was at this point that I knew I couldn’t live on like this and so I committed to do something about it. I knew that I needed a way to supplement my income with a job that still allowed me to work in my two part time roles. It was 2019 when I decided to become an online seller for Amazon. It wasn’t my first foray in online selling; I had tried to sell hair extensions and kids clothing, although it wasn’t profitable.
This time round, I tried a different tactic. I would sell basic household items like washing up liquid, laundry detergent, beauty creams and deodorants and soon expanded to pet food and accessories. Amazon is a massive platform and because the products I sold were well-known brands, it didn’t require any advertising spend. All I had to do was purchase the product at a low price, list it on Amazon and then resell it for a profit.
In my first accounting year, I was able to turnover £94,000 from selling on both Amazon and eBay. I earned a further £70,000 from teaching others the tricks of the trade. I would typically make £1,000 a day, but the most I’ve ever made is £3,000 a day.
When I started clearing £1,000 a day or more, I would post about my successes on social media, using Instagram and YouTube. The more money I made and posted about my successes, the more people would ask how I had done it and whether I could also teach them too.
At first, I would provide advice to a few people a day, but it soon escalated. It was then that I decided to set up a community of ‘students’ that could learn collectively the tricks of the trade of being an Amazon online seller.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
I have multiple online shops selling everything from household good to pet care. But my mentoring business, The Winning Students, provides participants with the tools to scale their business without having to stump up a sizeable amount of capital.
I teach aspiring entrepreneurs how to set up their business with as little as £250. Students get access to an online course comprising 35+ videos, access to a student community and portal containing useful resources as well as monthly mentoring with myself.
This is an interactive online course although my business is based in London.
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
Being an overachiever in school made me have belief in myself. I was confident that anything I could put my mind to, I could accomplish.
I am very driven. I’d say that Grant Cardone, the sales trainer and author, definitely inspires me. Many say that he’s too harsh and abrupt, but I like his style.
That’s the type of motivation I need. If you tell me I’m doing well, I will probably take my foot off the gas … Weird as it seems, someone like Grant Cardone telling me in his audiobooks that I’m absolute rubbish and have a long way to go actually keeps me on my toes.
My mother has struggled with illness all her life. Fibromyalgia and lupus has caused her to live with severe bone pain, seizures and fainting every day. But her resilience and determination has been a huge inspiration for me. Even when she’s bed bound, she sets goals to fight the pain and get out of bed regardless.
This is a simple act that so many of us take for granted. For her, it is a small but important victory against the everyday challenges that beset her life. My mother has always pushed me to do better, so her attitude has shaped my work ethic today. Her tough Caribbean love has made me resilient.
I believe that you can do it, you are right.
But I also think that If you believe you can’t do it, you are also probably right: someone once said to me that the same water that softens a potato hardens an egg. It’s stuck with me.
You can either choose to look at the positive in a situation or get consumed by the negatives. An optimistic perspective helps energise you to make a business goal a success.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
Whilst being an online seller was certainly the answer to my debt issues and has since become a very lucrative source of income, it hasn’t always been plain sailing.
I once unwittingly violated Amazon’s policies as a seller and, at one point, was blocked from selling on the platform and had £14,000 of funds withheld from me. It was a lesson I learnt the hard way. From thereon in, I paid due diligence, studying many of Amazon’s policies to ensure that I never violated a policy again.
Also, my Amazon business experienced rapid growth in a short space of time. In a year, I went from having £10,000 worth of debt to earning over £100,000. But I was very conscious of my lack of knowledge in wealth management. It was precisely this ignorance with money that led me to debt in the first place. I didn’t want to make the same mistakes again. Initially, I managed my money myself and it led to me making mistakes. I am now looking to employ a financial adviser to assist me with this challenge.
Running a business on my own was, and still is, difficult. Currently, I’m looking to employ permanent members of staff who can deal with the pallet loads of products that are being delivered to my unit and ship them to Amazon. The moment I moved into a 600sqft unit and received 6 pallets at once from a supplier, I knew I needed to start investing in systems and
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
Do not doubt yourself. Do something that you enjoy. It’s very easy to get caught up in wanting to have a job that sounds good on paper. I’d tell my younger self to start that business and see it through.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
I use specialised Amazon software to help me sell and find products; a pump truck to help me move my pallets around; Xero to help me monitor my sales and expenses and Monday.com to help me schedule my days and tasks I need to do.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
Running a business on my own was, and still is, difficult. Currently, I’m looking to employ permanent members of staff who can deal with the pallet loads of products that are being delivered to my unit and ship them to Amazon. The moment I moved into a 600sqft unit and received 6 pallets at once from a supplier, I knew I needed to start investing in systems and
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
Just turning my life around. I wouldn’t say that I love money but I would definitely say that I love what money has allowed me to do, the freedom it has given me, how it has allowed me to help my family, especially my mum who is disabled. I am able to drive a nice car (Mercedes GLA), do charitable work and give money to people that are in need. And, if I need to, I can have a lie in whenever my anxiety attacks arise. I can govern my time better because, quite literally, I now make money in my sleep.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
Currently I’m working on building relationships with start-up brands to help my Amazon business scale, and I want to develop and strengthen my own brand.
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
I would say just do it. Get started. Learn along the way. That said, get educated about your sector. If you want to be an online seller like myself, study the host platform’s policies carefully. Mistakes will cause stress and, worst case scenario, loss of money. Finally, things will get tough from when you start up, and even when you grow and become profitable. It’s par for the course. Never give up.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and The Winning Students”
To learn more about The Winning Students Visit https://thewinningstudents.co.uk/
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