Katie Melissa makes it a business practice of embracing an abundance mindset.
It served her well more than a decade ago when she began her entrepreneurial journey as an influencer.
And it certainly has served her well over the past 10 years as she established herself as one of the nation’s leading independent operators of Amazon stores.
“People with an abundance mindset believe there’s enough success, happiness and opportunity for everyone,” Melissa recently said. “That is exactly what we have done at Elite Automation, knowing that the opportunity for independent store owners in Amazon’s increasingly sophisticated business ecosystem was only going to expand. We believed that when we started and we believe that today.
The numbers support her case. Independent sellers now account for more than 60% of sales in Amazon’s store, according to the company. In 2025, U.S. independent sellers averaged more than $375,000 in annual sales, while more than 75,000 surpassed $1 million in sales.
The company’s history has attracted hundreds of would-be store owners who partner with Elite Automation. Some have their own funds to start a store; others ask alternative lenders for capital. Either way, the potential to generate a strong return is compelling, in part because Melissa has developed a formula for success.
In order to get a sense of how the Amazon-store business has changed in the past decade, we sat down with Melissa to learn more and how operators are responding and the growing role alternative lenders might play in the next phase.
Q: How has the business of buying and operating Amazon stores changed over the past decade, and what were the biggest turning points that shaped the industry?
A: The market moved from a low-competition land grab in the early-to-mid-2010s to a mature, professionalized industry today. Early turning points include Amazon tightening seller verification and account-health enforcement, the rise — and partial fall — of the Amazon FBA “guru” course industry that oversold ease and underdelivered results, and the maturation of the aggregator model, including Thrasio and similar companies, which brought institutional capital into the space and raised the bar for what a “real” Amazon business looked like.
Q: As Amazon’s marketplace has matured and become more competitive, what changes have you made to your own operating model to adapt to higher costs, increased competition and changing platform requirements?
A: We shifted toward a two-step model, combining dropshipping-style flexibility in the early phase with supplier scaling once a product proves demand, rather than committing to large inventory positions on unproven SKUs. We’ve also had to build much more rigorous account-health and compliance processes than would have been necessary 10 years ago because Amazon’s enforcement has gotten sharper and less forgiving.
Q: Ten years ago, what did it take financially and operationally for an entrepreneur to build or acquire a successful Amazon business, and how does that compare with what is required today?
A: A decade ago, a few thousand dollars and a willingness to experiment could get someone into the market with real upside, largely because competition was thin and ad costs were low. Today, it takes meaningfully more capital, sharper account management and either a significant time investment or a management partner. Basically, the barrier to entry has risen, but so has the ceiling because the infrastructure and buyer sophistication around the space have matured. We recommend partnering with a management firm like Elite Automation.
Q: How has the emergence of alternative lenders changed who can buy or build an Amazon store, particularly for entrepreneurs who may not have sufficient capital or access to traditional bank financing?
A: Alternative lending has widened the door for entrepreneurs who don’t have $50,000 to $100,000 in liquid capital but do have a viable business case. It has decoupled access to the opportunity from personal net worth in a way traditional bank underwriting never allowed for e-commerce, since banks have historically been slow to understand or lend against digital, platform-dependent assets.
Q: What do alternative lenders look for when deciding whether to finance an Amazon entrepreneur, and how should an entrepreneur evaluate the cost and risks of that capital before taking it?
A: They tend to underwrite based on revenue consistency, account age and health, and margins — closer to revenue-based financing than traditional collateral lending. Entrepreneurs should scrutinize the effective APR, not just the headline rate; the repayment structure relative to cash-flow timing; and whether the lender’s incentives are aligned with the business succeeding long term or simply collecting fees regardless of the outcome.
Q: Looking ahead five years, do you expect financing to become an even bigger part of the Amazon-store ecosystem, and what changes do you anticipate making to Elite Automation as the marketplace continues to evolve?
A: Yes. As the space professionalizes further, access to capital will likely become as important as operational expertise in determining who succeeds. We’d expect to deepen relationships with alternative lenders and financing partners so clients can scale the same managed asset with additional capital without us stepping outside our core competency of operations.
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