Tired of Doing It All? How to Hire, Delegate, and Build a 7-Figure Amazon Business You Don’t Have to Run

Imagine scaling your Amazon brand to 7 figures. Now, picture doing it while traveling the world and living life on your own terms. Sounds like a dream, right? For many 6- and 7-figure Amazon sellers, this vision is what sparked their entrepreneurial journey. Yet, the reality often looks different. You're constantly putting out fires, stuck in the daily grind, and your time feels like the ultimate bottleneck.

You're working harder than ever, but growth feels stagnant. Strategic planning is a distant dream. Your personal life suffers, and the joy you once found in your business seems to have vanished. You’re not just feeling stressed; you’re starting to feel like an employee in your own company, trapped by the endless demands.

But what if you could change that? What if you could build a business that supports your vision, allows you to delegate energy-draining tasks, and helps you rediscover the passion that first led you to entrepreneurship?

In this post, we’re diving deep into the journey of Sumner Hobart, a successful entrepreneur who turned this dream into a reality. He didn’t just build multiple successful businesses; he did it while exploring 41 countries in four years. Sumner’s story isn’t just inspiring; it’s a blueprint for breaking free from the daily grind, overcoming the fear of hiring, and finding profound joy in your daily work.

You’ll learn how to build a team that supports your vision, delegate effectively, and align your daily tasks with what you truly love. These are the key steps that will help you scale your Amazon business while still enjoying the freedom and lifestyle you always envisioned.

Let’s get started.

The Wake-Up Call: From Corporate Misery to Entrepreneurial Frustration

Sumner’s journey began not too differently from many of yours. Back in 2018, fresh out of college and newly married, he and his wife, Allie, plunged into their corporate jobs. Sumner was doing qualitative research for major brands like Adidas and Nike, while Allie worked in architecture.

“Within six months of working, I was absolutely miserable,” Sumner recalls. The daily commute, the Cincinnati winters, and the feeling of being underutilized were draining. He had big ideas for growth, for innovative strategies, but they were dismissed. Instead, he found himself doing mundane, automatable tasks like transcribing videos.

"I felt like I could be doing more," he explains. He was saving money, packing lunches, and trying to excel in every area of his life, which, surprisingly, created a toxic environment with his colleagues. This experience solidified one undeniable truth: he couldn't do this for the next 40 years. The thought of retiring at 60 or 65 just to start living his goals felt like a life half-lived.

So, he quit.

With Allie still working, Sumner immediately searched for ways to provide. He stumbled upon Amazon FBA – the idea of creating products, shipping them from China, and selling them through Amazon. The allure was simple yet powerful: you could do this from anywhere in the world.

They bought a course, navigated mistakes, and launched their first product. The results were astounding. “That one product was generating more profit than both of our incomes combined at the time,” Sumner reveals. This immediate success prompted Allie to quit her job too, and their entrepreneurial journey truly began.

The Paradox of Success: More Money, Less Freedom

The business was growing, more products were launched, and financial success was undeniable. But a new challenge emerged. Allie, being from sunny Brazil, found the Cincinnati winters depressing. The realization hit them: they could be doing this from anywhere.

So, they moved to Florianopolis, Brazil. This was the start of their global adventures, eventually leading them to explore 41 countries. Yet, despite the travel and the growing income, they found themselves busier than ever. They were working long hours, maxing out their time, juggling their Amazon business with a budding e-commerce YouTube channel and even a travel YouTube channel.

“We spread ourselves really thin,” Sumner admits. “We were super busy with everything going on.” The paradox was stark: they were making money, but they had zero freedom. They couldn't even take a vacation.

Does this sound familiar? You’ve built a successful Amazon business, maybe even scaled to 6 or 7 figures, but you’re constantly putting out fires. Your growing operations consume your time, leaving you stuck in the daily grind. You end the week wondering if you accomplished anything meaningful, feeling defeated and sacrificing your freedom just to keep your business alive.

You’ve become the bottleneck.

The Mindset Shift: From Doer to Delegator

Sumner realized something had to change. He’d heard of other entrepreneurs hiring people to help with tasks. But the idea was terrifying. “I’ve never hired someone. I don’t know how to manage people,” he thought. “I can manage myself, but how do I manage somebody else?”

This is a common struggle for successful Amazon sellers. Your brand is your baby. You’ve poured years and countless resources into building it. The thought of trusting someone else, someone who might not do it "as well as you can," is a significant hurdle. Many entrepreneurs, conditioned by years of being the sole operator, find it hard to step back and think, "Who else could do this?"

Sumner’s breakthrough came from a simple realization, reinforced by resources like the "Outsource School" program and powerful books such as "The E-Myth Revisited" and "10X Is Easier Than 2X."

The core idea? Your time is precious. Your time is valuable.

"The same reason that you quit your job was what? Is like your time is so valuable, it's so precious," Sumner reflects. "Why are you doing this stuff?" He challenged himself: Why are you sending out review requests? Why are you doing bulk files for Amazon PPC? These are mundane, brainless tasks.

To quantify this, Sumner suggests a simple exercise:

1. Calculate Your Hourly Worth: Look at your business’s total profit over the past year (or 4-6 months if things changed recently). Divide that by the total hours you worked.

2. Understand Your True Value: This calculation reveals your dollar-per-hour rate. But Sumner insists, "your time is worth way more than this." It’s not just about the monetary value; it's about the opportunity cost.

If you’re spending hours on tasks someone else could do for a fraction of your hourly worth, you're not saving money by doing it yourself – you're losing money. You're wasting precious hours that could be spent on high-level strategic work: launching new products, expanding to new marketplaces, or even starting a new venture.

"When it's your own time, you basically see it as a free resource," Mikko notes. "You don't really consider, 'Okay, so I'm working on this thing that just cost me $200.'" Once you realize this, delegation isn't an expense; it’s a money-saving investment. For every $10 you pay an assistant, you’re buying back an hour of your own time, which is worth significantly more.

Building Your Freedom Team: How to Get Started

The realization that hiring saves money and time was transformative. But how do you actually start?

Sumner’s approach was pragmatic and systematic:

1. Document Everything: They started by documenting every single task required to keep their businesses running and making money. Their initial method was simple: a Google Sheet listing tasks, with Loom videos recording how to do each one. "Task and then video about the task," Sumner explains. This created clear, repeatable processes.

2. Identify Draining Tasks: Once documented, they reviewed the list. Their goal was to find tasks that were "the most mundane," "most miserable," and "draining our brain power." These were the tasks that anyone, if taught, could do without needing advanced analytics or deep creative work.

3. Bundle Tasks into Positions: Instead of hiring for a single task, they bundled these mundane, energy-draining activities into cohesive positions. Their first hire was a Virtual Assistant (VA) from the Philippines. The initial fear was real ("Worst case scenario, they don't do a great job and I let them go. For like a few hundred bucks to test, let's do it."), but the potential upside of reclaiming their time was too great to ignore.

This first hire was a game-changer. It proved that delegation was not only possible but incredibly effective.

Scaling Your Team: Roles for a 7-Figure Business

As their businesses grew, so did Sumner’s team. Today, they have a robust team of six, soon to be seven, highly specialized team members who manage various aspects across their multiple profit centers: the e-commerce YouTube channel, travel YouTube channel, Udemy courses, and their Amazon private label business (which also sells on Etsy, Walmart, and D2C).

Here’s a breakdown of the key roles in Sumner’s team and how they contribute to his freedom:

• General Virtual Assistant (GVA): This is the foundational role that tackles all the "general tasks." For Sumner, this includes:

  • Amazon PPC bulk file optimization (downloading, using tools, uploading).

  • Sending review requests to Amazon customers.

  • Responding to comments on social media.

  • Handling various shipping and logistics tasks (which is Allie's main department).

• Two Graphic Designers: Given the high volume of visual content needed for digital products, Amazon infographics, and YouTube thumbnails across multiple channels, two designers are essential. While YouTube thumbnail optimization differs slightly between their e-commerce and travel channels, the core skill set overlaps, allowing one team member to contribute to both.

• Two Video Editors:

  • E-commerce Channel Video Editor: Focuses on overlay-heavy, educational content for their e-commerce YouTube channel.

  • Travel Channel Video Editor: Handles cinematic storytelling for their travel YouTube channel, requiring a much higher level of quality and a different artistic approach.

• Social Media Manager: This role has evolved to be more strategic, focusing on the overall social media strategy rather than just execution. (Sumner recently made a change here to bring in someone more strategic).

• Supply Chain Management: This specialized role deals with reaching out to suppliers, negotiating terms, and managing the complex logistics of product sourcing. Sumner initially didn't think they'd be able to hire for this, highlighting how far delegation can go once you embrace the mindset.

This diversified, specialized team allows Sumner and Allie to focus on higher-level strategy, creative direction, and the aspects of the business they truly enjoy. It’s no longer about doing all the things, but about leading the team that does them.

The Path to True Business Ownership: Your Next Steps

Sumner’s ultimate message is clear: hiring is a necessity in business. It's not a luxury; it's the most important thing you can do to unlock growth and reclaim your time.

"You need to hire," he urges. "Even if it's a small, like, focused, fire team, it's so important. It'll change your life. So, like, do it ASAP."

You might be thinking, "I'm too busy to start hiring and setting up systems." Sumner has heard it before. "Yeah, but like, you'll always be too busy then if you don't."

The truth is, you might need to "eat dirt" for a little while. This means:

• Sacrifice: Dedicate a concentrated period (a few weeks or months) to systematically document your processes and identify roles.

• Hustle: Really crank out the effort to train your first hire.

• Invest: Pay for learning resources or mentorship (like Scaleport) to guide you through the process, rather than going in blindly. As Sumner puts it, "It's gonna ROI so much."

By taking these steps, you "release the pressurized bottle" that is your business. You, the owner, are often the bottleneck holding it back. By buying back your time, you can transition from doer to manager to leader, moving out of survival mode and into creative, strategic mode.

This is how you get back your capacity to focus on growth activities. This is how you launch new products, expand to new channels, and stop seeing competitors overtake you. This is how you alleviate stress, regain mental clarity, and start enjoying your business again, becoming the visionary leader you always aimed to be.

Actionable Takeaways for Your Amazon Business:

1. Quantify Your Time's Value: Calculate your effective hourly rate. This powerful exercise will illustrate the financial cost of performing low-value tasks yourself.

2. Identify Mundane & Draining Tasks: Make a list of everything you do that feels repetitive, uninspiring, or could be easily taught to someone else. These are your prime candidates for delegation.

3. Start Documenting Processes: Don't overcomplicate it. Use simple tools like Loom (for screen recordings) and Google Sheets to create step-by-step guides for these tasks.

4. Consider Your First Strategic Hire: Even a part-time General Virtual Assistant can free up significant chunks of your time. Focus on delegating tasks that allow you to focus on high-impact activities.

5. Invest in Learning & Guidance: Don't try to figure it all out alone. Seek out courses, books (like "The E-Myth Revisited" or "10X Is Easier Than 2X"), or mentorship that specifically address team building, systemization, and delegation for e-commerce businesses.

6. Shift Your Mindset: View hiring not as an expense, but as a strategic investment that buys back your most valuable asset – your time – and unlocks exponential growth.

Conclusion

Sumner’s journey is a powerful testament that scaling your Amazon business to 7 figures while enjoying personal freedom isn't just a fantasy. It's an achievable reality. By embracing a mindset shift from doer to leader, systematically documenting your processes, and strategically building a capable team, you can reclaim your time, delegate with confidence, and bring the joy back into your entrepreneurial journey.

Stop being the bottleneck. It's time to build a business that not only survives but thrives and continues to grow without your constant presence in the daily operations.

If you’re ready to get help and guidance to systemize your Amazon business and build the right team, let's talk. You can find more resources and information on how we help Amazon sellers like you achieve this transformation.

Click here to learn more about how Scaleport can help you systemize your business and build an efficient team.