Side income for dads
Start an e‑commerce business after bedtime.
Change your family’s life on your own time.
Ten steps from no product to your first Shopify sale, broken into evenings. Written by a dad of two who built an $8.5 million brand and sold it, starting from a layoff.
One-time · 30-day money-back · Lifetime access
- A checklist every step
- Kill rules built in
- About $300 per product test
Bobby Samai
Exited founder · Husband · Dad of two
- $8.5M
- in sales from one Shopify brand
- $2M+
- profit in four years
- 4×
- businesses built and sold
- 2
- kids at home the whole time
As featured on UpFlip
Don’t take my word for it. Watch the interview.
UpFlip interviews real small-business owners about how they actually did it. They sat down with me for the whole story: getting laid off, the first $200K, and how ionbottles got built.
The course covers what an interview can’t: the exact order I’d follow if I started over, broken into evenings.
Who this is for
№ 01For dads who want a side income that could become a business, not a second job.
You have a 9‑to‑5
and about ninety minutes a night after the kids are down. Every step here fits inside that window. Nothing needs you at 2pm on a Tuesday.
You want your own thing
not gig work that stops paying the second you stop driving. A product you picked, a store you own, a brand that can be sold one day.
You’re done waiting
for the raise, the right time, or a partner with money. You need a phone, a few hundred dollars to test with, and the order of operations. The order is the part nobody gives you.
The founder
№ 02I was you, six years ago.
In 2020 I lost my business-development job at a consulting firm. Mortgage, wife, two kids, and a shoulder in a sling from surgery. I had a laptop and a lot of evenings.
I taught myself e-commerce from YouTube. My first store sold inflatable pools: $200,000 in two months, in a pandemic summer, from my kitchen table. Then, while scrolling Flippa, I spotted an idea and built it into my own brand: ionbottles.com. Four years later: $8.5 million in sales, over $2 million in profit, no investors, no agency. Then I sold it. That was my fourth exit, and the biggest one yet.
The thing nobody tells you is that the hard part isn’t the work. It’s knowing what to do Tuesday night. Most new store owners burn months on logos and theme colors before they learn the order things need to happen in. That order is this course.
And I don’t take the credit. Jesus is at the center of my life; I follow His teachings, and I believe that’s why my family has been blessed the way we have.
Bobby Samai, founder
The course
№ 03Ten steps, in order, each one ending with something done.
About four weeks to your first test, then about two weeks per test. Steps 1–3 are shown; the rest unlock when you join.
- 01
Commit to the loop
Set your test fund, pick your lane, and write the rules before you spend a dollar.
- 02
Build your test store
A name that fits your lane, a .com, and a hidden Shopify store.
- 03
Build your product list
Find ten ideas that already sell, prove three, rank them.
Steps 6–10 are locked too. All ten unlock when you join.
Also inside: the store-name generator, a margin calculator, a 12-point launch checklist, and every script word for word: the supplier message, the launch text, the ad copy.
Your coach
№ 04Not a video library. A dad who did it, in your corner.
Most courses fail because nobody’s watching. Inside EcomDada, every step has a note from me with what I’d say if I were sitting next to you. I answer every email myself. And when you’re stuck, you can book thirty minutes with me and leave with a decision.
Bobby Samai
Built and sold ionbottles.com · $8.5M on Shopify · two kids
Coach notes on every step
Ten steps, ten notes in my own words: what trips dads up at that step, and what I’d do tonight instead.
Evenings, not weekends
Each step is cut into short sessions, most under an hour, each with its own checkboxes, so you always know what tonight is.
Email me. I answer.
hello@ecomdada.com goes to my phone, not a help desk. Send me your product page and I’ll tell you what I’d change.
Weekly coaching, if you want it
Want me in your corner? Members can book a 30-minute one-on-one with me any week they want. Pick a time, pay per call, and it lands on both our calendars.
Founding price$10$99
One-time. 10 steps, $10: a dollar a step. Lifetime access.
- All 10 steps, unlocked immediately, lifetime access
- Store-name generator, margin calculator, launch checklist
- Test-rules calculator, test log, and the exact ad setup
- Every step broken into evening sessions, most under an hour
- Bobby’s coach note on every step, and his email
- Optional weekly 1-on-1 coaching with Bobby, members only
- 30-day money-back guarantee. One email.
Questions dads ask
№ 05- How much does it cost to start an e-commerce business this way?
- Plan on about $300 per product test: the product shipped to your own door, plus five days of ads at about $30 a day. Add a domain and the Shopify plan. You don’t buy inventory until a product proves it sells, and you should only use money your family can afford to lose.
- What if my first product doesn’t sell?
- Then the system did its job: it caught a miss for a few hundred dollars instead of a few thousand. Most products anyone tests don’t sell, and experienced sellers expect several misses before a winner. The course gives you written rules for when to fix and when to move on, and a ranked list so your next test is live within a week.
- How much time does a side income like this take?
- Three or four evenings a week, under an hour each. Your first product test goes live in about four weeks; every test after that takes about two, because the store and your skills carry over.
- I’ve never sold anything online. Is this for me?
- Yes. The steps assume zero experience. If you can set up a Gmail account and follow a checklist, you can do this.
- Is this dropshipping?
- For testing, yes, from US warehouses, so customers get it in days and you never buy stock for a product that hasn’t sold. When one proves itself, you move it to a factory order with your logo on it. That’s where the margin and the brand are.
- What if it doesn’t work for me?
- Email within 30 days and you get your $10 back, no questions asked.