Last week, Amazon wrapped up its seventh annual two-day shopping event, Prime Day.

This event has become a big deal for Amazon and its customers. Just take a look at the sales numbers in this chart from previous years:

This was yet another record-breaking year for the ecommerce giant. Prime members purchased more than 250 million items worldwide, generating roughly $11.2 billion in sales.

That’s a lot of sales in just two days. Think about this… in those two days, Amazon brought in more sales than popular apparel company Nike (NYSE: NKE) generated in an entire quarter.

The Amazon Effect

Aside from the astronomical sales numbers, there are a couple of things that struck me when I was reading about the details of Amazon’s event. One is it confirms that the consumer spending boom is still here and intact. This is something I talked about in this piece.

The other thing that struck me is just how many layers there are to the company – and how it’s impacted the way we do business…

For example, Amazon focused this year’s event on its marketplace sellers, or what it refers to as small businesses. Maybe you’ve heard of someone or know someone who sells their items on Amazon or does affiliate links to Amazon.

For instance, a single mom, Anne Ferris, built a seven-figure FBA Amazon business in the baby department. Hearing a story like this probably gets your entrepreneurial juices flowing.

But as anyone who’s started a business knows, it can be daunting. Especially when it comes to retail. After all, you could have the best product in the world, but if you can’t get it in front of people or nobody knows about it, then your retail business will fall flat on its face.

On a bit brighter side of things, starting a business today is easier than ever. And there’s a number of companies out there that can help get your business to the next level.

For example, if you’re going to start an Amazon business then you’ll likely start at a website like Jungle Scout. With Jungle Scout you can search what people on Amazon are looking for so you can tailor your products to those searches.

In fact, according to Jungle Scout, searches for “amazon pets” on the ecommerce platform spiked last summer, as pet adoption was on the rise during quarantine. So, it would have been a good time to start a business around dog treats, dog beds, dog harnesses, or something that all pet owners need.

If you’re going to build your online business with Amazon then you’ll need to learn about SEO, or search engine optimization to get your website on the first Google page.

You might need an email marketing service like Mailchimp to help keep track of customers and help automate marketing emails. If what you’re offering is subscription-based, then you might need software to help manage and improve your subscription business. And if your business is more content and video-oriented, then you can leverage a company that specializes in that.

The bottom line is that for anyone willing to put in the work, there are a ton of resources, software packages, and platforms that can help you get your business up and running in no time.

The Takeaway

This is great news for investors, too. You see, as the companies that offer these services scale, they will eventually go public. And many of them will produce fantastic returns – the kind we’d love to brag to our friends about.

Take Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) for example. In 2015, this was a small company that debuted on the market with a simple idea: to provide online retailers with a suite of services to handle payments, marketing, shipping, and customer engagement.

Today, SHOP is a $180 billion market-cap company.

Here’s the reason I bring all this up…

If you are interested in starting your own online business — or looking to improve the one you already own — then you’re in luck. The tools are out there, and they’re getting better every day.

For investors, it also means the next Shopify is out there. There is another company out there working on a solution to a problem that we may not even know about today. The changing nature of technology, and the slow but massive shift to online retail all but guarantee it. And I’m going to be focusing a good deal of my research time trying to find these opportunities.

Speaking of massive opportunities, I’ve found the “next big thing” in tech…

Everyone knows about Elon Musk and SpaceX. But you may not know about one of his “secret” projects with SpaceX that promises to be an absolute game-changer… not only for the world, but also your portfolio…

This project is barely getting any attention in the mainstream press — and that’s just how we like it. Because once the doors are blown off of this, it’s going to be huge.

Unfortunately, you and I can’t invest in SpaceX (yet). But I’ve discovered a small company that’s playing a key part in making this secret project happen, making it a unique “backdoor” way we can use to gain exposure before the crowd catches on…

Go here now to find out more…