Have you ever thought of selling some stuff online (eCommerce) or you are even trying to start a dropshipping business?
This is a great business idea and one of the most lucrative ideas for smart entrepreneurs.
There are tons of business ideas out there that you could actually invest in, and make a hefty income.
These business ideas are sometimes either competitive with a lot of people doing the same thing, a non-competitive business where few people are aware of it.
What we mean by “non-competitive” is not actually an unaware business but the one few people who are easy to take the risk and invest in.
Starting a dropshipping business is like a hidden treasure to some people out there but since you are here reading this article, we will tell you the benefits of this business and how you can start it with just a little capital and make a huge profit.
Before we move further, let me quickly remind you what the heck is a dropshipping business in just a few words;
What Is Dropshipping Business?
Dropshipping is a form of business in which the retailer sells products from the manufacturer or wholesaler to a person or group of people without having the goods in stock.
This business doesn’t obey the four-channel of distribution unlike the usual retailer who buys the product(s) from a manufacturer or wholesaler.
Then stocks the product in a store or shop and then sells to the consumer when needed.
In dropshipping, the storage or stocking of merchandise before sales to the consumer is eliminated
The dropshipper or the person engaging in this business takes orders from the consumer, purchases, and ships to the consumer. Easy right?
The retailer may arrange for the goods to be shipped directly to the customer from the manufacturer or distributor.
Technological advancement has turned the world into a global village where you get goods from foreign countries down to your doorstep without getting a visa or smuggling.
Yes, the world is changing on a daily basis, there are more ways to make money now than how they were ten years ago.
Many people go into business for the sole aim of earning and making a huge profit.
Dropshipping is another form of eCommerce business where a person can make a profit.
What Are The Core Benefits Of Starting A Dropshipping Business?
There are many benefits attached to dropshipping business but we are only going to tell you just a few of them. They are:
- Low capital is needed to start.
- Unlike other eCommerce businesses, you don’t need a shop or warehouse.
- Very low levels of risk because the manufacturer will take care of the problem that arises.
- No limit to the quantity or quality of the product you can sell.
- You can make a profit as much as possible depending on your strategies.
- It gives you the freedom to do other businesses.
- Nobody is your boss more than your mindset and passion.
- And many others.
If you are versatile in affiliate marketing, it will be very easy to make a huge profit from the dropshipping business because it involves marketing a lot.
We don’t need to fetch water into the basket, we believe with our explanation about this business, you should know it’s a good idea to even risk on.
If you agree with us, the next question you may like to ask is “how can I really start dropshipping business”? That’s where we are heading.
Before we start, kindly bookmark this page if you will be getting busy soon.
Don’t think of skimming through the page but read thoroughly and learn the basics.
Now, let’s go!
Strategic Processes To Start Dropshipping Business
Below, we will be teaching you how to start a dropshipping business like a Pro.
Yes, we know you are a beginner but this post will enhance your level of understanding and eventually become a professional drop shipper.
1. Create Your Online Store
Remember we told you that this business requires little capital? This is the most important area where you need to spend some bucks.
It is important to note that for you to have a professional drop shipping business you need an online store to showcase the product(s) you wish to sell.
In the world of dropshipping today, there are various platforms to showcase, some are local while others are international.
There are two popular platforms we would like to let you know about, they are:
- Shopify and
- Alidropship
If you have experience with WordPress already you can easily create your online store through the AliDropship Plugin.
Even if you don’t have the knowledge or the time for creating a store by yourself, you will be able to order for an entire custom dropshipping store.
The custom dropshipping store is a complete dropshipping site experience that is specially made for you from scratch and it includes products from AliExpress all ready for you to start selling immediately.
This will cost a few bucks such as paying for web hosting, domain, SSL, premium theme, and AliDropship Plugin.
If you can’t set it up yourself, be ready to pay for a website designer but since you are reading this article here, we can set up a very responsive, beautiful and SEO-friendly dropshipping website for you at an affordable price.
Shopify is another wonderful platform that comes with a 14-day free trial to test the platform after which you need to start paying $29.00 on a monthly basis to keep your store running.
2. Choose Your Preferred Supplier
Suppliers are the backbone of all dropshipping businesses. Reason is that the standard and efficiency of your supplier will determine the success of your business.
Trust us, without a reliable supplier there won’t be a product for you to dropship. So you might have to take them seriously.
There are various suppliers in the dropshipping industry, one of the popular brands is AliExpress.
There are other platforms like Alibaba, eBay, Amazon, etc.
This should be taken seriously as doing business with the wrong supplier can wreck your business, so it’s important that you don’t hurry while choosing the supplier you want to start your dropshipping with. Conduct proper checks and tests.
But you may be asking;
Should I choose Shopify or WordPress Alidropship (AliEXpress) for my Dropshipping Business?
If you are really a beginner with little capital to start this business, we will recommend you go for WordPress Alidropship because it is very easy to set up and not expensive.
Unlike Shopify where you will pay roughly $29 or even more for renewing your monthly subscription.
And most important Shopify apps which you need to set up your online store are not free.
But on WordPress, you can get the free version of all plugins.
Another reason we recommend Alidropship plugin to start a dropshipping business is the features.
Some Cool Features Of The Alidropship Plugin
- Additional Money With Aliexpress: One of the amazing plugins – this allows you to make extra other income with the AliExpress affiliate program. You can earn up to 18% further commission on each product sold through your store on AliExpress.
- Auto Fulfilment: Whenever you have the order to place, this plugin informs the supplier on AliExpress of all the available customer details. This way, you won’t have to do it all manually. You just need to click on confirm to have the order sent to AliExpress.
- Auto Price And Update: With this plugin, you can easily set the price automatically for every product on your site without having to set the price for each price manually. This simplifies the process for you.
- Auto Import From Aliexpress: This plugin allows you to automatically import products in bulk quantities from AliExpress and add them to your online store.
3. Choose Products To Dropship
After the successful creation and setting up of your online store, the next thing is to start dropshipping the products to it.
But here are some tips:
- Choose a niche: What do you like to be selling? You don’t need to mash up different products from different niches into a single online store. If you will like to sell “shoes”, dropship different types of shoes only. Don’t add cosmetic products.
Well, there is no rule for choosing a niche. We are just trying to take it more professionally.
In fact, we have seen an online store with different products like shoes, jeans, wrist watches, etc and we have also worked on an online store that deals with the selling of “Vintage and Patek Phillipe Wristwatches”.
The choice is left to you.
- Choose hot or trending products: Another thing you should note while choosing your product is that you can’t just start selling any product you see. It has to be on the market trend and have a market value.
That is, demand for it should be comparatively high or so stable and also the competition for it ought to be lowest.
Unless you might not get what you did like to achieve as a drop shipper.
Fortunately, you can make use of Google trends to know if the market for the product has a high demand.
You can know products in a highly competitive market by searching through other popular online shopping sites.
Best-selling products in popular stores may give you an edge while choosing the product(s) you wish to start a dropshipping business.
After considering these tips to choose a perfect product, let’s go to #4.
4. Start Marketing Your Product
This is very important if you will like to make more sales.
When we say “marketing”, we are talking about the possible means of online marketing which are:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): This should come first before anything. You need to choose good keywords for each product that will easily rank on search engines. Because millions of people buy products through google search results. So, if your product is lucky to appear on Google’s top page, then you are going to make sales from that organic traffic.
- Social Media Marketing: After SEO, make sure you promote your products through all the channels of social media networks especially Facebook and Instagram. You can use Pinterest to drive traffic to your website and who knows, you may luckily get converting traffic (to a customer). It’s advisable to run ads on these social media networks, especially Facebook and Instagram.
- Embrace PPC marketing: Google AdWords, Bing Ads, Propeller and other advertising networks are ready to accept you as an advertiser on their platform. You can spend a few bucks to advertise on these platforms.
- Other Marketing Strategies: You can get a list of email addresses of those interested in your niche and, send them promotional offers, I mean you need good email marketing techniques. Tell people in your area who may be in need of such products etc.
We do hope you have learned a lot from this article. Starting a dropshipping business might seem a little bit tedious or challenging especially when you are just starting out as an eCommerce entrepreneur.
With this article, you should mount up the courage and at least. Give it a try!
It is very easy and of course, you have nothing to lose. All you have to do is to get products from manufacturers and embed them in your online store, then market them.
If the buyer said the product is not really good and will like to return or exchange it, then the manufacturer will have the headache and not you.
Now that you have known all these ready, we will say this is the best time to start a dropshipping business.
Dropshipping is a very lucrative business which you and anyone else can do. Once the business is off the ground and gains publicity, it can quickly transform into a money-making venture that only requires minimum input.
Note: We can help you set up a professional dropshipping website and guide you through the marketing processes. Contact us for these special offers!
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Please talk to us in the comment box below and we will be happy to welcome your sincere contribution.
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