5 Steps to a Successful Business Dropshipping
When you search for digital nomadic jobs or ways to make money online on Google, you're sure to find lots of results that will tell you how to start a drop-shipping business. But what exactly is dropshipping?
How does it work and can anyone succeed with drop-shipping?
What is Dropshipping?
The drop-shipping experts at Shopify define it as follows: "Drop-shipping is a method of retail distribution in which a shop does not keep the products it sells in stock.Instead, when a shop sells a product, it buys the item from a third party and sends it directly to the customer. As a result, the retailer never sees or handles the product.
In other words, if you open a drop-shipping store, you should never store and distribute the products you sell. You simply buy it from a third party and let them handle the logistics.
Advantages of Drop-shipping
You don't need a lot of seed capital to start your business because you don't need inventory.
Since the entire business model works online, you can manage it from anywhere in the world. Perfect for any digital nomad. It's easier to get started than a normal retail business because you don't have to worry about things like warehousing, inventory levels, packaging, shipping or returns management.
You can be very flexible in terms of your products. If a product doesn't sell at all, you can easily change it because you haven't bought many of them.
Disadvantages of Drop-shipping
Because it's so easy to start a drop-shipping business, you'll have many competitors who can reduce your margins. To stand out and succeed, you need an excellent product, exceptional customer service or an excellent marketing strategy.If your supplier has internal problems, such as temporary shipping delays, your customers will resent you. That's why you only need reliable partners.
Is dropshipping worth it?
As you can see, drop-shipping does not only bring advantages. This business model also has some disadvantages. However, with the right approach, the results of a drop-shipping business are far greater than the inputs and risks you take.
Dropshipping is indeed a fantastic way to make money and I am convinced that you can overcome the problems with careful planning and a lot of work.
How to start a business Drop-shipping step by step
To give you an overview, here are the main steps to follow to start a drop-shipping business.Step 1: Select your niche
Of course, you can try to sell all kinds of random products from different niches. But I can assure you that it will be much harder to succeed with that.
When you focus on one niche, you can become an expert in that area. You will find the best products and the best suppliers. Potential customers will soon realize that you know what you're talking about and they are more likely to trust you and buy your products.
What you should consider:
You should look for products with attractive potential benefits. The effort it takes to sell a $10 product is about the same as it takes to sell a $900 product. If you choose higher-priced items, your margin will also be higher.
Make sure you focus on products that you can't easily buy in every corner. It should be large enough for people to search for it.
However, it should also be a product that triggers impulse purchases. Selling motorcycles can be very profitable, but people will usually think long and hard before making such an investment.
Another fact to consider is shipping costs. If you want to sell your products mainly in the United States but all your potential suppliers are in Russia, shipping costs (and time) per item will increase.
Although you don't have to deal with this issue directly, your customers won't be too happy with these additional costs.
Look at your competitors, if there is no competition at all, this could indicate that there is not enough demand for your products. If there are competitors, check out what they are doing and how you can do better.
Do they have a terrible website design? Maybe they have very bad customer reviews? There should be something you can improve. If there are only top players, it will be hard to compete and stand out.
If you choose a niche that you are passionate about, that's even better! It will help you stay motivated and encouraged.
Shopify, start a drop-shipping business, make money online, digital nomad jobs
Step 2: Find suppliers
Once you've identified a profitable niche, you need to go after your future suppliers. This seems easier than it often is. Suppliers are excellent in manufacturing and distribution. However, they are not particularly effective in marketing or search engine optimization.
So be prepared to dig a little deeper to find the best suppliers for you. I strongly suggest that you not only search for your niche, product or keyword but also use one of the following search operators:
Niche, product or keyword + "supplier"
Niche, product or keyword + "warehouse
Niche, product or keyword + "wholesale"
Niche, product or keyword + "volume"
Niche, product or keyword + "dropship"
Write down all the potential suppliers you can find and add their contact information. After that, be sure to contact them and ask anything you are unsure about.
These could be questions related to the product or shipping. Make sure they are able to produce and ship enough of your product to meet your customers' demands.
Markets such as AliExpress or Alibaba are another way to find suppliers. Here, you can easily find countless manufacturers (mainly located in China) to purchase products.
Don't forget that these are the places where most people start their drop-shipping business. This means that there is a lot of competition for these products, which can reduce your margin.
If you have found the best supplier(s), open an account with them.
Step 3: Build a shop
Now it's time to create an e-commerce website where you can distribute your products. If you have a large budget, you can hire an experienced web developer and get a custom design for your store.
However, we strongly advise you to choose the simplest solution: a professional e-commerce platform such as Shopify or Dropizi.
What are your advantages with these platforms?
You don't need to be a technician to create a beautiful online store. It's intuitive to set up and manage.There are many applications that can be integrated to help you increase your sales.
It's perfect for beginners because it's fully plug-and-play and meets all the important technical requirements of your drop-shipping business.
You don't need to invest as much money as with a custom version. It is very economical and is, therefore, the ideal option for all newcomers to this business model.
How to set up a Shopify store:
Since Shopify is by far the most popular and established e-commerce platform on the market, I will quickly explain the process of setting up a shop with them.Create an account.
Choose a theme and install it. Shopify offers many themes (the layout and design of your store) for you to choose from. Some are free, others require a one-time payment. Just choose the one you think will enhance your images and text.
Edit your store. Now it's time to customize your new store to your liking. You can change colors, typography, upload your logo, configure the menu and much more.
Don't worry, Shopify lets you easily adjust the layout at any time. Remember, the look of your store should reflect your brand.
Fill out your product pages. Upload your product images and text.
Be sure to write down everything marketing related. Tell your potential customers why they need the product and can't live without it.
Additional Tip #1: Don't use product descriptions provided by your supplier. Everyone will use it, so it will be hard to stand out.
Professional writing will make your texts unique and convince your customers to buy your products.
Additional Tip 2: Video reviews are especially popular and help you sell the product.
Tip 3: More is less. Don't spam your pages. A clean design often looks much more professional.
Add these "static" pages. In addition to your product pages, your store should also have the following pages:
"Contact us": Make sure your customers can easily contact you by e-mail, chat or phone. Professional customer service is essential for any business.
"About us": give your visitors information about your brand, its history and the people behind it. Potential customers are more likely to trust stores when they have more basic information.
"FAQ": If customers always ask the same questions, place them on the FAQ page. This helps them get their answers immediately and saves you from having to make too many inquiries.
"Shipping": Information such as how long it takes to ship the item, the delivery service you use, the cost, is there a tracking number, etc. is very important to our customers.
"Refunds and Returns": Clearly state the circumstances under which customers can return an item and get a refund.
"Privacy Policy and Terms of Service": The law requires that your privacy policy and terms of service be easily accessible on your website.
Install applications and analytics. There are many applications available that you can integrate into your Shopify stores, such as Oberlo or Yotpo.
Look around and see what you need. Also make sure you install Google Analytics, which allows you to track important visitor data.
Before you launch your shop, do a test run. Make a purchase to see if everything works as expected. Functionality issues?
Launch Your first Shopify dropshipping store is ready to go and make you money.
Step 4: Promote your business
Having a nice Shopify shop is just one of the ways to become a good drop-shipping business owner. You also need to promote your shop so that people really find you. There are several ways to do this, for example:Social Networks
Create social network accounts and promote your products and niche. Make sure that this is not seen as a sale, but offer real value to the community. Don't try to be everywhere. For starters, choose one or two channels and focus on them. The most promising for generating traffic is the usual Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest channels.
Paid Ads
If you have the budget, you can also consider paid ads. The most popular ads that generate a lot of traffic are Facebook and Google Adwords ads.
Learn more about SEO tactics and apply them to your store.
For example, use keywords that potential customers search for on Google. That way, your changes will be more visible in search results.
Content Marketing
Provide additional information beyond the sale of your products. For example, if you sell trekking backpacks, you can write articles about what is important in a good backpack or about market innovations.
When creating product reviews, be sure to include not only benefits but also negative parts. This builds trust and credibility.
Email Marketing
Create an email list with existing customers or people visiting your store. Send regular emails, for example with MailChimp, providing useful information to your subscribers, such as useful items or new product versions in your shop.
Step 5: Monitor and adjust
Now that your drop-shipping business is up and running and you're bringing traffic to your store, you're still not finished. You still need to monitor the performance of your business. Become friends with Google Analytics and keep a close eye on your numbers. Analyze what works well and what doesn't work.Where do your customers come from? For example, if Pinterest is a good source of traffic, increase your business there.
What products are selling particularly well? Promote them even more.
Do customers return a certain product more often than others? If so, there could be quality issues or misleading descriptions on your product page.
Maybe you are lucky and your shop will go straight to the top. But it is likely that you will have to experiment with many products, suppliers and marketing strategies before generating your first real income, that's completely normal! You have to hang in there and not stop trying. But as soon as you find a way that works for you, it's all worth it.
Ready to launch your drop-shipping business?
I hope these steps have helped you get an idea of how you can start a drop-shipping business. I think it's obvious that this was only a rough and non-exhaustive indication.
If you want to start making money online with drop-shipping, I strongly recommend that you use Shopify or Dropizi with their new Trust-shipping program as your e-commerce platform.
This is the ideal way to start a shop if you are a beginner and are completely new to this type of business. Don't complicate your new career more than necessary.
My biggest advice is: be patient, do a lot of trial and error and learn from your mistakes, so your online business will start generating the revenue you've always dreamed of.
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