Planning to set up a business this year? Well, that is a great idea. But what if there is a business option that facilitates you to earn even without maintaining the stock. Well, dropshipping is one of the finest business ideas to adopt. It is based on the foundation of the order fulfillment method.
The idea behind it is to design a website that sells the product. Instead of stocking up for dispatch, the order from the customer gets directly transferred to the third-party seller, who ships it to the ultimate customer and completes the cycle. The payment made by the customer is split by the seller and drop shipper as per the agreed rate.
Although this might sound simple, it needs a lot of study and analysis to ensure that even the minimum amount you invest in website designing and marketing does not go in vain. So here are a few steps to be followed while you start the dropshipping business.
I know many questions arise in your head that’s why I’m including the main answer ‘Is Dropshipping Worth It?‘ by Dropship and Logistics Specialist (Wei Linchao)
Steps To Start Dropshipping Business
An extremely popular business concept between the millennials, this is one of the most straightforward methods. For success, the business model demands a surreal gelling of the manufacturer and the distributor. Run through the online stores, the business model offers a wider reach, but to make dropshipping a profitable venture, the steps to be followed are:
Basic Parameters and Investment in Dropshipping Business
| Main Resources Needed | Laptop, internet connection, supplier collaboration, website, product stock, social media management team, licensing |
| Resource Investment – Fixed | INR 25000 to INR 60000 |
| Resource Investment – Running PM | INR 15000 to INR 200000 |
| Sales Needed Monthly For-Profit PM | 4000 to 20000 sales |
| Average Profit | INR 20000 to INR 500000 PM |
1. Search For Your Niche
Selecting the niche or the business idea is of prime importance. A niche that attracts you and one that you feel can make you create sales is more apt as compared to others. Apart, the product that is a mix of profit and passion is the actual money-making idea. While selecting the niche, few points to consider are:
Learn this useful guide to reseach a right niche and product idea for you shopify store get here.
- Look for attractive profits
- Consider a product with less shipping costs
- The product should be appealing to impulse buyers
- Use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner and Trends to check for potent
- Select a product that is not available locally
2. Competitor Research
Every field has competition. Before starting a business, it is important to do the competitor analysis to know about the potential competitors and market demand. Apart from small competitors, do remember giants like Amazon and Flipkart are also operating in the market.
The ways to do the competitor analysis are:
- Take the help of Google by entering the product name and look for top 10 page displays
- Alexa or SimilarWeb can help as well
- Go on social media platforms to check for competitors
- Take the help of tools to compare content that is profitable for competitors.
Read Also: How to Start Blogging Business Step by Step
3. Meet And Secure A Supplier
There are multiple suppliers in the market. It is important to secure a supplier that is diligent and efficient. A wrong supplier can ruin the business and lead to losses in terms of goodwill and money. At the same time, various portals offer multiple manufacturers and suppliers to interact and select.
list of best dropshipping suppliers…
| Dropshipping Suppliers | Website Url |
|---|---|
| Spocket | https://www.spocket.co/ |
| AliExpress | https://www.aliexpress.com/ |
| Suppliersdata | https://suppliersdata.com/ |
| SaleHoo | https://www.salehoo.com/ |
| Doba | https://www.doba.com/ |
| Alibaba | https://www.alibaba.com/ |
Alibaba, SaleHoo, Doba, and various other online resources are filled with innumerable potential suppliers to spot. While selecting your supplier, make sure to question a lot to clear all the doubts and roughly analyze their ability. Also, try to search about them online to get a brief idea about the service they offer.
list of best dropshipping suppliers
4. Design Your Store
You have your niche and supplier with you, and it is the perfect time to reach your potential customers. It is the point where the e-store needs to be designed. One can easily create a simple and user-friendly website like that of Shopify with low investment.
Watch this video on how you can set up and design your Shopify store tutorial for Beginners 2021: and Signup today for start free trial.
Apart from if you are not looking to invest, you can start selling on Facebook Marketplace or Instagram by creating an official business page. Once the business catches pace, you add a website to shack up your products. Ensure to buy the domain name and hosting service to create a brand of your own.
Read Also: How To Start A Consulting Business
5. Market And Advertise
With a great website, reliable customers, and trending products, you have got all you need. To attract potential customers, marketing and advertising are a must. Social media platforms are perfect for advertising the business and products.
Facebook ads can help to generate sales and scale up the revenue. Another good option is to go for Influencer marketing. The concept of search engine optimization and email marketing can also help to advertise.
Additionally, sharing a link that can help the customer be updated on Whatsapp about new products and offers can help leverage revenue without the additional cost of advertising.
These are some best-paid advertisement platforms to promote your online cooking classes business from home…
| Ads Platforms | Website URLs |
|---|---|
| Google Ads | https://ads.google.com/home/ |
| Bing Ads | https://ads.microsoft.com/ |
| Facebook Ads | https://www.facebook.com/business/ads |
| Instagram Ads | https://business.instagram.com/advertising/ |
| Twitter Ads | https://ads.twitter.com/ |
| LinkedIn Ads | https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/ads |
| Pinterest Ads | https://ads.pinterest.com/ |
6. Analyze, Optimise, And Strategize
Setting up a business and starting to sell is just a start. To stay in the market and grow the business, it is important to be aware of the market conditions and competitors. Using the Google Search Console or Analytics can help analyze the traffic on the website.
To know how you can analyze the data in google analytics read this full guide via google team: Get started with Analytics
The key to better traffic is to adapt and optimize the marketing strategies. A successful dropshipping business keeps up with the market trends and offers plans that attract customers in every season. Stay progressing against the competitors with the help of Giveaways, shootouts, and online events.
Final Verdict
Dropshipping is a beautiful business plan with quite a low investment. With appropriate research and market analysis, this can turn to be a very profitable business idea. With the global reach and broad market, selling products by adopting the dropshipping business model is lucrative. Offer better rates, high quality, and novel variety to gain customers and grow the business immensely.