Learn how to start a dropshipping business from the ground up. We’ll teach you what tools to use and how to find profitable products.
How to Start a Dropshipping Business: Dropshipping may seem like an easy way to get into the eCommerce world, but there are some dangers of starting this kind of business that most people aren’t aware of at first.
How to Start a Dropshipping Business
If you really want to start your own dropshipping business, consider these 10 tips to help you start out on the right foot.
The Basics
Anyone with a computer and Internet connection can set up an online store. Today, anyone can start an e-commerce business, even if you have little or no startup capital. However, starting an e-commerce business is more than just opening an online store. It involves many different steps that vary depending on your specific needs and goals.
In order to succeed in e-commerce, you must understand how to create your product listings in such a way that they appeal directly to your target audience and sell successfully. There are many platforms available today which offer ways for individuals like yourself to start selling right away, but you need only look at large retailers such as Amazon or eBay which started out with nothing but one simple idea: A marketplace where people buy and sell goods from each other.
Step 1: Brainstorm Product Ideas
The first step in starting your own dropshipping business is coming up with product ideas. Brainstorming for product ideas doesn’t have to be hard—all you need is a pen and paper, or at least a voice recorder on your phone. Set some time aside during which you aren’t doing anything else that might distract you.
Turn off any distracting TV shows or people around you who might be talking about things unrelated to what you’re trying to do. Find somewhere quiet where there are no phones ringing, no car alarms going off outside your window, and so on. If nothing else, when you get distracted, at least nobody is going to know about it! Now, start writing down all of your thoughts as they come to you.
You can use an app like Evernote if you want to record yourself brainstorming; then later transcribe those notes into text. Or just write them down by hand; either way works fine. Remember: No idea is too silly or irrelevant here! This is just brainstorming after all; we’ll sort out what makes sense later. And don’t worry if most of your ideas seem like bad ones—that’s normal! In fact, most entrepreneurs report having hundreds of bad ideas before they find one good one worth pursuing further.
Step 2: Pick One Product
In order to maximize your chances of success with dropshipping, it’s important that you pick one product. This will help keep things simple and get you moving in an organized direction. If you choose more than one item, you may quickly find yourself in a situation where you have too many different items selling at different times. If that happens, it will be difficult for customers to browse your store or compare products because all of your sales information will look totally jumbled together.
In order to attract new customers and keep them coming back time after time, it’s important that they have access to clear information about your business as well as what is available for sale on your website. It’s best to focus on one item first and then move on to another if you need to expand your inventory. The only exception here would be if you are planning on selling accessories for a specific brand of product, such as cases for phones or extra batteries for laptops.
You can do both of these things at once by creating two separate websites (one for each category) so that there is no confusion when people visit your site. As long as you make sure there are links between each site so people can easily find related products from either side, it should work out just fine!
Step 3: Research Market Demand
It’s great that you have found a niche you want to start selling products in, but how many other people are already selling those same items? If too many competitors are already out there, you’ll be up against tough odds. To maximize your chances of success, find products that aren’t currently being sold and make sure customers can’t easily find them elsewhere online. It may take some legwork and research, but it will pay off when you don’t have to worry about competing with other sellers. You can use tools like JungleScout or Google Keyword Planner to help identify untapped markets.
Step 4: Open an Account with an Online Wholesaler
When you sign up with an online wholesaler, they’ll send you a list of products you can sell. However, be warned: If your goal is to make money right away and sell as many products as possible, think carefully about your decision. Some companies charge $5 per product that you add to your store; others don’t charge anything for these products but instead, offer volume discounts and other perks for higher quantities. Decide what type of company and plan fits your long-term goals before setting up shop.
To start off, I recommend signing up with AliExpress—they have great prices and their platform makes it easy to import goods from China. In fact, I used them when starting my own dropshipping business. Once you find some products that are profitable on AliExpress (which won’t take long), connect your Shopify store directly to their system through Oberlo’s website!
This will automatically import all of your orders into Shopify! It’s very simple once you’ve set everything up – read more about how Oberlo works here. Also, check out how much it would cost if I sold one of my most popular items on Amazon vs eBay vs Aliexpress. With a profit margin like that, there’s no reason not to use AliExpress!
Step 5: Set Up Shipping & Payment Gateways
Your shipping and payment methods are pretty easy to set up, but they’re also essential. While some products can be shipped via standard ground service or even hand-delivered, most e-commerce sites are going to opt for faster shipping options. It’s important that you find an appropriate shipping service so your customer is happy with their purchase and you aren’t stuck dealing with logistics yourself. Make sure your chosen service is reliable and fast, and that you understand all of its terms & conditions before using it.
Also, make sure you know how payments will be processed: Are there certain types of cards only? What kind of customer information do you have access to? You don’t want any surprises down the road. Finally, as mentioned above, if you plan on selling internationally, it’s best to get everything in order beforehand—you don’t want to spend time looking into different payment services when your business is already off and running. If you’re interested in learning more about dropshipping from AliExpress, check out our detailed guide.
Step 6: Choose a Web Host & Domain Name
Building an e-commerce store is only half of starting your business. You need to build it, promote it, and make sure customers know how they can buy from you. Luckily Shopify makes all of these tasks easy. The platform provides numerous e-commerce templates for you so that you don’t have to start from scratch.
Once your site is up and running, market it online by including a newsletter on your website so that people can sign up for updates about new products or sales. And since Shopify integrates with popular social media channels like Facebook and Twitter, making your brand’s social media presence as strong as possible will also help increase sales and customer satisfaction.
Step 7. Build Your Shopify Website
Now that you’ve decided on a domain name, build your Shopify store, and got it up and running—it’s time to build your shop! The first thing you want to do is make sure that your products are correctly tagged so they will show up correctly in search results. If you don’t know how to do that, there is no need to panic. Go through our step-by-step guide on using Shopify tags.
Step 8. Design an Attractive Shopify Homepage
In order for your store to be successful, you must design an attractive Shopify homepage. The most important aspect of your Shopify homepage is its layout and design. When designing your Shopify homepage, make sure that you create banners with crisp images and use plenty of white space so that everything on your page looks clean and organized.
Additionally, set up an email capture form so that users can subscribe to receive offers from your shop. Lastly, try adding some catchy text on every webpage like Shop Now or Order Now. This will increase conversions in no time!
Step 9. Add Trust Badges & Optimize the Page
When people see that your business is featured on an independent website, like Trustpilot or Ripoff Report, they will have more trust in you and your business. If you can’t get any recommendations from outside websites, buy a domain name and make your own site. Always be sure to keep it up-to-date with information about your company. Also, add social badges like Facebook Like buttons on every page of your website.
The idea is to let customers know that other people use your products or services and recommend them. At best, you’ll turn casual visitors into brand advocates who bring new customers for you; at worst, positive reviews will convince skeptics to try something new. Search engines look for these trust signals when scanning their listings.
Also Read: How to Start Small Business At Home
Conclusion
Congratulations! You’ve officially started your own business! Whether you’ve done it with our help or not, we’re proud of you. Now that your new dropshipping business is up and running, there are many things to think about. Pricing, branding, advertising…you may even want to seek outside investments for growth.
There’s no wrong way to do it—experiment and figure out what works best for you. We’re here if you have any questions along the way. Good luck!
