Guide to Start Drop Shipping Business and It’s Advantageous
How to start an online business? Or how to make extra income online is a common question that is being asked by aspiring entrepreneurs who wants to earn some extra money. It is quite common to see various online forums flooded with this question How to start an online boutique business? or How to start an online jewelry business, toy store, and many other businesses?
In this growing era of e-commerce or digital marketplace, everyone wants to earn extra money besides bringing home the bacon. However, most of the people hesitate to jump into the online business because either they don’t have abundant financial resources or proper guidance to start their online business. Thus, if you are one of those aspiring entrepreneurs who want to put an all-out effort to kick-start business but in the lack of proper guidance is shying away from it should go through our following guide that will help you in a big way to set up a successful online business.
Today, in this post we would like to discuss the most successful business models available online and how can you earn remarkable money utilizing this business model properly. Let’s have a look at the most enticing business model available currently commission.
Also Read: Tips to Get Business Ideas for Housewives
What is Drop Shipping Model?
The Dropshipping business model is one of the most popular business model available in the internet world. Now a question must have popped up in your head that what is a drop shipping business model? And what are advantages of the drop shipping business model?
Drop shipping is a one where you need not set up a warehouse or invest money in buying products first, instead of that you work as a reseller for a wholesaler and make a commission when a product gets sold. Dropship business has no overhead and you can run this business from your home or office without investing a large sum of money. The dropship business model has currently one of the most popular ways of making money online. However, due to its growing popularity, it has drawn the attention of many people who want to earn extra money without investment. Due to the overwhelming number of people showing interest in dropship business has enhanced the competition and if you want to make serious money out of this model, then you should chalk out your strategy seriously.
What are the Benefits of Drop shipping Business?
1. Minimizes risk
Apparently, drop shipping business have numerous advantages, but this one is great. Normally, if you want to start a business, then it costs you an arm and leg to acquire large inventory but, if you are tight on budget, then you can’t give winds to your aspirations. Drop shipping or turnkey business model gives you an opportunity to accomplish your aspiration without being worried about inventory. Drop shipping offers you an inexpensive way to acquire inventory which is not possible otherwise. Therefore, starting this business is not risky.
2. Saving Time and Money
The drop shipping business saves your time and money in a great way because you need not maintain a warehouse and care about the shipping. This will be taken care of the suppliers. You just need to promote products and derive sales to obtain your profit. Moreover, there is no need to manage your stock and inspect the stock levels. This all makes your job quite easily. Due to these benefits of drop shipping, it is being considered highly relevant for those who are looking for home based business.
3. Diversity
Drop shipping offers you diversity which is not possible in having your own store. Suppose, you have spent your money buying products of a particular niche, unfortunately, it is not bringing desired results even though, you have to continue with that niche or products until it gets sold out. This can bring losses to you in many cases. On the other hand, if you are into drop shipping or turnkey business, you have diverse options to choose products from and in case, if a particular product is not deriving you optimum sales, you can easily switch to other items.
4. Flexible Location
Drop shipping allows you to sell products from anywhere. Suppose, if you want to sell toys from particular suppliers who are based in any other city or country, you can sell it easily. All you need to do is contact the supplier and fix the deal with him and you are all set to go. Thus, drop shipping provides you to work from anywhere without any a headache.
5. Immediate Profit
If you are good at selling and if you have chosen the right product which converts well, then the sky is only limit. Moreover, this is the only business model available that does not require any investment and bring profit if the strategy is executed properly.
6. Negligible Investment
If you are looking for the passive income sources online, but not getting any valid source, then go for drop shipping. This business requires near to no investment. You just need to have a website and good writing and selling skills that is all about selling products online. Apart from the website, you can also run a promotion on various platforms such as Google AdWords, Facebook, Email marketing and bing ads to derive traffic from website and sales.
Steps to start Drop Shipping Business Online?
1. Choose a Niche
There is an ample number of drop shipping businesses or turnkey business available online. Thus, if you want to see yourself getting success in this domain, then you should choose your niche wisely because following others blindly won’t help you at all. Moreover, don’t choose a nice which already have stiff competition. Always select your niche based on your expertise and have low competition. Especially, if you are a novice in this field then you should choose a niche with low competition. For instance, if you are looking to start a clothing business online or jewelry business online or toy stores then don’t jump in or choose a product which has insane competition. Instead of that, choose a particular product in this niche has low competition or medium competition.
2. Don’t Sell Cheap Products
Never sell extremely cheap products. It is being advised because your income directly depends upon the commission you make from selling a product. Thus, if you select to sell a product which is very cheap, then on every sale you will make only a little money which will not let you is a huge passive income. Ideally, a good product for drop shipping business is one where the cost of a good is between $100- $200 dollars. This will help you make a noticeable income.
3. Identify suppliers
If you want to look for home based business ideas for making passive income, then turnkey drop ship businesses will help you make significant money. To avail profit from dropship business identify the businesses or wholesalers who are offering dropship business facility. It is not as easy as it seems to find a wholesaler or distributor or business who offers the drop shipping facility.
Which online marketplace is best Amazon, eBay or others for Dropshipping?
Amazon, eBay and other e-commerce websites available online which offer drop shipping. However, people ask this question that best for drop shipping.
Amazon and eBay are big players and it is immensely easy to obtain drop shipping from these e-commerce sites. You are required to only sign up for the merchant or seller account with these e-commerce sites and you get the access to promote products through your website or social media channels.
However, it is being often said that people should consider other than Amazon & eBay for drop shipping.
Amazon and eBay offer only a limited commission on every sale. The commission varies greatly in different categories. Thus, if you are not good at selling and have no budget to promote items, then, it is advised to find out other suppliers for drop shipping.
Amazon and eBay both these platforms are exceptionally crowded and these platforms are crowded with products which are not quality and does not convert well.
It is critical to find the best converting products on Amazon and eBay that too if you are new to this business then this task becomes humongous.
To find a particular wholesaler or manufacturer for the product you want to sell, then dig through the various pages to check whether that particular wholesaler provides drop shipping or not. Apart from this, you can also use terms such as “Distributors”, “Suppliers” or “manufacturers to find businesses.
Moreover, if you personally know a manufacturer, then it is wonderful because you can personally contact him/her and fix the deal.
1. Analyze Your Competitors
Suppose, if you are interested in starting online jewelry shop or cloth store, then before contacting various manufacturers analyze your competitors and find out who they use. Using this method, you can get a hand to various useful wholesalers or suppliers who provide this facility.
2. Ask Suppliers Question
After accumulating the data of suppliers contact them personally and ask them whether they handle drop shipping and how much commission they are providing. Generally, it is not easy to reach out to the suppliers, you can plan and send them emails occasionally. Don’t rely completely on one supplier, at least contact more than 10 suppliers if you are really interested in starting a successful dropship business. However, don’t blindly believe suppliers, pitch them various questions such as:
- How long do they take to ship a product once you place an order?
- What kind of shipping method do they use such as overnight or internationally?
- How much commission do they offer on each selling?
- Can they allow you to put their product photos on the website?
3. Choose Best Selling Products
Once you have spotted a supplier, go through various products to find which are best selling products? Always choose a product to sell which are highly in demand and easy to be sold.
To find the best product to advertise, do perfect market research. There are various online tools available to research about the best product to sell online. Google keyword planner is considered to be the best free market research tool available online that can help you to find the high conversion products.
Besides this, you can use Amazon marketplace or eBay for finding the best product to sell online. To do so, you can go on Amazon or eBay and search the product which you are interested in selling, then you will get to see the best selling products and then select the product which you want to sell it.
4. Set Up A Website
There are various ways available online to sell products. One of the most promising ways to register enormous sells is setting up a website with a shopping cart. Select your domain name carefully. For example, if you are willing to start a clothing business online, then choose a domain name which somehow relates to the niche. To increase your profit build website with a shopping cart as it will help buyers to purchase products without much hardship.
There are online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay which provide you an opportunity to set dropship business easily. These e-commerce sites provide you affiliate links to sell or promote their products or items online on various platforms. To obtain products from these websites you need to do sign up for the seller account. It charges a nominal fee. Amazon and eBay are popular dropship business options, however, the only issue these e-commerce giants have that these are already crowded. And it is immensely hard to get set yourself apart on this platform. Moreover, they comparatively low commission on every sale. Apparently, there are other online suppliers who provide high commission basically higher than these giants. So, you can build contacts with them if you want to earn high profits. Nevertheless, if you are new in this business, then you can go to Amazon, eBay because it is easy to contact and acquire commission from these e-commerce platforms.
5. Sell on Multiple Channels
Never rely on a single platform for turnkey business. Make a strategy to sell on multiple channels. There are many suppliers available online which are interested in drop shipping or turnkey business. Try to contact most of them, moreover, there are websites such as Amazon, eBay and many other which provide this opportunity without any a headache.
Selling on multiple channels always work because if one channel won’t bring you sale, then chances of acquiring sales from other channels are high. Therefore, don’t always rely on a single supplier for drop ship business establish contact with many suppliers and try to sell their product.
6. Promote Products on the Right Channels
Choosing the supplier or right products are only a part of dropship business. However, the most difficult part is to attract buyers on your website and compel them to buy a product through your website. It is considered to be the challenging part because there are a numerous number of sources available online and unless you prove your uniqueness people won’t bother to notice or buy from you. Therefore, to attract buyers or visitors to your websites, you must write compelling and attractive content. Content should be effective enough to drive sales or leads. It must have a call to action without a targeted call to action writing content is useless.
Otherwise, you can run customize campaigns to attract the potential buyers on your website. You can promote your products on Facebook, Twitter, Google or Bing. To run effective advertisement you need to select a right keyword and put a focus on the landing page, these all steps are immensely important if you want to drive sales.
7. Consider Pricing Your Items
While listing your products on the website always consider setting the right price for your products. Don’t price too high or low always keep an eye on your competitors and their pricing that will help you to determine the price of your products accordingly. Always mention the shipping and return policy of your product clearly on the website.
While determining the cost of your item, always include the shipping cost because supplier will charge you with shipping cost. Moreover, to attain success in the drop shipping business do remember to not set too high or too low your price because setting the price too high will not impress buyers and set the price too low will incur your loss. Thus, it is immensely important to set your price wisely.
8. Provide Customer Support
To set yourself apart from the rest of sellers, always provide customer support to your customer. Give them a good reason to choose you over the other buyer. Inform buyers about the shipping status of the product. Moreover, answer their all questions related to the product. This will help in enhancing your sales in long run.
On the basis of above-mentioned point, it is good to choose drop shipping or turnkey business if you are looking to make money from home. This is an excellent way to make passive income if you have no means to start your own business.
