Dropshipping is one of the most popular business models for new and inspiring entrepreneurs, especially among millennials, due to internet marketing skills that far outweigh their financial capacities. Since you don’t need to stock or handle the items yourself, it is possible to start a Dropshipping Business with limited funds. Let’s go over 4 steps on how you can effectively start and scale your online business.
1. Select a Niche for Your Dropshipping Business
The niche you pick must be laser-targeted and something you are truly interested in. The product range that isn’t focused on will be difficult to advertise. If you aren’t passionate about the niche you select, you will be more prompt to become discouraged, because it requires a lot of work to successfully scale this type of business. Let’s go over some points when determining your niche:
- Look for attractive profits. When you are operating a dropshipping business model, your focus is on marketing and acquiring customers, so the workload to sell a $20 item is essentially the same as it would be to sell a $1,500 item. Try to focus on higher-priced products.
- Low shipping costs are crucial. Even though your supplier or manufacturer will handle the transportation, if the cost is expensive, it will act as a customer repellant. Look for something that is inexpensive to ship, as this also provides you with the option of offering free shipping to your clients and absorbing that cost as a business expense to attract more sales.
- Appeal to impulse buyers with plenty of disposable income. When you are focused on delivering traffic to your website, you want to create the highest conversion rate possible as most of the visitors will never return. The product you are offering must trigger impulse buys and appeal to those with financial capital to make purchases on the spot.
- Sell something that isn’t accessible locally. Pick something your customer can’t find down the block. This way, you appear more appealing to a potential consumer.
2. Analyze the Competition
Ask yourself this question – Why would you think and experiment with ways of scaling your business when you can learn from your competitor’s best practices and mistakes, thus saving you time? The first step in any business is identifying your competitors, their marketing channels, and overall online presence. Check for their customer feedback, online reviews, and look for gaps that you might fill in.
Before the actual webstore creation process, it is advisable to check for the best-looking dropshipping websites and replicate their approach. Being educated and prepared for what works will minimize the risk of possible failure and wasted resources in the future.
3. Build Your Dropshipping Website
Hopefully, by looking at the best website examples you have a broad idea of what you’re looking for. Starting a Dropshipping website is similar to the process of creating other websites, except that it needs to be set up to sell either physical or digital products. If you are like most online entrepreneurs with limited funds and a “do-it-yourself” mentality, dedicate some time to learn how to create a dropshipping website and start from there. There are multiple platforms and options out there so you will need to find a solution that works best for your model. If you want to get started right away and don’t have a lot of experience with web design, you can purchase a turnkey dropshipping store. By purchasing a dropshipping store that is ready to use, you will avoid having to spend a lot of time learning how to create a site using platforms such as Shopify or WordPress.
4. Create a Customer Acquisition Plan
Having established a great product and a website is awesome, but without incoming customers looking to buy, you won’t have a business. There are multiple ways of attracting potential customers, one of them being social media marketing.
Social Media allows you to generate sales and revenue right from the start, which can help you with quicker scaling your dropshipping product. Facebook allows you to present your offer directly in front of a highly targeted audience. This allows you the ability to compete with the largest retailers and brands immediately. Marketing is not only social media. You also have to think for the long run and learn how to improve SEO if you want organic and steady traffic to your store.
Successful Dropshipping Business – The Bottom Line
Now that we’ve reached the end of our guide you should have a basic sense of how to start your ideal dropshipping business. It’s important to remember that the competition can be tough, the best way to separate yourself from competitors is to create a highly focused and niched product, partner yourself with the right supplier, and most importantly – invest in your marketing efforts.