Like any other business, starting a drop shipping is not that easy. It can be difficult in the sense that like any other entrepreneurship, it needs planning and research. If you do not know how to deal with dropshipping, what should be your niche, then you cannot expect to excel in this business.
This is where many people fall into trouble,
They underestimate this business due to the least investments, but this is not the right approach. You should take it very seriously from the very beginning if you want to make some handsome cash out of it.
Well, if you do not have enough knowledge about what to keep in mind before starting this business, stick around.
Here in this article, we are going to discuss how to start a dropshipping business in 2021, and what are its essential components.
Understand the Dropshipping Business Model
Without a clear understanding of the business model of dropshipping, you should not be thinking about starting this business.
Keep in mind, it is an order fulfillment process that allows you to sell the product without stoking any kind of inventory. In this business, all you need to do is to arrange the dropshipping website, do the settings, integrate the payment details, and start marketing the products.
Here you might be wondering,
From where the products will come?
They come from third-party suppliers who are not only responsible for the manufacturing and stocking but also ship the products directly to the customers.
Create a Dropshipping Site
If you are a complete newbie and do not know how to create the dropshipping website, you can contact any e-commerce web developer who will guide you till the end. However, you should have basic knowledge about the basic dropshipping website components.
Some of these are:
- Choose a unique and concise domain name.
- Buy the domain and the hosting. Sign up with the
- Do all the necessary settings ( e.g. shipping tax) and download the relevant plugins.
- Create landing page content and test your checkout process.
- Optimize the site.
- Launch your website.
Register an Account With The Supplier
Is your dropshipping website ready? Well, great!
Now it is time to contact the dropshipping suppliers.
If you do not know how to do this, let’s understand this right now.
There are two common ways to find dropshipping suppliers.
- Contact the supplier like Alibaba, AliExpress through the supplier database.
- Agree with the dropshipping supplier, sign up on the sites and choose your products.
In short, a functional website with a Home Page, Product lists, payment integrations, and the ability to buy products, is a complete dropshipping website.
If you have successfully completed these steps, you can easily start marketing your products. Here it is worth mentioning that a fully functional dropshipping website only takes a day or two for its formation.
Well, here I would like to discuss all the things that you must consider in your dropshipping business. Let’s break each element down.
Start With A Long-term Perspective
Start with significant commitment and do not expect overnight success. No authentic business model is a get-rich-overnight scheme. Having realistic expectations is mandatory in this business. Keep in mind, you are already enjoying a lot of advantages such as starting with low investments, have very low risks of losing your money, no stocking and shipping worries, etc.
Many people end up disappointed because when they do not get consistent orders regularly, they stop investing their time into it.
Put Your Time & Effort
If you are a fresh entrepreneur, you should always remain willing to put some extra effort into this business. When you start from scratch, you have to start with marketing on your own. In most cases, no one is there to guide you till the end. With time, you learn the smart ways to grow and scale your business and make money easily through dropshipping.
The fact is, many people start dropshipping as a side hustle and cannot quit their jobs waiting for success here in this business. But it is still possible to build your business during your job because you cannot do marketing all the time.
Having various digital marketing skills, you should put your efforts into it and see how things will start changing within 6 months. Although, the level of success can vary from person to person, investing a large sum of time and effort never goes in vain.
Investing Money In Dropshipping
On one side, it seems as if there is zero investment in this business. But this is not true. You have to spend money (even a little) to buy the website’s domain and hosting. Moreover, in your journey of launching your site, you will need to contact freelancers, web developers, and other experienced people.
The core of the matter is that you have to spend (invest) some money to get your business launched and make it operational.
To give you a rough idea, you should be prepared to spend around $1000 to start. So if you know ins and outs of this business and understand that spending money on this business will not go in vain, you should immediately invest your money.
Choose your Niche
If your dropshipping website is a mixture of different niches, it definitely looks like a pile of rubbish. Believe me, without categorization of products, neither you can get your site ranked nor you can enjoy sales.
People love niche-oriented sites where they can find a variety of products to choose from.
This brings up the question:
How to choose your niche?
Do some market research, look at the trending items, and figure out your personal interests as well.
Gathering information about what is trending in the various locations and regions can also be helpful.
Want to know the pro tip?
Check out what the competitors are doing and how they are managing the trends.
As a result, you will be able to find a profitable niche that will match your interests as well.
Still, confused?
Let me give you examples of some niche-based dropshipping websites.
- Camping gear for campers
- iPhone cases for iPhone owners (check out this a narrow niche with low competition but high-demand).
Etc.
Tools To Test Your Dropshipping Business Ideas
Three major tools can surely help you in learning: How do you start a Dropshipping Business in 2021.
Keywords Everywhere: This is a tool that gives complete information about the monthly volume of the products and how much competition the particular products have. The complete details of the trending products will give you the idea of whether your niche can turn out to be profitable or not.
Google Trends: If you want to know whether the products of trending downward or upward, this is the best tool out there on the internet. However, keep in mind that it does not tell you anything about the Search Volume and competition of the specific keywords. For this purpose, you have to rely on the tools like Keywords Everywhere.
Oberlo: It is the best tool if you want to determine the potential of your niche or business idea.
Well, if you do not know how to do the keyword research, or create a stunning dropshipping website, you can contact the sellers on Fiverr that makes it easy for you to go through all the details after getting paid.
Choose The Right Supplier
As discussed earlier, in dropshipping, the supplier directly ships the products to the supplier. If you have not chosen a well-reputed supplier, any delays in the shipping or product quality will directly harm your reputation because negative feedback will appear on your profile.
Amazon, Shopify, Alibaba, and Ali Express are some of the reliable suppliers, so you should choose from these popular brands to get rid of any kind of future worries.
Set up Your Business As A Legitimate Business Entity
There are various business structures that you can use to keep your business legal. However, before becoming eligible for the taxes, you should have an EIN. It stands for Employer Identification Number that makes you eligible for wholesale dropshipping accounts, allows you to file your taxes, and do anything legal related to your business.
Well, these suggestions are not a substitute for legal advice and you should always consult with the lawyers before practically taking any steps.
The good news?
Getting the EIN number is not a problem these days and the process is totally FREE and simple.
The last step is to market your business using all the possible ways including Facebook and Google Ads, content marketing, influencer marketing, community involvement, mobile marketing, etc.
As a beginner, you should make sure to fully utilize all the free channels to promote your business. However, you can always proceed with paid Facebook and Google ads to enhance your reach.
The heart of the matter is that you must have a well-planned and highly practical DIY marketing strategy that will help you in lowering your costs and maximizing your revenue.
Conclusion
If you do not know how to do everything from scratch, you can also buy a running store. There are more than 10,000 running stores for sale on Shopify, so it is a good idea to choose the ones with affordable rates. If you want to become a successful entrepreneur, you should focus on the above-mentioned tips and tricks on “how do you start a dropshipping business in 2021”. It will help you in making some extra money after the marketing of a few months.