When you ask around, or go online to ask how to make money online, there’s a 75% chance of you getting a Dropshipping business as one of the answers you will get. So, let’s get to know what dropshipping is all about.
What is Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a form of business which does not require you to keep your goods and products in the store. That is, the goods owners give the sales order to a third party supplier or an intermediary, who then sends the goods to the customers.
It’s a very easy system of business, that is, sell other people’s goods, services or products, and in turn add your profits and make your cool money.
One thing a beginner must have in mind is that, it is not a get-rich-quick system.
In order to run an effective Dropshipping business, however, there are a good number of ways to run it. And in this article we shall be looking into a few of them;read along.
The best way to running an effective Dropshipping
As we have discussed earlier, Dropshipping is easy, provided you have a very good marketing plans to run it effectively, and we will be looking at some of them….
- Market research
- Suppliers
- Start a Dropshipping store
- Monitor and promote your Dropshipping business
Market research
While it is good to venture into all kinds of goods or products, it will always be difficult to create a niche for yourself in the business. So, to get it easier, make research and feasibility studies on a particular brands of products that can guarantee you surge in sales and very much in demand in the market.
Why Market research is important
When you set your goals on a particular brands of products or goods, it becomes very easy for you to become an expert of that particular goods within a short range of time.
When you focus on a particular brand of goods, it gives way for potential customers to trust you on that single product and will soon term you an expert of such a product.
So, before focusing on a particular products or brands, carry out these simple surveys
- Look for products that are very profitable, likely to increase in value or in demands.
- Look for products that can not be easily got at anywhere. It has to be that rare to find without consulting you online, which in turn will keep you making more sales.
- Look for competition :if there are not many competitors or none at all selling your exact brands of products or goods, that means your product is not in high demand, which means have a rethink and choose other products. If there are competitors, check out what and how they are going about it and see where you can do better than them to attract potential customers to yourself.
- Pick a brand or product you know so well, it will keep you well grounded and stay motivated to go further in Dropshipping business
- Shipping cost: One thing you have to put in mind is that, the farther your warehouse you want to dropship from, the higher the cost will be. What this means is that if your potential customer is so far away from where you want to dropship from, the cost of shipping the goods might be too high which might eventually discourage your customers from getting the products.
Suppliers
After getting your research and surveys done about the particular brands of products or goods that you want, your next step is to look for suitable suppliers. As awesome as they are in the distribution of goods and products around the world, they are not a great marketing tool. So, get ready to do a lot of research on the suppliers that can also help boost your Dropshipping business. After getting your suppliers, contact them. Ask questions about their products, their shipping strategies and anything you might understand about them, so their operations can be clear to you because, indirectly, they are helping you grow, it is when they satisfy your customers that they will come back to trade with you again. No high cost, no delivery delay and so on,how do they handle damaged products, customer relations and so on.
After you have gotten yourself a remarkable supplier, open an account with them and start doing business with them.
Start a Dropshipping store
Now that you have established your area of products and goods, and your suppliers, it’s time for you to set up your Dropshipping store.
Dropshipping store is your online platform where you promote, distribute and advertise your business. The online platform is actually termed an e-commerce website.
You do not have to be a tech expert to design or have your e-commerce platforms as there are so many applications to help you create one.
Monitor and promote your Dropshipping business
Having organized your e-commerce platform, you need to monitor and promote your products there. There are several ways in which you can promote your business, some of which are highlighted below
- Social media: this is a microblogging platforms that help you promote your business, like the Facebook, tiktok, WhatsApp, etc, these platforms provide easy routes for you to grow your business and advertise, so make use it to your advantage
- Email marketing :also, one of the easiest ways to promote your business is through email marketing. Get the emails of people or potential customers patronizing your store (e-commerce platform) and send out emails to them on a regular basis telling them the various products you have, prices and shipping methods
- Content writing : constantly wow your subscribers and potential customers with your articles on the need to buy a particular products from you. That is don’t just advertise, regularly write something on the goods you sell that will make them always running to your store.
Advantages and disadvantages of Dropshipping
As we all know, everything has its own cons and pros, so we will be looking at some of them.
Advantages of Dropshipping
- You do not need much capital to start up a Dropshipping business; reason being that you do not need to get a warehouse and stock up your stores. One of the cheapest businesses to venture into because it requires little capital.
- It is easy to run because it is an online business, it makes it easy to run and manage anywhere once you are connected online.
- Very flexible to operate, you can easily switch products or goods if you are not making enough sales without any loss of capital or products
Disadvantages of Dropshipping
Having checked out the positive sides of Dropshipping, let’s try and check out some of its downsides too
- If your suppliers have any issues like delay in delivery, broken products, your customers may lose credibility in you and might stop patronizing you
- Because of its easier operation, there are a lots of people who venture into Dropshipping, thereby creating too many competitors for you.
Summary
Having gone through the cons and pros, it is safe to say that Dropshipping is a very good, easy and profitable business provided one follows the above steps discussed.
