8 steps to start Dropshipping in 2021
By - Comments Off on 8 steps to start Dropshipping in 2021
The efficient way of accepting customer orders, but not keeping its stock in warehouses is called dropshipping. In other words, when a dropshipping company reviews an order, the firm or store purchase it from a third party that is, manufacturer or wholesaler that ships the product directly to the customers. Therefore, a dropshipping company doesn’t have to get into the trouble of managing the inventory. Discover how to easily start dropshipping in 2021 and how it can surely become a great business idea.
It has many other advantages to Start Dropshipping:
- You can sell whatever you feel like, just keep in mind the supplier has those products that you want to offer.
- You have the ease to work from wherever you want to, especially in 2021, where work from feels the safest form of occupation, you can work according to your convenience.
- The only form of marketing that you would be doing is describing the product or giving it your brand name, leaves the rest to the supplier, as they will work on designing the product, labeling, and packaging it.
- And lastly, very minimum capital cost. The only investment would be the cost incurred in buying a computer. Cheap! isn’t it?
So, dropshipping has become quite a good opportunity for someone who wants to start their own business, especially in 2021.
Let’s look at these 8 steps that will help start dropshipping:
1. Category or Industry for your shop
The first step is to select the type of business to start dropshipping. It is really important to decide as to which category to enter and learn about their pros and cons. For instance, if you want to enter the grooming industry, you need to decide whether you want to go for men’s grooming products or females. Being specific is important as it will help to focus on the target market. If you are not focused on your product category, the right customers won’t be targeted and it will eventually lead to a failure. We do not want this to happen, ever!
2. Where would you like to sell?
The second step is selecting a medium to start your dropshipping. Action plans to decide and list the products that you want to dropship. There are different platforms available where you could choose to do that. For example Amazon, Flipkart, eBay etc. Or if you do not want to list your products on some other platform, you can even do it by creating your website or an application. Always make sure that the platform you are choosing to list your products is a genuine one.
3. Select the product to start dropshipping
The next step involves selecting the product. Once the medium to list the products are selected, the next work is to select the specific product that can be listed. Before the selection, some proper market research needs to be conducted. In order to get to know about the type of consumers and their preferences. Remember, not to list a lot of products at the beginning, you can expand your network as and when the need arises.
Quick tip: Go on Aliexpress and check “Flash Deals” and “More to love” to found trendy sold products
4. Brand your product
Customers recognize products through their brand name. Therefore it is very important to brand your products. In this case, whether to brand your items or you can even sell another company’s brand. But the latter is hardly profitable in the long run. This is because if you use an already established brand, it may ask for a share in the profit earned, which may affect your profit as a whole. For successful branding, you can show your brand’s presence on social media as well, by posting about the products and relevant content on various social media handles like Facebook and Instagram. Have a unique name for your brand with a slogan or a symbol to make it attractive.
5. Opportunities to expand the business
After branding the product, the next step is to look for opportunities that you can grab for expanding your business. The best way to do that is by looking after your competitors. Yes! Your competitors are your biggest motivators. They are the ones that deal with the same kind of products that you are dealing with. Analyzing the competitors’ moves, their strategies, and their marketing efforts will help you find what they are lacking. And their shortcomings can serve you as an opportunity to work and be better than your competitors. Healthy competition is always good for you. Do not compete to win, but compete to be better!
A great tool while looking to expand your business would be Oberlo, check our article “How to start with Oberlo” to know more about it.
6. Find your supplier
The next very important step is to select a dropship supplier. Before selecting any supplier, it is necessary to have a background check of the supplier regarding the authenticity of the products that they are dealing with. Research very well and ask for a product in advance and check it thoroughly before signing any contract with the suppliers. You can also ask the supplier for a sample product, wherein you can check the product yourself. Giving a product to the customer which does not meet the standards is going to affect your brand and will hinder the customer’s trust.
7. List the product
After the supplier is selected, the next step is to list the products on the chosen platform for the customers to access and buy easily. Listing the products is very important, as the required information related to the product must reach the customers. They should get a full description of the product including the name, price, directions to use, ingredients, and other information related to the product. You must pay close attention that all the information is true and the customers are not being lied to. The listing can be either on any platform as discussed above, or you can list them on your website.
The website will demand more investment at the beginning, we recommend it if you are serious about running an onlin shop in the long term. This will also help you get more insights like which product is viewed the most, which one is bought the most, and also increase the value of your brand.
8. Track your progress
The last and final step is to track your progress. Successful dropshipping requires careful observation regarding the changing taste of the customers, consumer demand, and competitors’ moves. It is very important to keep changing the products that do not sell and list more products that the customers are interested in. Listing products that do not cater to any profit will just take up money and would not give anything in return, therefore regular checkups should be done to track the progress. You can even track your available data through google analytics and pixel data for Facebook.
In conclusion, Dropshipping is a great business opportunity, which does not require huge funds to invest in a stock, its management, and storage. The only thing to work upon is to list good products for the customers that are from genuine suppliers. You can be saved from the trouble of managing inventory which for sure takes a lot of time, effort, and money.
So, if you are looking for something that you can do while sitting at home and earn a fair amount of money, Dropshipping is a great idea. What are you waiting for?
