There are many options to choose from when it comes to starting a business online. However, by a large margin, dropshipping is the most convenient and lucrative. Beginners who are looking for a business online can use this dropshipping guide and start selling online in 24 hours. As newbies, we want you to be guided and avoid several mistakes to boost your chances of succeeding in this business. This is why we have created the best dropshipping complete guide free for beginners.
What is Dropshipping
To fully understand what dropshipping is, there is a need to first distinguish between what you know (traditional e-commerce) and what you are about to learn (dropshipping). In traditional e-commerce, an entrepreneur creates an online store where he sells products to consumers. The entrepreneur either manufactures the product or buys from a wholesaler. Thereafter, he stocks the products in a warehouse, waiting for an interested buyer. After purchase, the entrepreneur is obliged to fulfill the order to the customer. How tiring. The dropshipping business model is quite similar yet different in so many ways.
What is dropshipping? Dropshipping is a type of business model that allows an entrepreneur or online retailer to sell products through his online store, which are then fulfilled directly by the supplier. In dropshipping, the online retailer (you) has no business with packaging and shipment – the supplier handles this aspect. Unlike traditional e-commerce, dropshipping is a supply chain management method in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock but instead transfers its customer's orders to a dropship supplier who packages and ships the order directly to the customer. And if questions or issues, the customer contacts the retailer they bought the product from. The online retailer makes his profit from the difference between the price tag of the dropship supplier and what the consumer pays.
Why Choose Dropshipping
There are so many reasons to venture into this popular business model. Briefly, this Alibaba dropshipping guide will reveal a few benefits of dropshipping.
1. Dropshipping eliminates the need to keep inventory. You don’t need to stock up items before making a sale. This way, your business saves time and money for stocking and manufacturing.
2. You don’t have to worry about shortages or overstocking certain products. Even if certain products are perishable or fall out of trend, you’ll still be in business without losing.
3. Keeping inventory would incur additional costs on labor and warehouse. But since there’s no need for inventory in dropshipping, your business saves cost on labor and maintaining a warehouse property to store goods.
4. There’s no limitation to what to sell, who to sell, and where to ship products. Your drop ship supplier uses dropship warehouse services that can deliver perishable and large items to your customers anywhere in the world.
5. Your dropship supplier takes care of the entire process from packaging to shipment – no stress, no hassle.
6. As an online retailer, there’s no limit to the type of product to sell. Dropshipping offers the flexibility of selling a wide range of products from different categories without the need to first stock them.
A few drawbacks on dropshipping may include low-profit margin, a huge competition, and difficulty in building a brand. However, none of these mean dropshipping is a bad business idea. It just means you need to take your time, create a proper plan, and get ready to put in the effort before getting started.
How to Quickly Start Dropshipping – The Best Dropshipping Guide
Starting a dropshipping business is great but you still need some guidelines to maximize your chances of success. Although you don’t need to pay for inventory yet you still need to put in the work if you want to grow the business and build a successful brand. Below are the seven things to consider before starting a dropshipping business.
a. Choose a Dropshipping Business Idea
What you sell will go a long way in your success story. There are best dropshipping niches to choose from that will turn your business into a profitable empire. Many beginners make the mistake of choosing only what they’re passionate about; this is not all there is. Combining what you like with what’s trending or in-demand can generate crazy profit for you. Take the time to make research using Google Trends and other free tools to find evergreen niches. To save you some time, we’ve discovered the following niches profitable. You can’t go wrong dropshipping in any of these niches: fashion, kids’ toys, fitness, led lightings, jewelry, beauty, health and wellness, female bags, and backpacks.
1. Write a business plan
A lot of entrepreneurs neglect this step and it has proved costly. A business plan is the roadmap of any business. Like a map, it provides guidance and direction on how to run the business. A good business plan is a formal written document containing:
- what you want to sell
- who you are selling to
- who your competitors are
- financial plans on how to run the business as well as a cash flow
- business goals
- the methods on how your goals can be achieved
- the timeframe (short-term or long-term) within which these goals will be achieved
- marketing strategies
- SWOT analysis (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis
It is important to have a business plan before getting started as an online retailer.
2. Know your competitors
Knowing your competitors and how they operate will provide insight on how to run your business. Perhaps, one of the greatest drawbacks of dropshipping is stiff competition. Regardless of the niche you want to venture into, there are hundreds of entrepreneurs presently in that line. So, a means to penetrate the market is to know who your competitors are. Knowing their marketing strategies will help you a lot. There are free tools like AHREFS and SEMRush that can get information on what keywords are working for your competitors. Replicating their strategies isn’t illegal; it’s a smart move by wise entrepreneurs.
3. Find a reliable and trustworthy dropshipping supplier
Most beginners fail because they fall into the hands of the wrong dropshipping supplier. There are hundreds of thousands of suppliers out there; hence, running into the wrong ones is easy. A good practice is to make a list of 4 or 5 potential suppliers to choose from and then narrow the list. The best supplier must have these features:
- Very fast shipping service
- Offer thousands of products from different categories
- 24/7 customer care service
- Big discounts and clearance sales to help beginners, and many more
Check for reviews online to know how their customers feel about their service. Suppliers like SaleYee.com checks all the boxes and even offer more. SaleYee dropshipping platform is as a top dropshipping supplier in China. Beginners can use this platform to start and earn quickly dropshipping. The platform is easy, boasting over 30,000 Profitable SKUs. They have local warehouses in virtually every part of the world and offer next-day delivery. Membership is free and big discounts are enjoyed. Their excellent customer representatives are available 24/7 to cater to your needs.
b. Create a Dropshipping Online Store
Up next is for you to build an online store for your business. Gone are the days when you need to learn programming languages before you can build a website. With simple tools such as WordPress, Joomla, Shopify, AliExpress Plug-in, you can build a dropshipping store within 24hours. All that you need are:
- A domain name – this is the web address of your website – usually your brand name. This is important to the success of your business. Choose a domain name that is easy to remember, one that is in line with your niche. There are tools available to help you find the best domain name for dropshipping.
- Website hosting – this works with your domain name. This is where all the content of your website will be stored. Getting a hosting service provider is easy – top choices include GoDaddy, WordPress hosting, Bluehost, Hostgator, Hostinger, etc.
- Website logo – hire a graphics designer to create a logo for your business. Your logo must not be too colorful; keep it simple.
4. Planning your marketing strategies
At this point, you need to create a marketing strategy to increase your chances of success. Remember, you already have competitors in your niche. The only way to ward off competitors is by planning. There are different ways to market your online store; you can either use paid advertising or free advertising.
Examples of paid advertising are:
- Paid per click
- Facebook ads
- Influencer marketing, etc.
Examples of free marketing include:
- Facebook group, Facebook marketplace, or Facebook Online Store
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – optimizing your website to get free traffic from search engines
- Forum posts
- Link building
- Content marketing
- Email marketing
- Video marketing
NOTE: If you have money to spare, then you can opt for paid marketing. Paid marketing produces a fast result in the short-term and needs consistency to keep it effective. Free marketing, on the other hand, takes time to produce a result but when done right, it keeps multiplying exponentially for longer terms.
5. Optimize and expand your business
Now that you have set up your online store, the real work starts. Don’t relax! Allow for improvement. Start by analyzing your marketing strategies, modifying your business plan, and comparing your prices against competitors. There are tons of free analytical tools to help you out, including Google Analytics. Reviewing and optimizing helps you to increase the revenue that you generate online, expand your business, and make sure you stay ahead of your competitors too.
Conclusion
There you have it, the ultimate guide to Aliexpress dropshipping. If you are ready to give dropshipping a try, then following this ultimate guide to dropshipping will increase your chances of long-term success. As long as dropshipping remains a highly accessible way for a retailer to connect consumers with products without the need to stockpile inventory, there is money to be made.
