The fear of the market didn't stop you. All that procrastination went into vain. All those odds tasted defeat. You finally set up your very own dropshipping business. Congratulations on this success!
But you know well by now that your work is not done yet. You have a long fight ahead and the first step towards it is growing business.
So, how to grow your business now that it's up and running?
Read on.
How to Transform a Small Dropshipping Business Into a Big One?
1. Solve Problems in Dropshipping
Two of the many issues that the fastest-growing businesses face in their preliminary stages are product refunds and illegal credit card chargebacks.
If you want to apply any solution from how to grow your business dilemma, focus on these two first.
First, devise a plausible and easy to understand the return policy. This will put limits around what your customers can refund. In turn, it will give you the ease of mind as you wind your return policy around your suppliers' policies.
With that, you should also consider getting a return merchandise authorization (RMA) number from the supplier.
As far as the illegal chargebacks go, you can save yourself from it by providing all the details of the purchase right from the time it was ordered to the time it was delivered. Remember, you shouldn't in any terms wait long enough to respond to a chargeback.
2. Find out Shipping Issues
Of course, you have to think about shipping rates and factor them in your profit or loss. Basically, there are three shipping rates you can choose from.
- Real-time rates refer to the shipping rates as per the weight of a package and its destination. Accurate, but complex.
- Per-type rates are charged based on the type of goods you're shipping.
- Flat rate shipping is the most popular one and here, you charge a flat rate on shipping all the goods. Yes, you lose some money on bigger orders, but at the same time, you earn it on shipping small products.
We recommend you use flat rates for domestic shipping. As far as international shipping is concerned, know that you'll have to pay an extra fee based on the carrier you choose.
3. Improve Your Customer Support
Read an article on how to grow a business and one of the first headings you'll read will relate to customer support. It is THAT important for the growth of a small business.
It's time for you to get professional about your customer support and for that, you can use a number of platforms like Zendesk, Desk, and Help Scout. These apps let you manage your customers seamlessly.
And if you're dropshipping expensive items, do not hesitate to use Grasshopper for phone support.
4. Work with Multiple Suppliers
Working with a single supplier makes sense when you're just starting out. But as you start growing your business, you should bring in more suppliers. Doing this has many benefits, of course.
- You don't run out of stock because of having multiple suppliers at your disposal and many of their products overlapping.
- Product selection becomes relatively easy as you choose specific products from your pool of suppliers. If one does not have it, the other one surely will.
- If one of the suppliers raises the price of a product, you can always pick and select the same product from the second supplier.
5. Automate Inventory Management
To keep your customers coming back for more, you'd have to up your inventory management game. No one likes to hear that their products have run out. But at the same time, keeping up with increasing demands can be daunting.
And that's where we suggest you should automate your inventory management with software such as Ordoro.
With this, you should also make sure with the supplier that your most popular items are available throughout the year. Also, do not hesitate from selling a product from two different suppliers under the same listing.
6. Set Up a Team
A team makes and breaks a company, but nonetheless, it is crucial to have one, especially, when you're growing a small dropshipping business. The idea of keeping a team is to divide your business's operations among them for their smooth execution.
Specifically for your business, you'd need virtual assistants who can help you with managing your documents, keeping your records, process invoices, and do a lot of other administrative work. You can also hire customer support representatives, SEO experts, copywriters, and designers, not to mention marketers.
There are many freelancers all over the world whom you can hire for these jobs. And doing that will pose lesser dangers for your profits because their rates are highly competitive and affordable.
14 Useful Tips for the Growth of Small Businesses
Now that you've read about different aspects of inducing growth in dropshipping business, here are 14 tips to help you go in the right direction.
1. Purchase CRMs, e-commerce platforms, and any other system that can help you focus on the right things at one time.
2. Make sure you invest plenty of time in making your homepage or landing page drool-worthy. Hire a designer ASAP.
3. Use data tools, free or premium, to see where you have the potential to grow further.
4. Start a blog to humanize your business and talk to your customers directly. Also, this blog will help fetch more customers once it establishes its online presence.
5. Set up a clear growth strategy. You cannot just go blindly ahead.
6. Going for the cheap solutions might seem wise. However, do this only when you know it won't hurt your scalability.
7. Running a one-person business can end up in major setbacks. Always have a backup plan for those times.
8. Do not plunge into taking risks if you cannot identify its potential hurdles.
9. Bring in expert people to your staff and seek professional advice.
10. Take one step at a time towards expansion. Don't rush it.
11. Identify your strengths and invest in strengthening them even more.
12. Try to avoid a tight financial spot by always leaving an extra layer of your budget. This will work as your backup financial security.
13. Formulate an annual strategic plan and break it up in sections to achieve your targets successfully.
14. Maintain your image in your customers' mind by focusing on your brand, your voice.
Conclusion
Growing an up and running small dropshipping business requires prudence and wise planning. And looking at its dynamics or steps, as explained above, you cannot simply rely on being a one-man-show. You'd have to seek advice and bring in experts to your team, not to mention, invest in tools and apps that let you focus on key growth metrics.
This article is also an answer to the question of how to grow a small business. Follow the steps and tips in it for a better dropshipping future. Also, tell us in the comments below if you think we missed anything.
