If you are contemplating dropshipping, then consider taking the very first step in learning all the basics of this business model and then mastering it and taking charge of your empire. Just so you know, dropshipping business isn’t easy, no business program is anyway but learning how to start a dropshipping business before starting up is a great way to fire up, dominate, and excel in no time in dropshipping.
Fortunately, you don’t have to own any physical store or hold any roster to start up a dropshipping company, moreover, you don’t need to buy products and ship to customers you only act as a marketer or middleman who brings in customers for product owners or distributors and if you are consistence and serious enough, this could fire up your financial status. Moreover is a great step into the world of entrepreneurship.
What Is Dropshipping?
Often, people tend to confuse Dropshipping with affiliate marketing or networking, or let’s just say it’s similar to….but not. So what exactly is dropshipping?
Dropshipping is a business model that authorizes a business to sell products without even upholding an inventory of the products. This is to say that the business doesn’t necessarily have to produce or have physical contact with the product in question. Now the customer sets an order, and then the dropshipping company alerts the manufacturers or distributors of the product that an order has been set and it should be lowered into cargo for the consumer or client. Then the manufacturer or distributor ships down the said product directly to the consumer on behalf of the dropshipping company.
In a simpler explanation, “Mr. A” who is a Customer/consumer/ client sees a product in a store, likes it, and wishes to get it, he then contacts “Mr. B” who is a drop shipper and the store owner, and then makes the payment for the product, then “Mr. B” will now alert the manufacturers or distributors of the product to let them know of “Mr. A’s” interest in the product and then the manufacturer or distributor can now ship the product down to the customer ( Mr. A ) on behalf of “Mr. B”
Typically, dropshipping means marketing products for manufacturers and/ or distributors for some little commission. A drop shipper is a marketer, and they’re a huge help in the manufacturing sectors as they help to create awareness and sell products that can be stacked on shelves for so long.
However, in this article, we are going to be talking about how to start a dropshipping business and excel in 6 simple steps.
Here is how to start a dropshipping business in 6 simple step
Find your Niche (Dropshippin business idea) and make research.
First thing first, there are a lot of products for sale out there, ranging from fashion products, kitchen utensils, beauty products, phone accessories, Health care products, etc. Now what you need to do as a newbie is decide on what product you want to get yourself involved with, then make your research and find out
“If people are buying those products”
” How many people are buying the products”
“Is it a hot product”
“What kind of people are buying this product? Old people? School kids? Footballers? Musicians? Women? Or Men?”
“Where is this product most like to sell”
Fortunately, there are a lot of tools that can help make your research easy, tools such as the Shopify e-commerce store, social media search bars like the Facebook or Instagram search bar, keywords everywhere, Google Trends, and even a market survey would go a long way.
Little tips on how to make research – assuming you have gotten a niche you want to dive into, now let’s assume you want to be dropshipping fashion products like Men T-shirts, the next thing to do is make a little research to see if this t-shirt will sell well. which design is trending? and who can wear this shirt?
Now the next thing to do is go to the Shopify store and search for the best-selling products in the fashion category, and see if the men’s T-shirts are listed as best-selling products, ( the best-selling products on Shopify are products that are trending and sold regularly) If men Tshirst are listed there, then the niche is good.
Then proceed to social media, e.g go to Facebook (meta) search bar, and type in your keyword which is T-shirt, Facebook will display all keywords related to your main keyword, for example, you will see things like “T-shirts design, Tshirts for girls, T-shirts for women, T-shirts for men. Click on “T-shirts for men” and see a list of men’s shirts with various designs then check if people are buying those shirts, with the engagements on such posts you would be able to determine if the products sell more than women’s t-shirts and kids’ t-shirts by checking in on the categories also.
After that, the next thing is the use of Google Trends, with Google Trends, you can determine if a product is trending upward or downward, and also get to know the seasons they tend to trend in. However, Google trends might not be lenient enough to show you the volume of buyers or searchers for your keyword, which is why you may need to consider the next step.
The next and probably the last keyword tool you will need before concluding your search and deciding if the niche is profitable and easy to deal with is Keywords Everywhere. This research tool unlike Google Trend shows you the monthly search volume for your product and how competitive it is. With the information it provides, You can scale the popularity of your dropshipping niche and even obtain fresh product ideas for later days.
Source for Products
Now after choosing a niche that interests you and making proper research using the method above, it’s time to source for products from different platforms, search different suppliers/distributors that sell the same products, and find out the best wholesale price for the product you want to list on your store.
Some popular and trusted marketplaces to make your research and get prices of goods are :
•AliExpress
•Worldwide Brands
•SaleHoo
•Megagoods
•Doba
•Wholesale Central
