How To Start A Dropshipping Business?

Here are some brief tips to help you start your very own dropshipping business.

1. Select a Niche

There are two routes you can take when selecting a niche. If sales are your highest priority then your best bet is to do some research. Identify the types of products that are in constant demand and find the optimal way to present those products to a specific demographic.

Another method is to consider the things that you are genuinely passionate about. If you already know the best products that surround a specific interest, then it would be that much easier to cater to that niche. Having a clear idea of the types of customers you are trying to target will help you make sales further down the line.

2. Build a Brand

Once you have an idea of who your customers are and what products they are most likely going to buy, it’s wise to consider how you’re going to present the products to them. In other words, how do you intend on branding your business?

You wouldn’t buy fine jewelry from a random person on the street corner? Neither will potential customers buy products from a website that looks the same as all the others. You have to stand out from everyone else and the best way to do that is to create a Branding Guideline.

Do you have a logo or a particular color pallet that you’re going to use? What is your website’s layout, and what fonts best depict your brand? Will each order come in custom packaging? These are all things to consider when building a Brand Guideline.

3. Find Reliable Suppliers

The suppliers you choose will make or break your brand, so it’s very important for you to choose based on reliability. The higher you are in the supply chain will dictate how wide your profit margins will be.

This means the fewer people that are in between you and the manufacturer will allow for greater profits. You may want to whitelist products that are already in production, meaning placing your logo on a product that’s already made.

Or you may want to private label a product. Meaning that you have an item custom made exclusively for your brand. Or you just want to simply sell products from your website and nothing more.

Whichever the case, it is your supplier that will be shipping these products on your behalf. Therefore it is important to ask which shipping method works best for you and your customers.

4. Logistics

At present, there are four categories for Dropshipping Methods: commercial express delivery, China post, special line, and overseas warehouse.

First of all, choose the appropriate shipping method in accordance with the product’s characteristics (size, type, etc.). Secondly, shipping methods should correlate to the shipping level, customs clearance requirements, and capabilities of different market destinations.

Finally, dropshippers should clearly list all the characteristics of the provided shipping methods to customers, such as how long it may take and where the products are being shipped from.

5. Build your website

Now that all the technical stuff is out of the way, here comes the more creative portion of running your own business. Remember the Branding Guideline mentioned earlier, now it’s time to put that information into use. It’s important to reference your guideline when designing your website and all its assets.

This will ensure that your brand achieves a high level of consistency. In the end, you want your website to look as professional as possible. The more a potential customer can trust you at face value, the more likely you are to receive a sale.

The level of customer service you provide will ensure a higher retention rate. While your advertisements and credibility will draw the new customers in. Be sure to make pages that clearly state your contact information, Return, and Privacy policies as well as a general FAQ page.

6. Traffic and Advertising

Marketing is the money maker in this industry and you can only go so far via word of mouth. It’s important to have some knowledge of SEO when creating your store. So that way search engines will favor your website when keywords are being used by potential customers.

You may choose to create a blog for your store to organically drive traffic to your listings. But by far the most effective way to get your store in front of the right eyes is to master Facebook ads.

We highly suggest you spend some time researching the basics of the Facebook Ad Manager. It will defiantly help to send the right people to your website. And depending on how well your website is designed and how effective advertisements are will determine your conversion rate, or the frequency you make sales.

Keep in mind that most e-commerce stores have a conversion rate of 1-2%. This means that for every 100 visitors you are most likely going to get one or two sales. Therefore the more traffic you can drive to your store, the more likely you are to convert a sale.