Everyone dreams of owning a simple and riskless business one day. A business that is low-cost to start and not time-consuming to run. The number of business models that meet these criteria is incredibly low. However, there is one that fits both inexperienced and established entrepreneurs, and that is dropshipping. Lots of people have embraced this business model and numerous success stories are revolving around dropshipping. Having said that, turning a regular hobby into a solid income sounds very real, and there are lots of examples of people who have accomplished this.
Like with everything unfamiliar, people that are unaware of the dropshipping business model have questions and doubts. Such as, can you create a profitable dropshipping business? Is dropshipping worth it? Let’s see if we can find the answers in this article.
What is dropshipping?
First and foremost, what is dropshipping? In short, dropshipping is a kind of business model where the entrepreneur does not have to physically possess the products that he is selling. Rather, once an order request is submitted to the online store, the same product is purchased from a third party that will ship it directly to the customer.
Look at it this way: a dropshipping store is a middleman in this transaction. After a dropshipping store visitor submits an order, it is forwarded to the suppliers who then ship the goods to the customers.
How does dropshipping work?
This simple and easy to use business model can be embraced by anybody. This is how it works.
You choose a niche for your dropshipping store – for example, pet products, or educational children’s toys, or home fitness equipment, etc. Then, you use large-scale online retail platforms such as AliExpress to find popular and commonly bought items from this niche. You use the product data from these suppliers to create informative and good-looking pages in your own online store. And after that, you start promoting these products on social media and elsewhere to attract visitors to your store and encourage them to make a purchase.
Once you have received an order, you need to send the details of the purchase to your supplier. To prevent confusion and transitional errors, you can automate this process with the help of special dropshipping software.
From here, there isn’t much work left for you to do. Everything else is the responsibility of the dropshipping supplier who will collect, pack, and ship the requested goods at your buyer’s address. So, choosing a reliable supplier is incredibly important in this business.
What are the benefits of dropshipping?
Dropshipping has its advantages and features that make it preferable amongst other online businesses. Let’s look at what makes it favorable and see if dropshipping is worth it!
- Easy and cheap to get started
There are no special skills or specific background knowledge needed, only the determination to create and establish a successful business. A dropshipping business does not require large investments, all that is necessary is a website and some advertising.
With the dropshipping model, there is no need to maintain stocks and physical stores or to purchase products and hire workers. Because all the aspects of the traditional business are set aside, you can focus on developing and maintaining the online store.
- A wide selection of products
An individual who wants to start a dropshipping business can start selling almost any kind of product. It is possible to find a dropshipping supplier for any product category imaginable. You just need to closely research and choose a niche, analyze the competition, and find a target audience.
In addition to that, there is no need to order products in bulk. However, for the benefit of the business owner, it is sometimes recommended to order the product sample to understand this item specifics. This way, you can see if the items fit the descriptions and if their quality is as high as the supplier states. It is always better to stay informed about what you are selling. In case you receive a customer complaint you can expertly and diligently find a solution to the problem.
- Time savings
To put things into perspective, in the traditional retail business, once a store receives two times the usual number of orders, the working hours will also multiply by two. In the dropshipping business, however, you delegate the majority of tasks to your supplier and can automate a huge part of your daily routine activities. This creates more time for you to grow your dropshipping business.
Is dropshipping worth it?
All in all, dropshipping can be a great solution for people who don’t have any experience and want to start their own business. Still, to build a successful business, you have to put in the effort and do the necessary research. You can’t simply list some items in your store and expect people to come in and buy your products straight away. It is essential to find the right niche, the appropriate audience, create a message and find ways to convey it to the audience.
Nowadays, the level of competition is extremely high, as there are online stores for almost any imaginable product or service. That is why it is important to find a niche that you will specialize in and find ways to stand out from the competition.
Not only that but finding reliable and trustworthy suppliers is of great importance as well. AliExpress gives free access to numerous suppliers with countless products. You just have to carefully pick them out. This can be easily done by looking at how long the seller has been doing business, his store and product reviews, and the number of overall products that have been sold. Generally, the longer the seller has been in business, the higher the number of the products he sold – the more reliable the supplier is.
In conclusion, is dropshipping worth it? Of course, it is! It is up to you to decide if you want to create a successful online store with minimum investments. An individual willing to spend time researching various niches, markets, and audiences will surely find an effective way to manage and expand their online business. Best of luck to you in your new-found eCommerce journey!