Dropshipping is one of the most accessible business models for anyone who wants to get into the eCommerce business. It allows you to build a business without an inventory with very little money. It is also a good option for people who want to sell physical items and not simply be an affiliate or sell digital products. Let’s take a look at what you need to start a successful dropshipping business in 2023.
Get a Good Laptop Computer
You will be doing most of your business from your computer, so you have to pick one that will be performant enough to do things like cutting and cropping images, creating banners, and editing videos if you want to shoot image presentations for your products. You also have to make sure that it has plenty of storage to store all your image files.
You don’t need to buy something crazy at the beginning, however. A good computer with a 2ghz + processor and at least two cores and a decent integrated graphic chip like something in the Intel Arc or Iris selection will be more than enough. If you want to learn about these integrated GPUs, you can read more at lenovo.com.
Get the Right Niche
The next thing you have to do is start looking for niches. The best option is usually to go for something popular with moderate to high competition. You may think that you found a great obscure niche, but there could be a reason why it’s under-exploited that you don’t fully understand yet. So, it’s usually better to go with a product or niche that is proven.
When picking niches, try to identify products that are small and easy to ship. Also, try to avoid items that are prone to returns. Clothing, for instance, is a very tricky niche to enter for this very reason. Stick to these criteria when looking at any niche and try to pick products that will provide you with at least a 60% margin.
Find Suppliers
AliExpress remains the most popular place to find suppliers, and it can be useful if you know how to look. The goal is to pick suppliers who are used to doing dropshipping with Americans, have lots of orders, and offer safe payment options. It would also be a good idea to privilege suppliers who can ship from the United States.
Note that you can also use curation services like Sprocket, though the selection will be somewhat limited. But you will get the peace of mind that the suppliers have been verified.
Build Your Website and Start Selling
Now that you have your supplier, you can build your website and start advertising it. Collect images from your suppliers or ask for samples of products and shoot them yourself. You can use Shopify to build a website, but you can also use WordPress and a plugin like WooCommerce so look at both options as they have their pros and cons.
From now on, you can advertise your site with a blog and content creation, PPC advertising, native ads, or ads on social media, among other methods. You could also work on collaborations with influencers on places like TikTok once you get bigger.
This is all you need to do if you want to start a lucrative dropshipping business. Take the time to learn as much as you can about the business and ask questions from people who have had actual success running a dropshipping site.
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