Dropshipping is an exciting new way to start a business with little to no up-front investment. It’s a simple process that allows you to sell products without having to carry any inventory.
When a customer buys a product from your store, you simply purchase the item from a third-party supplier and have it shipped directly to your customer. Dropshipping apps like Oberlo let you add products from various suppliers into your shop to fuel your product offering.
Dropshipping is the perfect business model for new eCommerce entrepreneurs. It’s simple to set up and manage everything for running a good business.
However, if you don’t have money to start a dropshipping business, you don’t have to worry a bit. We got you all covered. In this article, we will talk about starting a dropshipping business without any investment.
What is dropshipping? How does it work?
Dropshipping is a technique of order placement in which a store does not hold stock of the items it offers. To ship orders, the seller buys goods from a third-party vendor, either a wholesaler or manufacturer.
The most significant distinction between dropshipping and traditional retail is that the seller does not store or own inventory instead they serve as a middleman.
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Is it possible to start dropping business without any investment?
While starting a dropshipping business does not require a large sum of money, it does demand you to invest your time. If it was easy then everyone would start their business and earn money. So, you need to give full effort and time to make a profit from your business.
Another thing you require is a specialty. If you want your product to be distinctive, you’ll need to come up with something that sets you apart from the competition. You’ll need to give customers a reason to purchase your product.
With dropshipping, you can quickly test various business ideas with limited investment and sources which allows you to learn a lot about how to select and sell the products you need.
If you are considering starting your online business with limited order processing time and a no-budget, dropshipping might be the solution for you. Dropshipping is an e-commerce method that makes it easy to start an online business, especially for those who are short on time.
5 steps you need to follow to start a dropping business with no money
As a newcomer to dropping business, it’s important to keep things simple. You don’t want to overcomplicate things that will ruin your whole business process and kill your determination. So to begin with, follow the following steps to get things started.
1. Open an online store
You do, after all, require a store. If you do not even give people a store for shopping, how can they purchase? There are a handful of marketplaces on which you can begin your dropshipping business journey without any money.
Ecommerce websites like eBay and Amazon are just a few of the prominent platforms. They frequently provide a free trial to allow you to browse and try the platform to see whether it is right for you.
eBay and Amazon let you list your product in their store. Once you sell a product, you will need to pay a certain fee to them depending upon the price of your product.
Nowadays, social media site like Instagram is growing as a marketplace for small businesses. You can directly place your products and sell your products similarly to eCommerce websites.
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2. Get a third-party vendor or supplier
Owning an online store isn’t sufficient. You need to add products to actually make a sale. For this, you will need to contact a third-party vendor who will supply the product you want to add to your store.
There are many suppliers that are willing you supply you with the product at a fairly decent price. You will have enough room to price the product to earn a decent profit. You can find third-party vendors selling all kinds of products. Either contact your local suppliers or find an alternative online and get your business on track.
Please remember some vendors might charge you fees to dropship. So, find a vendor who does not charge you any fees.
3. Invest your effort and time
This is when the real work starts. We’d like to believe that you’re interested in running your dropshipping business whether without any investment. That means you are passionate about what you are doing.
You will need to give full-time investment to make a well-structured schedule to handle your business. There are many stages where you need to focus on planning and giving the time it needs to run your business smoothly.
Only giving time isn’t enough. You may be present all the time but if you are not putting your efforts in then your time is wasted. So, you need to make sure you supervise, make proper decisions, and execute your task with dignity.
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4. Market your products
You have a store and products in your store but without customers, your business is going nowhere. One of the crucial elements of business, big or small, is marketing. You will need to market your products and attract target customers to buy your products.
Without any marketing, you will be just waiting for your customers to drop on your store by themselves which is totally not efficient. You need to advertise your products on different media to spread the word about your business.
However, marketing is expensive. One of the clever ways of marketing without any money is by using social media platforms. You can post about your store and products on social media platforms for free. It’s a great way to attract customers to your store. You will need to grind your skills to grow your social media accounts for getting many people to see your advertisements.
Also, you can write free guest posts to passively direct customers reading those posts. Writing an SEO-friendly product description is a good way to get target customers.
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5. Customer satisfaction
A business is all about satisfying customers as much as possible to get positive reviews and retain customers.
You need to keep an eye on two crucial things, one is product quality and the other is your customer service. Make sure customers are satisfied with the quality of your products and you give a decent service that customers like.
This is another way of marketing your store using your customers who will tell other people about your store. Good customer service depends on how you make conversation with customers and how fast you deliver the product.
Make sure your customers leave positive feedback that other people can see. Customer satisfaction is a great KPI for any business.
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Conclusion
Dropshipping business is a great way to start your business career without any investment. You can find it complicated in the beginning but guess what? Nothing starts easy. Everything needs time and effort to establish a good business ahead.
It’s up to you to decide what product you want to sell. It depends on what you are passionate about. It’s better to work on things you like the most. So why wait? Start your store right away and start earning.
