For some people, working at home is the ultimate dream, as it allows you to be present in your children’s lives while making a good living. With today’s technologies, you can conveniently work remotely for an employer or as an entrepreneur.
If you’re considering making money online, start an e-commerce store with dropshipping business model. Unlike the conventional approach in which you must maintain inventory and rent a warehouse to keep them, this model would save you a lot of startup capital as you will only purchase the item from the supplier after it has been ordered and paid for by the customer. In most cases, a dropshipping store can be started with zero capital.
According to Jennifer Smith in her Wall Street Journal article, dropshipping is ready to go mainstream. Conventional retailers Pier 1 Imports and Shoe Carnival, for instance, are among those that would start using dropshipping to enhance their online offerings.
As a dropshipping store owner, you do, however, need to have a working website and a dropshipping e-commerce application installed. You can use WordPress and Woocommerce or Shopify and Oberlo.
In this article, we’ll discuss the 5 tips on starting a dropshipping online store in order to maintain a work-from-home lifestyle.
First, be ready to spend 1 to 3 hours per day managing the store.
While working on your own business provides flexibility of the hours spent, growing one still requires a commitment. Spare at least 1 to 3 hours per day running, managing, and updating the e-commerce store. Most likely, the time spent will increase as the business blossoms.
Second, consider the products to sell.
Which products you sell determine the profits earned and the longevity of the business. While it may be tempting, don’t sell branded products, as you definitely don’t want to infringe any trademark. Sell products that aren’t explicitly branded, to be on the safe side.
Third, prepare the professionally-designed website, logo, and business name.
Both WordPress and Shopify have many free and paid themes to select from. However, before you decide on which template to use, generate catchy and straightforward business name, and create a stunning and eye-catching logo. You can use various online tools, such as a business name generator and a logo maker.
Fourth, source products from reputable suppliers.
Most dropshipping retailers source products from AliExpress, where most suppliers are familiar with working with dropshippers. However, if you use Shopify, you can leverage Oberlo’s pre-vetted list of dropshipping wholesalers, directly from the dashboard.
Fifth, grow your social media following to promote the store.
Once you have the store up and running, it’s time to promote it online and offline. Since dropshipping business model allows low barrier of entry, there are many competitors out there. For this, you want people to buy your products on an impulse and not compare prices through Google search. With this underlying philosophy, promoting the store via social media and with influencer marketing would be preferred.
In conclusion, as dropshipping is going mainstream, more and more work-at-home entrepreneurs are enjoying the freedom. This business model is more than convenient and headache-free; it’s a favorable lifestyle for those who appreciate a good and balanced life.
About the Author
Jennifer Xue is an award-winning author, columnist, and serial entrepreneur based in Northern California. She is also a digital strategist for Oberlo. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, Fortune, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Business.com, Business2Community, Addicted2Success, Good Men Project, Positively Positive, and others. Her blog is JenniferXue.com.