Dropshipping In 2021: How To Start And Build Business

Starting dropshipping in 2021 is the perfect way to start eCommerce without risks. Online sales already exceed 3.50 billion dollars every year. So don’t wait any longer and discover how to make money with dropshipping. 

In this article, you will learn everything about starting a dropshipping business. We will explain what a dropshipping business is, how to find the right dropshipping business ideas, and how to start a dropshipping business. Do not miss it!

What is a dropshipping business?

Dropshipping is a very popular business model that involves selling products through a logistics provider responsible for the storage and management of the order.  

The great advantage is that it does not require inventories or initial investments. Once you have made a sale, your supplier will send their products from their warehouse, directly to your client’s door.

How does dropshipping work?

There are three key players in the dropshipping model: the supplier, the merchant or retailer (you), and the customer.

The dropshipping provider’s role includes creating products, managing inventory, shipping products to customers on behalf of the retailer, replacing defective products, and replenishing them. 

When starting a dropshipping business, you as a retailer sell the supplier’s products on your website under your own brand. You will be responsible for choosing and marketing those products. In addition, you will also be responsible for managing customer inquiries and complaints.

Finally, making money with dropshipping is possible since the customer buys the products directly from you as a retailer. Your supplier relationship is kept confidential. 

Can you make money with dropshipping?

Surely you are wondering how much you can earn with an online store. 

Dropshipping may be the most profitable business model of all since you will not be responsible for manufacturing and shipping costs. 

And, since you don’t take investment risks, if your idea fails you can quickly go on to test the next one. Without losses!

So, yes, you can earn money through dropshipping, as many of our successful merchants continue to do. 

Why start a dropshipping business?

Starting a dropshipping business with no money is a great step towards entrepreneurship.

We explain its advantages and why starting dropshipping in 2021 is one of the best decisions you will make. 

1. You will only pay for the products you sell
2. You will not have to bear the cost of creating and shipping products, inventories, etc.
3. Most of the order processing steps are automatic and require just one click. 
4. The dropshipping business opportunities are endless, you just need to take the first step.

Dropshipping: How to get started in 6 steps

Step 1: Choose your dropshipping niche

The truth is that what you sell matters. 

If you prefer to use your own dropshipping business ideas instead of consulting our lists, you can use:

• Google Trends . It is ideal to know if the popularity of a niche over time. However, by itself, it is not enough to determine if a business is viable or not. Some niches may be on an upward trend, and not have enough search volume to guarantee profitability.
• Google keyword planner. It helps you see the volume of one and the competitiveness of the keywords within your niche. However, with the free version, you will see that the ranges are very wide, so consider paying for this or other SEO tools .
• Browse popular websites within your niche. This can help you understand what trends you should currently include in your store and see which products are currently best selling.
• Check the volume of product orders. With plugins like Alidropship, you can search for products based on their order volume to discover a product’s popularity. But don’t discount a dropshipping business simply because its order volume is not as high as other products, as it may simply be because they are newer products.

Step 2: Analyze your competition

The second step to start dropshipping and start a profitable online business is to find out who your competition is, who they sell and how they promote their products. There are many ways to do this:

• Search for the name of one of the products you want to sell on Google. The first ten results will give you a good reference for your competition in a certain location. If you are selling products in a different location than where you are, you can use third-party tools to collect data. Use tools like SEM Rush or Ahrefs to get information about search results in different locations around the world.
• Analyze social networks. Search Facebook ads within a niche and social media pages for successful brands. How many followers do they have? How do you market your brand? And, How much follow-up does your brand have? What can you do differently to excel? What can you copy?

Get familiar with your competitors’ content and look for patterns on what works best. We recommend that you subscribe to the newsletter of your competitors, to keep abreast of its content.

Step 3: Choose a provider to start dropshipping

In the alidropship plugin dashboard, you can see comments, ratings and how long the provider has been on the platform, which will help you choose a good provider.

When you have a list of five to six potential suppliers, contact them and ask them about minimum order quantities and shipping times.

We also recommend making a trial order and comparing results. Compare delivery times, product quality, and packaging.

Step 4: Create your online dropshipping store

There are some important elements that you must take into account to make your dropshipping business. Among them:

1. Choose your domain name. This is important if you want to make money from long-term dropshipping. You can use free business name generators to simplify the process. Opt for general names to avoid having to change it in the future. Also, avoid using your name as a domain for your store in case you decide to sell it in the future.
2. Install WordPress for alidropship on your web hosting service.
3. Install the premium themes and integrate the plugin.

Step 5: Promote your dropshipping business

To make money with dropshipping, you have to promote your business as if there were no tomorrow. 

This is a crucial step in your online business plan.

If you’re going to start dropshipping, you’re probably on a super tight budget. So we give you some ideas to start your dropshipping business without money or with little investment: 

• Advertising on Facebook: It can be tempting to spend $ 500 on Facebook ads. But you must keep your budget low at first to be able to experiment. You don’t even know what your best-selling product will be right now. Create multiple ads to determine which product sells best. Choosing the segments eliminates Canada, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, this will keep your ad costs lower.
• Content Marketing: If you are on a tight budget, take advantage of content creation to increase traffic to your free store. You will gain more visibility and position yourself as an expert in your niche. 
• Affiliate Marketing: If you can’t afford to pay influencers, you can offer them an affiliate commission. This reduces the risk that the influencer may or may not be suitable for your dropshipping business.
• Social media marketing plan: Social media is a perfect, free way to gain visibility and traffic. So take advantage and do not wait any longer to use social networks to promote your dropshipping business.

Step 6: Analyze your results and constantly improve

Once you have spent time creating your website, brand, and marketing, you can begin to analyze the results of your hard work. 

For example, if you use third-party tools for email marketing or social media reporting, set up weekly or monthly automatic reporting so you can analyze this information regularly. 

The reality of starting dropshipping in 2021

So there you have it! We have covered everything on how to start a dropshipping business.

Just one more thing. Getting started with drop shipping takes time and effort, so avoid e-commerce gurus who tell you that you will get rich in a matter of weeks. Dropshipping may be an inexpensive way to start, as an investment is hardly required, but high competitiveness means that to succeed you have to put a lot, a lot of effort. So cheer up your adventure and get to work!

And remember, the best way to discover how to start dropshipping is to start a dropshipping business.