To say that dropshipping is a trending business would be an understatement. More people venture into their own stores everyday, and it’s been a godsend for people wanting to start their own businesses.
It’s a great introduction to the business world in general as well, with all the things you need to learn.
However, lots of people fall into the “well, I can start tomorrow” day after day, all without realizing they’re hindering their success.
Why is that?
It’s competitive
A single look at Google Trends will show you how many dropshipping stores have opened in a few years. As I said, more people learn about it and join the business model every day.
They take advantage of the low entry standard, but ironically, they also increase it by saturating niches and products.
Marketing costs grow
A more noticeable consequence (for your budget) of the increasing number of dropshippers is that paid ads (Facebook and Google, for instance) become more expensive.
That means you have 2 options: increasing your investment funds or learning new marketing skills.
The best way, of course, is to use both. SEO becomes paramount, but you also want to make more engaging ads to gain an edge over your competitors.
Think about practicing on (and investing in) software like Adobe Premiere or Camtasia.
Marketing platforms change
Platforms like Facebook always update their algorithm to adapt to growing markets, and this can cause chaos for unprepared people.
Those caring only about money instead of customer experience – and even outright scamming – causes marketing platforms to tighten their policies. They can even ban accounts that don’t meet their standards.
Learning curve
Dropshipping isn’t particularly complicated over other models, but learning takes a bit of time and a lot of dedication.
You can take up to half a year to understand how to manage your store and market your products. You’ll have to perform different tasks, and waiting will only make the market a lot harsher and learning more difficult.
Retail stores are losing influence
Retail business is always adapting to how the digital world keeps changing the industry, and this means that brick-and-mortar stores either take up an online presence to complement their business or simply migrate to the internet.
It’s common sense as well; maintaining this type of business costs a lot between staff, bills, inventory, packaging, and more.
Compare that to dropshipping, where you only need to spend on your internet bill, marketing, and buying your “inventory” only whenever you make a sale.
You don’t keep inventory
Speaking of inventory, it doesn’t really exist for dropshippers. You skip renting a warehouse and managing/staffing it.
Inventory is a huge portion of the investment necessary to run a retail store, and if you don’t sell anything, then your stock might even be lost.Dropshipping lets you simply list your products with quality images. You can keep track of your supplier’s inventory with apps that let you know once they run out.
Saving money on inventory gives you a lot more to work with when building and marketing your business.
You can work remotely
You can manage your store from anywhere; you only need stable Wi-Fi to check on your sales or even run your ads.
You can operate from the UK and sell products to the US all the way from China, and it only takes few clicks. You can even work while you travel as long as you have internet access.
Besides, you don’t really depend on paychecks, so you can withdraw your profits whenever you need them.
Automating your business
You can make things a lot easier by using different apps to automate your business. You can automate different tasks like your email marketing, updating your prices, and getting out-of-stock items out of your catalog until they’re ready again.
That means you have more time to focus on marketing and growing your business.
Even tasks like researching products all the way to running your marketing campaigns can be outsourced to freelancers over the internet once you start making enough money.
Massive reach
As I said, you can sell anywhere in the world. You can even find suppliers near your target locations so that your shipping rates and time doesn’t suffer.
You also have a lot more potential customers than most other businesses.
More mobile sales
Smartphones have become a favorite for lots of people when it comes to shopping. They’re constantly taking more important roles in our lives, and a significant amount of online sales occur through a mobile device.
You can see this by simply looking around you if you’re outside. Notice how many people are hunched over looking at their phone screens. They’re all potential customers if you nail the niche and marketing side of things.
Works with social media
Along with smartphones, social media makes up a lot of our daily lives. Even I have spent hours mindlessly checking Facebook and Instagram, so they’re invaluable for eCommerce entrepreneurs.
You can leverage millions of users on each social network, and some are even integrating shopping right into their features.
Social media gives you an opportunity that no entrepreneur had just years ago.
Conclusion
All in all, the reason you should start dropshipping ASAP is that time is money, and that’s even more noticeable in eCommerce.
Every day, more people start their own businesses, and even if they might not be as good as you could be, they’re still saturating markets and increasing costs. Each day you wait adds a bit more difficulty.
