Are you interested in setting up a dropshipping store? And are you wondering what kind of steps you need to follow? Awesome!
Follow me in this easy to follow article to learn about all the steps that you need to take in order to be fully prepared to open your dropshipping store! Sit back, relax, and enjoy reading (and learning)!
Setting up a dropshipping store; it seems easy. Just create an account on an ecommerce platform like Shopify, but what if you don't put any time and effort into your dropshipping business? Well, let's just say that your chance of succeeding will be way lower than someone that is treating it as a real business.
Why should you start a dropshipping store?
Take a look at our infographic below to see why people do dropshipping:
Most people that are researching about dropshipping, and want to start/are running a dropshipping store do this for one or more of these reasons:
- Earning more money. If done right, then dropshipping could earn you a lot. Just take a look at these success stories.
- Being their own boss. Some people don’t like to work for a boss, so they search for other ways to earn an income.
- Location-independent work. A dropshipping store can be run from just about anywhere with an internet connection. As long as you can communicate with suppliers and customers easily, you can run and manage your business. This is also called being a Digital Nomad.
Is one of these three reasons on your list as well?
Awesome! It’s great to have goals!
6 Easy to follow steps to start a dropshipping business in 2024
Now that you know some of the reasons why you should start a dropshipping store, it's time to learn how to start one!
Below you will find six easy to follow steps to start a dropshipping business. I will start by explaining to you what dropshipping means. Don't worry if you already know that, then you can scroll down to the second step!
1. Learning what dropshipping means
Let’s start by understanding what starting a dropshipping business means.
If you already understand it, then you can click here to scroll down to the second step on how to set up a dropshipping store!
If not, then take a look at this easy to understand infographic that explains how dropshipping works:
If you still don’t fully understand what the dropshipping business model means now, then don’t worry.
I will explain it really simple to you:
- You got an online store where you sell products, but you don’t have any of these products in your storage, or in your house.
- When someone places an order on your dropshipping store, then you place that same order directly with your dropshipping supplier. Don’t worry. There are a lot of apps out there that help you with automating this. For example, DSers, or these 14 DSers alternatives.
- Then your dropshipping supplier will handle the rest. Think about preparing the package and sending the order straight to your customer.
- Now your customer will receive the package straight from your dropshipping supplier, and you never touched the product in between!
The most common question people have now is, won’t my customer know that the package didn’t come from me?
For example, aren’t there any advertisements or recipes from the supplier in the package?
No.
You just need to make sure that your supplier accepts dropshipping and blind dropshipping.
You can learn more about blind dropshipping by reading this article here.
If you’re interested in learning more about dropshipping, then I suggest reading this article written by me:
Dropshipping for Beginners: What Is It & How to Start Today?
2. Preparing
Let's start with some articles that you should go through if you're in the process of setting up a dropshipping business.
In these articles, I will cover things like your mindset and how to treat your customers right.
In this dropshipping checklist, I will go over all the things that you can do before starting with dropshipping. Like choosing a name for your store, getting a logo, how to price your products, and so on!
The next article that I suggest you check out is this one. It contains seven dropshipping basics that are nice to know before starting!
And here is the last article. In that article, I will cover 18 things that you should know as a dropshipping beginner. I will go over things like if you should purchase a paid theme, if you need a product research tool, and if you should go with a niche or general dropshipping store. These things will really open your eyes!
If you don't have much time, then I suggest you at least go through the first checklist at the beginning before you open up your dropshipping store.
Alright, I do have one more preparation article for you in case your budget is a bit tight. It's called: How to Start Dropshipping for Free in 2024?
In that article, I will cover five tips that you can use to delay the moment when you need to pay for your ecommerce platform subscription! The best tip there? You can extend your Shopify trial!
Plus, I will tell you in that article that you can learn dropshipping for free and how you can do that. No need to pay for any dropshipping courses. Awesome, right?
Dropshipping Store Examples
Another great way to prepare before you open your dropshipping store is to look at other dropshipping stores.
Do you know why?
One word? Inspiration!
This is great if you’re just starting, and you have no idea how your dropshipping store is supposed to look like.
You can learn a lot from dropshipping stores that are getting a lot of traffic. Definitely, these that are still advertising at this moment.
Because would anyone still advertise their store, that’s been up for a while if they are not profitable?
I don't think so!
Here are the articles if you're interested now in seeing dropshipping store examples:
- 5 Bad Dropshipping Store Examples & What They Can Improve
- 6 Real AliExpress Dropshipping Store Examples
- 10 Pet Niche Dropshipping Store & Product Examples in 2024!
- 23 Most Successful Shopify Dropshipping Store Examples
And if you're wondering how to find dropshipping stores yourself, then I suggest reading this article:
3. Finding the right platform for you to get your dropshipping store online
Before you can sell products, you need a way to get your dropshipping store online, because otherwise, nobody can purchase your products online!
To get your dropshipping store online, you have two options.
You can go for an ecommerce platform like Shopify, or you can host your dropshipping store your self with something like WooCommerce.
An ecommerce platform is more expensive, but it is easier to get started. Hosting your store yourself needs some more experience in, for example, WordPress.
If you're interested in learning what fits the best with you, then I suggest reading the article that I linked to below:
How To Get Your Dropshipping Store Online in 5 Steps? (2024)
Or if you already know that you don't want to use Shopify, but you still want to use an ecommerce platform, then you can check out this article here that contains 13 alternatives to Shopify.
And if you already know that you want to start dropshipping with WooCommerce, then I suggest reading How to Open a WooCommerce Dropshipping Store in 2024?
4. Deciding where you want to source your products from
Look, you're dropshipping. You don't hold any inventory yourself.
You will need a dropshipping supplier that helps you with storing your products and shipping them straight to your customers.
Most dropshipping beginners start with AliExpress because it's one of the easiest options to get started. Plus, you can find almost everything on AliExpress.
If you're interested in learning more about AliExpress dropshipping, then I suggest reading my complete guide here. I will cover everything that you need to know to start your own AliExpress dropshipping store. From how to get cashback on every order to how to easily process the orders that you get it!
The downside to using AliExpress is that most sellers there only ship from China. That means that the shipping time will take around 2-4 weeks.
But don't worry now if you're not interested in dropshipping with AliExpress, there are a lot of AliExpress alternatives out there. You can find them in this article here.
That article is also great if you're not sure yet what kind of platforms are out there. Plus, there are even options in that list to get faster shipping times from, for example, the US. This is great for people that don't want to dropship from China!
5. Learning how to find products to sell on your dropshipping store
Let's continue this step-by-step article by learning how to find products to sell on your dropshipping store.
Most of you guys that are reading this probably had or have one or both of these questions in their head:
“What should I sell?” or “How do I know if that product will sell or not?”
If that's you right now, then I got some great articles for you below, so you will be more confident to do your product research.
Just click on the title that you think will help you further right now:
- What Is a Winning Dropshipping Product? (+ Examples)
- 13 Products You Should Avoid Dropshipping | Be Careful!
- The 17 Best Winning Dropshipping Product Research Tools
- 16 Winning Dropshipping Product Examples | Inspiration for 2024!
- How to Find Winning Dropshipping Products (13 Research Methods)
6. Learning how to advertise and sell your products online
Now you hopefully know where you're going to open your dropshipping store, where you're going to source your products from, and how to find the best products.
The next step is going to be learning how to advertise your products.
Keep in mind that selling products on a dropshipping store will need the same skills as selling products on any ecommerce store. That's why it's great to learn more about digital marketing in general as well!
You will have two options; free and paid traffic.
Free traffic is great because it's free, but it will take more time and effort (and consistency) in order to see results.
Paid traffic will help you to get traffic way faster, but you will need to pay for it. This kind of traffic is what most dropshipping stores choose.
Just keep in mind that you can always combine free and paid traffic! You don't need to keep them separated in your marketing efforts.
Yes, below you will see a lot of articles, but just pick the ones that you think are going to help you the most.
For some people that will be SEO while others want to learn more about how to easily test products while dropshipping.
Here are the articles to learn more about free traffic:
- Dropshipping Instagram Account: Create & Grow Your Profile!
- SEO for Dropshipping Stores: 7 Ways to Increase Your Organic Traffic
- 8 Amazing Ways to Get Free Traffic to Your Dropshipping Store in 2024
And here are the articles to learn more about paid traffic:
- 9 Awesome Dropshipping Facebook Ad Examples | Inspiration
- 10 Ways to Advertise Your Dropshipping Store (No Facebook!)
- How To Quickly Test Products With Dropshipping (Save Money)
Setting up a dropshipping store: The next steps
Now you know the most important steps to opening a dropshipping store.
If you're interested in learning even more, then I highly suggest you check out my complete Shopify dropshipping guide here.
That article currently contains 20 steps on how to successfully launch a Shopify dropshipping store in 2024. Spoiler? It also contains almost 6000 words!
I'm sure that if you loved reading this article, that you're going to love reading that article as well:
Shopify Dropshipping: A 20-Step Guide to Starting Your Store
And also, if you didn’t create a Shopify account yet, then you can click here to get a free 3-day trial + pay $1/month for the first 3 months!
Conclusion
Do you see now how easy it is to set up a dropshipping store?
Just don’t forget that dropshipping is still a real business; please treat your customers right and put time and effort into creating your store. Don't open it in a few hours and expect to make sales the next day.
Don't get me wrong that could happen; it's just not realistic. You will need to be lucky or be an expert in a different area like Facebook Ads to succeed in those kinds of unrealistic goals.
If you got more tips for setting up a dropshipping store or if you have any questions regarding dropshipping, then let me know by commenting below or contacting me directly by pressing the “Contact Us” button at the top!
Also, let me know if you’re going to start with dropshipping after reading this article or if you have already started.
Good luck with everything that you're going to do right now!
