Today, people are pushing and shoving their way through to get into coding boot camps, because they think that the best way to have a flexible side job to make money online is by earning money making apps. However, there is a much simpler way to live a comfortable life without spending months or even years in school focusing on creating the next big thing. The secret is creating your own online business.
For many people, owning their own successful online business store is something that sounds like an impossible dream. Everyone wants to get rich easily; however, finding "get rich" ideas is incredibly difficult in today's competitive, Internet-driven world. If you want to get rich slowly, you could always work a normal 9 to 5 job. But if you do that it'll take years before you can save enough money to buy a house, and you won't ever have enough money to spend on those fresh new Balenciaga drops when they come out.
So what is the best way for someone to create their own online business at home? The answer is simple: you can learn how to get rich from nothing if you follow these simple steps for online business success, by utilizing the power of drop shipping.
You might have heard of this type of business model from following some of your favorite get rich Youtube channels or other financial gurus. Or, maybe you found this model from researching information about jobs with flexible hours. But for those of you who haven't yet heard of this style of online business to make money, we`ll explain what drop shipping is below!
What is drop shipping?
In a traditional retail store, each product is kept in a storage space for inventory. However, if you are thinking of starting an online business it is very risky to hold inventory in your own house before your products sell. Also, it can be very expensive to rent storage space if you are looking to create an online business to make money. Drop shipping is a type of order fulfillment where the supplier sends the product directly to the customer, instead of holding onto the product at your own physical storefront.
Now that we know what drop shipping is, let's talk about some of the benefits of having your own drop shipping store, which will allow you to have an online business that pays and is one of the most flexible jobs in the world.
Why drop shipping?
1) Drop shipping has a low start-up cost
If you want to make a legit online business with practically no start-up capital, drop shipping is one of the best business models you can follow. Unlike traditional models of retail business, when you create an online store you don't have to spend your own money on the products you sell until you find a buyer. Additionally, you don't have to spend too much time worrying about attending your store, because everything you do will be online. This makes drop shipping one of the best side gigs to make money, especially from home.
2) Flexibility
With a traditional retail model, you are required to have a physical store location; however, with drop shipping you can work from anywhere in the world. In fact, you could target different markets more easily depending on the time zone that you are currently working in. One of the appeals of drop shipping is that you can start off your company as a side gig from home, but if you want to you aren't required to work from there at all. In terms of time, you can always close your shop any time you want and work on your site only when you want to, making drop shipping stores the perfect online business for students. So, you can work on your store between classes to afford those expensive textbooks!
3) Great Potential For Growth
Because you aren't physically holding onto the products, if you are able to spot a new item trending in other stores, you can quickly adapt your storefront to focus on the new product. Additionally, if you find that your online business marketing skills are working particularly well in a certain niche, you can focus all of your attention on that market, which gives you the potential to get rich quick compared to standard business models.
4) Relatively Low Risk
With a traditional store, you run the risk of holding onto inventory that doesn't sell and losing money on those products. However, with a drop shipping-based business model, all of the excess inventory is held by the supplier, which allows you to add or remove products without the stress of worrying about whether or not it will sell. For you, the business owner, all you have to worry about is your own online business marketing strategies. Additionally, if you find that a particular product is selling extremely well, the excess labor and costs for production will be carried by the suppliers instead of you. Although if this happens, you may have to keep a closer check on your products to make sure the supplier still has everything in their inventory while you are taking orders on your online store.
How to start drop shipping?
1) Find a good supplier
The first step to having your own successful drop shipping online business store is to find a good supplier. Many online drop shippers suggest using Taobao or Alibaba Express to ship small accessories; however, if your target customer base isn't in Asia, the shipping time between orders and when the product comes may deter customers from coming back to your business. For this reason, we suggest finding a supplier that is based within the country that you plan to focus most of your business.
The easiest way to find online suppliers is by using a supplier database. Of course, if you have a product idea and can find a supplier directly, this is also completely okay!
If you are working in the USA
A) Wholesale Central
Wholesale Central is a completely free directory, which is possible because they charge suppliers a fee to be listed on their website instead of charging the drop shippers. If you are looking to profit off your online business without spending capital, Wholesale Central is a good option for you. However, one problem with Wholesale Central is that some suppliers are actually retailers selling to the public, which is something you want to avoid as a new drop shipping business owner.
B) Worldwide Brands
Worldwide Brands is a company created in 1999 that is arguably the largest supplier directory on the web today. The benefits of using a company like Worldwide Brands is that the only drop shipper suppliers allowed on the website are the actual manufacturers of the product, or companies that are selling wholesale direct to retailers. The database is updated weekly with new Certified Wholesalers.
Unfortunately, all of these benefits come at a price. A one-time lifetime membership to enter the best supplier directory you can buy into will cost you $299. If you want to start your business utilizing less initial capital, you can always go for the Easy Pay Plan and pay $99 dollars when you sign up along with two monthly payments of $110, which should be easily affordable after you set up your online business.
C) SaleHoo
If you are hesitant to pay for the lifetime membership with Worldwide Brands, then SaleHoo is another option for a large supplier database for your online business. The companies listed on SaleHoo are also verified suppliers and they all offer real wholesale prices with all legitimate products.
Some of the benefits of SaleHoo is the amount of support they offer new retailers, through unlimited one-on-one support via email, live chat, Facebook, and even phone calls. They also offer training through their Smart Seller Training Program. It does cost $67 for a full years access to SaleHoo's amazing resources. Or, you can pay $127 for lifetime access, which is less than half the cost for membership at Worldwide Brands. Additionally, if you just want to try the drop shipping retail life or their services, you can always get your money back through their generous 60-day money back guarantee.
If you are working in the UK or Europe
A) The Wholesaler UK
The Wholesaler UK is another company established in 1999 that is an online retailer directory that works with only genuine wholesale suppliers in the United Kingdom. One strong appeal for using this website is that every retailer holds their stock in the United Kingdom, which means shipping times within the country should be extremely fast. The best part is that this online directory is completely free to use!
B) Euro Pages
Euro Pages tends to focus on more products within the industrial field; however, you still can find many good suppliers for drop shipping on their website. If you search on their main page for drop shippers, then you can find suppliers selling many products that you can easily sell and ship throughout Europe quickly. It might take some time to establish a relationship with a company, but you'll find that working with them directly will help you increase your profit margins exponentially.
If you are working in Asia
If you are working in Asia, there are three main websites we recommend using for finding your own suppliers for online business success.
A) AliExpress
AliExpress is one of the most well-known drop shipping supplier websites. Many people start their website working with retailers from this website. The problem with using this website is that anyone can use this site, so it is hard for you to make profits on your margins when everyone else can find your product for the same price so easily. However, in terms of ease of use and shipping throughout Asia, some of AliExpress' prices can't be beat and the best part is that it is one of the few sites that will allow you to easily find retailers that sell products by the unit instead of in bulk.
B) China Brands
China Brands is a large company that is perfect for drop shippers. Even though the headquarters is based in China, you can ship their products globally with relative ease. The secret behind this company is that they have 36 warehouses around the world, which greatly shortens the wait
caused by shipping times that customers experience. The company is big on simplification as well, which means that orders processed through your store can go directly to their wholesalers, further cutting down the shipping time on orders significantly.
C) Global Sources
Global Sources is a company based out of Hong Kong that sells high quality products for ridiculously low prices. One good thing about this company is that they frequently host the world's largest trade shows, which means that they are always going to be at the forefront of new technology and products. Additionally, with their knowledge they post products on their website that their analysts believe will sell fast. This allows you, as an online business owner, to quickly find new innovative products for your store.
If you want a simple solution
A) Doba
Doba is a relatively new directory that also seamlessly integrates with drop shipping online stores. Utilizing their website, you can easily list your items on Ebay, and you can set up your online store without dealing directly with suppliers. Another benefit with this website is that there are only 165 suppliers on their platform, which means you don't have to worry about keeping track of numerous suppliers. Also, you won't be overwhelmed when you are searching for quality suppliers through all of the companies in the other directories. However, all of this extra convenience comes at a cost. This is the most expensive option, at $60 a month. Luckily, if you want to see if the extra convenience is worth the trouble, you can actually try their platform for two weeks for free!
2) How to find a good product?
So now that you've found a supplier, you've just finished an important first step, but now the real challenge begins - finding a good product to sell.
Step One: Find a Hole in the Market
The trick with selling products on a drop shipping website is that you need to find a product that your customers want, but might not necessarily need right away. Because you don't carry your inventory yourself and are relying on wholesale suppliers, you need to make sure that your customers won't mind a little bit of wait time in case a problem arises. Some good areas to look into are electronic products, jewelry, or even home decorations. You want to find a product that people might have trouble finding in a traditional store that they would spend more time looking for online.
Step Two: Focus on Your Passion
You need to focus on products that you are interested in! For example, if you are an avid fishing enthusiast, then you might want to focus your efforts on products that other fishermen might be looking for such as bait or lures. The benefit of combining your passion with your online business store is that you know the products and your target market the best. If it is something that you would use normally or would benefit from buying, then you can more easily write your own online business advertisements without wasting too much time on researching information that you could potentially already know. You can also save money by avoiding expensive online business consultant fees, since you as a fellow consumer of your product should know your target market the best.
Step Three: Test your product
Additionally, an important part of the drop shipping process is testing your products for yourself first. If you followed our last step this should be the exciting part, since you as an individual within your own target market should want to spend money on the products you are selling within your store. If your products all fall within a specific field that you are passionate about, then after you test your product the process of making your own online business marketing advertisements should become relatively easy.
The next important step is to test your product through your online business platform. This is where you can really test all of your online business advertisements and marketing strategies. We'll talk more about this in the section below.
3) Where to sell your products?
1) Your own website
If you have the time, skills, and experience, we would highly recommend building your own website for the most online business profit. By directing traffic to your own website, you don't have to deal with another company charging you extra transaction fees. Additionally, you can expand and grow the products your online home business offers naturally as you add different web pages or sections to your website. Another benefit to having your own website is that as your store front grows you can also build up your own personal brand, which is one of the best ways to get rich from nothing and could allow you to focus your efforts on other profitable flexible part time jobs once you are established as an influencer. If you want to learn about someone who dabbled with drop shipping before becoming an influencer, look up Tim Ferriss, one of the most successful personal brand entrepreneurs of the past decade!
Wix
If you are stuck on how to build a website, one of the simplest website creator companies is Wix. If you start with building an account in the morning you could even have a working website running by the afternoon! The interface is that intuitive and simple. One good feature with Wix is that it is completely free to use; however, you will have to spend money on various pricing plans if you want to have your website with its own domain name, which we highly recommend doing.
Shopify
If you are completely stuck on how to start your online business then one of the simplest website builders to use is Shopify. Over 800,000 businesses use Shopify's platform for their online stores, so you can trust that if you use their services they will be reliable and relatively easy to set up. Shopify is a subscription based platform, so you do have to pay if you want to continue using them. By using Shopify you get access to the powerful Oberlo application for your website which is a powerful tool specifically designed for Shopify websites. Another benefit for using Shopify is that you can try their website builder and their services for free for two weeks. This means you can try to test your business idea out for two weeks and if it proves to be unsuccessful you can cancel your trial and try something else for no extra charge!
2) Online Marketplace Platforms
If building your own brand or controlling your own online business marketing doesn't sound appealing to you, then you can always sell your products on a third party website. This was how many people made money during the early days of the Internet.
Ebay
One of the oldest and most well known online marketplace websites, Ebay has been around since the dawn of the Internet. A benefit for using Ebay is that you don't have to worry about directing traffic to your own website too much as people are always looking for products on this website. Additionally, you don't have to worry about paying money for hosting a domain name. If your business is slow then you have the least amount of risk, since all you need to do to sell products is create an account. Some issues with Ebay are the competitiveness of the platform, since you'll be on the same page on the platform as other drop ship sellers you'll have to find a way to draw customers to your products. Additionally, for every sale you are required by Ebay's terms and policies to pay a 10% flat service fee.
Amazon Prime Seller
Amazon is one of the fastest growing companies in the world. Originally specializing in selling books online, they've expanded to selling practically everything on their website. Selling your products on Amazon as a seller using drop shipping is possible; however, their rules and regulations are a bit stricter than Ebay's. If you want to sell on Amazon, you cannot have your supplier ship the product directly to your customers and you have to make sure that all of your products have your company labelled as the seller on its packaging and products. If you fail to comply with their regulations you will be quickly banned from selling on their platform. However, if you manage to figure out a way to ship your products to your customers within regulations, you'll have access to one of the busiest online marketplace websites on the web without having to worry about setting up domain names or your own website, which sounds pretty good to us.
How to market your products?
The last step for how to finally turn your online products into online business profits is arguably the most important: how to market your products to your customers.
1) Create urgency
Everyone loves a good deal and utilizing limited time special sales is one way to create urgency for people to buy your products. If you want to get rich slow, you can try to avoid using this powerful tool, but if your goal is to turn your flexible part time job into a profitable business, you have to utilize the influence a sale can hold over a potential customer. Another way to create urgency for your customers to buy your products is to show how many items are left in stock for certain products. If customers see that other people are interested in a product, they might rush to add it to their shopping cart in case it sells out instead of waiting a day or two to decide if they really need your product.
2) Find the right influencers
If you want people to find your products then you need to find the right people to promote your business. The best way to do that is through Facebook advertisements or through influencer product placements. If you are specializing in electronic products or video game accessories, then you could try reaching out to your favorite Youtuber reviewer or influencer.
One of the easiest ways to do this is through following the tags on The Influencer Times. You can search for influencers within your target market by searching for individuals by profession or using the tag function. For example, if you had an online store selling specialized mousepads, you might want to look through the Gamer tag to find a potential influencer willing to work with you. If you are wondering how to convince them to promote your product, consider offering them some of your products for free to do a test review or offer them a percentage of the profits earned through their referral links. You should never underestimate the importance of exposure when trying to create your own successful online business.
3) Make sure to analyze your products
It isn't enough to just find a product you think will sell and wait; you have to check the data and trends within your target market. In the beginning, it's fine to look at other successful drop shipping stores to learn how to create your own online business profits. However, you have to continually test your products and see what products are moving out of your store and into your customer's hands. If you focused originally on gaming keyboards, but realize that for some reason some of the USB drives you sell are moving quicker, then you should think about adding more products that are similar to what you are having the most success selling.
If all of this sounds too intimidating for you...
Of course, they say Rome wasn't built in a day. Although you could have your site up and running within a day, it might take a little bit of time before you really start to reap the benefits from your online business store. So, in the meantime, if you want some advice for side gigs to make extra money in your free time, here are our suggestions for how to spend your time waiting for your customers to come to our site by using one of the best online money making apps of 2019.
If you want a flexible job with great pay or even a side gig for extra money, then Callmart is your best bet. Callmart is a consumer to consumer application that allows you to directly connect with your customer base. You can offer your services in online business consulting after you create your successful online business or you can use the application to talk about something you are passionate and knowledgeable about. You can use the platform to help customers find your products, too. For example, if you want to use our application as an English language tutor, you can easily direct your students to your own drop shipping online bookstore. You don't have to spend time too much time marketing towards your clients, and you can build up a following for your website by finding customers on Callmart.
If you're still unsure, then you're in luck! Callmart is having a campaign where the service fee for users is waived for the first three months. If you don't download the app and act now, you might miss out on this incredible opportunity!
If you are looking for more "Get Rich" motivation
Starting your own business can be very scary for some people. To help ease your anxiety about this new venture in your life, here are some individuals we recommend you learn about to discover more about the minds of entrepreneurs who were able to create their own online business success stories.
Anton Kraly was 32 years old when he created his own successful drop shipping business. He has been able to expand his online success while travelling abroad.
Nathan Latka is a successful entrepreneur who founded a software company with only $119 in his bank account. He recently released a book a week ago about creating a business without any start-up capital. His book has different plans that he has tested, based upon the amount of money you have to start with. You can check it out here to implement his ideas or just to learn more about the mind of a successful businessman.
If you need more inspiration, you can always trust The Influencer Times with its organized rankings of influential people to follow. If you look under the category section you can find numerous inspirational individuals to keep you focused on your own path for success.
Some of our favorite entrepreneurs
Chad Hurley, one of the co-founders and the former CEO of Youtube and MixBit. You can learn more about the challenges he faced and how to overcome them by reading more about him here!
Chriselle Lim, the founder of The Chriselle Factor, she is a successful Korean-American fashion, lifestyle and beauty blogger. She started building her following for her brand through her own YouTube channel. You can read more about how she incorporated art and creativity into a successful business model here!
Sumit Jain is an Indian software engineer and entrepreneur. He created an online real-estate platform called Commonfloor, which has been rated one of the top 9 startups in India as of 2016, according to StartupRanking. He also is the co-founder of the social voice app OpenTalk. You can read more about how one person can make a huge difference through the power of innovative technology here!
Gary Vaynerchuk is one of the biggest advocates of taking risks within the entrepreneurial community. He is a Belarusian American entrepreneur, author, internet personality, and motivational speaker who is best known for his work in digital marketing and social media. He first worked as a wine critic improving his own family's wine business before moving onto different more adventurous fields. If you want to learn more about how important courage is when starting your own business then you should read more about him here!
We hope you enjoyed this article! For similar articles, or just some more fun reads to pass the time, check out Callmart's other articles.