Become A Dropshipper
By Leigh Hunt • Category: Internet Based Business Ideas
photo by Franie Fou Fou
The most successful Internet business model for me to date has been dropshipping. Dropshipping is about finding a great product and introducing it to a market that has a need.
You can make anywhere from 30% to 75% commission on retail prices. In some cases you can pay the dropshipper a fixed amount and then choose your own retail price.
Those figures are attractive aren’t they? They’re blinking great figures! And if you target the right market and the right products products you can make a decent amount of money.
But there is a downside to the dropshipping business model.
It’s not really a business that just runs itself. You do need to answer customer phone calls, emails, billing enquiries etc.
So, if you’re looking for online income that is completely passive, you’d be forgiven for thinking that dropshipping is not such an appealing proposition.
However, think again…
When I discovered the Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris, I discovered the wonders of outsourcing.
With outsourcing you can put the systems in place so that all calls are handled by a switchboard and filtered through to a VA or call centre.
Your VA can help with customer enquiries, answering emails, dealing with billing etc. All those annoying things that can take up the time you should really be spending to develop your business.
By outsourcing, you free yourself from the day to day running of your business to focus on building your range of products and developing your business. You can also start enjoying the work/life balance we all crave.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said it, but I’m going to say it again:
We work to live, not live to work
Dropshipping can be a great way to start making money on the Internet, or even monetising an existing site by adding related products. And it doesn’t need to be high maintenance.
If you do sell products that require someone to be available to answer the phone, just outsource. Then get some tight systems in place with autoresponders that catch the customers you want. The customers that fit with the way YOU want to work.
Where Can You Find Good Products To Dropship?
There are websites out there that list companies offering dropshipping, but this has never been an avenue I’ve gone down. For a start, you’re unlikely to find yourself a unique product that loads of other people aren’t already selling.
I’ve always found the best way to find decent products is by surfing the net, finding a product that fits and then contacting the company offering them a win-win deal. More often than not they’ll be really receptive if you show that you have a good route to market and marketing ability.
But remember, the key to freedom in this business model is outsourcing.
The outsourcing companies I use and recommend
Need More Time - VA for call handling and admin tasks as needed. They can even ship your own products for you.
Virtual Switchboard - Press1.co.uk - A switchboard that you can manage online really easily. The best I found for it’s function and simplicity.
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Leigh Hunt is a proud work at home mum and serial Internet Mumpreneur. She's been running online businesses since 2002 and absolutely LOVES it! She loves it so much that she decided to start this webzine to support other mums (and dads) starting and running businesses online. She has finally embraced her passion!
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Thanks for a great post.
I’ve been looking at dropshipping, but scared of using third parties incase they let me down.
With your recommendations I can now take some action and give it a go.
Thanks Leigh! I have been dropshipping for sometime but never thought about using a VA for this! I may just put that into practice. I know what you mean about dropship lists too. I found an excellent source, spent hours loading the products on to my site and then they decided to go public. Over the following weeks hoardes of people signed up to their dropship program and my niche products became widely available.
Great article. Yes, drop shippping can be a fantastic money maker for the work-at-home entrepreneur. But, many people don’t realize the amount of effort it can take to be successful at this. It can be a very time-consuming business to say the least….
I still feel affiliate marketing is away better business model the fact is you can run an affiliate site on auto-pilot not such with a dropshipping business once a sale is done you do have to make the order etc etc .
I am not a mum, but I really enjoyed your article. I was truely inspired by the Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris. I also looked into drop shipping as an excellent option for my wife. I found a website called http://www.shopster.com which seemed like a good option after doing some research. I think you are right that it would be a drag to start pushing products that hundreds or thousands of other people are already selling. Thankfully my knowledge of Internet Marketing will give me the edge I need with most products and services.