Are you planning for a dropshipping startup but don’t know where to begin? Don’t worry. The below 8 step checklist will help you draw a clearer picture of what you need to do before starting your business. Let’s dive in!
8 Step Checklist for Dropshipping Startup
As you may know, dropshipping is an online business model when you don’t keep your products in stock nor ship the products directly to your customers. Instead, your suppliers or dropshipping agent will do that. You just need to transfer the order details to your suppliers or agent, then they will do all the rest for you: order fulfillment, sourcing products, packaging, and shipping.
Since it’s very easy to start, many dropshippers just rush into creating their store without doing the necessary steps to make a successful business. The below checklist for dropshipping startup is meant to help all beginners imagine what they need to do to have a professional and profitable dropshipping store. Now, let’s explore the first step:
1. Pick a name for your dropshipping store
The first step on our checklist for dropshipping startup is to pick a name for your store. Don’t take a name randomly. The name is the most important part of your store. It represents your brand. It can tell about your business. It can tell what you are selling and if you are trustworthy.
For example, you can see a very good store name below: Therosebear. When you read the name, you will know exactly what they are selling. And you can feel it’s a professional store.
2. Get your domain name and logo
The next thing to do for a dropshipping startup is getting your domain name and logo. Once you have chosen your store name, you will need to get a domain with that name and a logo as well. There are free tools to create your own logo that you can use like Canva. If you can get a designer to create a logo for you, it will be even better.
3. Create your standard pages
Standard pages are the pages on your store telling about your store and your policies. Here are some standard pages you need to create: Privacy Policy & Terms of Service, Return Policy, Shipping Policy, Contact page, About page, etc.
Think about them and write your own standard pages to make your store look more professional. Try to be clear, direct, and consistent. You can also create your FAQs page so that your customers can easily find information about your store on your website.
4. Calculate the budget
The next step on this checklist for dropshipping startup is calculating your budget and the cost of starting a dropshipping business. Keep track of your money as it’s very important to manage your store. You need to know how much budget do you have, how much it costs you to run ads, buy domain, or other necessary expenses.
Once you can figure out all the above numbers, you can draw out a business plan to spend your budget effectively and make more money.
5. Learn about pricing strategies
Pricing your products is among the most daunting tasks. As a beginner, you may not know where and how to start. That’s why you should learn carefully what pricing strategies are and what pricing strategies you should use.
You don’t want to sell your products at a too low or too high price. So, it’s important to spend time studying and doing research.
6. Plan your marketing strategies
Next up on our checklist for dropshipping startup is planning your marketing strategies. Winning marketing is a must for your business. It’s even more important than a winning product.
So, try to work on a detailed plan like what platforms you are going to use, how you are going to market your products or how much budget you have for marketing, and so on. Beside paid ads, you can also use organic traffic by building your page, your blog, social media profile like Pinterest, etc.
7. Choose a payment gateway for your store
Payment process is another important thing for any dropshipping startup. What if people want to buy from you but your store does not accept their cards? In that way, you already lose your customer and lose money. So don’t let that thing happen. Choose your payment gateway carefully so that it’s most convenient for your customers to use.
8. Know the drawbacks of dropshipping
Dropshipping is not perfect. It has pros and cons. So make sure you understand some drawbacks and risks you may encounter when you start your business. It’s good to know what to expect and how to deal with them. So don’t be afraid of risks or disadvantages. But find ways to understand them, beat them and make profits anyway.
Private Agent for Dropshipping Success