How to Start A Dropshipping Business With No Money

Most of us want to start our own business. Sadly, our plans and dreams to start our own business remain only in our minds and brains due to various reasons. The first and foremost reason is the belief that we don’t have enough money to invest in our own business. The second greatest reason is the fear of failure. The third is a lack of self-confidence.

We falsely believe that starting our own business would need a capital of tens of thousands of dollars if not millions. While fears of failure are justifiable to some extent, we have to remember that thousands of new businesses are also successful. The lack of confidence mainly arises when we don’t have the skills necessary to start and manage a business.

All these three hurdles can be overcome easily. That can be done by starting a business with no money, getting the right business plan that prevents failure and learning the skills necessary to operate one's own business.

Thanks to the Internet, it’s now possible to start your own business without money and also without any office. As a matter of fact, thousands of new businesses open with little or no money as investments and operate from the home of the businessperson. Some such businesses also began from college or university dorms.

Therefore, if you’re interested in starting a business, continue reading. In this article, I will speak about how to start a Dropshipping business with no money or with very little investment.

Let’s begin by understanding what dropshipping is.

Understanding Dropshipping Business

Surely, you’ve bought something online from retailers such as Amazon. If you observe closely and track your order, you’ll find that it’s been dispatched from some distant location. That’s because Amazon, in most cases, doesn’t keep stock of certain products.  Instead, they pass your order to the seller and pay for the stuff and its shipping. 

Dropshipping works on somewhat similar principles, though it differs a lot from Amazon.

Dropshipping is also an online business. You can create your own website, set up an online marketplace or sign up as a seller with online retailers such as Amazon to sell products and make money.

In Dropshipping, you tie up with several manufacturers and wholesalers of different kinds of products. The tie-up enables you to get these products at very low rates and add a good markup as profits.

Upon getting a confirmed order, you pay the manufacturer or wholesaler for the product. They ship it directly to your customer. If there are no returns or other issues, you can keep the profits made by adding the markup.

Advantages of Dropshipping Business

Actually, a Dropshipping business comes with lots of advantages. Here are some of these advantages for you to consider starting a Dropshipping business with no money.

No Inventory

You don’t need to keep stocks of things that you’ll sell through a Dropshipping business. Instead, you will send the order to the manufacturer or wholesaler to pack the stuff and ship it to the buyer while you retain the markup amount as profits.

High Profits

Dropshipping business owners report that they make between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of the value of the sales as profits. That means if they sell something worth $100, they get between $20 and $30. Some Dropshipping businesspersons claim that profits go as high as 50 per cent on certain products.

Creating Own Brand

Thousands of manufacturers, wholesalers and other suppliers are willing to brand your products before shipping. They do it by simply fixing a few labels or printing on the product. This service comes with some terms and conditions. However, this system allows you to create your own brand through a Dropshipping business.

Multipoint Sales

Dropshipping products can be sold through multiple points. This means you can get higher sales. For example, you can sell products from your Dropshipping business on Amazon and eBay by registering as a seller. You could also open your own marketplace on Shopify and Facebook Marketplace to sell these products. Furthermore, you can launch your own website to sell and offer affiliate marketing, too.

Zero Risk

There’s zero risk or very low risk involved in Dropshipping business.  That’s because you don’t have to buy anything or maintain stocks. The only expense is subscription fees for a Shopify marketplace or seller fees on Amazon and eBay and charges to set up one's own website to show and sell these products. This means, that even if the business doesn’t make profits, there’s almost nothing to lose except the time and effort you invested.

Wide Range of Products

You can sell a wide range of products from a Dropshipping business. For example, if you select a niche such as mobile phones, you can sell the gadgets from any manufacturer and accessories such as mobile covers, earphones and headphones, protective glass, flip cases, chargers, cables, power banks and lots more. There’s also a wide choice of stuff in any single category, which appeals to customers and helps bag more business.

Superb Source of Side Income

Generally, most people start a Dropshipping business as a side-gig or a second source of income. It allows you to make money even while you’re asleep because anyone can place orders online anytime. It’s possible to get business from your country and some foreign buyers too. All it needs is superb digital marketing to promote your Dropshipping business online. With some training, you can easily perform digital marketing processes.

Affordable Products

Products that you get from manufacturers and wholesalers or other suppliers for Dropshipping are priced very low. This means you can add a good markup and sell them. Even if you add 20 per cent to 30 per cent markup and your expenses on the website or online marketplace to the base price, these items still work out cheaper for the buyer. If these products are good quality and deliver what is claimed, you can find lots of future customers for your Dropshipping business. Thankfully, you have dozens of suppliers to select, which helps provide a good range of best-quality stuff.

Since you’re now aware of these eight benefits or advantages of a Dropshipping business, here are some steps to take. These steps could help set up your Dropshipping business with no money quite easily and quickly.

How to Start A Dropshipping Business With No Money

I suggest that you carefully take the following steps to start a dropshipping business with no money. That way, you could become successful at the business and grow it over a reasonable period of time. There are countless persons around the world who have become millionaires with Dropshipping businesses they started with no money.

1. Study Your Market

Before entering any business, it’s important to study the market. That would give you a clear idea of the things that are in demand, the spending power of your target customers, seasonal ups and downs, buying patterns, age groups and other vital data. That could help you select the right mix of products for your dropshipping business.

2. Select Your Niche

After you’ve done some market research, it’s easy to select a niche for the Dropshipping business. There’s no shortage of niches for your business. You can select fashion, gadgets, cosmetics, lingerie, fragrances, computers and accessories or any other niche. The niche helps decide which products your Dropshipping business will offer.

3. Finalize Suppliers

Search and finalize suppliers for products you’ll sell from your niche. You might have to bargain heavily to get the lowest possible prices. However, it’s also important to ensure that suppliers provide high-quality stuff. Agree on the terms and conditions of payment, shipments and, more importantly, returns and refunds because they’re responsible. Also, find delivery timelines to advertise on your platforms.

4. Choose Various Platforms

You can sell Dropshipping products through Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, your own website, Amazon and eBay or through bloggers. Thousands of Dropshipping business owners create a marketplace on Shopify and, in rare cases, on Etsy if they have something unique. The more the sales channels for your stuff, the greater the chances of getting customers. Set up a payment system or use the ones offered free by these platforms.

5. Use Automation Where Possible

There are lots of apps and widgets that enable you to automate the entire process of Dropshipping business. This includes acknowledging an order to deduct your profits and sending the cost price to the supplier.

These apps and widgets also help you to track the progress of the order and inform customers. They’re important since such apps and widgets take away a lot of load from you.

These simple steps could help launch your Dropshipping business with no money quite quickly. It’s possible to add more features for better automation, open several new sales channels and offer many other products once your business gets popular and makes profits.

Wrap Up

One of the advantages of setting up a Dropshipping business is that you can launch within a short span of time and without waiting for crowdfunding or venture capital or loans. At the same time, remember that every Dropshipping business needs some time to succeed. That’s due to the stiff competition in the market. However, you can surely succeed with some persistence and effort.