Traditionally, if you owned a business, you would order large amounts of your product and store them before the customer purchased from you. Then systems like JIT (Just In Time) systems sped up the process allowing you to hold only minimal amounts of stock on hand. Today, dropshipper means you HOLD NO STOCK whatsoever.

Using a drop ship company means that stock bypasses you and goes straight to the customer as demonstrated below.

The dropshipper system is much easier to establish than traditional purchase-delivery systems because it heavily reduces cost and space issues, allowing you to sell high quality products from the comfort of your home.

Starting a Business Using a Drop Ship Company

Not all manufacturers and wholesalers provide dropship services.  So find the products you would like to sell, build up a list of suppliers so you can compare what they offer, then see if they are willing to provide dropship.

Setting up a drop ship company:

• Find a product you are passionate about to have dropshipped

Develop a list of products you can see yourself selling, something you would like to dedicate your time to.  Consider why you would like to sell this product, think about it for a few days and eliminate products from the list until you settle with two or three that you like.  Conduct research to find out which one will be most profitable and go with that one.

• Ensure that the supplier provides dropship services

Dropship services are not as easy to come by as you may think.  It may be difficult for the manufacturer or wholesaler to set up such services.  Visit a dropship directory to find hundreds of manufacturers who qualify, and are set up to dropship the products you want.  One of the reputable dropship directories is Doba. They offer thousands of high quality manufacturers including some of the big brands.

• Build your website to match your target market

When building your site make sure you don’t make it a ’something for everyone’ site.  Such a site would take a long time to set up and will be costly in today’s market.  It’s also hard for your customers to navigate through a large site. The best idea is to start small with a product or two and gradually ramp it up. Research you market and design a site they will respond to.  If building the site yourself use SiteBuildIt! to assist you.

• Make sure you have the correct license to sell your product

Rushing out and selling your product without setting up your business officially can have big repercussions down the track. The rule to success is 90% planning, 10% execution, so take the time to get your structures set up first. Find out how to get the right license for your product by visiting Business License

• Set up payment systems, so you can receive money over the internet

Adding a reputable payment system to your site allows customers to purchase from you easily and quickly, something that the majority of customers want to do.  Without a payment system you make it harder for them to buy and you will lose sales. The first step is to sign up to Paypal payment services – the easiest, cheapest and most reliable payment service around. Visit paypal to join free of charge.

Also establish a full merchant facility.  The largest and most reputable service to take credit card payments is 1shoppingcart. Providing both of these facilities on your site allows a greater number of customers to purchase from you.  The more options you give the more sales you will make.

I recommend starting small and joining something larger like 1shopping cart, once you’re certain that your product is a good one.  Trial 1shoppingcart if you would like to get started, but I recommend starting with Paypal and use an online merchant later.

• Install tracking software to monitor your business

Keep your fingers on the pulse by managing your business with the right software.  There are literally thousands of software systems that can help any business.  Yet the main types of software used to maintain a website are:

• Excel Spreadsheet – keeps accurate records of your orders and payments
• Autoresponder software – helps you save time by automatically sending emails to your clients
• Merchant payment service - a good service which also gives you a range of detailed statistics on your website performance
• Hosting service – your web host will be able to provide you with hit rates and other tracking support

• Step 7. Resell software
• Step 8. Online survey jobs
• Step 9. Online business opportunities test

Remember The Name: Online-Money-Tree.com