Got What It Takes?

An interesting question, I am sure you would agree. And I also hope that the stated question is very much thought-provoking. The reason I ask such a question, is because I personally see people starting dropship businesses, as well as other ecommerce businesses every single hour of the day, and the questions that come from prospective, and future owners of such businesses can be quite disturbing.

You see, we live in an age where everything is done for us. If you live in the UK, then apart from having your bum wiped (unless you have private medical care , then you are pampered hand over foot. We live in a so-called tolerant society, if you listen to the labour government anyway, which really means, ‘do what you can, mate, and if you cannot be bothered, we will take money from the rich and look after you anyway’..

Think about it. Most people are naturally lazy, and if one day they woke up to find half a million, in cold hard cash in their bank accounts, then it would be taken as gospel, that they would never lift an idle finger ever again. Fair enough, you might say.

BUT, what we are talking about here, is running a business – a real business; not some pie-in-the-sky Americanised, nonsensical dream, where you may get ‘lucky’. No, I am talking about the kind of ‘real’ business, where you actually have to get off your backside, and make things happen – otherwise you may find that you wake up one day, and society is making your life-decisions for you – and you don’t really want to be in that place!

Sacrifice..

Another question: Are you really prepared to sacrifice what is required, in order to secure your family’s future? To make sure, that once you reach retirement age, that you and your dependants and not reliant of the dire state our country is in, in order to simply live?

Please allow me to enter your ‘real’ conscious mind for a second, and actually ‘jolt’ your senses of reality.. Listen, we are on this earth ONE TIME ONLY. You do not get a second chance in this game. I call it a game, because that is exactly what it is -  a game of life. There are winners, and there are those that spend their days wondering what the hell just happened to the last 25 years of their life. A truly miserable existence for most.

You might say: “Hey, Steven, not everybody wants to be successful”. And I would say, “well what the hell are you reading this blog for?”

I was watching a documentary recently, about the 1985 snooker final, between Steve Davis, and Dennis Taylor. I actually remember watching that match as a child, but I digress.. During the documentary, the interviewer asked Stephen Hendry, and a few other great snooker players what they thought about the final, and who they were ‘rooting’ for to win. And what was interesting, was the theme of the conversations and general census, that WINNERS, and people who are used to winning on a consistent basis, always vote for other winners; they have no time for people who finish second, because their mentality has been honed, and trained over many years only to fill their subconscious mind with a pure, and winning mentality – Second best does not even enter the equation.

Running a business is no different, and you must make sure that you really are prepared to sacrifice what is necessary to go the full distance. If you are not prepared to sacrifice what is required to win, then I would say “GIVE UP NOW – AND DO IT QUICKLY”.

A bold statement, I am sure you would agree. But, think about it for a second, we are talking here about making hard cash; pure profit from a business-world populated by people who would think nothing of biting your right arm off, just to get a foothold in business; people who are so ruthless, that business is absolutely everything to them. Such people have been trained to seek out and destroy weak, and vulnerable competitors.

So are you saying it is too difficult to actually create a viable business?

NO. It is not ‘too’ difficult, but what must be understood, at least when starting a business in which the aim is to be a success, is that you must absolutely be prepared to sacrifice short-term pain, for long-term gain. That is a given, or just don’t start a business and expect to make any notable gains.

A few fundamentals, and mind-set changes, that must happen:

Very many people talk about price being the only factor that can make a sale. This is folly, and actually a very child-like view they place on business. If all that was required to make a profit, was to seek out the cheapest product, then we would all be millionaires, wouldn’t we? All you would have to do, is go down to your local beach and grab a few handfuls of sand, and sell each grain for 1 pence a pop.

I am being facetious, of course, but think about this for a minute. How many people would buy your grains of sand? Nobody; not even a sand fly would be interested. This must surely lead to the question, then, that you have to be promoting and selling a product, or service that somebody wants, and based on value? Agreed?

Ok, so then what we are really trying to say, is that we need to be promoting our ‘wares’ based on what potential customers want, and need? Understood, so then the difference between the people selling these ‘wares’ must be what separates the people who make profit, and people who don’t? And more importantly, what these people DO, is what separates them for the dreamers in society.

THAT is the basis of a successful business.

I would advise you to read that last paragraph again before going further, or even considering starting a business. As only then, will you begin to understand what is required to be a successful business owner.

You see, and going back to what was mentioned earlier, we live in an age where everything is handed to us on a plate – easy come, easy go – and the same can be said for all the online opportunities that are presented around the various avenues, and facets of the internet. Let’s be honest, there are very many sharks on the internet, offering what can only be described as rubbish, and for the very same reason I just explained – it is EASY to create such a business, and this on it’s own creates problems – and it could be a problem for you, too..

The point being made, is that due to the fact that it is all too easy to create a business; buy a website, start selling on eBay, and all the rest of the ‘businesses’ being offered, then it is all too easy, to start thinking that: “if everybody else is doing it, surely all I have to do is follow x,y and z, and I will be making money, too”

WRONG!!

And this is where the problems begin. You need to forget what everybody else is doing, and get down to raw, and hard facts. No matter how commerce is represented to you, the basics remain the same, you HAVE to generate value, and unique selling points in order to devise a viable, and sustainable business. You have to seek out ways, often using very many, painful man hours, just to keep your nose ahead of your competition.  Devise ways to increase revenue. Spend at least 2/3/4 hours per day researching new ways to attract business.

Important Question: If you spent 6 hours per day, in a white-hot burning desire, to find 100 new ways to attract business, then how far ahead of the competition do you think you would be at the end of the first week? the first month? the first year? How many of your possible competitors do you seriously think, spend endless hours looking for ways to generate extra profit; researching customer’s needs, wants, designing new marketing strategies, testing variables, and results, and implementing new ideas on pure instinct? Very few, I sure you would agree.

Therefore, do you now see, what I am trying to achieve here? I am trying to prick your consciousness to actually understand that you CAN achieve outstanding success, if you will only focus on what really matters, and forget most of the nonsense that is branded about, about what is the ‘best way to start a business’..

You must decide, that you really are prepared to sacrifice what is required to create the business you desire. Do that, and there is no reason why you will not be the very next internet millionaire – it is there for the taking – it really is – and the crazy thing about this situation, ladies and gentleman, is that your competition are making it easy for you – if only YOU decide that the sacrifice is worth the desired result. That is all it takes. The rest is just time.

It is a big sacrifice, when you look at the harsh reality of it. Endless hours of work, testing, working late into the evenings, or early mornings. Your spouse and loved ones must also be on your side, and share your ambitions and financial dreams, or you will not have the harmony required to get to second base. All these factors add up to just the start. THEN, once you have organised your priorities, and decided the sacrifice is worthwhile, does the hard work begin.

It is an enjoyable journey, and absolutely worthwhile; but it must be worthwhile to you, too. Only you, will be able to decide if you are prepared to give, what the business world, and natural progression, demands..

There is only one way – the right way, and with the right understanding of what is required.

Best of luck in whatever business you decide to start – and make sure you have enough reasons to want to make it happen. Without enough reasons, you will not develop the stamina, will power and sheer ruthlessness to make your financial dreams a reality.

My advice would be, to take a serious measure of time, to deciding on your commitment to the cause.

Make the right decisions, and for the right reasons, and you will know what is possible.

Take Care, and take positive action.

dropship forum

Dropship forums can educate, entertain, and much more. If you require dropship suppliers, free help, advice and support, then dropshipping forums can provide this and more.

If you have just discovered this fascinating world of dropshipping, then where better to visit than a public arena, where you can extract all the advantages you require – absolutely free

Dropshipping Forums..

You have now found yourself being drawn to the great business model, known as dropshipping. A business model that the home business industry has been crying out for, for many a year.

No longer do you have to place Kleeneze, and Betterware magazines into people’s letterboxes, just to make £50 a week (although, I am sure many of their distributors earn much more). No, with the start of the internet revolution, there has been very many so-called ‘business opportunities’ that have been branded around, and brought to the table.

Let’s be honest, most of what you read on the internet about making money, and securing additional income, is absolute nonsense, and most written by people who themselves, have never run a serious business. All these people have done, is latched onto the fact that there is something ‘new’ happening – The Internet (or ‘tinterne’, as some refer to it).

Dropshipping is not new, and actually started in the United States many years ago; before being recognised in the UK, as a viable opportunity for many people looking for supplemental income. The main reason it has now entered the mainstream in the United Kingdom, is partly, because of the internet becoming so accessible to almost every house-hold.

eBay has also played a major role in creating the train that is dropshipping. Dropship suppliers suddenly started appearing all over the show (like people do, when they smell a trickle of cash – they decide to take a piece for themselves).

BUT, with so much competition, comes the responsibility of business owners to create unique selling points (USP’s) to differentiate themselves from everybody else – their competition. THIS is why, enlarge, forums, not just dropship forums, but forums in area industry, have started to appear in every Google search.

Forums can definitely help you. They can help you to become educated on a subject that you previously were not knowledgeable about. Of course all forums comes with their ‘clowns’; you know, people who ‘think’ they know something about every topic imaginable, but in reality, just like the sound of their own voices – we have all seen them ;-p

Although, such people also add to the light entertainment that forums can create – some would say, a community can also be created via forums. I personally think that there is no community in forums. Saying that, many people on forums, really do spend a large portion of their day, helping others on their chosen topic – In this instance: Dropshipping. Such people can be invaluable to your business research. All forums have a hardcore of key members who CAN help you. And these are the people you need to listen to.

Visit the dropship forum below, and learn from people who have been in the exact position you are in now – eager to learn, and in need of the RIGHT information, in which to start your new dropship business.

Click Here To Visit The Dropshipping Forum

The sponsors of the dropshipping forum, are giving away a brand new website every single week – complete with free dropship suppliers, and free business package, for all participants. To enter the Free Website competition, new forums members are simply required to enter 5 genuine, and participating postings.

what is dropshipping, need help?

In all seriousness, with such a popular business model, there will of course be pitfalls, and if you are new to this industry, then you will need a reliable source of information, to help with your research, as well as concrete your business plan.

As with any business you are looking to start, you need to begin with as many advantages as possible…

Dropshipping is not new, it has been around for very many years, although with the popularity of the internet, it has been brought to the forefront of the business opportunity world.

Is dropshipping viable?

Of course it is viable. Dropshipping is simply another form of mail order, which has always flourished, and will continue to do so. The difference with ‘dropshipping’ is that it is more business oriented. By this, I mean it has now become an actual ‘opportunity’ open to the masses.

With such exposure, comes the pitfalls that surrounds most popular vehicles. And THIS is where you may need the guidance and support – from people who are seasoned professionals in their field, and not just using the same old, re-hashed nonsense, that they themselves probably read about in a magazine on a train.

Dropshipping Help

No, think about this seriously. Dropshipping is about starting a business; YOU creating an online business that is going to be providing you income. It is a serious game.

Would you trust the care your children to people who have never had children themselves, strangers without any knowledge of the well-being of a child? Of course you wouldn’t. It would be crazy, right?

The same can be said for business. There will always be people who like to hear the sound of their own voices, and are quick to press their ill-judged opinions onto others – Without the experience, knowledge, or know-how to pass such important information. Forget that!

When dealing with a ‘commodity’ that is creating value for yourself, and your loved ones, you need to ensure that the information you decide to accept, has come from sources experienced enough to give such advice, and dropshipping is no different.

The following website, has been a fantastic source of REAL help, for many years. Help from people who know the drop shipping industry inside out, and are perfectly placed to help you, advise you and point you in the right direction with your new found business. We suggest you check the website out:

http://www.dropshiphelp.co.uk

The name is quite apt, I am sure you will agree, and the following topics are just some of the benefits to be gained from such an experienced community:

1. Dropship forum community – 9000+ members all looking to help and advise.

2. Free dropship suppliers, including discussion points on each.

3. Free video help – visual support.

4. Website and ecommerce help – for anybody with a website.

And much more..

dropship help

As mentioned in the first part of this report. If you are interested in starting a dropshipping business, then you absolutely must gain support, help and advice from the right people. Dropshiphelp.co.uk can provide such support to you.

Visit today: http://www.dropshiphelp.co.uk

Don't Let The Economic Downturn Deter You

START-UP FINANCE – banks are now taking less risks and lending less money. If you are setting up for the first time they may see you as quite high risk, even with a very good business plan. Luckily dropshipping requires a lot less start-up capital then a traditional retail business. Try and use personal savings and ask for small loans from different friends and family to raise the money you need to star your business.

COST OF WAREHOUSE - a massive benefit of dropshipping is not having to hold stock, you can run the whole business from home. Although the property market may be falling banks are making it harder for you to ‘get your foot in the door’ (see what I did there!). Last year 85%-90% LTV (loan to value) was readily available from commercial banks, today LTV’s are much lower, typically 65%-70%. So if you need a business premise you have to raise more equity. As a dropshipper forget paying for an office, run the business from home!

LOW RUNNING COSTS - running your business from home means much lower running costs. Working from home you can also claim back a percentage of your gas/electricity etc costs from HMRC. Energy costs are also surging, some large companies are facing the prospect of a 100% rise in annual energy bills!

ECONOMIC CYCLES - all economies go in cycles, we have been in a long upturn and have now entered into a downturn (slowdown). This is a natural cycle. Start making money from dropshipping now and when the economy starts to pick up again your business should really thrive.

TOUGH TRADING CONDITIONS – This has become a popular phrase amongst retailers but don’t let it make you think starting a retail business is a bad idea. Online sales are still rising so it is still a great time to become an online retailer. Tough trading conditions also mean you have to excel to succeed, this will keep you on your toes and make you get the most out of your business. Tough trading conditions will also mean companies going bust, including big companies, watch your competitors fall as you get bigger and you know you are on the right track!

I posted in May about why now is an ideal time to invest in your e-commerce site despite the economic downturn. This post ties in nicely with that one so I highly recommend you also read that post.

Sources: The energy cost figures were taken from the “Surging energy costs hit UK plc” article and LTV figures were taken from James Caan’s article “Opportunity knocks when the gloom seems deepest” , both articles were published in yesterday’s Sunday Times.  

The First Customer Payment!

Whether it takes 1 day, 1 week, 1 month or even longer after fully trading on your own ecommerce website it is a great feeling and in some ways signifies the real birth of your business. It shows your website can convert customers; your price, payment options and website all satisfied the customer enough for them to buy. It is important to build on your first sale and continue pushing your business.

I like to think everyone has their own ‘business ball’, the faster you can get it rolling the more profit you make and the more growth your business can experience. Your first sale is like the first roll off the start line, you only reach the finish line when you sell the business in many years time for lots of money!

Now you have started your business ball rolling you want to build up momentum, know what you are good at and really work on it, and what you are not so good at get someone else to work on it! Try and find out how your first customer came to your website, if it was a particular form of advertising then repeat it over and over again (as long as it makes financial sense!) . Soon you might work up to an average on 10 customers per month, then build up to 20, then to 40, and before you know it you have hundreds of happy customers every month!

Many online businesses lose momentum (not just dropshipping ones), sometimes because the owner loses interest and sometimes the business ends up completely fizzling out and disappearing. Get your business ball rolling and don’t stop pushing, keep pushing and the business will eventually have a large customer base and be bringing in regular good quality profit.

You can only stop rolling when you sell the business and the money is safe in your bank account!

Avoid The Baddies!

What is a Scam? This is when a website just takes your money and runs. This is illegal and it is important you avoid falling for a scam.

Here are the telling signs of a middle-man or scam website:

• Contact details – these are very rarely listed on middle-men and scam websites. Real dropship businesses will normally list their email, phone number & physical address (needed for returns!). If a website only has an email address listed then email them asking for a phone number and physical address, if they don’t reply or give you the details then avoid them. Some middle-men may list a phone number, however it may just be an unanswered line. So if you are unsure about the website give the number a call, if they answer then enquire about a product. If you ring 5 times and they don’t answer then you know the score! Checking out contact details is probably the best single way to find out about a website/company.
• Payments – scams often have high value products listed with payment via a payment processor like e-gold. If a website only offers a processor like e-gold as an option then avoid them.
• Substantial set-up fees – Many legitimate dropshippers charge a fee to join (for various reasons) so don’t assume all dropshippers charging a fee are a scam, because they aren’t. However the ones that charge a ridiculous amount, EG £100, are to be avoided. Once you have paid and are in the members area you will likely see a crappy product range with prices that leave no profit margins for you.
• Product pricing – scammers often list high-value products which have big demand (ipods etc) at prices which are way below the retail price. Suprise suprise the product never turns up and your emails aren’t being answered. On the other hand be wary of companies who don’t list prices at all on the front-end of the website and expect you to pay to join them. Give them a call and ask them if they would kindly email you a price list of products for members. If the answer is NO then stear clear of them.
• How professional is the website/communication – look out for spelling errors, bad design, poor quality images and poor grammar. A professional business will make sure all of these are not present on their website. When you call/email the company how quickly do they respond, is the response concise and professional, did they even answer your question?

Conclusion
The points listed in this article WILL NOT make you bullet proof, you could still fall into a scam or end up selling products via a middle-man which could cost you financially and lead to you having to pick up the pieces of unhappy customers. If you have applied the points in this article to a website you are thinking of using and are still unsure about them then ask for further opinions on forums.

If we all avoid these middle-men and scams then eventually they will disappear, even if it takes years! If we cut out all the middle-men then the dropship industry would be more trusting and honest which would encourage more sales and dropshippers to expand benefiting all of us!

If you have other ways of spotting a scam or middle-man please make a comment below or drop me an e-mail.

Save Time Not Packing

1. You have the ability to start an online store with very little inital investment. Every business needs money to start-up, however the low cost of domains, free ecommerce software and various methods of free promotion mean you can start selling products online using only a small sum of money.
2. You can spend more time promoting, less time packing. If you sell in the traditional way (buy in bulk and sell on) you will have to spend a certain amount of time on each order packaging the product up and then going to the post office. With dropshipping you visit the dropshippers website and place your order, this time saved can used to develop other areas of your business.
3. Access to a much greater range of products. If you buy and sell products the chances are you won’t have enough capital to buy all the products you want (this could be many hundreds of products) or you may not want to risk so much in case the products don’t sell. Dropshipping means you can use a range of dropshippers to sell a large range of products without increasing business risk.
4. You can run everything from home. When your business really starts to pick up you should still be able to run your business from home, you may need to start using your dining room instead of your bedroom but you still save a lot of money on moving into new premises like a traditional bulk buying business would.
5. You don’t have to deal with customer returns and warranties. The dropshipper has to look after returns, so when any customers wish to return a product you just have to notify the dropshipper and supply a refund once the product is returned. This saves a lot of time compared to if you had to inspect every return and then go about selling the product again or writing it off.

All of the benefits listed evolve around saving time and money, both of which reduce business risk. If you have any other reasons you really like dropshipping which aren’t listed you are welcome to put a comment below.

Here is a situation many online sellers have found themselves in:

You come across a dropshipper who on the face of it looks quite good; flashy design, profit promises, fancy product pictures etc. But you want to actually experience the service first hand before using them as your dropshipper for your hard earned customer base.

So what do you do?

The only way to experience how good the drop shippers service is is to buy from them. Go through their site (may need to create an account to see prices) and list all the main products you want to sell a long with pricing. Preferably order a lower cost product to reduce your risk in case the website isn’t legitimate. Then once you have the product you can either sell it on, or keep it for future reference should you decide to start selling the product (having a physical product can often be great for customer queries) .

Benefits Of Test Buying

• You learn if they deliver goods on time
• You find out how they package products
• You see how good the product itself is & whether it was described accurately

Potential Problems

Some dropshippers require an upfront fee, in this situation paying a £30 fee just to test buy is obviously not viable! If this is the case you could try contacting the company and asking if there is a way you can make a special order on a specific product. If you explain you are looking to start selling lots of their products they are unlikely to turn you away when you could make them lots of money!

Another potential problem is the company could be a complete scam and you lose your money and end up with no product! When you come across all dropshippers always remember to check their contact page and drop them an email first to see how they react, you should also place posts on business forums or message boards to see if anyone else has experienced the company.

Conclusion

Test buying is a great way to find out how good a drop shipper really is, it gives peace of mind in a way someone telling you they are good just can’t do. If the service is poor you know you aren’t going to be able to use them as a solid base to build your business from. However if they provide a flawless service you know you can sell to your customers with confidence and increase your business profits!

Dropshipping is a small industry in the UK, part of the reason is because many people haven’t heard about it (yet). If this is your first time reading about dropshipping here is a breakdown of how dropshipping works.

Traditionally running a retail business has meant you have you to buy the stock up front in bulk and then hope to sell it all. With dropshipping you sell products which are held by the ‘dropshipper’, once you have a sale you send the order to the dropshipper and they dispatch the item to the customer. The dropship process means you can sell products without even having to see them!

The Dropship Process:

1. You find a dropshipper
2. You advertise their stock (on own website, ebay etc) under your own business name
3. Once you have made a sale you then purchase the item from the dropshipper
4. You give the dropshipper the customers address and they dispatch the product direct to the customer.

Your Profit: 
Your profit is the money left over from your sale after you’ve ordered with the dropshipper and paid any other cost of sales (E.G paypal fees).