Hi @Thomasies,
Hyde here from Shopify. Great question!
A common misconception with starting an online business is that there is a fixed monetary amount that you need to get started - there isn't.
Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where a store doesn't keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, when a store sells a product, it purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer. As a result, the merchant never sees or handles the product, and you only pay for the item yourself after receiving payment from your customer.
You can take a look at our ultimate guide to dropshipping here. It will walk you through everything you need to know about starting off, finding suppliers, and maintaining your business.
Check out our Dropshipping 101 course on our Academy, as well as our Intro to Dropshipping. When you're ready, you can sign up for your 14-day free trial here.
So money doesn't really come into play. The most important things you need to get started with a successful store is:
1) A passion for what you're selling
2) Good knowledge of who your audience is (ie. who might want to buy what you're selling)
3) Awareness of who your competition is and how you're going to distinguish yourself from them
Being a dropshipper there may be many people selling the exact same products as you but this doesn’t mean you can’t build a brand around your Dropshipping store. Showing your store as a brand that is an authority in a particular niche is a great way to set yourself apart from your competitors. Even though you may not be manufacturing your products, your brand can show itself to be the best curator in your niche.
To do this you should pick a niche that you are knowledgeable about and curate your products around it. In a saturated market, it’s best to be specific instead of broad. For example, a men's golf clothing store is probably going to be easier to develop an identity and brand around than a sporting store for men, women, and children, that covers multiple sports and tries to market to a huge and diverse audience.
To build a brand you should look at having
- a strong, relevant name.
- a visual identity (logo, color scheme)
- a mission statement (what makes your brand different
- a target customer (who is your customer? What magazines do they read? What social media do they hang out on? Who influences their decisions? Are they high or low tech?)
There’s a great guide to creating customer personas here, and some great examples of visual identities here.
Do you know what it is you'd like to sell? Have you had a look around?
All the best, Hyde.
