By Lewis Smith - Dropship Unlocked

Firstly... congratulations on deciding to start a dropshipping business. 

This truly is a life-changing decision and has the potential to create a level of time and financial freedom for you that you only once dreamed of.

But before you dive in, it’s wise to first consider a few key points to make sure you achieve success your first time around. Such a high percentage of e-commerce business owners in the UK don’t consider these factors and as such, they are making the process more difficult than it needs to be.

So let’s get into it: here are 7 things you should know before starting a dropshipping business.

1. Decide if you need to register a business.

Protecting yourself legally and financially can be one of the wisest decisions, especially for first-time entrepreneurs. Speak to an expert about what will work best for your situation but if you do decide to set up a Limited company, it can be done very quickly and easily from the HMRC website.

2. Set up a business bank account.

Another benefit of setting up a business is that you can then open a business bank account. This allows you to keep your finances completely separate which is a great way to organise yourself and keep your personal finances separate from your business finances. When the end of the year comes around, you’ll be very pleased you made this decision!

3. Choosing the right e-commerce platform.

There are plenty of options available on the market today and many of them work great to help entrepreneurs in the UK launch their e-commerce dropshipping businesses. Options such as Wix & Weebly are good for getting started. Whilst WooCommerce and Magento are great for more advanced users.

However, the standout winner for us and market leader when it comes to reliability, ease of use, cost and compatibility is Shopify. 

This is what we use ourselves and is definitely what we recommend to all of our clients.

4. Deciding on your niche market.

Don’t fall for the trap of becoming a generalist store. Your key differentiator (especially when setting up a dropshipping business) is adding value to a defined niche market.

Those entrepreneurs who achieve true life-changing results from the dropshipping business model are those that complete their research to determine a viable niche market, then first check for adequate demand so that they know they will succeed in that market before even taking their first step.

5. Checking you have enough suppliers.

Dropshipping is a fantastic business model. It’s extremely low risk, requires very little upfront capital and is the perfect model for first-time entrepreneurs looking to build a lifestyle business.

But knowing that you have enough suppliers to build a successful business around is key to succeeding in dropshipping.

Pick the wrong niche market, and you could be limiting your future growth potential due to the lack of available suppliers to work with.

6. Building a sustainable business and not relying on eBay or Oberlo.

We’ve all heard the horror stories of people who built up what they thought was a great eBay side business, only to find out that their eBay account has been shut down due to violating the terms of service as they were dropshipping..

Likewise, a recent surge has seen many merchants attempting to create a store and then flood it with low-quality Chinese products from Oberlo. The outcome of this is often very bleak, resulting in payment gateway suspensions, Facebook Ad account shutdowns, angry customers, long shipping delays and negative customer feedback.

Instead, by creating a dropshipping business selling high-quality products stocked by real UK brands and official suppliers, your business can be made much more defensible and low maintenance from day one. Not to mention you can then offer next day delivery and still earn upwards of £200 profit per sale if you pick the right niche market.

7. Following a proven method for the UK market.

Many first time entrepreneurs follow the guidance of YouTube e-commerce “gurus”, many of whom can often be seen flaunting their expensive sports cars and mansions. However, when their teachings are applied to the UK market, UK business owners can be in for a nasty shock as they do not see results due to the core differences between the UK and the US market.

If you’re serious about starting your UK dropshipping business and you wish to learn more then watch our dropshipping training and cut down your learning time so you can get your business from zero to profitable, replace your income and free up your time as quickly as possible.