How To Start A Dropshipping Business in 2023

Dropshipping isn’t much different from any other business model.

Sure, their marketing makes some great promises you haven’t heard from the other dropshipping gurus, but at the end of the day, no magic bullet overcomes the massive pitfalls of this business model.

Let’s get something clear:

There is NOTHING passive about dropshipping, no matter how well most course creators sell the dream.

If you want that travel-the-world-making-money-while-you-sleep-laptop-lifestyle, then dropshipping isn’t for you.

To run a successful dropshipping business, you need to be constantly on the lookout for new products.

Scouring the internet for hot trends and trying to find the next fidget spinner will take hours out of your day. Not to mention, it’s not enough to just have the hot new product…

You also need to get the customers. That means ads…Lots and lots of ads.

Testing, tweaking, targeting, spending thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars before breaking even.

Not to mention, Facebook hates dropshipping, meaning one of your top traffic sources could shut you down at any time.

All of this leads to a very stressful life, not a lot of money, and a lot of time wasted. Time that could be better spent so you can actually live the life you want.

Now, what if there was a way you could build a passive income stream that’s actually passive?

An income stream that doesn’t require:

• Physical Products
• Low Margins
• Long Wait Times
• Angry Customers
• Thousands of dollars testing different ad campaigns

An income stream that brings in consistent revenues every single month (from a couple thousand dollars to well over $10,000)?

An income stream you could actually build in your spare time, and grow as large or as small as you want to, without having to spend hours a day running ads, researching products, and trying not to get banned by whatever platforms you’re using?

If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, check out Digital Leasing.

This is nothing like dropshipping, and that’s probably a good thing. However, if you’d still like to know more about dropshipping, keep reading.

What Is Dropshipping?

Dropshipping is an online business where you sell products without stocking inventory. In this business model, a customer purchases from your ecommerce store while a dropshipping supplier handles the fulfillment process. With efficient market research, online tools and reliable suppliers, the dropshipping model can be very lucrative.

The dropshipping business model is basically broken down into the following steps...

• Your customer places an order from your online store
• Your store automatically sends the order to your dropshipping supplier
• Your wholesale suppliers prepares your customer’s order
• Your dropshipping supplier ships the order directly to your customer

How To Start A Dropshipping Business In 2024

Step 1: Select A Dropshipping Niche

Want to know how to start a dropshipping business and have your own online store?

To create a dropshipping business store, you must first select your specialty. A niche is a market sector where you choose to specialize.

Bluetooth speakers, for instance, are a prominent niche in the home audio industry. Outdoor, waterproof Bluetooth speakers can be considered a sub-niche of the Bluetooth speaker niche. You get the idea—the more narrow your specialty, the better.

Step 2: Locate A Dropshipping Supplier

Finding a dependable supplier is the most difficult part of starting a dropshipping company for many prospective eCommerce entrepreneurs.

You depend on dropshipping suppliers to keep your product in stock, maintain product quality, and send orders to your customers on time. Your dropshipping supplier is your most crucial business partner as a drop shipper. Of course, shipping costs are important too.

Step 3: Get A Sales Tax ID

Suppose you are starting a company in the US or Canada. In that case, you will certainly need a sales tax identification (also known as a retail or reseller’s license, tax ID, resale number, resale certificate, or vendor’s license).

Sales tax is a tax paid on all physical commodities sold to customers and is normally 6-9 percent of the purchase price. Most states need a tax ID, but several do not, including Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.

Step 4: Select An eCommerce Platform

So you’ve settled on a product and found a source; now you need a venue to sell and make money and separate your personal and business finances.

Choosing the best selling platform or online marketplace for your company is critical to its success—but which platform is ideal for you?

You must select whether to sell products on an established platform or to launch your own independent eCommerce store or own brand. Let’s look at the benefits & drawbacks of various selling platforms and online marketplaces.

Step 5: Put A Customer Acquisition Strategy In Place

You need to attract clients to your shop now that you have a selling platform for your dropshipping company.

Here is where a client acquisition plan comes into play. Customer acquisition is a skill that requires persuasion.

Consider it to be advertising and marketing. Sounds pricey, doesn’t it? But it does not have to be that way. You can line up customer purchases in two ways: quickly (paid) or slowly (free).

It all comes downs to Advertising and Marketing. Now, you can do this one of two ways... or a combination of both:

• Quickly: Paid ads (Google and/or Facebook)
• Slowly: SEO (search engine optimization)

Step 6: Scaling Your Dropshipping Business

After you’ve set up your dropshipping eCommerce businesses and followed some of the methods discussed in Step 5, you should begin to notice some sales.

As your business grows, consider some of the future-proof methods you may implement to make your work as an owner less stressful and to prepare for more orders to fulfill and more customers to satisfy. For more dropshipping business ideas, check here.

Is Dropshipping A Scam?

So, is dropshipping a scam? Not at all. You can make money with this model, but it’s definitely not as easy as you might think.

There’s a ton of work to be done upfront, no real guarantee of success, and – most importantly – you need to do a ton of volume to make any real money. Now, there’s nothing wrong with front-loading the work and making the money later.

But if you’re grinding it out for 3 months, $3-5k in the hole on ads (because that whole “get started with $5 a day” thing is total BS) and then your reward is 15% profit on a $12 product (which comes out to $1.80), it’s not really worth it.

What if, instead, you could do that same 3 months of work (in your spare time), and your reward was a $500 to $2,000 payment that came in every single month? And what if you actually didn’t need to wait 3 months?

What if you could get started today and have your first payment in a week? And what if you could double it next week?

Well, that’s the power of Digital Leasing.

And, unlike dropshipping, you can legitimately do this from anywhere. It’s a true lifestyle business.

Your laptop and an internet connection is all you need. Some of the most successful students in this program run their entire 6-figure businesses from:

• A camper in the middle of the woods
• A beach chair on the water in Mexico
• A small villa in Greece

They’re able to travel around, living their lives first, and focusing on their income second.

Because even if they stop working for an extended period of time, the money keeps coming in.

So adventure, memories, and experience are the top priority. And they never have to worry about how to pay for the next trip, or consider asking for time off.

If this sounds more like the type of life you want to lead, just click here to find out more about Digital Leasing.

What Does The Internet Have To Say?

Now let's take a look at what people on the Internet have to say about Dropshipping. We'll start with Reddit first...

Hi, I have been working on my Dropshipping business for about 6 months now. I know it doesn’t happen overnight. So far I have a general store on Shopify. I sell winning products and digital products. I have not made 1 sale yet. I am working on the marketing aspect of all this right now while working a full time job. I just wish I could at least know just one person who is doing this successfully that is NOT a YouTube/TikTok influencer guru. It’s really hard to tell if they are actually successful in Dropshipping or just making & selling their brand/courses and things like that. I’d love to chat with someone who is actually successful with all this, and if your kind enough to chat with me directly would love to just learn and network if you have time. Thank you! - ChancePlaintain7000

Here are a few replies...

I would say yes, totally. It is still a viable option. However, it’s not a “get-rich-quick” scheme. Like any business, success depends on hard work and dedication. You must do your research and find the right products to sell. You must also be prepared to invest in marketing and advertising to reach your target audience. I always recommend focusing on building a community. Probably using social media and growth services such as ascend viral and you’ll be comfortable with your audience to use them as your reliable source of quality traffic for the longest term. Also, you should be prepared to provide excellent customer service to ensure customer satisfaction. I hope you get the help you are searching for. Best of luck. - OkWillow9976

I related to you. I've always want my own business but despite doing my homework I really don't know what I'm doing. I think you need help from an expert, that's what I'm looking for. - Middle_Department564

I did have some good $500 days with different products but, ultimately stopped because I was losing a lot of money testing products with paid ads - lanikers

As you can see, some individuals were able to run a successful dropshipping business, but others are stuggling. It really is a roll of the dice.

Final Thoughts

Setting up your own online store can be a profitable business model. However, the most successful dropshipping companies do spend quite a bit of money each month.

They invest heavily into marketing strategy and search engine optimization.

If you’re wanting to get started, you should set up your limited liability company (LLC).

While you can get the dropshipping business model work, it is hard to manage a successful dropshipping store at scale… not to mention all the competition and stolen ads.

That’s why we still recommend Digital Leasing. There is less competition and better margins to be made!

Are There Alternatives To Dropshipping?

Yes, there are plenty of other business models to choose from if you want to pursue making money online. Here are just a few:

• Local Lead Generation
• Digital Leasing
• SEO
• Real Estate
• Website Building

Our #1 Recommendation In Making Money Online In 2024

Our review team has spent months researching, reviewing, and vetting dozens of business models and thousands of programs.

While there may be no “perfect business”, the research IS conclusive: Digital Leasing is the #1 online business model for those just starting out.

Whether you’ve never made a dollar online, or you’ve been in this space for a while but never really “made it,” Digital Leasing is for you. Why?

1) It’s Flexible: got an hour a day? You can do this. Ready to drop everything else and dive in full time?

You can do this. Yes, the more time you put in, the faster you see results. But even with a little time each day, you can move the needle in a Digital Leasing business.

And because this system is so flexible, you don’t have to constantly be working to make more money. It’s called PASSIVE INCOME because if you stop working, the money doesn’t.

Imagine taking 3 months off to just tour around Europe, rent a cabin in the woods to write a book, hike the Appalachian Trail, or live on the beach and surf all day. This is only possible if you have an income stream that’s not tied to your time.

2) You Own & Control EVERYTHING: With dropshipping, you don’t really own anything.

Sure, you may have your own dropshipping business, but you have no control over the quality of the products. You don’t even own the products because they go straight from the supplier to the customer.

Yes, if you’ve got a Shopify store, you technically own that. But if every ad platform suits you down, you’ve got a dropshipping store with no customers. Which is literally worthless.

With Digital Leasing, you own the assets, which means you have all the power and all the control.

3) Little To No Startup Costs: It’s possible to get into Digital Leasing with zero dollars upfront.

Because, using the strategies outlined in this program, you can get a client to pay you BEFORE spending a penny out of your own pocket…even before you do any work.

Even without getting paid in advance, you can have your first Digital Rental Property up, running, and generating profits for less than $100.

4) No Inventory: Ok, so technically you don’t have to worry about inventory since you’re not filling up your garage or a warehouse with products.

But, you still have all the headaches of a physical products business.
Since most dropshipped products come from China, you already have a 2-3 week wait time from when a customer places an order.

But right now, with global supply chain issues, your customers would be lucky to get anything in less than a month.

Imagine finally landing your first customer after months of experimenting, and then getting hit with a refund request or chargeback because they had to wait 6 weeks to get their order.

With Digital Leasing, a 100% online business, you never even have to think about that risk.

5) Easy To Duplicate: Ok, here’s the best part: once you have your first Digital Rental Property up and running, you can literally DOUBLE your income with a few clicks, a couple keystrokes, and a single phone call (and you don’t actually need the phone call).

Remember: each Digital Rental Property is worth $500 to $2,000 a month in semi-passive income (over 95% profit). Every time you decide to create another one and increase your income, it gets easier.

Because you have more knowledge, more experience, more results, and more momentum. If you wanted to double your income with dropshipping, you’d have to double your inventory, your profit margins, OR your average order value.

And, guaranteed that’s a lot harder than a few clicks and a few minutes of your life.

6) Make Money Helping Real People: This part is what makes it all worth it. 99.9% of the time, dropshipping provides no value to anyone but the seller.

In a lot of cases, it has a negative impact on the customer because of poor product quality and an overall bad experience (i.e. waiting 6 weeks to get your order). And that makes it pretty hard to sleep at night.

But with Digital Leasing, you’re actually helping people by solving your clients’ biggest problem: Small, local businesses need more customers, and with Digital Leasing, you are unleashing a flood of happy, paying customers for these businesses.

You make money by helping them make money. Not a big, faceless corporation either…a small business owner who’s using that money to put food on the table for their family, start a college fund for their kids, or take care of a sick parent.

Once you see how Digital Leasing makes a real impact in the lives of real people, you’ll sleep like a baby with a big smile on your face.

Now, the choice is yours. You could continue browsing, looking at ways to run a business online like Dropshipping which could one day make you money.

You could continue researching, never making a decision.

OR, you could take a look inside, consider what you really want, and join a program that makes your dreams a reality. At the same time, joining a community of over 2,000 successful students that are living life on their own terms thanks to Digital Leasing.

A consistent, reliable, semi-passive stream of income that doesn’t depend on you or your time to keep producing profits.

All while genuinely helping real people who are grateful and happy to pay for it. If this sounds more like what you want out of life (or if you just want some nice side income), click here to learn more about Digital Leasing.