E-commerce related businesses is one of the first 5 most lucrative business in this era. That’s why search engines’ trends are flooded with questions relating to profiting from ecommerce business, how to start a dropshipping business in Nigeria, is dropshipping worth investing in and whole lots of questions relating to dropshipping in Nigeria.
Perhaps one of the best business models to delve into at the moment, dropshipping is the new kid in town, turning heads here and there. So what’s dropshipping? If you’re oblivious of its meaning I’ll shade more light on it.
For the sake of this post, I’ll be showing you a good way to get a dropshipping business up and running in Nigeria. But before delving into that, let’s get to understand what this business is all about.
What is Dropshipping?
Dropshipping is a part of e-commerce business that you can run smoothly without owning an inventory of products.
The aim of this business is to make e-commerce much more simpler and enjoying, imagine owning a virtual store that doesn’t exists or have a physical warehouse anywhere else but the genesis and revelation of the business is run in your online shopping site, how fun is that?!
The structure is quite similar to that of the conventional e-commerce model, the site and its hosting, placing and delivery of orders, payment options and more are pretty the same.
This dropshipping business in Nigeria comes with its perks or should I say advantages that makes it more awesome.
Is Dropshipping Worth It? Few Benefits of Starting Dropshipping Business in Nigeria
- First, starting a dropshipping business is less capital intensive.
You don’t need a huge capital to start a dropshipping business in Nigeria, whereas the usual e-commerce will require you to purchase goods, build or rent an inventory to house your goods, employ workers to help you, because you can’t do it alone and also purchase delivery vehicles. All these are eliminated with dropshipping.
- Moving on, another sweet aspect of dropshipping is its portability.
Yes, you read right! At any location, you can manage your store and make money, all you need is good internet connection and your smart gadgets and you’re good. The problem of owning a physical office which will surely require your day to day presence would be no more.
- Lastly, the concept of risk is minimized in dropshiping business.
Every business has its risk accompanying it, e-commerce business has its own risks. The risk may in the form of broken product which wouldn’t go down well if shipped to the customer.
You’re not only going to lose money, but your reputation may be dented by negative reviews. Although dropshipping has its own risk, these form are reduced to a minimal level.
These and few other things makes dropshipping the new goldmine for making money online. If you wish to start a dropshipping business in Nigeria, I’ll be showing you the right way to go about it. If you’re ready, let’s dive straight into it!
How Can I Start a Dropshipping Business in Nigeria?
1. Source for Capital
Saying earlier that this business isn’t capital intensive doesn’t translate to no capital at all, no you’re gonna need some money to get your business off the ground.
Every business sure needs a capital, I haven’t seen one which doesn’t. It’s the first step for all businesses. Capital isn’t or doesn’t have to be a fixed amount, it shouldn’t necessarily be monetary – it could be in the form of hardwares, personnels etc.
You may be asking……
How much money do I need to start a dropshipping business?
If you can’t design a website at all not to talk of an ecommerce website, prepare at least $500 (N180,000). This fee includes buying the plugin, the web hosting, the domain, theme and paying the lucky website designer.
To be sincere with you, you will need to prepare at least, $1000 (N360,000) if you’re thinking of using huge CMS platforms like Shopify. This will be used to set up your store and dropship products.
If your budget is far below that, don’t panic. You can also start this business for as low as $200 (N72,000) using Woocommerce dropshipping platform. Although, this budget is can only buy you a low-hosting space, domain and buy “Alidrop Plugin” to dropship products easily from AliExpress.
You’ll need to pay a web designer to set it up for you. I charge $200 for this service.
In addition, the capital for starting a dropshipping business in Nigeria may include funds to purchase a smart gadget that’ll be used for running your store, this gadget may be a PC, a Smartphone or Tablet – these devices should be able to access the internet. (In case you don’t have any of these already, it’s compulsory to run your business smoothly).
2. Get Your Gadgets Ready
Well you’ve sourced for your capital and it’s ready, it is time you go out and get your smart gadget if you don’t have one already.
We find ourselves in a digital era, the old ways of doing certain things are slowly phasing out, giving way to technological diven methods. The ideology of having a physical office is no longer the main thing. Today you can practically have a virtual office where the day-to-day activities are carried out and managed.
Be sure to get the best quality gadgets for a much better performance and durability, the cheaper counterparts may be good but the overall durability and longevity may be absent.
3. Choose Your Niché
This step is significant in giving you a sense of direction and stimulating your focus. Don’t be tempted to go all out and get every possible product out there on your site, choose a niché and stick to the products pertaining to it.
A person who knows where he’s heading to will get to where he wants by following the right roads, a man that doesn’t have a destination will keep wandering around and may never get anywhere.
What’s the meaning of Niche?
Oxford Dictionary define “Niche” as a comfortable or suitable position in life or employment. – Lexico Online Dictionary
Now, relate that how you want to start a dropshipping business in Nigeria.
Choosing a niche in dropshipping means choosing a “comfortable” or “suitable” (not everything) in e-commerce’s niches.
Dropshipping niches includes Fashion, Computer Gadgets, Furnitures, Watches and son on. So choose one not everything.
If you’d want to be among the big fishes, swimming in the ocean of lucrative dropshipping business in Nigeria then you’ll need a sole focus.
Better still, you can focus on the best-selling products for dropshipping, I’ll soon publish an article on that, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter in order to receive it in your inbox.
4. Choose Your Preferred E-commerce Building Platform
There are numerous platforms for dropshipping, the likes of WooCommerce and Shopify are the two most used platforms and probably the best among others.
Some platforms offer a complete package of both CMS and hosting, some will require a separate provider for hosting, there’s an article on these hosts, their pros and cons – check it here.
Be sure to do a proper research so before choosing your most favourable choice, so as to prevent unwanted expenses. Shopify, one of best CMS out there do offer a 14–days trial period where you get the chance to test things and see if they suit your needs.
5. Build Your Online to Get Ready for Business
After choosing your preferred ecommerce platform for dropshipping available in Nigeria, the next thing is to set up your site.
You’ll need to be careful when doing this, as this can create either wrong or right impression on your business. A good, clean and responsive theme should be used.
I don’t have much to say about this point because it’s self-explanatory. But in case you need a professional website designer to help you set up your dropshipping store at an affordable cost, kindly contact me here or WhatsApp me: 080 6886 6068.
Note that I gives special discount to readers of my blog who hire me for a particular service.
6. Get a Supplier
As I stated earlier, a dropshipper has no physical store or inventory, but you’ll have an online store. As customers makes their orders, it is relayed either by you or an automated process to the supplier who then ships the goods to the customer.
The party handling the shipping fee will be agreed upon between you and your supplier.
One of the great e-commerce marketplace you can source for a reliable supplier is AliExpress.
They have a plugin called the “AliDropship” as I mentioned earlier. This plugin seamlessly integrate your site with the supplier (currently available for WooCommerce users only), this reduces the stress of doing everything on your own.
There are other options available, but I’ll advise you stick with AliExpress, they’ve proven to be reliable over the years and you can get more by using their service.
7. Market Your Brand!
People won’t just start patronizing your service, you have to get word out that you exist, you’re into this and why they should choose your brand. You should also consider giving out little incentives for the first few customers and try to make a good impression when you do, else you’ll lose them after that.
In terms of marketing and spreading the word, I’m not talking of the traditional old fashioned way of advertising, they’re better ways to go about it – I’m talking about digital marketing!
You could use the services of affiliate marketers, or you could do it yourself via social media marketing, email marketing and SEM (search engine marketing).
You could do all these yourself or you could employ the services of skilled personnels in this field.
Conclusion – Starting a Dropshipping Business in Nigeria
With all these in place, you’d be making money via dropshipping in Nigeria. Many people are racking in the cash daily from dropshipping in Nigeria, with the aid of this guide you could start earning too.
Daily, more ways for making money keep springing up, dropshipping is one good way to get your money. One good thing about this business is its flexibility – you can either engage in it full time or part time while still keeping your daily job.
I will writing on how to build a dropshipping website using Shopify or Woocommerce very soon, all you need to subscribe to my free newsletter and let grind this together.
Here are the 7 easy steps to start a dropshipping business in Nigeria. What’s your take on dropshipping business in Nigeria? Let me know in comments!
