Writing a Shopify Business Plan or a Dropshipping Business Plan would be slightly different from writing a business plan for a brick-and-mortar store.
We are here to discuss the nitty-gritty of the Shopify Dropshipping Business Plan and answer the important what and how questions regarding a business plan.
What is a Business Plan?
It is usually a document that directs the future strategies of the business. It not only guides future actions but also helps in identifying the significant hurdles that may arise.
What does it include?
It carries all the details of the business regarding its
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Products
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Services
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Revenues
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Budgets
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Operations
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Workforce
The meaning of a business plan stays the same for every business regardless of its model. However, there may exist slight changes in a business plan based on the business model.
What purpose does it serve?
A business plan is an essential element in the success of any business. Preparing and forecasting the challenges and hurdles lets the business owner handle the tides before they get too high!
Drafting a business plan helps with the following:
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Resource planning
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Assessing the ideas
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Customer Identification
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Identifying competitors
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Marketing budget
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Logistics and operations
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Managing and distributing Finances
Starting a business with all the zest one may have, and that too without a business plan in hand is no less than a recipe for disaster because without clarifying your business goals or preparing well for resources needed. One would lose on so many fronts, and that too with investing double the amount of energy and money in the business.
That is what a business plan does; it saves you from many uncertainties—allowing you to be more focused and do what needs to be done instead of wondering what to do with the potential buyers in your hands.
Drafting a Shopify Dropshipping Business Plan
Writing a Shopify Dropshipping Business Plan can be a bit different from a traditional business plan. Not in what accounts for the business plan but for how the business would operate in the online business ecosystem.
Penning down a few questions to yourself and finding answers to these questions is one of the best ways to draft a business plan. After all, you, the business owner, must know these answers to make the business journey as hurdle-free as possible- either by heart or by reading a paper!
So start with asking yourself the following questions for a dropshipping business.
What am I going to sell in my Dropshipping Business?
The first question is the most crucial one as it will act as the cornerstone of your business. First, identify the product or the services you want to sell using the dropshipping model. And this requires thorough research into what sells better online with this model.
Simple keyword research at online platforms listing of the best trending dropshipping products can be a good start. Looking into the search engines for profitable dropshipping products can help you find answers to this question, i.e., products for your dropshipping business.
Who are well known for selling the same product as I? (Who are my competitors?)
It is just impossible to expect that a new market entrant (business) would survive just because of its passion for the product or service it sells. E-commerce has become highly competitive. It is not enough to keep track of your business. Instead, it has become imperative to give a full-fledged thought to who sells better than you (Competitor) and how they do it?
Identifying the competitors can help you to plan your business strategies accordingly.
Who will be my supplier?
In dropshipping business, the business’s success is pretty much dependent on the efficiency and pro-activeness of the supplier.
There are plenty of suppliers that can be your potential supplier based on their past performance, the shipping charges, and the time they offer, along with the product packaging and delivery.
Many online platforms such as Shopify do offer lists of suppliers for a dropshipping business. Shortlisting the best 3-4 suppliers is all you would need—and then finalizing your best pick after ordering samples from them and identifying if they would serve the customer in the best possible manner or not.
What platform am I going to use to sell the products?
Most of the dropshipping business operates through developing Shopify dropshipping stores. Therefore, the best possible choice for dropshipping is Shopify. However, there are other options, but you get to decide whether you want your business to be a success or not and how much you are ready to invest.
If you choose Shopify as a platform to start selling, there will be many ready-made tools available to you to help you boost your business. Moreover, the Shopify dropshipping store comes with a lot of customization that you can do along the way.
How will I become visible to my customers?
After deciding on the platform to sell, you must start thinking of your visibility to the customers. That is where Marketing and advertising come in.
As for the business plan, the point worth mentioning is that you get to decide on the marketing budget at this stage. That is how much you will invest in making your online presence felt. What channel would you use to make your customers aware of your existence? Such as social media, email marketing, etc.
How will I know if I am doing things right?
After setting the stage, the last step of the business plan is to gauge your performance. For example, in online business, search engine optimization, amount of web traffic you are engaging would help you know if you are on the right track.
The Bottom Line
A business plan is a crucial element of a successful business. Therefore, those thinking of touching the e-commerce waters, specifically following the dropshipping model, must give a read to the above-mentioned necessary elements for drafting a Shopify Dropshipping Business Plan.
