Success Story: Dropshipping newbie to a successful dropshipper

What is the easiest way for a newcomer to start an online business? Dropshipping newbies often look for the right solutions that allow them to exclude unfamiliar setup procedures and complex technical tasks.

Today’s guest, Ruslan, also followed this strategy. He selected a store with a sophisticated design, a wide range of pre-made products, and advertising materials designed for easy promotion. Let’s see how this decision works for him!

“It takes me about 1-2 hours daily to run the store. Mostly, I spend this time to overlook and process orders, and analyze the performance of the advertising campaigns now running. I’m trying to make a plan for my business activities and stick to it.“

Sharing success stories with Ruslan

Disclaimer: all the success stories published on our blog are the results of written interviews. Even though the editors may make some minor changes to the grammar, spelling, and/or punctuation, the respondents’ writing styles, views, opinions, stores screenshots and personal photos are left unchanged.

The Dropshipping.com Team

Hi, please introduce yourself!

Hi, I’m Ruslan Pintea from Cyprus, an owner of a store selling cosmetics and perfumes. I have been selling online for some time, and had some e-commerce experience. This is how I gained my first practical knowledge and first-hand understanding of business administration, management, and marketing.

As a dropshipping newbie, how did you start your new ecommerce journey?

I’ve always liked the idea of buying a store that’s made and already tested by a pro team. I’ve chosen a store to be copied for me, and launched my website. In 15 days after I launched the website, my first sale happened! There was an order for a $49 car organizer set, and I felt really excited.

How is your business performing now?

In the first 1.5 months of running my store (July 22 – September 10) I had 22 orders for the total amount of $650. As you can see from the top buying countries stats, I don’t sell to my own country only – my store has an international reach and I can target customers from anywhere.

Even though the numbers are small now, this is a promising start. Using all the instructions and recommendations that come with the package, I will definitely be able to reach my goal and reach the profit I want and plan for. 

How do you promote your store?

My only promotional channels are Facebook and Instagram. I take all the advertising instructions from the Marketing package I purchased together with the site. There are detailed recommendations on how to set up advertising on Facebook.

Now I’m trying to make small changes to my marketing strategy. I want to set just the ‘Add to cart’ event for my campaigns to let Facebook optimize the algorithm for my site better with the minimal ad spendings. The first period was just a test to see how the sales will go. I know it’s not much but the beginning is always difficult. FB just needs time to apply the algorithm to my site.

Also, I am in search of new products to add to the store. Now, I’m selling the ones already optimized by the team and guided by the prices initially set by Alidropship. But I want to also use my own experience and understanding of the target audience to help the store grow.

Is managing the store challenging for a dropshipping newbie?

It takes me about 1-2 hours daily to run the store. Mostly, I spend this time to overlook and process orders, and analyze the performance of the advertising campaigns now running. I’m trying to make a plan for my business activities and stick to it.

I would say that going through the beginning period is the most difficult thing for me right now. Even human factor and customer service are not a problem. Though, once I had a difficult case when the order arrived a little late and the buyer was unhappy. But as an excuse, I offered them a gift, and it all ended well.

How has your life changed? What are your plans for the future?

The opening of an online store has inspired my confidence. I am sure that I made the right choice during this difficult period.

Now, my goal is to increase the store sales. I want to be able to reach an income that will provide stability to my family.

What can you advise our readers – both dropshipping newbies and experienced entrepreneurs?

I would recommend that everyone who starts online sales start promoting with a well-established plan and get acquainted with the informative materials to focus on just a few products at the beginning, to make steady progress in increasing sales and to avoid losing money.

Thank you Ruslan for the insightful story!