5 Key Personal Development Lessons I Learned from a Dropshipper

Irwin Dominguez struck gold as a dropshipper taking his dropshipping business from zero to one million dollars in sales within just eight (8) months.

His nothing-to-something story inspires me, and has taught me five (5) key lessons on personal development/motivation which I here share in this article to help you achieve your personal development goals within the shortest possible time, but first

What is Dropshipping?

Dropshipping is basically a DIY retail business model where you do not need to buy, own or keep physical stock or inventory. You simply advertise a drop ship supplier or manufacturer's products in your online store at a markup you set, take your cut and pay supplier after customers buy from you.

The supplier is also responsible for fulfilling the orders as well as handling returns in some cases.

In other words, no upfront investment in inventory, all you have to do is simply create your online store then market and market.

 The Dropshipping Connection

As easy as it sounds dropshipping involves some work like anything worthwhile. From choosing dropshipping suppliers to niche and trending products selection, marketing, tracking and fulfilment, there's a lot of work to be done.

Incidentally, the low entry barrier means that each dropshipper faces stiff competition from several other pretenders and contenders alike. To succeed you need guts, a good strategy and a definite game plan, all of which aided Irwin to win.

Now onto the

5 Personal Development Lessons I Learned from Irwin Dominguez

There are many things I learned from him, five of which are as follows:

#1. Desire, Dream

It all starts with a desire and a dream. A desire to get from point A to B and a dream to provide steam for the required movement.

Before finding success with dropshipping Irwin was a local digital marketing consultant helping landscapers and plastic surgeons find clients on the internet.

According to him “... for the records, I don't miss local consulting one bit.”

He also expresses his biggest desire thus:

My inspiration is my wife — I wouldn’t be doing the things I’m doing if it weren’t for her. I have a really down-to-earth approach to making a living. I’m not chasing luxury cars or glitzy mansions, I just want to provide for my family so we never worry about money and so my wife doesn’t need to work if she doesn’t want to.
Notice the words in bold. Now I ask you, what is your driving desire, your major dream? Write it down.

Now

#2. Dare, Do

Only those who dare get there. You can dream of mounting Everest all you want but until you dare and do something, all you'll ever have is a dummy desire.

Irwin speaks of seeing his friend earning income as an e-commerce entrepreneur and wanting to do same,just as many people see others succeed at something but do nothing more than wish afterwards.

However, he took action immediately. According to him:

I literally just opened a Shopify account, created my store, added a few dropshipped products with Oberlo, and that’s it. I didn’t do a lot of reading or researching because I always try to learn by doing.

In other words you don't need to know it all before you go all in. Analysis paralysis resulting in prolonged procrastination prevents people from taking action.

Move from mere desires or dreams, dare, do.

Then

#3. Demand Help

With Google, Oberlo and Facebook Ads, Irwin had all the help he needed to succeed. Google for research, Oberlo for dropshipping automation and Facebook Ads for marketing, he was on firm footing for the journey ahead towards success.

No matter how gifted, talented or intelligent you are, you'll need external help at one point or the other. Anyone who has ever achieved anything worthwhile knows this truth.

These days help can come in many forms via friends, neighbors, colleagues, software, apps, tools, online forums, Facebook groups, social media, Google, etc.

Whatever you do, realize that you can't go it alone, do not be afraid to demand help when you need it, it's not a sign of weakness but of smartness.

And don't forget to

#4. Document

Yes, documentation helps you keep track of your dreams and progress made pursuing them. It helps you monitor what worked and what didn't so you can maximize scarce resources like time and money.

Without proper documentation, you'll lose track of sales, and investments for instance. Asked what his highest daily sales or sales-per-day record was he responded thus:

The record was around $30,000 in one day, I hit it while scaling a hot selling product. Current revenues right now are around $10,000 per day, but I hope I will get it back up shortly.
This was easy because he kept record via his Shopify store. There are similar software tools that can help you document your daily progress as you move forward towards your dream project, e.g Evernote.

Then

#5. Deliver

As a dropshipper, the last lap of a successful online shopping transaction is successful delivery or order fulfilment. For retailers timeliness of delivery is equally just as important if not more.

Here's what Irwin has to say:

If you find the right offer and right audience you can generate a lot of sales quickly — something I was able to experience, but because I wasn’t ready for the flood of orders we received we messed up a lot of them and made a lot of customers upset. So try and have your shipping procedures in place as soon as possible, it’ll really help you as an ecommerce entrepreneur.

From the above it is clear that smooth, timely delivery is key to sustained success, and it doesn't just happen by accident; it follows from careful, calculated prior planning.

As you edge towards your dream, plan to always deliver the best of whatever it is you offer to each and every client.

CONCLUSION

It's already past mid year but that shouldn't discourage you from trying to reach your dreams using these five lessons I've shared.

Always remember to

• Desire, Dream
• Dare, Do
• Demand Help
• Document, and
• Deliver

Cheers to your success.

REFERENCE:

Roach, Andrew (2017), 8 Months and $1M Later: How One First-Time Ecommerce Entrepreneur Made his Fortune. Retrieved from https://www.oberlo.com