How to Run a Dropshipping Business While Working Full Time
Running a dropshipping business with a full-time job can be quite challenging. You’ll have to find time to take care of everything such as processing orders, answering emails, posting content on social media, and so on. If you’re a working mom, finding time is almost impossible. Yet, if you are determined to have a side business to run despite your busy schedule and many responsibilities, no one can stand in your way.
To help you find time to run a dropshipping business while working full time, I have a list of suggestions that have worked for me which may also work for you. You didn’t have to do them all. Just pick those that you can commit to doing based on your lifestyle.
Before anything else, always remember that your day job is separate from your side business. Working on your side hustle at your workplace is something you should never do. The company is paying you for eight hours of work, therefore, you should only focus on your tasks during those times and take care of your business after work. It is not ethical to use company resources for your side business either so make sure that you should always set a boundary between the two.
Now let’s move on to discuss the methods that can help you find time to work on your dropshipping business.
Be creative and make the necessary sacrifices.
Starting a side hustle like a dropshipping business needs some creativity and sacrifices on your part. If you have a 9 to 5 job, set your alarm a few hours earlier than you used to so you can have time to attend to your business before going to work. Make sure that you still have at least 7 hours of sleep to stay healthy.
If you go clubbing with friends every Friday night then that’s something that you have to give up at least in the early stages of your business. Limit your social life to focus on growing your dropshipping store. You have to make small sacrifices if you want to succeed in dropshipping without leaving your job.
Automate your email marketing and social media marketing.
You need to market your dropshipping products to acquire customers and this will take more of your precious time if done manually. If you will do email marketing and/or social media marketing, use tools that can automate some processes for you.
Let’s take for example email marketing, set up an autoresponder email that will automatically go out after shopping cart abandonment. Instead of emailing each and everyone who didn’t complete the checkout process, an autoresponder tool can do it for you. This will give you more time to take care of the other aspects of your business such as processing orders and uploading new dropshipping products.
When it comes to social media, use scheduling tools like Sprout Social, Hootsuite, r Buffer to schedule at least a week’s amount of posts on your social media. By automating the posting process, you’ll only spend time answering direct messages and comments that consumers leave on your business pages.
Make a separate calendar for your day job and side business.
When you have organized your calendars, you’ll be able to determine the times when you can have more time to spend on your business. You’ll also be able to keep track of deadlines and see where you’re at in attaining your goals. If you schedule everything that must be done in your job and your side hustle, you can divide your time effectively between the two and still spend quality time with your family.
Just make sure that you are firm with your deadlines to avoid procrastination and lose your motivation. If you only set 20 minutes of your time daily to check on your social media messages, make sure that you follow the schedule strictly so you will be able to take care of everything that needs to be done in your dropshipping business. Having a goal to attain makes you feel accountable and will not make excuses for yourself.
Allot your weekends to your dropshipping business.
After doing the laundry, buying groceries, and playing with your kids, you still have more time to spare on weekends than you do during weekdays. Make use of that time to create ads, write social media posts and blog posts, and scheduling them to go the following week. If you can automate them during the weekend, you’ll’ only take care of answering customer messages and order processing on weekdays. You can also look for new products to dropship on the weekend so you have enough time to do product research and look for suppliers.
Outsource some tasks to virtual assistants.
If the time comes that your dropshipping business grow rapidly and you can’t keep up with processing orders and answering emails, you can consider outsourcing low-risk, the routine task to a virtual assistant. Don’t quit your job yet at this point to focus full-time on your business. You have to make sure first that you’re generating consistent revenue that costs more than what you earn in your job. Only when you have financial stability in your business that you dare leave the security of having a day job offer.
While you haven’t achieved yet the financial stability that you’re looking for, hire people to do the dirty job for you. You’ll not only save lots of time with this arrangement, but you’ll also spare yourself the headaches too.
Final Thoughts
Dropshipping while working full time can be done successfully. You can automate things with the right tools and outsource tasks when your dropshipping business is selling more than you can process in your free time. Try one or a combination of the methods discussed in this article to find out which works best for you.
Want to learn more?
8 Essential Skills For A Successful Dropshipping Business
A Beginner’s Guide to Approaching Dropshipping Suppliers
How to Create a Professional-Looking Dropshipping Store
