How An Internet-Based Business Works For Sunit: Meeting Again A Year Later

It’s always valuable and insightful to talk to store owners from time to time and see how their Internet-based business is evolving! Sunit is a dropshipper with years of experience now, and he has a lot to share So, let’s see what he has to say — and what are the changes that an online store can bring to one’s life.

Hi, please introduce yourself to our new readers!

Hey there, I’m Sunit Das, originally from West Bengal, India. I’m 29 years old and work as an electrical engineer. Despite having no prior business experience, I’ve been running my own online business for the past two years, thanks to dropshipping.

To explain how I got into this online venture, it all started when I began seeking out additional ways to earn money while working a full-time job with long hours. Given the constraints of my schedule, launching an online business seemed like the most viable option.

After a lot of searching on Google and YouTube, I stumbled upon a discussion about dropshipping on a forum. This piqued my interest, prompting me to delve deeper into the concept. And so, my journey into dropshipping began.

Initially, I set up a store using Shopify and relied on Oberlo for order fulfillment. However, despite my efforts, the sales were lackluster, and paying the $50 monthly fee to Shopify was a challenge for me at the time. After a few months of struggling, I made the decision to close that store and explore other dropshipping platforms that didn’t require monthly fees.

Which solution are you currently using to run your internet based business?

My business is powered by Sellvia. As I already mentioned, I don’t have an internet technological background. And still, Sellvia enabled me to open my dropshipping store and have a stable amount of sales every month. I would say it is a must-have tool to automate the dropshipping processes. It made my entire dropshipping business easy and time-efficient.

How does your business perform now?

You can see it from this screenshot:

Have you made any changes to your promotional approach?

Just like before, I’m still promoting my store through a dedicated Instagram business page. Since our last chat, the page has grown to over 50 thousand followers, bringing the total subscriber count to over 450,000 users. Huge thanks to my supportive wife for helping manage the account!

Nowadays, I don’t spend a single dollar on promotion; this page serves as my primary and sole source of customers. Based on my client data, most of my buyers are actually followers of my page.

Is there anything noteworthy about providing customer service to such an audience?

Customers are always eager to receive their packages quickly. However, dropshipping from Sellvia usually involves some wait time. To ensure my audience enjoys a positive shopping experience, I maintain regular communication with buyers and keep them informed. Luckily, I haven’t encountered any particularly challenging customers yet.

Overall, how has your life changed?

As I mentioned earlier, I used to view dropshipping as a passive income stream. Consequently, I wasn’t very aggressive in promoting my products to maximize sales. I was content with a few orders per week… until I lost my job in the UAE back in February 2020 during the COVID-19 outbreak.

I relocated to India from the UAE and continued running my business from there. Thankfully, since it’s an internet-based venture, I can manage it from anywhere in the world, regardless of my physical location.

Thus, what was initially a secondary source of income became my sole means of livelihood. Despite a decrease in sales volume during the initial phase of quarantine, I continued to generate sales. I’m truly grateful to have a dropshipping store to sustain me during this challenging period of unemployment. I hope my story encourages readers to embark on their own dropshipping journey.

For me, having a dropshipping store has become more than just a clever internet-based business idea. By launching this independent ecommerce venture, I’m able to support my family even in uncertain and tough economic times. I appreciate the opportunity to share my story and wish everyone success in their business endeavors!

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