Ecommerce has made starting a successful business a prospect available to people of all walks of life. Aloysius Chay & Galvin Bay were working as professional poker players in China’s most extravagant city, Macau. Last year, they decided to trade one exciting and lucrative lifestyle for another by trying their hand as dropshipping entrepreneurs.

They are now earning upwards of $60K each day, less than a year after starting their first store. We recently had the opportunity to pick their brains about the keys to achieving success with ecommerce.

Tell us how you got started in dropshipping ecommerce? What were you doing before your successful dropshipping business?

Before embarking as dropshipping ecommerce entrepreneurs in 2016, we were earning a living as professional poker players in Macau. At the time, a friend of ours was already involved in running a dropshipping business, which planted the seed in our minds that this was a viable way to make money.

It wasn’t until May of last year, however, that we started seriously pursuing a future in dropshipping. By August, we were already expanding the business to a second store. Things really moved that quickly.

What were the main struggles in the beginning? How did you overcome them?

For us, the biggest challenge came in terms of product research – trying to find the right product at the right time for the right market. This required a lot of learning by doing. In fact, we tested 20-30 products and failed before finally finding things that worked. Of course, the process was a big test to our motivation. But in the end, we were able to discover a level of perseverance and creativity that we didn’t know we had.

While we certainly had to learn how to stomach these losses in the beginning, we kept our eyes on the big picture in order to maintain perspective. In comparison to more traditional business models that require major investments and can take years before finally taking off, dropshipping really is a much more straightforward way to get started. It’s easier and there’s less risk.

Even though getting started took some trial and error, dropshipping is the ideal way to start your ecommerce business in a short amount of time with a minimal amount of money. Plus, all the effort you put in contains the promise of reaping major returns.

 

Do you remember your first sale and where it came from?

We started out niche marketing jewelry in June of 2016. While the initial sales were on the smaller side and we ultimately didn’t end up breaking even, we learned a lot from this experience. It taught us that it helps to target a certain audience by country.

The prospect of growing and improving kept us moving forward with the business. After experimenting with jewelry, we tried selling all sorts of other products. After testing out a few new products and strategies,  we ultimately achieved the success we’re enjoying now.

Galvin Bay

Do you use Facebook Ads to market your store? What has been your experience with Facebook Ads? How did you learn to use this tool?

Yes, we like using Facebook advertising because it is a lot simpler than other ad platforms. All the necessary features for creating a successful ad campaign are integrated into a straightforward, user-friendly system.

Of course, as two guys who were just starting out within the world of ecommerce, we found that taking some time to explore different tutorials and courses on the subject really helped us to learn what we needed to know. We also consulted a lot of people in our own social circle. You’d be surprised how much you can learn just by sitting down with friends who are also working on their own ecommerce businesses to exchange tips and ideas.

What keeps you motivated as an ecommerce entrepreneur?

Naturally, being able to secure some extra income is a great incentive. More than that, though, being an entrepreneur is really fun! There are so many new challenges and opportunities coming your way, offering the chance to continually grow and learn as a business owner and as an individual. Plus, in this line of work, we have so much control over our daily lives because our dropshipping business provides us with both the financial means and the free time to create the lifestyles we’ve always wanted. Ecommerce has changed so many lives, including our own, as well as those of our friends and families.

As an ecommerce entrepreneur, what is your sale-per-day record as a successful dropshipping business?

Our best day of sales to date is at high 5 figures USD, and we will continue to grow to surpass the 6 figures mark.

As an ecommerce entrepreneur, what’s your top recommendation to new store-owners?

Always keep in mind that fresh products are the lifeblood of any successful ecommerce business. If you’re going to go all out in any area of your shop, this would be it. Be willing to continually get creative and test out new items. Don’t skimp out here because the risk is worth the returns.

In addition, hire staff to assist you in your business operations as soon as you can. Having adequate manpower is crucial to the growth of your company. And it’s always better to over-hire than it is to be understaffed.

In the end, hiring people to help will save you valuable time and money that you can put towards expanding your shop. Besides, as a business owner, your efforts are better spent focused on the big picture than on answering emails and processing orders. It’s best to prioritize the streamlining of your ecommerce/dropshipping processes right from the start.

Galvin Bay

How long have you relied on dropshipping?

My business partner and I used a dropshipping app right from the very beginning. Good apps are essential for optimizing the productivity of a dropshipping ecommerce business. Shopify Apps are awesome because they are relatively cheap for the amount of value they bring to your shop. And of course, many of them are free when you first start out.

Dropshipping apps also make dealing with dropshipping orders far simpler and more user friendly. Ordering a product manually on AliExpress normally takes between 3 and 5 minutes, but with the apps like Modalyst, we can cut that time to as little as 30 seconds. On average, the entire fulfillment process goes about three times faster. Plus, many of these apps come with an automation feature that minimizes errors in handling tasks like entering the right customer details to each order.

What do you look for in a dropshipping app?

Definitely the semi-automatic fulfillment of orders on AliExpress ranks high on the list. Also, the app should make syncing order tracking numbers to Shopify virtually effortless. Then I'd like the app to facilitate bulk payments where I can load up to 100 orders at a time and then pay all of them in one shot. This is incredibly useful if you wish to delegate order payments to staff members because it makes this process so easy that just about anyone can learn to do it in no time.

Would you recommend dropshipping to a friend or colleague? Why?

For sure! In fact, we think it’s the business model that anyone looking to make it in the world of ecommerce should adopt. Doing so from the beginning is best because it’s not challenging to transition from a conventional setup to no-inventory operation later on. Many dropshipping apps offer a free starter plan for those just getting started out so there’s really nothing to lose, and the savings in time and error are really invaluable.

Import hundreds of products to your store in minutes.

Want to learn more?

Is there anything else you’d like to know more about and wish was included in this article? Let us know in the comments below!