It can be intimidating to start your own business.
There a lot of steps to take, and tons of research to be done. If you’re completely new to the concept, it’s only too easy to feel lost and overwhelmed.
When you think about it that way, you can see the appeal in a done-for-you business that promises to make it effortless for you. Tons of people fall prey to these things without stopping to think that they might be too good to be true.
To protect you from making this mistake, we’ll be examining done for you dropshipping stores. We’ll be digging deep into the topic, so buckle up your seat belts!
If you don’t feel like reading, click the play button below to listen to us talk about this topic in-depth:
What is Done for You Dropshipping?
Before we get into our explanation, we’ll start with a disclaimer. We won’t be naming any specific people in this guide.
We’re not even necessarily saying that everyone who makes done-for-you dropshipping stores are scamming you.
What we’re actually saying is that, by purchasing a done-for-you dropshipping store, you are scamming yourself.
This applies to any done-for-you business model, too, and not just dropshipping stores.
That being said, what is a done-for-you store? The name is pretty self-explanatory: it’s a dropshipping store that is 100% created for you. No effort on your part – you just give someone the money, and they do everything for you, then hand you the keys to the kingdom.
At this point, you might be thinking to yourself that that’s a good thing, right? After all, it saves you time and effort.
While you’re right that it saves you time and effort, you’re wrong that it’s a good thing. We’ll explain why.
Why You Shouldn’t Buy a Done-For-You Business
The answer to why you shouldn’t buy a done for you business is right in our name: Build Assets Online. More specifically, it’s the first word, “build.”
Creating these assets is so easy and cheap, there’s no reason for you to pay someone else to do it.
In fact, we’ve written a guide about how simple it can be here. If you do end up paying someone else, it’s almost guaranteed that person is going and paying someone else to do it for less, then pocketing the profit.
If you’re that worried about having the skills to do all of it alone, at the very least, you could acquire the skills to hire someone yourself to do some of the work for you. That way, you’re strengthening your ability to hire people and you’ll have more involvement in the creation of the store.
By hiring a done-for-you service, you’re not learning anything. When you build your own business, you get intimate knowledge of that business every step of the way. You learn how to work with suppliers, how to do mundane tasks like uploading products, and how to put together a customer service team. Put simply, you get an understanding of what makes everything tick.
When you buy a done-for-you business, you say you don’t care about gaining any of these priceless skills.
The thing is, this knowledge is indispensable.
Down the line, if you look at buying other businesses, you’ll be able to do so much more easily if you’ve made your own before. That’s because your understanding of what goes into a successful business will tell you what needs to be done with any you might choose to buy.
Additionally, anyone online can say that they’ll make a profitable business for you. However, it’s easy to lie online, and until you have the skills to build your own online business, you may not be able to recognize when someone is lying to you.
On the flip side, when you’ve built something from scratch, you know what went into it and you know how to work on it. You’d be able to spot a poorly made dropshipping store right away.
Read Also: Dropshipping vs Affiliate Marketing – What’s Better for Beginners?
Done for You vs Buying an Established Business
These done-for-you services oftentimes cost tens of thousands of dollars. For that same price, you could easily go on to a site like Empire Flippers and just buy a business. Any business you buy will have already been created and is generating a cash flow.
You might be wondering what the difference between a done-for-you business and buying a business that’s already been created is. We get the confusion, so we’ll lay out the difference for you.
With an established online business, you’re buying something that has been vetted and proven already. It’s been built from the ground up, and it’s already making a profit for the current owner. In purchasing it, you’re making an investment that strengthens your portfolio.
You don’t necessarily get that guarantee when you buy a done-for-you business. Again, you don’t know if the person making it for you is trustworthy or skilled. Worse yet, you won’t have the knowledge to confirm what they make for you is actually any good.
After using a done-for-you service, you also won’t have the skills to look at other online businesses and know if you want to buy them. You’ll have skipped any involvement in the process that would have added to your own skillset.
Read Also: Dropshipping Profit Margin: What We Make on a $10K Sale
Wrap Up
At the end of the day, you have two choices: take the easy road or take the hard road. You might think that taking the easy road is the better choice because it will save you time and you won’t be breaking a sweat by the end of it. This is extra true when you compare it with the hard road, which is steep and seemingly difficult to travel.
But if all you ever did was take the easy road in life, you’d be cheating yourself out of the valuable experience. Yes, the other road will be more difficult, but continuing to challenge yourself will leave you in a better position in the end. Plus, the more you challenge yourself, the easier each challenge will become.
Just like you need to push yourself a little in exercise, you need to do the same when it comes to business. Don’t spring for the done-for-you service just because it seems like it will be easier. Put the time and effort into building your own online assets, and you’ll be so grateful that you did in the future.
We wouldn’t be where we are today if it weren’t for all the challenges we faced and conquered. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by these same challenges, don’t forget that there are tons of resources at your disposal.
For example, check out our free Online Assets Playbook for some extra guidance. You can get even more in-depth with our Instant eCommerce Assets course.