Starting a Business Q&A

If you search a business name in ASIC and it's available then you can register it.  If it's registered in NZ and not in AU then it's probably because they are not planning to operate in AU anytime soon.    

HI, I ran a Business Angel network for two years and there are specific things that Business Angels look for in a potential investment. That you have proven demand and means that you are ahead of your competition for their attention. To give you advice about the next step from what you have written is a challenge, however my first questions are:
- How have you proven the demand? How mnay have you sold?
- How big is the potential market? Does it have international potential?
- What problem are you solving for your customers?
- Who are your competitors?

I hope this helps,

Brian

Hi, I am from London and I work at a local flower shop.
I think it is a lot different in Beijing than in a village in Shandong Province.

When it comes to dropshipping, you can try the big and famous ones. First there’s Oberlo, which is one of the biggest suppliers and ships to many countries including Australia.
 
The next, of course, is AliExpress, a little sister site of AliBaba. There is a difference between the two sites. AliExpress hosts retail products across categories such as beauty, clothing, homewares and toys. On the other hand, AliBaba has manufacturers, resellers and suppliers for many other categories aside from retail and they usually sell in bulk. With AliExpress, you can just buy one item and dropshipping is available.  You get access to thousands of suppliers from China with both at reasonable prices, but be careful with selecting the right manufacturer.
 
Salehoo is another big name in the dropshipping business. They also ship to Australia and cover an extensive range of products in various categories.
 
Their pricing is usually an annual or monthly membership fee and that gives you access to their suppliers and services. The smaller niche ones that dropship products in 1 or 2 categories may work out to be cheaper with a pay as you go kind of deal.
 
The best part is, ecommerce website giants such as Shopify and BigCommerce integrate seamlessly with some dropshippers such as Oberlo and AliExpress, that can ship to your customers when an online sale happens so you don't have to arrange it manually. If you build a website with them, everything is easily connected so starting a business from scratch is much easier.
 
You can dropship on Ebay too, but you must comply with their rules. Basically, the responsibility of dropshipping the product to the customer is on you.