Before I had come across Johnny FD's blog via Facebook post, I had done a bit of homework on solar industry. I was exchanging emails with one of the trainers from Solar council of Australia about his Off grid solar and Storage training workshop. Cost of his 4 days long course was $2200. I absolutely wanted to make sure what I was getting for such a significant amount of money. Training didn't start till mid February so I had some time to do my own research. Even today, I am still undecided about the training program. Although it seems I could learn a lot from the hands on training, again my problem is my financial status. Can I afford $2200 investment in my studies that won't give me return for quite some time?
Today, I decided to spend my time to create a list of niche products for my drop shipping business idea. Few weeks ago while I was still in Nepal, I had come across this article that talked about how to fast track $1 million business in under 48 hours by serial entrepreneur Noah Kagan, founder of famous AppSumo. I revisited the article again today to realize if the things Noah had mentioned in the article had deeper meaning now than it did during my first read. It surely did. After listening and reading Johnny and Anton's material, I understood more when someone talked about finding a profitable idea and validating it. As I was going through Amazon's best selling products to find what was popular on the website, I found that solar panels by Renogy were selling like a hot cake. After further research, solar panels and the accessories around it seemed to be a perfect kind of product for drop shipping. Here's why:
- Cost was in the range of $100-$200 for 100W panel. (medium range price, could go higher for more increased watts)
- There were accessories to go with the main product. (higher margin in accessories)
- Product itself is a bit confusing to non-technical audience and needs guide for home installation (opportunity for value add with installation guides)
- Google trend for the past 10 years was upward and keyword search for "solar panel" was quite high. All the data regarding Solar industry growth showed there were no signs of the growth slowing anytime soon. Pretty encouraging.
What I still need to understand?
- Who are the competitors and how are they sourcing the products?
- Renogy is California based manufacturer. Is it possible for me to sell their products as they seem to be great brand name? at least based on Amazon's sales data.
- How good are the generic Chinese solar panels, quality and reliability issues?
- Are there Drop Shippers available in Aliexpress selling this product?
In the next few days, I plan on finding more information on this before making any decisions.
What excites me is the fusion of the two ideas (solar and drop shipping) I had in my mind. But at this point, it is very confusing and a mixed bag. The only way to clear the air is by doing more homework.
Regarding our move to Melbourne, today we closed in on a 2 bedroom unit nearby to where we are living right now, although the move-in date is 1st of March. Good thing about that location is it's only 5 minutes walk from Yahvie's primary school. We spent 30 minutes with the principal of the school this morning. Yahvie really liked the school and can't wait to start. Things are starting to work out, slowly but steadily.
Good night!!
Bhaktapur Durbar Square - Before April 2015 Earthquake
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