Open Fnb Account Online: Fill & Download for Free

Personally - I’d say FNB bank for its innovation and sheer range of products and footprint in the country. I’ve been banking with them for over 10 years and pretty much hassle free. Their mobile app, online banking ‘just works’ and their eBucks rewards system is probably one of the better rewards programs in their industry.HOWEVER. If cost is a barrier, then Capitec wins hands down. Basic, no frills, up front and easy to open. Its no surprise they’re the fastest growing bank in the last few years!

If you are a legal resident or citizen of South Africa, any of “the big 5” banks can offer either a visa or MasterCard debit/cheque card. The big 5 is Nedbank, Standardbank, ABSA, Capitec bank and First national bank (FNB). On a savings account you get a debit card and on a current account (aka cheque account) you get a cheque card. The basic difference is that with a cheque card you can use it for online purchases (Uber, iTunes etc) and you cannot make online purchase with a debit card. A debit card can only be used for normal card swipes and ATM withdrawals. If you open an account with Nedbank you may also qualify for an Amex card (American Express) which is issued exclusively by Nedbank. All you need is your ID document and proof of residence.

The South African Dropshipping Manual: By Gauta LenakeThe general consensus is that you need "money" to start a business. As vague as that might sound, it remains a reality and a stumbling block for most people who want to start their first business venture. Sure you a need 6 or 7 figure sum in order to start a traditional business such as a restaurant, a fast food franchise or a filling station. There’s no doubt about it. But not every business requires large amounts of capital. This is the 21st century, hello!We are now in the information age and technology has made it possible for us to connect and do business with the rest of the world without having to pay for an expensive plane ticket. You can now do business and be your own boss from the comfort of your home. Forget about the hype! You don't need a large infrastructure to be considered a "real business".So you want to start your very first online business but don’t know how and where to begin?Or perhaps you are employed full-time and want to do something on the side to supplement your current income? A side hustle as most people prefer to call it.Well I wrote this article for you. And I decided to call it The South African Dropshipping ManualI assume that you want to learn and start your very first online business. Even if you have experience in online business or have a traditional offline business, I believe can still learn and take something from this manual.And the most interesting part about all this is.........You can start this business with little to no Capital!What Is Dropshipping?Dropshipping is basically a business model of selling physical products without keeping any stock/inventory on hand. You purchase from a third-party supplier (who keeps stock) and the product gets shipped to the consumer.As a dropshipper you can list and sell multiple products on your website (online shop) or third-party websites without investing thousands in purchasing the inventory upfront.A traditional bricks and mortar shop has to purchase inventory, hire staff and pay the landlord in order to launch the business.Dropshipping is like owning a physical retail shop EXCEPT there is no need to purchase any inventory, no need to hire staff (you can do that when you scale), and no landlord to pay every month!Now here are more compelling reasons on why you should start a dropshipping business.It is easy to launch compared to a traditional business. All you need is a laptop and internet connectionIt is scalableYou can run the business from anywhere (Your bedroom, apartment, coffee shop, Library, in a different country, etc).Your business is open 24 hours. So while you are sleeping, orders will be coming inYou can sell your products to the local or global market. It is entirely up to youYou don't have to worry about handling, packing and shipping the productYou can run the business while being employed full-timeAs you can see, dropshipping offers plenty of benefits especially for those who would like to start a business with minimal costs. However it does come with some drawbacks, no business is perfect after all.If you can spot an opportunity and run with it you should be successful in drop shipping.In fact most successful online shops, locally and abroad use the drop shipping model. But to reach the level where you can drop successfully on a consistent basis, it is vital to do your research your niche market religiously (I will elaborate further on this shortly).Without wasting anymore of your time, let's get into the fundamentals of dropshipping which are vital to selling products successfully on the internet.PICK A PRODUCTThis one is a no brainer. Can you start a drop shipping business without a product? Of course not.Find a product or products that you intend to sell.But not any product though and you don't want to start a general ecommerce store selling just about anything to everyone like the big retailers do.In order to compete and sell successfully online, it is advisable to focus on a niche market. Everyone says this but it is for obvious reasons.But How Do I Find or Pick A Product?Well, there is no formula per se. But I would recommend that you start with your interests.See I didn't say passion. But that doesn't you can't start with your passion. Don't forget that you are starting a business and sometimes when you focus on passion alone, you can overlook certain aspects which are important to make the business to work.However if you have passion for a product or industry and you are certain that it will work, that is your starting point and by all means go for it.But some people don't know or have any passion(s). It's not the end of the world though. If you are one of those people, focus on your interests instead.Here are other alternative ways of picking a product:Find a product with high demand but less competition locallySouth Africans are always searching for products online. And in most cases, people search for products when they struggle to find them at malls and local stores.When they can't find a product locally, they order it on ebay, Amazon, AliExpress and Wish.This is where you can capitalize as a dropshipper. You can focus on selling a high demand product which has potential to generate consistent sales.Low volume but High Margins"If it doesn't make dollars, it don't make no sense" UnknownBusiness A generates R 1 000 000 per year with a R50 000 net profit (5% Net Profit Margin)Business B generates R 100 000 per year with a R50 000 net profit (50% Net Profit Margin)Which business is better?You will decide. Don't forget that you are running a business after all!However when you are still researching and crunching the numbers for your potential product, it can be quite tricky to get accurate numbers. Products with low volume and high margins tend to be expensive and the competition in that space is often low.Keyword ResearchIf you already have a product in mind, you can do a keyword research to find out more about the demand of the product.When doing your keyword research, it is important to add "long-tail keywords". Say you want to sell shoes, instead of using "shoes" as your keywords, be specific and add "red tennis shoes" for example.You will be able get results on the demand, level of competition and how many times that keyword is searched.Products To Avoid When DropShippingHeavy products (60 kg and above). These products are too expensive to ship. Unless your profit margins are super high and cover the cost, you should avoid them.Commodities. Nobody wants to buy dishwasher, soap, etc. online when they can find them at a local convenience shop.Very small items which cost less than R50. In most cases the courier or postage cost will exceed that amount, which can discourage customers. Rather use products in that price range as loss leaders to encourage buyers to purchase other products that you sell.Cars, Furniture, and highly technical products. In most cases the buyer would want to touch, feel and test the product before making a final decision. Not every product suitable to dropship.FIND SUPPLIERSFinding dropshipping suppliers in South Africa can be quite a challenge but not impossible. Most suppliers in South Africa do not know about dropshipping or how it works.However when you a find a supplier(s), it doesn't stop you from explaining to them what it is and how it works.How To Find SuppliersBefore you start searching for suppliers, you need to decide if you are going to dropship in South Africa exclusively or globally.In order to dropship in South Africa, I would recommend that you find local suppliers.Start with Google. When you search for suppliers, don't type "dropshipping suppliers in South Africa". Let's say you plan to protein shakes, type “protein shakes wholesale supppliers South Africa".Your search is more specific and targeted with the right amount of keywords. That is your starting point.Don’t focus only on the first page search engine results though. You should dig deeper as far as going beyond the fourth page if you have to. Some suppliers, especially wholesale and manufacturers are terrible at marketing. So you really have to do the ground work until you find the decent supplier(s). It can take time but when you find the right supplier it will be worth it!When you do find a supplier, make sure that you have your documentation in order such as your I.D Copy, CK, bank account details, etc. Most suppliers in South Africa won't entertain you if you can't prove that you are legit business. So make sure that your business is formalised beforehand!International SuppliersInternational suppliers are the cool kids of dropshipping. It’s nothing new to them. You can be based in South Africa and dropship from a supplier in the USA to South Africa or anywhere in the world.The easiest way to find suppliers is to visit Aliexpress. Aliexpress is an ecommerce marketplace owned by Alibaba.com. If you visit Aliexpress, you will find thousands of suppliers of virtually any product you can think of. And most of these suppliers allow you to dropship their products.I mentioned Alibaba, but if you are starting out I wouldn't recommend them. Alibaba is also an online marketplace but for wholesalers and manufacturers. Unless you are going to drop shipping large quatities (500 SKU) of product consistently, then Alibaba is not ideal.In order to make things easier, you can open an account with Orbelo. The Orbelo platform allows you import the Aliexpress product catalog on condition that you have a shopfiy ecommerce store.CHOOSE A SELLING PLATFORMYou will be dropshipping as an ecommerce store, so you need a cart after all.But you don't have to start big. So what do you do?Online MarketplaceTest the waters first by opening an account on bidorbuy. Bidorbuy is a South African marketplace. You can open an account, and upload a few products on their site, see how things go. It’s not difficult.There are no sign up or product listing costs. But they will charge you a small commission for each you make( Everybody has to eat).Take-A-Lot is also another option. You can open an account a seller account. However a take-a-lot seller account is not free. You have to pay a small premium every month whether you make sales or not.Selling on online marketplaces is good for short term gains. You can sell different products until you get the confidence to start a real online shop.Ecommerce StoreMost successful online stores dropship, so you might also want to look at the possibility of building your own ecommerce store.When the internet was still in the development stages (90's), the cost of building an ecommerce shop or an internet business was astronomical. But that is not the case today.If you have the time and desire to learn, you can design your own store using wix, weebly, and cube cart amongst others. However when you sign up for a free account, you will not have access to a domain name. The free account will force you to use a subdomain.A subdomain can be something like this: yourbusinessname.wix.comBut you don't want to start an internet business with a sub domain. In fact you shouldn't. It looks unprofessional, and you will be advertising the third party website for free and anyone can sign for a free account. Some of these websites do have options where you can purchase a domain via Godaddy. If such an option is available, I would advise you to buy a domain immediately.Shopfiy is a giant in the ecommerce world; many people seem to use it as their cart of choice and for a good reason! Shopify offers plenty of value. You don't need to have technical skills to start your shop on their platform. You will get access to free themes, various payment options and a SSL Certificate.SET-UP SHIPPINGIn the drop shipping world, suppliers usually take care of the shipping as well. But they charge you a small shipping fee on top of the item order and they deliver directly to your customer.However you can still choose to work with a carrier of your choice. Meaning each time you receive orders from your customers, you will process the shipping instead of the supplier.Teaming up with a reliable carrier is an absolute must though! However the task of finding a good freight company can be overwhelming when you're just starting out because you just don't know where to start.Courier ShippingIn South Africa, there are plenty of freight companies to choose from. But customer service, shipping speed, and pricing is what separates the men from the boys - no pun intended!Before making a purchase online, people usually lookout for two things: Delivery Fee and the Shipping Speed.Free shipping is a prerequisite now and people expect to see this "free shipping" sign somewhere on your item offer. But in order to offer free shipping, you need to know how and when to apply it. Don't just offer free shipping for the sake of it or thinking that it will bring in a high volume of sales. That is a recipe for disaster!Most courier companies have a C.O.D and trading account options. A C.O.D is cash on delivery. You (The Dropshipper) pay the delivery fee in cash each time you book a collection. This option might make sense and cheap on paper but it's expensive in the long run.A trading account is more cost effective when delivering goods on a regular basis. You can choose between a cash or credit account. The cash account is different from C.O.D though. When you opt for a cash account, you pay a minimum amount upfront which is set by the courier in order. Let’s say the minimum amount is R1000. That would be the amount you have to deposit or pay to book collections (A lump sum in other words). The amount is reduced on your account each time you book a shipping collection, saving you money! Are you with me? I know this might all sound new to you but it's straight forward, trust me.A credit account is pretty much self-explanatory; you book collections on credit and settle the bill every month.SAPOI'm not really a big fan of SAPO for obvious reasons. For those who are wondering what I'm talking about, SAPO is short for The South African Post Office. However you should still include it as part of your shipping strategy. I believe that SAPO will still be around for many years to come but they are currently skating on thin ice.If you are dropshipping with local suppliers, the SAPO shipping speed tends to be faster usually 3-5 days. That's not bad and most customers don't mind waiting a few days to receive their parcels. It’s also economical to use the Post Office compared to courier. But that's just about it.But when you are dropshipping from Aliexpress to South Africa, that's when it starts getting "complicated". In order to keep your costs down and encourage people to buy from you, then your shipping costs really need to be low. In most cases, your parcels will be dispatched from Aliexpress via China Airmail Post. You have a courier option such as DHL, EMS, etc. But the cost is often high.China Airmail Post is your best bet in if you intend to scale your business. But it's not uncommon for parcels to take more than 3 months to get processed once they reach the Mail Centre at the OR Tambo Airport. This usually happens because of a backlog at the Post Office and it can be really be frustrating for you and your customer(s).Should you decide to offer free shipping, do your planning first, work out your costs to see whether it makes business sense or not. The last thing you want to do is to offer free shipping only to find out later that you have lost a small fortune. Don't launch until you have worked around shipping strategy and costs.PAYMENT METHODSMoney, Money, Money!You will be selling all these exciting products on the internet, but how will you process payments?When ecommerce first started, the most common and acceptable method of payment was by credit card. You had to visit your local bank and apply for a merchant account which took weeks to months to process.But times have changed and ecommerce has evolved since then!PAYPALPayPal has been around since 1999 but was formally introduced to the South African market in 2010.When you have a PayPal account you can accept global payments. Let's say someone in the US wants to order a product from you, they can easily send the money into your PayPal account. You then withdraw the money from your PayPal into your South African bank account or you can use that money (PayPal Balance) to make purchases online, it's entirely up to you.However, if you want to withdraw the funds from your PayPal account to your South African bank account, then you need to have an FNB account. FNB is has the exclusive license to operate PayPal in South Africa.A PayPal business or personal account is free but you will be charged a 1-2% commission for each transaction. The bank commission is typically 1.5% for withdrawals of up to R15 000. However, you should enquire with the bank first before making any assumptions.PayPal is not perfect though, and some flaws are not evident until you start using it.Let's say someone pays you (the merchant/dropshipper), the buyer has an option to apply for a chargeback in case the product is not delivered, damaged during transit or if an incorrect product is supplied. However some buyers tend to abuse the system because it favours the buyer more than the seller.If a buyer pays you and receives the product, nothing stops them from submitting a chargeback. Once that chargeback is sent to PayPal, it will create problems for you. If the funds are still in your PayPal account, PayPal can freeze the funds until the matter is resolved. The dispute could take months to be resolved (if it gets resolved)! If you have withdrawn the money by then, your PayPal balance will be minus, meaning that you owe PayPal!Buyers can easily scam you on PayPal and there is no guarantee that will win as the seller. PayPal has no idea whether the buyer has the received the item or not. They simply can't police everyone that uses their website.But having said that, such cases are rare but do occur every now and then. If you get any suspicious payments, you can notify PayPal to reverse the payment back to the buyer account in order to avoid chargebacks.PAYFASTPayfast is similar to PayPal and widely used by most South African online merchants. However Payfast makes it easier for the dropshipper to offer multiple payment methods including credit card payments!A Payfast account is also free but the commission varies on each transaction. Payfast process all payments on your behalf and holds the funds for 48 hours before payout.If you have a shopfiy account, you get access to Payfast and other payment methods such Mobicred, Bitcoin, etc incorporated into the store.ELECTRONIC BANK TRANSFEREFT (Electronic Fund Transfer) is probably the easiest and safest method of accepting payments online. Its hassle free, all you need is a bank account and you're ready to go!You can incorporate EFT on your cart as a payment method. But do not publish your banking details on your website! If your customers are not so keen to pay with EFT, you can offer a direct bank deposit at an ATM or Branch.Most people who shop online regularly are familiar with the above payment methods. There countless others however, in most cases there won't be any need for them. People usually prefer to stick with the tried and tested - PayPal, PayFast and EFT are not foreign to most people who shop online!MARKET YOUR BUSINESS RELIGIOUSLYTo say you have to market your dropshipping business would be an understatement.Designing the website and getting suppliers on board is the easy part. And if you believe in the mantra "Build It and They Will Come" theory, then you are in for a rude awakening.Now you have the challenge of trying to get noticed on the World Wide Web! ShuuuBut you have already identified your niche product, so that should ease the process of getting your name out there, right?How To Market Your Business Without A WebsiteWhen you are just starting out and selling on an online marketplace, you don't really do much marketing to be honest. An online marketplace like bidorbuy gets a heavy traffic, so your job is pretty much cut out.Let’s assume you have listed 100 products on the bidorbuy platform, thanks to their huge traffic, your products will seen by hundreds of thousands of daily visitors. That will increase the probabilities of making sales!However it doesn't mean that you should rest on your laurels. In this day and age, every business should have social media accounts in the form of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can list the products that you are selling on your business page and include the Buy Now links.But don't hard sell. You could upload a product or two and explain to your audience (social media followers) the benefits of buying your product. A small write up and visuals will do, and then you can gradually add more products with pricing as you move along.How To Market Your Business with an Ecommerce StoreDropshipping with your own ecommerce store is a different animal. You don't have the traffic for one and two you don't have the reputation. You are starting the business from scratch after all. But when you surpass these hurdles, owing your ecommerce will start to make a whole lot of sense!When you own an ecommerce store, it puts you in the driver's seat, you have total control. It is your business after all. But you have market your store intensively in order to attract customers, generate sales and stay in business.Your store is designed and uploaded with products, so what's next?You need to build traffic to your store as if your life depends on it. There is no way around it!Website TrafficSetting up an online store is not hard but the real challenge is getting people to your store. Without traffic, you don't have a business, it’s that simple.In order to build your web traffic foundation, you need to make sure that your website is properly optimized for search engines.In simple English, it means that your website and products should appear on Google, Yahoo and Bing search results. Most people use Google to search. The process of making sure that your store gets notified online is known as Search Engine Optimization. I won't get into the details on how to you can optimize your website because that goes beyond the scope of this manual. Moz covers that topic in detail.SEO is organic or "free" traffic but it doesn't produce instant results. However it should not be overlooked as part of your marketing strategy.FacebookI chose Facebook because it is the biggest social media platform.Most people are on Facebook anyway and chances are your audience is there as well. Facebook would be the quickest way to build traffic to your store and I'm going to assume that you have a Facebook account.Facebook Ads are cost effective so instead of going in hard, you can run and test a few ads without burning your pocket. You setup a targeted Advert for as little as R60 and reach an audience of over 10 000 people.GumtreeGumtree is also an online marketplace but a little bit different. You can upload unlimited products on the site and the good thing is that if you make a sale you keep all the proceeds. Gumtree does not process payments.You can build and increase traffic to your site immediately, i you do it right. On the product description section, you can insert your store link for as little as R109. If you don't have the budget, you can write the link above the product description.When you add links on your descriptions, potential buyers will see the link, click on it and will redirect them to your website. Say you get 100 visits per day, the probability for conversions increase. The nice thing about this kind of traffic is that you will attract the right kind of people who want or need what you are offering.Traffic is not a one size fits all. It’s not about driving traffic to your store but it’s about driving the "qualified" traffic to your store.Which one is better?1000 visitors to your store per month, 2 conversions (sales) OR100 visitors to your store per month, 50 conversions (sales)So you have to know where your audience is first. Don't randomly market your business to anyone and anywhere. When you know your audience, it makes the makes the task of building qualified traffic a lot easier, trust me!GET SET, READY, GO!This manual has just covered the fundamentals of starting a dropshipping business in South Africa from scratch with little to no capital at all. How much you earn will surely depend on your vision, desire, and the amount of effort and time that you put in. It is possible to make a 6 or 7 figure income; in fact you can even reach 8 figures!But there is no such thing as an "easy money" or "easy business". There is some truth in the statement “easy come, easy go". There's no pressure to start big, in fact starting small will help you grasp your niche and give you the much needed confidence to take your business to the next level.There is no excuse why you can't start your own business, no excuse whatsoever! A lack of capital is never the problem. Even if you don't plan to build a dropshipping business in the long-term, but you have to start somewhere in order to gain business experience.When the opportunity presents itself, you have to grab the bull by the horns and run with it!Thank you for reading and Happy Dropshipping!