Hello,
I'm looking to start a dropshipping business while living here in Switzerland, but I have a couple of questions that I haven't been able to find an answer to yet:
I currently have a full-time job, is it fine for me to do dropshipping simultaneously in terms of legal? Do I need to register a business before making revenue and/or profit? When I first started dropshipping in my home country, this wasn't a concern as the government wouldn't care until you started making a decent profit If my dropshipping business becomes profitable and I have to register it, could it become an issue with my employer?
I’m not certain what ‘dropshipping’ is.
It’s the relationship between Amazon and its third-party sellers. What is dropshipping? How does it work in 2023?
About the issue with employment…it depends.
-
If you’re an airplane pilot, bus driver or operator of heavy machinery, and any kind of job where things can go really wrong if you’re sleepy, your employer (and society in general) is interested in your rest hours.
-
In most of office jobs no one cares as long as you meet your deadlines. Unless, there’s some clause in the contract that says “employee forbidden from having a 2nd job” because you work with sensitive data. To keep the good relationship with employer, discuss it with them. Just for context, family issues sometimes consume more energy than a 2nd job. No parent has ever been fired for sleeping 3-4 hours per night.
-
If you work part-time (60-80%), you don’t even have to discuss it with your employer.
Sounds like an ecommerce nightmare.
Thank you for the answer. I have an office job related with IT, and I currently manage a small team, I'll check the contract to ensure there's nothing against having a separate business.
Do you also happen to have an answer for my second point "Do I need to register a business before making revenue and/or profit?" Thanks!
I think the clause in work contracts preventing you working elsewhere is pretty common. If you have this you should check with your employer first as if they don’t agree they can effectively block it. I’ve seen this twice and it was allowed both times but the main consideration is does it interfere with your work or pose any reputational risk to the company. Also although it may not be relevant here it’s important to define ip ownership.
If you are married or have a stable partner, you could put everything on her/his name and no more problems with your employer (for ex. I remember I do have a clause in my contract that I should not start a new company and poach employees from my current employer)
For the other question, I think you could register a small company (the one where you DON'T need to pay 20k) if you find out that you need to be registered as a bussiness.
Good luck with the business venture