Creativity Is King In Business
By Kirk A Larson
In my last article, “The Reality of Buying Wholesale,” we looked at some of the controls that the largest companies in the consumer goods market place on their distribution channels. As we learned, some of these companies make it impossible for the small, start-up online retailer to obtain their merchandise.
However, this is no reason to give up on your dream of being a retailer. Less capital to invest just requires a little more creativity. Many established retailers have built their businesses by starting out small and then adding more products as they grew. In this article, we’ll look at some creative options available for those who don’t meet the requirements to be an authorized retailer with some of the most popular brand names.
Where do businesses find merchandise?
I’m sure some of you are thinking right now about the many eBay sellers or independent online retailers who sell popular brand names. If they are products that are only sold direct to authorized retailers, or through wholesalers bound by strict manufacturer’s requirements, then these sellers are obtaining their products in one of three ways:
1. They are an authorized retailer who met the manufacturer’s requirements
2. They are selling used merchandise
3. They purchased their merchandise through liquidation or closeout
Sell Used Goods
If you’re looking to make money selling on eBay, selling used merchandise is a very viable idea. Many sellers, including several of my personal friends, have built successful eBay businesses selling used clothing, electronics, musical instruments, and toys, just to name a few. They locate their merchandise through estate sales, garage sales, classified ads, thrift stores, consignment shops, and sometimes even through eBay itself. Then they clean up the merchandise if need be, and list it for sale in an attractive and exciting way. I know several people who substantially subsidize their existing incomes by doing this, and I even know a couple who do nothing but sell on eBay.
Closeouts and Liquidations
Closeouts and liquidations are also a very viable source of merchandise for both eBay and an online retail store. With a good closeout or liquidation source, you purchase reasonable lots of overstocked or discontinued merchandise. You’ll be purchasing last year’s models, but there is a large market out there for this merchandise. Most people don’t have to have the latest style or model, especially when there is a large savings involved by purchasing last year’s products. Many sources of liquidations and closeouts are available by searching online and calling around to do your research.
Consider Lesser Known Brands
Another option is to look at other brands that may not be among the most popular. Not every consumer has to have the most popular, most expensive brand. In fact, most people don’t buy the top brands all of the time, making this market very large. This is an excellent option for someone who wants to establish a retail store selling brand new, recent model merchandise. Once you establish yourself as a respected retailer in this market, your reputation will make applying to resell other products that much easier.
Keep an Open Mind
When you’re deciding on a business venture, it’s very important that you don’t go in with blinders on. Be willing to consider multiple types of products before deciding on the items that you want to sell. For instance, clothing, consumer electronics, and DVDs are very popular items, and not just among consumers but also among sellers. If you choose a very popular market, the requirements for resale may not only be more difficult, but it may also be more difficult to compete with the mass of sellers in the market.
Creativity is King
Creativity is king in the business world. To be successful, you must locate a niche where you can provide a benefit that makes your business stand out. When I talk of creativity, I don’t necessarily mean originality, either. There is a difference. It’s difficult to be original in the business world, as so much has been done already. Originality doesn’t always win either. If you’re too above and beyond the norm, people may not relate to your approach, and thus turn away.
Creativity could be as simple as borrowing an idea from another market and applying it to a market where it hasn’t been used. People had long delivered flowers, and people had long delivered groceries, but no one had ever delivered pizzas until Domino’s started doing it. Now everyone down to the smallest corner pizza joint delivers pizza because it works.
That’s an example on a grand scale of where a simple idea grew into a giant success. Not all of us will be as fortunate as Domino’s, but millions of business owners have succeeded using the same principles. They located a niche where they could provide a benefit that made them stand out, if even ever so slightly from their competitors. This advantage gave them market share, and now they live comfortably from the proceeds of their creativity.
Put Forth the Time and You Will Reap the Benefits
Creating a business requires a great deal of time and research. You’ll need to research products and find some that are attainable at a price that will make you a profit. Then, you’ll need to research the market and determine an approach that will set you apart. At the same time, remember to keep an open mind and consider several markets, ideas, and approaches before you decide on the best fit. You have a lot of work ahead of you, but no one ever said that good things come easy. And I can tell you that when you do your research and do it right, the benefits are more than worth the effort.
In my next article, I’ll be discussing the reasons the Internet has made business ownership much more attainable within the last five years. Until then, put on your thinking hats and find yourself an idea worth that’s worth the effort. And, as always, good luck in all of your business ventures!
About the Author
Kirk A Larson has worked for over 15 years in business as a writer, personnel manager, and most recently for the last 4 years as a successful entrepreneur. To learn more about Wholesalers, visit The Wholesale Suppliers Registry at http://www.wholesale-suppliers.net
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What Everyone Should Know About How To Buy Wholesale
By: Melanie Burns
Finding a supplier for the product you want to sell, at a price that you can profit from, can be a big task. The best suppliers for your online sales or auctions do not advertise their services and often cannot be found online.
Those that you can find online tend to be middle-men. It is often difficult to get a good enough price to make any real profit online.
Let me tell you about my simple 2 step system to find an untapped source for wholesale suppliers. This is so simple that it's often overlooked as a source for product. This system involves thinking outside the box and not letting policy stop you. (continued below)
The First Step to find a supplier is to find someone that already sells or has access to what you want to sell. This could be a website, an eBay seller, a manufacturer, a wholesale outlet, or a regular store in your city. This is the easy step. You know what you are looking for and you can search on the internet, not for a wholesale source, but for anyone already selling what you want to sell.
Another valuable source for a local supplier is your local phone book. The yellow pages are the best way to find local sources. This should be the first place you look. Doing business locally with someone that you can meet face to face is a big plus for your business.
Another potential source for your product is to find a distributor who would be willing to private label a product for you. You could get a very high quality product for a much lower price than if it had the name brand label.
The Second and Key Step is to convince the source you found to become your supplier.
Manufacturers and wholesale sources often have minimum orders that might be beyond your reach if you are just starting out. Online retailers, eBay merchants, and retail stores may be your best bet. Try to find a small store who is looking to expand.
But remember, you are dealing with a human being and they can be convinced to do business with you. Just be sure to sweeten the deal for them. One way is to offer the person you are dealing with at your new found source, a percentage of your profits from the products he supplies you.
Be sure to project it out for him. If he can see the benefit of working with you even though it causes extra work for him, you can be successful in making a deal.
You could offer him 20% of the profit from sales of his products. For example you could show him that you project to make at least $100 profit from each product, and you expect to sell 40 of them per month. The $4000 a month means an extra $800 per month in his pocket. You still make a nice $3200 profit for the month in this example.
On top of that, he will be ordering more products from his supplier and may be eligible for a higher price break from them. This way, his reward for the effort to work with you, is making money on both sides.
There are many benefits you can offer your potential supplier, but no matter how you look at it, the main thing it comes down to is MONEY. What's in it for your potential supplier to do business with you? If can you show him that, you have a better chance of making a deal with him and starting your online sales.
NOTE: When looking for suppliers around your city, don't go trying to impress the big stores with your $800 or even $3,000 extra income per month proposal. Try going to the little stores that are looking to expand their business, they are the ones that are usually more open to new opportunities.
The big stores are making hundreds of thousands of dollars per month in profits, so an extra couple of thousand would probably not impress them the least bit.
So now you see that by thinking outside the box, you open the door to many possibilities and increase your ability to make money online with your products.
About the Author:
Copyright © Melanie Burns
This article is free for reproduction but must be reproducted in its entirety including live links and this copyright statement. Subscribe to the iBusiness How2 Newsletter to receive hot tips, how to's, internet business tools, and relevant product reviews by sending an email to: newsletter@internet-business-how-to.com
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