Starting Out In Business...Help

[NEF]

I decided to try and startup a business retaiing in outdoors and sports equipment, I've opened a business account and designed a website, with the idea to start off with ecommerce based site, without any retail premises, the problem being I've contacted various suppliers and they won't let me deal with them unless I have retail premises and some say I must be VAT registered, how can I actually start out without needing premises its absolutely ridiculous, they have nothing to lose, I have everything if things don't work out and I have to buy or rent premises...

 

[jdpos]

Whats your site? May be able to help.

 

[NEF]

Its not fully functional yet, I'm just curious how others deal with situations similar...

 

[MH1]

You can register for VAT straight away if you find it necessary to do so, as for the suppliers, be persistent.

They get approached all the time with inquiries so probably take such a stance out of necessity. try the trade shows or ask for their rep to visit you, or offer to visit them and talk face to face.

Most manufacturers supply ecommerce only concerns and as time goes by they will have more and more people approach them. Offering a large initial order can be of great help as well.

I recently sealed a deal with a company who refused to supply me three times, visited the MD and it turned out they had never sold their stock via the web, although some of their customers do. Turned out he was scared of a huge price war reflecting badly on his company, once I overcame a few worries he was very enthusiastic about the whole idea.

 

[NEF]

Thanks MH1 , a useful reply, I'll look into the VAT side of things, but I can see these wholesalers being pretty stubborn, but I'll stick at it...

 

[Kwackers]

If they can't see Vat number, dont have premises, dont have the website online etc, your going to have problems to be fair, as that means anyone could use a wholesaler.

 

[naturalnursery]

I agree that when you are more up and running you may well find that they are happy to supply you. Don't forget, they need to keep an eye on how their products are sold as the customer is probably going to remember their brand more than your site, certainly until you have made a name for yourself.

Arabella

 

[NEF]

Thanks for the advice, its appreciated.

 

[Page]

I decided to try and startup a business retaiing in outdoors and sports equipment, I've opened a business account and designed a website, with the idea to start off with ecommerce based site, without any retail premises, the problem being I've contacted various suppliers and they won't let me deal with them unless I have retail premises and some say I must be VAT registered, how can I actually start out without needing premises its absolutely ridiculous, they have nothing to lose, I have everything if things don't work out and I have to buy or rent premises...

They have plenty to lose and it is not ridiculous. Here is an example.

Increasingly suppliers are refusing to deal with people that do not have B&M outlets.

Why because the B&M people cannot compete with pure Internet shops. So they then stop stocking products from that supplier and go to a different one that will look after them and their interests. So then their goods are no longer seen in shops. They get sold on price only and a spiral down on margin starts until no-one wants to stock them.

Try and understand why someone does not want your business and then you can try and convert them.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Many ways to skin a cat

If they wont sell to you, try a local shopkeeper and negotiate a price between what he buys at and what he sells at and buy the stock from him, low profit but gets yo on the road. He profits by lower buying price from his supplier so both win

When you are more established you can try the wholeseller againg with a proven record of selling his range

Most sportswear companies have more than one large wholeseller, so log onto the sports and promotions mags, sites and Shows to find them.

Try lateral thinking to solve your problem

PS a lot of suppliers wil want you to buy a few thousand of stock as a sign of good faith and wont give you an account for the first 6 months if you are unknown to them and have no credit rating

 

[swisslogistics]

You could also go down a different route altogether and start importing the products from overseas, this would be cheaper than the wholesale price so it would give you more room for flexibility and if you play your cards right you may even end up supplying the very wholesalers who refused to give supply you...wouldnt that be worth working for!

Im not to sure exactly what kinds of products your looking at but chances are they are readily avaliable in for example China... you wouldnt be expected to purchase huge amounts, jut a good mix of the kinds of products you want to stock and im sure we could create a supply chain for you that is quick and cost effective, we have weekly shipments by air and monthly shipments by sea so im sure we could make some space for your goods.

If you need any more info then please feel free to drop me a line, I also have some other tricks that may work with uk based wholesalers as long as they are not too close to you, drop me a email and il explain all.

Best Regards

Khalid

 

[malcolmX]

I wanted to bring in a container of mixed car parts into USA, but he amounts you have to buy are ridicilous. Say, you want to buy a set of taillights for Audi A4, they`ll give you a price of $25-30 per set, but you have to buy like 500 of them. Because the factory isn`t going to make like 5 or 10 sets, thats wasting time and resourses You want carbon fibre bonnets - buy at least 250. Exhaust systems (~120-150), gotta buy at least 100.... this way a container costs like 40-50 k $$ and you have to stock it somewhere .. its a PITA

 

[OhSoCherished]

Wholesalers are a nightmare sometimes. We've been trading for many years and use many suppliers/wholesalers. We sell purely online. However generally when we go to trade shows or call new companies with an interest in a product we get a lack of interest when we say we sell purely online :|