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YOUR BUSINESS SELLING GOODS

You have a choice to sell goods from a traditional shop, store, or distribution depot and, or as well as from an internet web site.

The physical presence of an actual land based store adds great credibility but can be costly to provide and maintain, hence the difficulty new businesses face when opening a new store, and why web site selling is popular with new start up business ventures.

With the growth of large supermarkets and their wide range and diversity of goods for sale, many well established businesses have been forced to close as sales decline.

Customers, the life blood of all business are not as loyal to retail outlets as in the past and are attracted by choice and cost which the small firm finds hard to provide.

With brand name products customers want the cheapest sources, web based product comparison sites help consumers sources their needs by best value deals and can degrade high priced sellers. New businesses can do well or fail based on price alone.

Which retail shops survive?

• those serving a small community where it is not economic for large firms to set up, they have a captive market for their goods.

• one providing a specialist product range which is not generally available, but by this nature need to sell over a wide area using direct mail and a web site to create orders and use the retail store as a "shop window" to add credibility.

• long established concerns who own the premises and have an established and loyal customer base.

How else can you sell goods?

WHOLESALE

Here you act as a middle man, selling products from importers or manufacturers to retail stores and other distributors. Profit per item is small and you rely on a high turnover. Your role is to find outlets for the products and the marketing of those products is largely with the manufacturer who creates the demand. You are just a source of supply for the actual sellers who deal with customers.

If you are interested in this type of activity find suitable new products and contact manufacturers and see what opportunities exists for wholesalers in your area or country. Getting sole rights for a product for a country can be hugely profitable if you hit on the right products and company. BUT you need to put in the correct effort to satisfy the needs of the product maker.

DIRECT TO BUSINESS

Under this method you provide specific products to businesses rather than retail customers. The advantages here are you could supply in bulk, however prices and quality are vital and competition can be very fierce. Many companies are notoriously slow at paying bills so you could find yourself needing a massive amount of capital and limited cash flow, making it difficult for new business to establish itself in this market.

If you have a single product, or small range of goods with wide appeal to a business sector, say plumbers or electricians then the small business can do well. It is easier to be unique in what you offer, so can stand up better again competition.

Starting small with a good value credible product you can soon expand sales, especially if you get good reports and articles in trade magazines. Selling internationally or wholesale can further expand sales potential.

WEB SITES

For very little cost you can establish a web site and ecommerce system which can sell a product range country wide or even internationally. You can sell;

• a single product which unique features, perhaps something you have made yourself for a specialist market.

• a small range of products applicable to a subject area or theme for example "snoring" via www.betterbreathing.org.uk

• a system called "drop shipping" allows you to take orders for goods to be delivered direct to your customer by the supplier, therefore avoiding the costs and problems with holding stock yourself.

• a very large inventory of items for example www.argos.co.uk which requires a massive investment and unlikely to be achievable by new and fledgling companies.

What does a product need to have to sell well?

• the right price, make it cheap and people may be suspicious, it also leaves less profit. Too costly and people can get it or alternatives cheaper elsewhere.

• quality and performance, it needs to do its job, taste nice or perform reliably.

• deliver it quickly - available off the shelf or delivered next day or in a few days, no one like to wait.

• after sales service - be sure buyers know how to use the product and there are adequate instructions and if needed a manual. Make it in various languages if selling abroad.

• upgrades or improvements being considered as a normal process. Never assume the product is "finished". Can you make the product better, cheaper, safer, with more features?

• offer alternatives in different sizes, colours and specifications. Better to sell a different product than loose a sale to a competitor.

• use quality packing and promotion material, poor presentation suggest the product is inferior.

• test the market first before launching big, use existing customers to test new ranges.

• respond to demand - if people like it, and everyone wants it, fulfil that demand.

Useful web sites

SBI! -- Find YOUR Small Business Do you have a small-small business (what is a "small-small business"?)? .... Do you make or sell hard goods? Thinking about selling online?

Should I Sell Goods or Services? Should I Sell Goods or Services? An argument could be made that any product you ... Sample business plans, marketing small business, sample contracts and more.

Please feel free to Contact Us with questions or to give us information to add to our knowledge base.