A wholesale business by our definition is one which involves sales only to retail businesses or to processors, and whose sales are largely sales tax exempt. No sales are made to individuals or to the general public. If this describes the business idea you have, then let's proceed.

Those people who start wholesale businesses generally have prior experience either in the buying or selling end of the wholesale business. Our experience has shown that these people have already established contacts in their area of specialty and know both the customer they will serve and the suppliers they will buy from. In many cases, their suppliers are the manufacturers of the products they will wholesale.

1. Understanding costs and the subsequent pricing of the products you sell is the essential key to success in the wholesale business. Primarily because you are working with margins that are not as wide as those you sell to. But you are selling in quantity which makes the difference. In practically every specialty field there are trade associations who have all kinds of information about pricing, marketing and inventory systems. Be sure to join the Trade Association that serves your industry. If you need to find the Trade Associations associated with your industry, check out the Trade Association section of Yahoo! or use your favorite Search Engine (like Altavista) and search on "Trade Associations".

2. We strongly recommend at this point that you take the Personality Profiler and the Carland Entrepreneurship Index. The Personality Profiler will tell you whether you have the right personality and attitude to sell your ideas effectively, or whether you should remain the "brains behind the scene" who hires the right people to do the interface work. How well you interface with buyers, brokers, producers, customers, and suppliers will ultimately determine your success or failure in this business endeavor. If you have partners or associates, have them take the tests as well, so you can determine who has the best personality match for interfacing with people in this highly competitive industry. Business personality is probably the most under emphasized aspect of starting a business, yet without question one of the most important.

The Carland Entrepreneurship Index will show you what level of entrepreneur you are...should you start a very small enterprise, or are your capabilities more geared to competing with Microsoft? The Carland will tell you.

We offer these two tests, and we provide you with all the interpretations and recommendations you need to make the crucial decision facing you at this point. Click here if you want to learn more about the importance of business personality.

3. The next considerations involve your sources of supply. Because you are serving as the sales arm for your suppliers, it is important that you (or your representative or associate, as determined in step 2) establish a solid partnership or working agreement with them. Many times this partnership will be in the form of a contract, so you'll need to have access to a good legal advisor.

4. Marketing your products is generally done with a sales staff who is either paid by commission, salary or a combination of the two. This is an area that certainly deserves your careful attention in your business planning.

5. There are many factors to consider when starting a wholesale business. If you have specific questions about getting your wholesale business started contact us by e-mail (biztest@biztest.com) and we will get back to you.

6. After you have tested the market for your wholesale business, you may decide to start your business in earnest! If so, we have prepared some things you will need to consider when starting a new business. Just click here!

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