But, after a while, things slow down and you hit a wall. You find
yourself chasing after prospects and wondering why it is taking so long to
convert prospects into clients.
However, the process of finding a good wholesaler is not easy. There are
a lot of scams out there, such as middlemen charging fees for the
"privilege" to buy from them and inflating wholesale prices.
Even if you find a legitimate wholesaler, they may not want to deal with
a small business, much less a home-based business. This is actually the
biggest challenge of small businesses when looking for a wholesaler,
especially if the wholesaler is already servicing big businesses. Why bother
with the small fries when you’ve got the big boys knocking on your door?
So how do you find good wholesalers?
1. Attend tradeshows. Tradeshows are a great way of finding
suppliers, manufacturers and drop shippers for your business, especially if
you require more specialized products. There are a number of tradeshows out
there specializing in various segments – from kitchen and bath, to apparel
to construction supplies.
Note though that some tradeshows are not open to the public, and you need
to show proof of business identification. You may be asked to present your
recent invoices, business cards, credit reference sheet showing companies
you purchase from, and tax registration (Certificate or Business
Registration Certificate indicating you are retail business). If you are
just about to start your business, you may show letter of intent from an
attorney or bank on official letterhead stating the intent to start a new
retail business.
To find tradeshows in your industry, you may want to check:
2. Industrial Directories. If you are looking for wholesalers in
industry sectors, check out industrial directories. Thomas Register
http://www.thomasnet.com is the most
respected of industrial directories out there, and their web site offers
about 67,000 product categories that you can search from.
Other industrial directories include:
3. eBay. An easy way to find wholesalers is through the online
auction site eBay http://www.ebay.com .
Wholesalers are everywhere on eBay, even dominating most if not all of the
categories with their vast number of listings. Each category – from home and
garden to clothing and accessories to cell phones – has a sub-category
called wholesale lots where most of the wholesalers list their items.
4. Trade Magazines. Get hold of copies of trade publications on
wholesaling, as they typically feature wholesalers, manufacturers and drop
shippers. These magazines are mostly free, and feature a lot of ads from
wholesalers that you can contact.
Examples of trade magazines include:
5. Online Directories. The web is full of online directories that list
wholesalers, manufacturers, drop shippers and suppliers – with some more
reliable, updated and screened than others. Make sure that you use specific
keywords in your search (e.g. “hair band wholesaler”) instead of the very
general terms (“fashion accessories wholesaler”) to help you narrow your
search. Be careful though as some will sell you list claiming to be verified
and updated listings of wholesalers.
Visit PowerHomeBiz.com
Wholesale Directory, Merchandise Suppliers and
Dropshippers
