Putting Your Best Face Forward When Doing Business With Wholesale Suppliers
by Larry Slusser on March 19th, 2008
You have this great idea for a business. You’ve done all the research you think you need to do, decided what products to sell, set up your website, chosen your domain-you’re ready to go. Now you need to find wholesale suppliers to work with in order to get the products you want to sell. As you begin looking, however, there are a few things to know about the proper way to do business with suppliers.
Unfortunately, when you contact the wholesale distributor that you would like to use they ask for your Tax ID number. So, you start looking for one that is not going to ask you for that number, since you do not really want to become a legal business. You find a wholesale distributor that provides what you are looking for without having to have a Tax ID number. Much to your dismay, you are barely breaking even and only to find out that this wholesale distributor is actually the middleman for another wholesale distributor-the one who asked you for the Tax ID number.
There are two things to remember when you are establishing your business. First, you must become a legal business in order to work directly with a real wholesale distributor. This means getting a Tax ID and working only with those suppliers that require this in order to purchase from them. Second, you must work only with a real wholesale distributor in order to be successful in your business.
You have gotten your business license and are now a legal entity. Your website is established and you are ready to start selling. Now you need to contract with real wholesale distributors. When you are sending out emails to these companies to become a retailer with their organization, it is important to remember NOT to send out a mass email.
First, you need to determine what type of products you are going to be selling on your website. You may be sending an email to a wholesale distributor for products that you do not intend on selling. Second, setting up a wholesale account is free to you, but time and money to the wholesale distributor. They want to know that you are serious about your business and will be utilizing the account. Once you have determined the wholesale distributors you want to do business with, and if you just want to send out one email requesting to set up an account, ensure that the ‘To’ line is only to them and not 200 other wholesale distributors, or use the “BCC” line. This will give the wholesale distributor the perception you are a serious business owner.
Make sure that you do your homework to learn who the leading manufacturers are in the industry and who their biggest customers are. You want to make a positive first impression and be professional in your communications, both written and verbal.