If you’re looking to grow your wholesale business, it’s essential to keep the big picture in mind and focus on what will have the most significant impact on your bottom line in the long run. While you can’t turn any business into an overnight success, here are some specific strategies that you can implement now to take your business to the next level.
1) Invest in yourself
You need to invest in yourself to grow a thriving wholesale business. You have limited resources, so you must leverage what you have as much as possible. Whether it’s time or money, look for opportunities to increase your revenue and net income by investing in new skills. And don’t be afraid of failure: when things don’t go as planned, use that opportunity for learning and reflection. Embrace failure! Without trying new things and pushing boundaries, how can you ever hope to succeed? Net 30 accounts can assist you with this by reporting your activity to one or more commercial credit agencies. Your operations as tier 1 net30 vendors for your business tradeline will appear on your business credit report, which is crucial for improving your firm’s credit score.
2) Create an account on Shopify
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that provides everything you need to create an online store and sell products online. Set up a free Shopify account and install their app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device to make managing your inventory super easy and efficient! Once you have created an account with Shopify, you will be able to start uploading images of products, adding product descriptions, and tagging suppliers when it comes time to order from suppliers. You know precisely what product numbers go with which supplier and what size each product comes in. This can help prevent confusion when receiving large quantities of items.
3) Choose a niche market
A niche market is a smaller subset of a larger market, which will appeal to fewer consumers but a more significant percentage of those with high incomes and spending power. Many new small businesses specialize in niche markets. This can be an effective strategy because it allows you to get very familiar with consumers that share similar interests and needs, which gives you more opportunities for successful marketing efforts. However, remember that being one-of-a-kind does not always mean being better. It’s essential to look at both sides of your product or service from a client’s perspective and yours. Often what may appear on paper as a positive difference between you and competitors might not be worth a price increase.
4) Set up a Facebook shop
Facebook shopping allows you to set up a shop on Facebook and sell directly from it. Unlike other social media platforms, Facebook is currently not charging any commission for businesses that wish to engage in direct-to-consumer sales. The best part about opening an online shop on Facebook is leveraging existing fans and friends of friends. People will naturally start liking your page because they want to see what you are selling, similar to how they do with brands like Nike or Apple. When they like it, they want more information and buy from you; if they don’t like it, there’s no harm done –they can simply unfollow your page and never see another product!
5) Set up an Instagram shop
You may be surprised to hear that, in many cases, you don’t have to get customers to love your product for them to buy it. And I’m not just talking about B2C situations where people might buy something because they like how it looks. There are several B2B situations where being loved and liked isn’t even on customers’ radar when deciding whether or not they want a product or service. Here are some examples
6) Learn about your target market
It’s not a great idea to jump right into selling wholesale if you haven’t first spent some time learning about who you’re selling to. What type of businesses is buying from wholesalers? Why are they looking for new products? How do they order their inventory? Wholesale suppliers need to be familiar with these answers because they influence how sellers can best promote and sell their products. Suppose you know nothing about your target market. It will be tough for you or your team members (who may also lack an understanding of that market) to effectively promote and grow a successful wholesale operation. To maximize sales, think about whether customers want promotions, packaging options, product samples, or other seller incentives as part of their purchasing process.
7) Get people to know, like, and trust you (by being human!)
Being likable is key when trying to establish a new connection with someone. The better people feel about you and your company, the more likely they will listen closely as you pitch to them why they should do business with you. Treat others in a way that makes them feel respected, and be genuine when connecting with people. No one likes an insincere salesperson who only talks about themselves or badmouths their competition. Connect by building trust and forming relationships; it might be tough now, but it will pay off later!
8) Enhance customer service and support
Your biggest asset is providing an experience that excites and delights customers, so it’s important to continually look for new ways to enhance their experience. An easier way to do that: engage with them through social media and online reviews. Some retailers turn online reviews into a revenue stream with in-store promotions and special offers (i.e., discounts on highly-rated items). And some brands are even integrating customer service into their marketing plans. Adding live chat functionality on your website can greatly improve customer satisfaction by making it easy for someone who is just browsing or looking for advice before making a purchase decision; you’ll see those conversions rise.
9) Evaluate your pricing
Although you may have priced your products reasonably when you first began wholesaling, trends change, and so does customer behavior. Because of that, it’s good practice to conduct a pricing evaluation on an annual basis. To do so, start by comparing your prices with those of other suppliers. Even though certain industries require more labor or materials than others, there should still be some consistency in price points across different companies if they provide a similar product. If not, look at what each supplier includes in their pricing: Does one offer financing while another doesn’t? Is one company offering extensive training while another has no education program? And finally, look at how many new accounts you landed during last year’s evaluation period—how much did they spend with you?
Conclusion
As a wholesaler, you can easily get caught up in never-ending admin tasks: invoicing, auditing stock, and checking delivery schedules. These tasks are essential, but if you don’t also step back and have some fun along the way, it might be easy to lose sight of why you’re getting up early or staying late. Remind yourself what it feels like when you help a small business grow by taking on some extra stock or adding another product line – that rush is something money just can’t buy! Aim to enjoy every part of your job – that way, you’ll remember why you wanted it in the first place.
