Starting a Distribution Business Or Company from Home.

Starting a distribution business from the comfort of your home may sound difficult, but it is not impossible. In fact, it can be an exciting venture. You will become a wholesale supplier to other wholesalers, retail stores and exporters. Some distributors even sell directly to consumers.

Tip: If you select a product line in which you enjoy working, you will probably have already developed some product knowledge, which can enhance your selling efforts. Gaining further knowledge on the product for the business will also be enjoyable

Setting Up

Here are some important points to remember:

• Each company has its own unique needs; no two distribution companies are alike.
• The entrepreneur who is selling power tools from a warehouse in the middle of an industrial park, for example, has very different startup financial needs than the one selling closeout T-shirts from his basement.
• Talking about starting a distribution company from home, remember that regardless of where you set up shop, there are certain operating costs associated with setting and running a business.
• While these may differ from one business to another, initially, you must be prepared to run on no profit.
• To begin with, you must get the basic stuff that forms the core of a business.
• For starters, necessities like office space, a telephone, fax machine and personal computer will be absolutely required.
• When I say core business needs, it means you should be prepared to pay the rent for office space, if you’re working from anywhere but home, a telephone bill and the fee for getting internet.

Talking about the internet, all big companies have a website, and they did not become big without it. If you do not have a website for your business, that’s the first thing that you will need and must have after the necessities. If you are hesitant and need someone to guide you on how it actually works, or need assistance in getting a website for your company but have no idea how you are going to maintain it once you have it, get in touch with HyperEffects.

If you already have a website and want to draw more traffic to it, spread the word by encouraging visitors to share content they enjoy. Get your returning customers to post comments or share experiences on your website. This will draw new visitors to share video links on your site. You may also automate linking to popular sites. Just book your free consultation with HyperEffects to know more about this.

Warehouse

Things to remember:

• Remember that if you lease a warehouse that has room for office space, you can combine both on one bill.
• No matter what type of products you plan to carry, you’ll need some type of warehouse or storage space in which to store them; this means a leasing fee, unless you plan to use a part of your home as the warehouse and office.
• If your customer base is located further than 40 miles from your home base, then you’ll also need to set up a working relationship with one or more shipping companies like UPS, FedEx or the U.S. Postal Service.
• If you’re delivering locally, you’ll also need an adequate vehicle to get around in.
• Most distributors serve a mixed client base; some of the merchandise you move can be delivered via truck, while some will require shipping services

While this looks like a long list of “to-do”, when you get to it, it is neither overwhelming nor expensive, especially during the startup phase and more so when you are not even leasing office space. But that’s not all. You will also need operational skills as the owner of a new wholesale distribution company, to run it efficiently. For example, the ability to handle the activities that go on behind the scenes, like warehouse organization and setup, customer service, shipping and receiving goods etc. Finance and business management skills and experience are an added advantage. Of course, you may hire employees to handle these functions, if the budget allows.

Some fortune 500 companies started business from the corner of a living room or from a room in the hostel. With no equipment, other than a phone, fax machine and computer, you can grow your company from the living room to the basement to the garage and then into a shared warehouse space, and beyond.