If you have the capital amount & don’t want to deal with Retailers or daily customers, the wholesale business is a good option for you to start your business with.
Here we have listed Six Steps on how to start a wholesale business that will help you achieve your goals.
1. Research the Market & identify the key areas
In any case, you cannot just start your business in one day & earn high profits. It is only possible in a hypothetical business situation. In reality, to succeed in real terms, you need to first research the market you want to invest in. You should be aware of all pros & cons before moving forward because in any case wholesale business is not just a piece of cake.Â
After researching the market, now identify the market you want to deal in, where your products can be sold to the maximum. You will have to make a list of store owners, dealers, and other customers who can buy the products from you.
If you plan to build a brand, you will need to get a hold of all your competitor’s details. Competition in the wholesale business can be very strong. Make sure you know their products, prices & service quality. You have to be better than your competitors.
2. Choose a location for your Office & Warehouse
After having all the market details, you have to choose a place for your office & warehouse. The space should be feasible, affordable & transportation must be easy. You won’t wish to travel for an hour to reach your office. Also, in big cities, you may need to keep your office & warehouse separate.
Then you will need to hire honest & efficient staff to keep pace with your business operations.
3. Set up an Online Store/ Website
As we know, the world is moving towards digitalization and it is important to maintain your online presence. For this, you need to build a website or online store. This you can easily achieve with AI tools for creating a free website or get assistance from some website developers. Using a website you can also get connected to the manufacturers and retailers at a global level. This way you get easily connected with your supplier as well as retailers.
4. Manage your Inventory
If you are going for a wholesale business, you will be dealing with a large amount of stock. Your product numbers will be huge in counting. Therefore, tracking all the products manually will be next to impossible. And the chances of manual errors cannot be neglected here. To keep a track of your products, the best option is to implement an affordable Inventory Management Software like Marg ERP. You can even keep a track of your product sitting at different warehouses at one place using the software.
The software will help you quote properly to your suppliers, track your delivery schedules, automate your order & file your GST returns.
5. Manage Accounting & GST
As you must be aware of GST, you have to file GST return if you fall under the category. To make it easy you must implement accounting software that is GST ready. For this, you can go for Marg ERP. Marg ERP is both Inventory & Accounting Software with the added advantage of Digital Payments. Implementing a single software will minimize your struggle of implementing multiple software & integrating each other.
6. Draft Payment Policy
It is equally important to keep a strict payment policy for your suppliers to keep control over your finances. In wholesale business, the amount could comparatively huge than other retail businesses. So to keep a track of all your transactions is the core of your business.
Competing with the modern market, you should go for digital payments gateways, where you can accept or make payments online via any mode of payment. This will save time, plus you get instant updates, real-time notification & easy reconciliation. You will not have to visit the banks again & again to deposit the money. And one benefit here is, chances of money theft or money loss are not there at all.Â
You can try MargPay, a product of Marg ERP for attaining Digital Payments.
Conclusion
With the above tips, you can be assured of a flying start for your wholesale business. We hope this will help you understand the basics of how to start a wholesale business. Do proper research, keep a track of your business insights & don’t miss out on the best deals from your suppliers to stay ahead in the run.
