If you're ready to start your own wholesale business, you need to find supplier that will supply you with the products you wish to sell. However, when you're first starting out, you may find that this search takes time ? especially when you don't know where to start.
Before you even begin searching, you will want to apply for a resale license. This allows you to purchase products at wholesale prices and will also require that you keep records of your sales for review on a regular basis. Some suppliers will ask for this license number before they sell to you, so it's in your best interest to have this ready to go.
To start your search for suppliers, you may want to start going to local trade shows that are geared toward your industry. These are great resources for finding suppliers as the suppliers are there to specifically meet up with others that will buy their products. This will take a little mingling and business card swapping, but you will find out more from one afternoon at a trade show than you could by surfing the Internet.
A side note on looking for suppliers through the Internet: this is risky in many cases. Many online suppliers will act as though they are suppliers when they're actually middle men, so you're not actually paying the lower wholesale price that you could be. Why waste your money in this way when there are plenty of suppliers ready to serve you?
Another way to approach your search for wholesale suppliers to find products you like and read the labels to see who makes them. You can then take that information and get in contact with the manufacturer yourself. When you're out and about, look for products that you would like to sell, buy one, and find out who might be willing to sell it to you. The plus to this approach is that you're already seeing the product and what it looks like.
You will also want to join any local trade organizations in order to find out about suppliers that other businesses use. In addition, you will be able to make contacts throughout your chosen industry and be able to stay up to date on trade shows and other local business news. There's the added benefit as well of getting to hear about any suppliers that might not deliver on their promises.
And when all else fails, there's always the local phone book. Go to the industry or the product that you are selling to see if they have a whole sale supplier listed ? you may be surprised at what you find.
No matter which wholesale supplier you choose, you will want to make sure that they are a legitimate business by researching them with the Better Business Bureau. The www.BBB.org website is a great resource for finding out if there have been any complaints against a business or not. While there are some businesses that change their names frequently in order to not be on the BBB list, this is generally the best way to spot bad suppliers.
