Thousands upon thousands of brilliant business ideas are being born in the world each minute and the next minute they are gone because their creators get discouraged by the procedure and initial investments necessary for bringing those ideas to the light of day. The fact is, with just a little bit of thinking outside the box you can start with your business quickly and, if you are on the field when the game starts, you are much more likely to establish yourself as a respectable player.
Starting a trade business comes with a number of challenges each future business owner needs to deal with, but the three biggest are: finding suppliers, finding customers and finding a place to store goods while acting as a link between those two.
Search for Suppliers
Finding suppliers largely depends on your niche and the patience you have to commit yourself to finding the perfect business partner. Since this article is about performing a quick trade business setup we will focus on the best way to consider as many potential suppliers as possible in as little time as possible – and that is: trade shows. Visiting a trade show dedicated to the niche you are planning to do business in will give you an opportunity to meet a wide range of potential suppliers in a relatively short period of time. If you pick a quality trade show you are bound to find someone who will be ready to do business with you.
Make sure that you do not get too picky, though – just like the first girlfriend does not have to be the woman of your life, your business partner does not need to be perfect. Once you grow as a company, you will be able to renegotiate the deals and find bigger and better suppliers.
Find a Place to Store Goods
Not many of the people who decide to get into trade business have the facilities necessary for this type of business readily available from the day one. Renting a warehouse space (not to mention owning your own warehouse) is a very expensive investment for someone who has just entered the business. Fortunately, there is a great (and possibly the quickest) solution available for everyone – rent a shipping container.
Depending on the initial size of your stock you might need only one container, or you might need more, in which case you can connect them with easy to install container shelters and create one united warehouse area. This way you will get a cheap and instant warehouse ready for all your initial needs.
Search for Customers
Once you secured the supply of goods and made sure you have somewhere to put the goods while they are waiting in stock, it is time to think about people and companies you are going to sell your products to. For this, you need to get back to the trade show, this time as a company. Naturally, if you want to be able to present yourself as a fully functional company at the trade show, you will need to have certain experience and a couple of made deals with smaller customers.
This is where your feel for the business will have a chance to shine. Take a look at your competitors and their clients, see if you can offer smaller prices for the same service. Sometimes it pays out to earn no money but attract a client. Another good idea is to search for the companies which haven’t yet entered the market of your area and act decisively. The possibilities are endless and you are only just beginning.