Making the jump from retail to wholesale

[samirish]

My husband and I have been discussing the direction my soap business should take next.

We have been successful at the farmers markets and craft shows we do. One of the options we are considering is moving the business in the direction of primarily wholesale.

For those that have made the jump , where you happy with your decision? Any pros/cons you could share? While Im not thrilled to be selling soap for half my retail cost, wholesale does appeal to me as I could stop doing the grind of setting up/breaking down and all the other things that go into farmers markets.

While I know how to find craft fairs, how does one go about finding wholesale trade shows? Is there a main web site that lists these events? I imagine they are pretty pricey.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Don't think of it as half of the retail - whole sale should be BIG orders, so you're getting rid of batches of soap at a time with no worrying about each bar being sold. Instead of boxing up each one to send out (or taking them all to market!) you're putting them in a box and sending it off to the retailer. You're making your profit, as your total invested time in each $/£/€ is much less and time is most certainly money when you are working for yourself.

Wholesale is the direction that I really want to go in wherever possible.

I would approach small shops, hotels, boutiques and so on, too. Direct selling, but wholesale.

 

[Lindy]

One piece of advice with regards to wholesale. Do not take on more orders at the same time that you can handle. I did that and it was the most stressful of my life. It was terrible and I did lose a couple of clients over it.

 

[Mighty Mama]

Hi Samirish - wondering how the transition to wholesale went for you? I am in a very similar position - finding that the shop and agent orders have become so numerous that it has become time to let go of my weekly market and focus exclusively on wholesale. With my busiest markets coming up in the next month, I will stick it out for a bit longer but then would love to be home and making soap and not physically selling. I recently downloaded this amazing coursehttp://www.indieretailacademy.com/what-retailers-want/ which has some wonderful pointers and strategies for turning your retail business into a wholesale one. Maybe something for you?