One of Two Businesses

I am an entrepreneur at heart.  I have always wanted to own my own business.  I have tried several, but never kept up with them.  Todd and I are working on one that we can do together, but it will take a bit of marketing to find the right market.  It is a higher-end service we would be providing.

Where we live, there is a distributor that purchases products from overseas and sells them to wholesalers and resellers around the country.  Their warehouse is a few minutes away from where we live.  I met the Sales Rep’s wife (Debbie) a month or two back (she does home parties with some of their items), and I thought maybe I could sell the items they have available.

I already have a Vendor’s license for the state of Ohio to sell products and services, along with an EIN number.  All I would need to get the special pricing from this distributor.

Todd and I went to the warehouse on Friday before our trip to New York.  We loved the items they offered.  It was like a very large Kirkland’s (one of my favorite stores!), but I got to see what wholesale pricing looks like!   The only downfall with me being a reseller of their items is that I would have to purchase products by the case.

I went online to see if there were any upcoming craft shows in the area that I could apply for, and there were plenty!  I called several people yesterday.  Two shows had no more tables available, one did not return my call, and the last had tables available.  I have already filled out and sent back my application to reserve a table!

So, it looks like I will be a vendor at our first craft show on November 6^th.  I am so excited.  So far, we are out $35 (the price of the application fee for the table & advertising.)  My next step is that I have to go back to the warehouse and choose which items I’d like to take to the show and purchase them.  The problem with this warehouse is that their hours are 9-5 Monday – Friday.  I work 9-5:30 an hour away from home.  So, I am going to be taking a half day off of work to go choose the items and to set up our account with the distributor.  We did not do this the other day because we were in a hurry to get on the road. 

According to my calculations, we will need to sell $75** worth of product at this show in order to break even.  Depending on how much product we get, we will be out that money until the items sell.  I am nervous that I may not choose the right items to sell.  I want to find items that fly off the tables and are “too good to pass up.”  Todd and I have talked about it, and we’d like to get the items that are less than $5 at first.  Yes, we’d have to sell many of them to make up for our costs, but we would have a smaller start-up in doing so.  I am thinking Americana themed items as well as inspirational.

I asked Debbie if she wanted me to take some of her inventory with me to the show.  This way, our table does not look bare, I can help her unload some of her stock (and hopefully get a percentage of the sales) without having to purchase the master cartons myself.  She has not agreed to it yet, but we are working on it.

So that is one of our businesses that we are trying to get started.

I want to get this going so that we can make an additional $150/month to pay towards our mortgage so that it will be paid off within 10 years.  Proceeds from the craft shows and bazaar’s will go towards purchasing new product and toward the early payoff of our home.

I am planning on listing some of the items on Etsy.com, craigslist.org, and the like.  I hope to have a website created by the end of this year, and enough sales to go to a very large craft show in Cleveland, OH that would cost $450 for the table.  This first show will be a test and to get our feet wet… I cant wait!

**Update.  I purchased business cards as well as a domain name for the business.  I will have to sell $120 worth of product to break even now.  However, I do not expect to have any other expenses than buying products to sell.

Do you have a business?

If so, what do you do?