Hi chazak~
Your first step will be to become thoroughly familiar with the
competition. Look in the yellow pages for other businesses in your
area that sell exercise equipment--even if they sell other items, too.
Visit the stores and keep track of what brands and types of equipment
they sell, and at what prices. You might even want to check out online
stores, so that you can become familiar with a wider variety of
brands. Here are some online examples:
Advanced Fitness:
http://www.advancedfitness.com
Home Fitness Exercise Equipment:
http://www.homefit.com
Simple Fitness Solutions:
http://www.simplefitnesssolutions.com
You can find more sites like these by doing the following search:
exercise equipment
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=exercise+equipment&btnG=Google+Search
Be sure to note what types of equipment your local stores seem to
*not* carry, too. This may give you hint about how your business can
be different from the competition.
You will also need to decide just *what* your store will carry. This
may not be as easy as it initially sounds. For example, will you
specialize in a particular type of exercise equipment (for example,
water exercise equipment)? Will you cover a wide variety of types of
equipment, but at more affordable prices than is available elsewhere?
Will you offer the very best in exercise equipment, catering to a
select clientele? Much of this will be based upon your local area. Is
it a depressed area where most people don't earn a great deal of
money? Then good deals will draw customers. On the other hand, is it a
wealthy area with executives and other business people who long for
the best equipment available? You will need to find an appropriate
niche.
Once you decide what your niche is, decide what equipment lines you
will buy from. Obviously, if you are catering to a select clientele,
you will only offer brands that are superbly made. On the other hand,
if you want to make exercise equipment available to everyone--to a
much broader audience--price will be an important consideration.
(Although you'll want to be certain the quality is acceptable, too.)
Your initial research into local businesses will come in handy here,
also. Do you want to carry some of the same brands? Then you already
know the names of appropriate companies to contact. If you want to
carry different brands, then the Internet research you've done will be
what you rely on for company names.
To find the contact information on any company, usually an Internet
search will do the trick. For example, to find Sorinex's contact info,
just type "Sorinex" or "Sorinex exercise equipment" into the Google
search field. (In this case, Sorinex' website is an easy one to find;
it's http://www.sorinex.com ) The website will list an address and
telephone number. Simply contact the company, expressing interest in
selling their products wholesale. (You will, by this time, need a
business name and tax ID, so that you can have the benefit of
wholesale prices.)
Some companies will send out complete catalogs to you; others just
price sheets. For the best discounts, you will want to specifically
get a dealer discount; "wholesale for the public" prices aren't
usually as low.
Here are some other websites that may prove helpful. The first is a
U.S. government guide to starting a business:
http://www.sba.gov/starting
This site is all about developing a business plan:
http://www.bplans.com
Here's a link to a site that offers a free course in starting a
business. Topics covered include developing a business plan,
organization, leasing, accounting, how to finance, and more:
http://www.myownbusiness.org
Entrepreneur's advice for small businesses:
http://www.entrepreneur.com
Keywords Used:
exercise equipment
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=exercise+equipment&btnG=Google+Search
exercise equipment wholesale
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=exercise+equipment+wholesale
"how to" start business
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22how+to%22+start+business&btnG=Google+Search
Good luck!
kriswrite |
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