Set a buying budget before going to the show. Allocate this roughly between each area of the shop, or the different categories of stock that you sell, depending on how you organise your business. List the types of stock you are in need of, such as:
◆ things to hang on the wall;
◆ items in the £2.99 or less selling bracket;
◆ a new cash and carry cosmetics supplier;
◆ ‘stage setting’ products which will give the shop that ‘Wow’ factor.
четвъртък, 7 януари 2010 г.
вторник, 5 януари 2010 г.
Finding your suppliers
A week or two prior to an event the organisers will send your tickets and usually a booklet listing all the exhibitors together with their stand numbers. Highlight suppliers you want to see, those you currently deal with and those you have dealt with in the past. Even if you do not intend to do an order it is worth looking at what they are selling, to get a feel for how trends have changed, what is new, and what has had its day. Note details of suppliers you want to see but cannot find in the booklet – you may find them at the show listed under another name.
Take a Dictaphone with you to make notes. Quicker and easier than writing, you can record reminders of the many diverse things you see – prices, quantities, location of suppliers, and so on.
Take a Dictaphone with you to make notes. Quicker and easier than writing, you can record reminders of the many diverse things you see – prices, quantities, location of suppliers, and so on.
събота, 2 януари 2010 г.
BUYING AT A TRADE SHOW
The first time I went ‘buying’ at a trade show, I walked round, collected every brochure in sight, bought nothing and never looked at most of the brochures again – they sat in their carrier bags behind the sofa for years! I was too overawed by the amount of choice and had not prepared properly for what I really wanted to buy.
Take the following advice to avoid wasting your time and your household space.
There are trade shows for all sectors of the retail industry held throughout the year, across the world. Use an internet site such as www.exhibitions.co.uk to search for those that are relevant to your business. Or check with the major exhibition centres themselves.
These include:
◆ the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham
◆ Harrogate International Centre,Yorkshire
◆ Earls Court, London
◆ Olympia, London
◆ Excel, London.
The biggest trade show in the world is The Spring Fair. It begins on the first Sunday of February each year and runs for five days at the NEC, Birmingham. It is termed as a gift fair but covers a vast array of goods including:
◆ general and design-led gifts
◆ greetings cards
◆ cosmetics
◆ jewellery from plastic beads to platinum and diamonds
◆ luxury leather goods
◆ art and framing equipment
◆ household goods from bread boards to furniture, plastic bowls to china and crystal
◆ Christmas decorations
◆ soft toys, games and fancy dress.
There are halls for wholesale buyers who are buying in very large volumes, including those who are prepared to deal directly with suppliers from the Far East, not all of whom speak English.
Take the following advice to avoid wasting your time and your household space.
There are trade shows for all sectors of the retail industry held throughout the year, across the world. Use an internet site such as www.exhibitions.co.uk to search for those that are relevant to your business. Or check with the major exhibition centres themselves.
These include:
◆ the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham
◆ Harrogate International Centre,Yorkshire
◆ Earls Court, London
◆ Olympia, London
◆ Excel, London.
The biggest trade show in the world is The Spring Fair. It begins on the first Sunday of February each year and runs for five days at the NEC, Birmingham. It is termed as a gift fair but covers a vast array of goods including:
◆ general and design-led gifts
◆ greetings cards
◆ cosmetics
◆ jewellery from plastic beads to platinum and diamonds
◆ luxury leather goods
◆ art and framing equipment
◆ household goods from bread boards to furniture, plastic bowls to china and crystal
◆ Christmas decorations
◆ soft toys, games and fancy dress.
There are halls for wholesale buyers who are buying in very large volumes, including those who are prepared to deal directly with suppliers from the Far East, not all of whom speak English.
сряда, 30 декември 2009 г.
Advantages of visiting the wholesalers
◆ You can choose your colours and sizes. No risk of being given ‘what is left’.
◆ There is usually a discount for paying cash and carrying the goods away.
◆ Immediate delivery. By taking the goods away with you, they can be on sale the next day as opposed to ordering by post, which can take a number of weeks to come through.
◆ You can ask for advice. Once you have used a supplier a few times, it will become clear which members of staff know their products and can be trusted to give advice on what is selling.
Talk to other buyers at the wholesalers. Find out what sort of shop they have, what they sell, where else they buy. Equally, some of the wholesalers are also retailers. Find out what else they stock, what associated products there are and what would be appropriate for your shop.
Some of the larger cash and carry warehouses require you to register on your first visit and you may need to provide proof of your status as a shop owner. Your company cheque book or invoices from other suppliers should suffice.
Cash and carry wholesalers are normally open Monday to Friday and for a short time on Sundays. They are always closed on Saturdays. Most will be closed on Christmas Eve and will not open again until January.
It is a 100 mile drive to the Cash and Carry warehouses from where I live, which should take about two hours. I can leave home at 8 am, sit on the motorway and in the suburbs of London for hours on end or leave home at 6 am, arrive between 8 am and 8.30 am, and have a sit-down breakfast before my first port of call, which opens at 9.30 am. Whilst enjoying my first coffee of the day, I can use the time to go through the stock checks that I wrote the day before and note down exactly what I need to buy, or as quiet, creative thinking time.
Especially if you live in the provinces, going to visit the wholesalers in London can be a very long day. My A to Z is marked with places where I can park the car, get something to eat and use a toilet; examples being the big supermarkets and drive-in burger bars.
◆ There is usually a discount for paying cash and carrying the goods away.
◆ Immediate delivery. By taking the goods away with you, they can be on sale the next day as opposed to ordering by post, which can take a number of weeks to come through.
◆ You can ask for advice. Once you have used a supplier a few times, it will become clear which members of staff know their products and can be trusted to give advice on what is selling.
Talk to other buyers at the wholesalers. Find out what sort of shop they have, what they sell, where else they buy. Equally, some of the wholesalers are also retailers. Find out what else they stock, what associated products there are and what would be appropriate for your shop.
Some of the larger cash and carry warehouses require you to register on your first visit and you may need to provide proof of your status as a shop owner. Your company cheque book or invoices from other suppliers should suffice.
Cash and carry wholesalers are normally open Monday to Friday and for a short time on Sundays. They are always closed on Saturdays. Most will be closed on Christmas Eve and will not open again until January.
It is a 100 mile drive to the Cash and Carry warehouses from where I live, which should take about two hours. I can leave home at 8 am, sit on the motorway and in the suburbs of London for hours on end or leave home at 6 am, arrive between 8 am and 8.30 am, and have a sit-down breakfast before my first port of call, which opens at 9.30 am. Whilst enjoying my first coffee of the day, I can use the time to go through the stock checks that I wrote the day before and note down exactly what I need to buy, or as quiet, creative thinking time.
Especially if you live in the provinces, going to visit the wholesalers in London can be a very long day. My A to Z is marked with places where I can park the car, get something to eat and use a toilet; examples being the big supermarkets and drive-in burger bars.
неделя, 27 декември 2009 г.
BUYING FROM A CASH AND CARRY WAREHOUSE
Before visiting a wholesaler, carry out a detailed stock-check. Particularly for items like clothes, you do not want to guess and come back with exactly the same things you already have on the rail. Do not forget that the prices you see there will be exclusive of VAT ( Value Added Tax, which in 2009 adds a further 15% to the price).
I used to buy carved wooden boxes inlaid with brass shapes from a cash and carry wholesaler. There were numerous shapes, sizes and designs but no catalogue. I found it difficult to remember exactly what I had in stock, which ones were selling best and those that were not good sellers. It was even difficult to write descriptions for them. The answer was to buy one of each, lay them out and take a photograph with a digital camera. A master photograph can then be used for stock-checking and taken with you when you go buying.
I used to buy carved wooden boxes inlaid with brass shapes from a cash and carry wholesaler. There were numerous shapes, sizes and designs but no catalogue. I found it difficult to remember exactly what I had in stock, which ones were selling best and those that were not good sellers. It was even difficult to write descriptions for them. The answer was to buy one of each, lay them out and take a photograph with a digital camera. A master photograph can then be used for stock-checking and taken with you when you go buying.
четвъртък, 10 декември 2009 г.
Stationery packages
Forget it. They are a waste of money and of little benefit to you, particularly when you are starting out and need to spend money firstly on stock and secondly on display. Unless you are a limited company you do not need headed paper. Simply set up a master on the computer and print it as part of each letter you send. If you are VAT registered, remember to include yourVAT number on all letterheads.
When going round trade shows, suppliers will ask for your business card but it is not necessary to go to the expense of having these printed – they are of no benefit to you. It is quick, easy and more cost-effective to write down your details or use sticky address labels.
When going round trade shows, suppliers will ask for your business card but it is not necessary to go to the expense of having these printed – they are of no benefit to you. It is quick, easy and more cost-effective to write down your details or use sticky address labels.
сряда, 9 декември 2009 г.
KEEPING COSTS DOWN
Keep your costs as low as possible when setting up to give your business every chance of success.You need to be ploughing your initial takings back into the business, expanding on your stock and introducing more expensive and unusual lines.
Cars and vans
Do not, particularly when you have just set up your business, blow your money on a new car – either bought or leased. Give your new business a car that is paid for rather than expecting the business to pay for one.
If you must buy a car, look for one with low mileage that is a quarter of the cost of a new car. With regular oil changes it should last you 80,000 miles and will do very well for your business. It is an absolute waste to ruin a brand new car, particularly if you are carrying stock around.
Beware of buying a van and putting your shop logo down the side, which will advertise to thieves what might be inside. Unless you need to deliver furniture or other such bulky items, there is no need to waste money in this way, whatever your accountant tells you.
Cars and vans
Do not, particularly when you have just set up your business, blow your money on a new car – either bought or leased. Give your new business a car that is paid for rather than expecting the business to pay for one.
If you must buy a car, look for one with low mileage that is a quarter of the cost of a new car. With regular oil changes it should last you 80,000 miles and will do very well for your business. It is an absolute waste to ruin a brand new car, particularly if you are carrying stock around.
Beware of buying a van and putting your shop logo down the side, which will advertise to thieves what might be inside. Unless you need to deliver furniture or other such bulky items, there is no need to waste money in this way, whatever your accountant tells you.