New Business Ideas

@nashlix (186)
Singapore
May 28, 2009 10:57am CST
Hi everyone, I am planning to start a business, most probably an online store selling something. I have got a space ready for keeping stocks. However, I am having difficulty finding suppliers and distributors for my business and would like to ask if you have any good suggestions as to how to go about doing it? Furthermore, any other good business ideas? We can all participate in a giant brainstorming session! :)
1 person likes this
7 responses
• United States
28 May 09
I use tradekey alot for over seas suppliers and local in the states also. It is free to sign up with. I also use liquidation.com which is a site like Ebay but for liquidators. I have got some awesome products on there with low inventory. Have you decided what you are selling? I have found out the hard way the number one thing to remember is not to try and be everything to everybody. Try to find a niche product and brand yourself. Get a good logo that everyone will recognize and put it on everything and I mean everything. I have over 20 years of retail experience on and off the web so those are the top things I can think of right now. Remember some wholesalers will not deal with you unless you have a tax # and some have too high of minimums. Don't get stuck buying too much of one item that you many not be able to sell. You don't want to tie up too much money on one thing just yet. Surf around because there are wholesalers who will do low minimums and will even deal with you without a tax number but you have to search. Good luck
• United States
28 May 09
Hi, thanks for the info... I m just wondering after you get your products, where do you usually sell them at? you have your own website? own storefront or ebay??
• United States
28 May 09
I sell most of it on Ebay and also have a website. Ebay at this point does most of my business. I also really hit garage sales heavy. It is amazing what you will find. I am fortunate and unfortunate to be living in a very hard hit area with foreclosures. So people are truly selling everything to move out of here and go back up north. So there are great deals right now. Plus people just need cash for living expenses. I have found brand new items with tags still on them for pennies on a dollar and re-sold it on ebay and made a profit. This is actually cheaper than wholesale at times. I live in Florida so the weather is perfect year round for yard sales. Check out Craigslist too. There are times when there are great deals there. Just make sure you buy local so you don't get scammed. There is also a local flea market here with over 200 vendors. Periodically I will sell my wares there to get rid of left overs. Hope that helps! Good luck!
• Portugal
28 May 09
love it *.*
28 May 09
Hello there. Nowadays starting a business that requires you having so much inventory in terms of product storage is quite a bit risky of you do not have the right infrastructure and money up front for maintenance. This would require you to consider things like insurance ans so on. You need to take time to think this out, like you said, brainstorming is good and i would be happy to take part with other mylotters who are interested. One thing i however advice is that for now you can use your place for like a storgae facility where people have to pay, that is if you actually have the space like you said. Once that is in place, you can be earni g while thinking of that great business idea..
28 May 09
hey sorry my comment was a bit untidy, i am in a rush but thought i'd drop a comment on what i thought. Have a nice day
• United States
28 May 09
I just use my spare bedroom which has shelving units all over it. You can always sell small things such as I do. Make up is one of my big mainstays and it is easy to store in clear bins and stacked out. Keep your costs down as much as possible. That is the biggest things. You can always do drop shipping too but make sure it is a reputable company, because it will be linked to your name. Have some names, I just have to look them up for you. Skip McGrath is awesome in checking out these things. He has a website and it is connected to his newsletter. He is a big Ebayer and contributor to alot of their classes. Go and sign up for his free newsletter. Takes a lot of leg work out of it.
• Philippines
29 May 09
Hi there, its good that you are planning to start an online business. I think the best products to sell online are women's clothing, shoes, bags, perfumes, accessories and home decors. Most of the online shoppers are women and they like to shop at these kind of nifty things. Men also shop online but not as much as women do. You can register and get suppliers from http://www.alibaba.com/ as its a good site for both buyers and suppliers all over the world.
@chillpill90 (1936)
28 May 09
well i have a few business ideas but wont give you the speicfics as you might use them. If your looking for a good supplier and distributor you may have to look abroad as they may be cheaper than domestic ones depending on where your based. Also they will want you to gurantee that you will want supplies off them for at least a few months so that they know they are gettin some money. Business ideas: 1)online shop selling a new brand of jewellery/authentic jewellery or clothes from where your from. 2) online memrobilla shop, sell like signed sports tops etc. 3)start your own online casino.
• United States
28 May 09
Fabulous ideas. All about branding yourself. Great idea about the clothing from where you live. Love it!
@goapples (128)
28 May 09
You could try selling custom T-shirts clothes etc. it would have relatively low costs only buying the clothes you are going to customise E.g blank T-shirts and the equipment needed, you might have to research it, you could also make your own designs of T-shirts including images that are "iconic" but are free to use/ you could recreate the images using photo shop if you don't own them.
• United States
28 May 09
Cafe press is an awesome site to design your own t-shirts, cups, etc. Great market if you have some awesome logo ideas. You can even sell them on ebay or festivals and such coming up in the summer months.
• China
29 May 09
Yeah, I've heard a lot of successful stories about on-line shop. How about go to Taobao or Alibaba?
@UnderSea (69)
• United States
28 May 09
Interesting discussing, I will be watching the replies..