I know theres 2 biz threads but I've put A LOT of footwork into this and would
appreciate some feedback.
I can't mention the product or how I'm sourcing the product but I will keep it simple and say its something for artistic/culinary purposes.
I have spent *4 years* looking for a source for this product, and its damn near impossible. At points I gave up and just stopped looking for months. I was basically positive I would never find a wholesaler, and towards the end I treated it more as a hobby (just looking for sources) rather than something I thought I'd actually be capable of doing.
Anyway, I wound up finding a source that will allow me to sell this product for less than 1/2 of what the cheapest current seller on front page google is selling it for (while still making impressive profits). In fact, if you were to google the key words, you would NOT find ONE seller selling the product for as cheap as I can get it. So naturally I'm excited. It sells by weight, and I'll give you a brief explanation of the current market prices.
First its important to realize theres almost no quality variations from seller to seller. The product is always the same quality no matter where you get it. Its just the nature of the product.
Thus what buyers are interested in is simple, they want the most they can get for as cheap as they can possibly get it.
Using 1lb as an example, these are prices for some of the sellers on the first page of google:
1lb - $125
1lb - $180
1lb - $450
Its ALL the same, so don't be fooled by the more expensive prices, its just greed and as expensive as the last one is I happen to know they sell a lot of product. Yet the first company for $125 is dominating the competition right now.
Now what I get the same product for, is I buy it in 10 kilos, and it works out to $22 a kilo, yes I shit you not. Thats basically $10 a lb. This is HUGE for me and this is a product I buy myself often, and almost crapped my own pants when I found this source. Like I said it took 4 years of networking/searching to find this place, and I can't tell a single soul who they are.
But thats a HUGE profit margin. All that most sellers do is set up a website, do some advertising, and if their product is cheap enough they always take off.
I have a site done but its not hosted yet.
I have my first stock of 10 kilos ready to be boxed up and sent out.
I have a storage facility also to keep all the stock.
I have a partner who is willing to help if I need him.
But most importantly, I have a list I've been building of 80 potential buyers (who currently buy from other companies) who have all told me if I can get it for what I said I can get it for, they would 100% buy from me.
All I'm curious about it what I'm overlooking here that would cause this business to not "work".
My idea was, launch the site, contact the initial 80 buyers, and just wait. But I'm also curious about whether or not I need to worry at all about SEO (search engine optimization).
I was always under the impression SEO is for when there is a high level of competition. You go through all the technicalities to get your site boosted to page 1, start ad campaigns, pay google directly, or the various other things people do to get traffic.
My main question is do I need to worry about traffic?
My idea is this:
I KNOW for a fact 99% of the companies right now can't even come close to the prices I'm getting mine for. And I also know where most of these companies are getting their product (its located in the US and relatively easy to find). I had the option years ago of buying from that main distributor, but I knew if I would I'd likely waste all my effort on advertising/SEO and my site would likely still never peak its eyes out of the "google sandbox" (sites that are buried wayyy back in the search).
I'm not a business expert nor have I owned a business before. But the logic seems simple, and it seems like the product is always what matters the most. Like people will get carried away spending thousands on advertising when their products a rip off to begin, and they never quite take off.
But does this sound like I have the right idea? I'm really excited to start this because once I found that source I knew I had tapped into something 99% of US sellers didn't know about. But what else am I missing? Do I just launch it and let the site do its work? I know people hundreds of people are googling for this product everyday, and theres only about 12 main companies for it in the first 3 pages of google. But I wouldn't even be competing with any of them. I'm just worried that 80 customers won't be enough, and that even if I get 30 sales from them, and get some repeat business, is my company likely to stay in the "sandbox"?
If anyone knows anything about this I'd really appreciate the help. Thanks!
edit: I also want to mention that ebay is not an option as ebay prohibits the sale of mostly anything related to culinary, although I realize ebay is a great way to get small business's started.
Reply With Quote
