Different Ways to Make Money in the Parts Business
If you are an independent retailer selling mass produced items such as many types of light bulbs, your competition is mass retailers. Mass retailers are going to win that competition every day of the week. Their cost for product is way below yours, their employees need minimal training and get minimum wages, and their store hours are much longer than yours. Time and again I have seen independent retailers spot a niche and make a good profit filling a niche. For example, suppose that there is an item that only one person in 10,000 will need in a year. A knowledgeable retailer talking with a customer can determine the need for that item and a mass retailer doesn't even want to go there. In that situation the independent retailer might stock the item and sell it for 10 times what he paid for it and the customer is happy to have it. If you do this enough times, you have a business with no competitors. Equally important, your customer will immediately think of you when they need another rare item. A similar business is ordering specialty items for customers. It is a labor intensive business. You must develop a fool proof routine on your Store POS System for tracking deposits, tracking the special orders, contacting customers and returning those items ordered by mistake. Over the years a retailer will learn where to buy those hard to find items. However, even so a retailer has to be willing to search for those odd items that customers sometimes need.Labels: Independent retailer, mass retailers, niche market, Store POS System
posted by MIB @ 9:58 AM
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