Raj,

Hi and welcome to the forum. It is refreshing to see someone willing to get out there and sell, rather than just relying on their website for leads.

For specific shops of this nature I think you will end up spending a lot of time on the ground assessing whether a location is likely to stock your product, and therefore whether it is worthwhile making an approach. As I am sure you are finding, by their nature these types of locations tend to be independents and not part of any one trade association or group. The bigger companies tend to be already tied up with suppliers sourcing directly. My partner is an artist, and a few years back we spent a lot of time going to towns where we thought there where suitable non-gallery outlets for one of her lines and having a walk around to see which locations might be suitable. We would then come back a few days later after lining up some appointments to pitch. It was lots of leg work, but we found we where able to assess fairly quickly the top few prospects per town once on the ground and therefore the response rate was really high opening a call with "I was in your shop and really liked XYZ....I wondered if you might be interested in taking ABC" rather than "I’m selling ABC's......" You can also specifically target one part of your range to them, depending on what sort of quality items they stock increasing your conversion rate quite considerably.

You can of course buy so called targeted lists from the likes of yellow pages (there are loads of CD roms etc out there with business addresses by category) but as I am sure you are finding they are unlikely to have tight enough classifications to avoid a lot of unproductive cold calling and you wont know whether the prospect is really in your field or not. or what they stock unless they have a good website.

A different method entirely would be to look at trade fairs. I have several clients who generate all their leads in this way. They can be expensive to put on (several thousand minimum - and make sure you go to the previous one before paying for one yourself) but if you have a good tactile product putting it in front of buyers can work really well. You may also be able to snag buyers from the larger organizations where wouldn’t normally get a look in. One of my clients supplies handmade items to a major chain which constitutes around 30% of her turnover - it did however take talking to the same buyer for 3 years in a row to get the deal.

If you don’t like selling a different route would be to try to find a sales person working on a commission basis who already has established relationships with the types of retails outlets you are looking at and can put your products alongside those from other sources. Finding such a person is somewhat harder in practice, but they do exist.

One tip when working with very small retail businesses, if they seem interested but are unsure a sale or return offer can sometimes seal the deal as it de-risks it from their end, although you do risk having back damaged stock. If you know the outlet from visiting it you may be able to assess how risky this option is. Also if you are willing to sell to shops, it doesn’t hurt to state this in your contact section as it may encourage shop owners searching on the web for stock to contact you - my partners art business often gets leads that way.

Anyway, I hope there was something of help in there, good luck. If you need any help with your accounting then let me know.

Regards,

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James Smith
Chartered Accountant
www.jamesesmith.co.uk

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Your indispensable guide to Small Business Bookkeeping, Self-Assessment & VAT

BRAD is a reference book with all Uk publications listed and can be found at you local library because its cost lots to buy.

Hope this helps.

Raj,

Glad to hear that was helpful. Exhibitions can be a great way of building up contacts even if you don’t have a stall. One exhibition tip is to explain to the organisers that you are new, they may be able to put you on a short list to cover drop outs at a lower rate if you have the time to do it.

Generally I would be pleased to help you with your new venture if you are dissatisfied with your current accountants, please get in contact direct if you would like a chat.

Regards,

------------------------
James Smith
Chartered Accountant
www.jamesesmith.co.uk

---------------------------
Your indispensable guide to Small Business Bookkeeping, Self-Assessment & VAT

We bought a lovely throw at great expense from the Seventh heaven shop in Chirk. www.seventhheaven.co.uk. They specialise in antique beds and have always sourced unusual throws, cushions etc. Nice people and perhaps a good place to start?

I would also try to get into some shop windows locally and promote your throws on demonstrations and get the PR off that. Feel free to chat through some PR angles on this one, with the UK domestic DIY and interior design shows enough PR should get you some glossy magazine coverage too.