Resellers
Exploration of Interest in our Product
We are seeking feedback from manufacturers and distributors of wellness products who have stocking customers to see if you have interest in buying our product channels 1) for resale to your customers for a profit 2) for resale to your customers at cost plus or 3) for giveaway purposes to provide support to your re-sellers. If none of those are of interest, we would like to know if you are willing to share information about our product(s) and our website with your stocking customers so we can do business with them directly.
We are seeking feedback from manufacturers and distributors of wellness products who have stocking customers to see if you have interest in buying our product channels 1) for resale to your customers for a profit 2) for resale to your customers at cost plus or 3) for giveaway purposes to provide support to your re-sellers. If none of those are of interest, we would like to know if you are willing to share information about our product(s) and our website with your stocking customers so we can do business with them directly.
Background
I’ve been the Business Manager and Business Coach for Ric Valentine of Ric Valentine Acupuncture for approximately three years (www.ricvalentineacupuncture.com)
Ric is an Acupuncturist with a Clinical Nutrition Practice. He is a one-man-band (other than the support I provide), and he stocks over 300 skus. Ric does approximately $5000 per month in retail product sales, and that means he's moving about 300 product units per month.
Running a small service business is hard -- Running a small product based business is hard -- Running a small business selling both services and products is very hard.
One of the processes I helped Ric with when we first started working together was the development and implementation of an efficient inventory management and manual reordering system. As part of that process we created a small "bin box" with integral labeling. These containers have dramatically reduced re-ordering time, and inventory errors and they have set him up to be far more flexible as he adds and removes items from his inventory -- and far more flexible as vendors add, remove and change dimensions on their offerings -- all of which requires massive inventory shifts if continuing to optimize space is of interest to the stocking customer -- and shifting products around to optimize space on product additions, subtractions and packaging changes is a nightmare without containers like these to infinitely speed up and simplify that shifting and moving process.
You, as a manufacturer or distributor of products, need to help those who are stocking your products with organizational systems that enable them to focus on their overall sales more than inventory management of your products.
Generally speaking, we’ve yet to see any major product manufacturers or distributors supporting their stocking customers with this type of inventory management support, and that represents an opportunity for all of us.
I’ve been the Business Manager and Business Coach for Ric Valentine of Ric Valentine Acupuncture for approximately three years (www.ricvalentineacupuncture.com)
Ric is an Acupuncturist with a Clinical Nutrition Practice. He is a one-man-band (other than the support I provide), and he stocks over 300 skus. Ric does approximately $5000 per month in retail product sales, and that means he's moving about 300 product units per month.
Running a small service business is hard -- Running a small product based business is hard -- Running a small business selling both services and products is very hard.
One of the processes I helped Ric with when we first started working together was the development and implementation of an efficient inventory management and manual reordering system. As part of that process we created a small "bin box" with integral labeling. These containers have dramatically reduced re-ordering time, and inventory errors and they have set him up to be far more flexible as he adds and removes items from his inventory -- and far more flexible as vendors add, remove and change dimensions on their offerings -- all of which requires massive inventory shifts if continuing to optimize space is of interest to the stocking customer -- and shifting products around to optimize space on product additions, subtractions and packaging changes is a nightmare without containers like these to infinitely speed up and simplify that shifting and moving process.
You, as a manufacturer or distributor of products, need to help those who are stocking your products with organizational systems that enable them to focus on their overall sales more than inventory management of your products.
Generally speaking, we’ve yet to see any major product manufacturers or distributors supporting their stocking customers with this type of inventory management support, and that represents an opportunity for all of us.
Kanban Inspired Bin Box with Integral Product Lane Labeling
Our product channel with an integral lane labeling system is a Kanban inspired, bin box that enables stocking customers to manage inventory, track inventory, move stock, and perform manual reorder processes in efficient ways that can not be achieved with any other system.
For full details on Kanban Systems, this product, and its benefits, please see the home page of this website if you have not already.
These boxes are expected to retail at $0.50 to $1.00 each, and thus, this inventory management system for 300 skus would cost Ric $150 to $300. It would take someone like him several hours to put in place, but it dramatically saves on time, money and energy every week orders are placed and every time inventory items change.
Our product channel with an integral lane labeling system is a Kanban inspired, bin box that enables stocking customers to manage inventory, track inventory, move stock, and perform manual reorder processes in efficient ways that can not be achieved with any other system.
For full details on Kanban Systems, this product, and its benefits, please see the home page of this website if you have not already.
These boxes are expected to retail at $0.50 to $1.00 each, and thus, this inventory management system for 300 skus would cost Ric $150 to $300. It would take someone like him several hours to put in place, but it dramatically saves on time, money and energy every week orders are placed and every time inventory items change.
Our Production Dilemma
As explained in the “Production Dilemma” section of our home page,
As a result of the nature of this product and this market, we can not accurately determine our final pricing and our final product designs until we get some idea of what our initial business through you all collectively (product manufacturers and distributors) might look like.
If there is significant interest and a willingness to place pre-orders, we will order dies and setup die-cut manufacturing for the most popular sizes from the start. If there is not enough interest at the wholesale level, we will need to start with a more manual and costly fabrication process and the costs per unit will be higher.
As explained in the “Production Dilemma” section of our home page,
- These are one time sale items for a niche market -- reorders will be almost non-existant
- Scaling up production doesn’t make much sense if we will just scale back down once our initial sales cycle completes
- We need a product design and a manufacturing process that enables us to deliver products for obscure or low volume sizes in a cost effective manner
- We want to design products in a way that we can place small enough batch orders with finishing companies after the market matures for low enough prices that production of the product remains viable long term
As a result of the nature of this product and this market, we can not accurately determine our final pricing and our final product designs until we get some idea of what our initial business through you all collectively (product manufacturers and distributors) might look like.
If there is significant interest and a willingness to place pre-orders, we will order dies and setup die-cut manufacturing for the most popular sizes from the start. If there is not enough interest at the wholesale level, we will need to start with a more manual and costly fabrication process and the costs per unit will be higher.
Proposed Pricing for Conversation Purposes
- Let’s assume the retail price for the product lanes will range from $0.50 to $1.00 per product channel. And in theory, let’s assume one product channel is required per sku that your customer stocks.
- Let’s assume the wholesale cost of these items to you might be $0.25 to $0.50.
Are you, as a manufacture or distributor interested in…
Below are various ways you can explore this opportunity with us. Please identify which of the items below that we might be able to discuss in more detail.
Below are various ways you can explore this opportunity with us. Please identify which of the items below that we might be able to discuss in more detail.
- "We are interested in buying the items at wholesale pricing and giving them to our stocking customers at no cost to them" -- This may be something we only do to get our stocking customers up to speed but it may be something we do in an ongoing fashion. With this system we would be taking receipt of wholesale orders from you and then distributing product to our customers with their regular product shipment or otherwise.
- "We are interested in buying the items at wholesale pricing and selling them to our customers at a pass thru price that might be cost plus 10%" -- This may be something we only do to get most people up to speed but it may be something we do in an ongoing fashion. With this system we would be taking receipt of wholesale orders from you and then distributing product to our customers with their regular product shipment or otherwise.
- "We are interested in buying the items at wholesale pricing and selling them to our customers at retail price." -- This may be something we only do to get most people up to speed but it may be something we do in an ongoing fashion. With this system we would be taking receipt of wholesale orders from you and then distributing product to our customers with their regular product shipment or otherwise.
- "We are not interested in buying your product directly in any form, but we may be willing to give our customers some kind of credit or financial incentive to purchase your products" -- (example - they send you a receipt for purchase of items from our site and you give them a credit towards future orders).
- "We are not interested in buying your product directly in any form, but we are willing to notify our stocking customers of your web address and these products via email so they can decide if it is something they want to purchase for themselves."
If you are interested...
=== Width and Product Lanes Needed for a Stocking Customer -- An Example of Ric's Needs ===
1.5" -- 85
2" -- 175
2.125/2.25 -- 12
2.375/2.5 -- 56
2.75" -- 3
3.25" -- 4
Total -- 335
At this time we are just compiling a list of who might be interested and getting preliminary quantities. Once we get initial feedback, we will circle back for more detailed information. We can imagine a situation in which we would want a 50% payment up front for the order to pay for the dies and the initial production run, and then we would need payment in full at time of shipping.
- If you are interested in discussing an initial order we will need to get a very clear idea of all the widths of boxes needed for your product line and the approximate qty of each box you might consider ordering.
- The product width mix in Ric's office is pretty varied. Below is an example of the product width mix at Rics office. If you look at what your customers buy from you, you can come up with a product mix based on product width that is relevant.
=== Width and Product Lanes Needed for a Stocking Customer -- An Example of Ric's Needs ===
1.5" -- 85
2" -- 175
2.125/2.25 -- 12
2.375/2.5 -- 56
2.75" -- 3
3.25" -- 4
Total -- 335
At this time we are just compiling a list of who might be interested and getting preliminary quantities. Once we get initial feedback, we will circle back for more detailed information. We can imagine a situation in which we would want a 50% payment up front for the order to pay for the dies and the initial production run, and then we would need payment in full at time of shipping.
My Backstory
My formal educational background includes a Mechanical Engineering Degree and an MBA from Virginia Tech.
My formal corporate background was with large companies including General Electric, Babcock and Wilcox Nuclear Technologies, Arther Anderson LLP, and Mannesman Rexroth. In the corporate setting I spent time working as an Industrial Designer, a Robotics Engineer, a Business Systems Consultant and a Field Sales Engineer/Territory Manager. My experience in the corporate world was mixed, and not for me long term.
I’ve been self employed since 2000 and I’ve pursued numerous and varied small business experiences including Real Estate Development (Loft style row homes in Baltimore MD), Real Estate Contracting (Licensed Contractor in MD), Real Estate Sales (Licensed Agent inMD), Software Development and a small metal art venture, among other things. That said, my time working with Ric as a coach and business adviser in this wellness field has been an incredibly enjoyable experience and this product launch is far more about filling a need than "getting rich quick". There far better ways to get financially rich than by trying to sell $1.00 boxes to folks who may not realize just how bad they need them.
Contact
To discuss this further, please reach out to me at [email protected]
My formal educational background includes a Mechanical Engineering Degree and an MBA from Virginia Tech.
My formal corporate background was with large companies including General Electric, Babcock and Wilcox Nuclear Technologies, Arther Anderson LLP, and Mannesman Rexroth. In the corporate setting I spent time working as an Industrial Designer, a Robotics Engineer, a Business Systems Consultant and a Field Sales Engineer/Territory Manager. My experience in the corporate world was mixed, and not for me long term.
I’ve been self employed since 2000 and I’ve pursued numerous and varied small business experiences including Real Estate Development (Loft style row homes in Baltimore MD), Real Estate Contracting (Licensed Contractor in MD), Real Estate Sales (Licensed Agent inMD), Software Development and a small metal art venture, among other things. That said, my time working with Ric as a coach and business adviser in this wellness field has been an incredibly enjoyable experience and this product launch is far more about filling a need than "getting rich quick". There far better ways to get financially rich than by trying to sell $1.00 boxes to folks who may not realize just how bad they need them.
Contact
To discuss this further, please reach out to me at [email protected]