You’ve seen Delboy and Rodney work together down the market place and although they were eventually ‘millionaires’, there were a few arguments and dodgy dealings along the way. So do wholesale partnerships actually work? If you are thinking of starting a wholesale buying business with a friend check out these pros and cons before you start trading.
Pros
• Ideas. If there are two of you involved in starting a wholesale business then, in theory, you should have more ideas on how to brand your business and what products to sell. If you meet regularly with your business partner you can bounce ideas off of each other which may make topics like choosing products, choosing suppliers and website design a bit easier.
• Negotiating. If you aren’t confident with negotiating with potential wholesale suppliers then it could be a real advantage to have a partner working on the business too. They may be able to bring some negotiation skills to the table!
• Support. Having a reselling business can be time consuming and hard work. You constantly need to keep on top of industry news, trends, search for competitive prices from wholesalers and be aware of what your competitors are doing. This can be hard work for one person so having a partner could offer you support.
• Double the work! If you have a business partner then you can get more tasks done in a shorter space of time. Updating your website, listing items online, posting to customers…all of these tasks can get done more quickly.
Cons
• Disagreement on products. You and your business partner may have a very different idea of what is selling well and what wholesale products you should stock. If you do disagree on product selection then it could cause friction.
• Not as flexible. When running a wholesale buying business you are your own boss. You can work flexible hours and work from wherever you like. Once you begin a partnership this will mean you have less flexible hours and may even mean you have to open an office or share work space.
• Risk of falling out. If you start a business with a friend you do run the risk of falling out if business doesn’t go to plan.
• Half of the profit. Once you go into partnership, you automatically split your profits in half so it’s worth considering before entering a partnership.
