Start a New Business Today
I just read the last comment from Andy and it brought to mind something I have been thinking a lot about lately. I think that today might be one of the very best times to start a new fastener business. Go out, get yourself a van and start peddling. I know what you are thinking -- business really blows and the economy is a mess, so why start now? Let me tell you why...
Right now, the company that carries no inventory has a distinct advantage over the ones that do carry inventory. If I started today, I could go online, shop till I drop, buy materials at really, really low prices, get a 5% discount for buying online and there would be a very good chance that I would have lower prices than any distributor that has been holding on to inventory to service their exisiting customers. That is right...the customer that you have been painstakingly taking care of for years would probably still throw you out when you try to explain that you have been carrying inventory to keep them afloat. And yes, it would be a complete and total shame...but my prices would be so much lower that they'd still be tempted to buy from me.
And you'd go back to your suppliers and wonder why they are letting me buy at such great prices. After all the business you've given them and all the years you have been supportive....how can they do this to you now??? Gotta move inventory. And once one company sets the price level...well, the competition has to respond.
In truth, this was a story that was told to me today by a medium sized distributor. The inventory on his shelf is like a weight around his neck. He'd be better off with empty shelves. And, the pity is that he felt like he had been keeping his customer's prices steady and he thought they would be appreciative.
Whoever wrote this response knows the fastener business. The fastener business is full of "whores" and the market place lets them live until the next day. The worst thing that ever happen in the fastener industry was when they (the suppliers) broke down the full keg to quarter kegs or even worse 1/8 kegs. This was lead by the requirements of the United Auto Workers or 50# or less kegs. You didn't need to be a distributor just a broker. The problem the fastener industry has with distributors... it is PRICE, delivery and then quality. Service shoud be number one in importance, quality and then a fair market price. Do you really think an OEM fastener buyer knows what the price of a fasterner is worth? I need not write anymore...it is distributors vs. brokers! I hope the distributors win in the long run.
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There always will be that small distributor willing to sell below market value because they do not offer the services offered by stocking, "full service" distributors. But usually, if you bought a larger quantity or did more business over the course of the year you could get a little better price and be competitive. Right now, suppliers are needing to move their inventory so they are selling it to anyone at any price. And it seems like the importers are battling it out because if one company is selling "low" then the others must respond.
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If you really want to get started check out this list of fastener related internet real estate available @ www.fastenatingdomains.com.
Just pick out the business name you want, purchase and get started.
You heard the man its just that easy.
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Now see, here is a guy that jumps on opportunities. That post is only hours old and this person is trying to sell domain names. That is pretty awesome.
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T.S., I never know when you're being sarcastic at first, but you make a good point. And some of the comments get to an important issue as well. I have been selling for stocking "full service" distributors for 20 years, and I fully understand the value that we provide, but I also recognize that whenever the sale comes down to price it is because we let it get there. Sure, there are buyers who just always buy on price, but they are few. A good exercise to see if you are providing value to the customer is to pretend you are selling 100% drop shipped product. Pretend you have no stock and no bulk pricing to offer. "What else you got?" If a distributor can find a cooperative customer (and it's up to us to gain their trust so they will cooperate) we can provide the real service they need so that same-day delivery and super-cheap pricing become unnecessary.
Ah, the concept is sound. I just wish the execution were simple.
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Notes from a Psychologist/Former Fastener Guy.....
I wonder how many of you use something like "Positive Psychology" or believe that you create your own reality by your thoughts (this point of view is OLD, and WAY the hell pre-dates this country or Napoleon Hill, or the New Thought Prosperity thinkers of the late 1800's and 1900's...) It is a HUGE interest of mine of late...the Secret, the Abraham-Hicks materials are both modern day variations on New Thought or whatever one wants to call it....
Don't worry--I ain't sellin' nothin'. I just really wonder who among you manage to thrive in these seemingly rough times and how many of you are INTENTIONAL about keeping your thoughts in shape and focusing on the only possible outcome, success, prosperity and abundance....
Many, many people living in "Poverty Consciousness" or the "Scarcity Model"---the Law of Attraction suggests that if you focus on fear and scarcity, either for OR against it, you magnetize Fear and Scarcity....
Thoughts?
Doc in the Desert
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Your thoughts are interesting though a bit different than those I usually come accross on comments to this site. But all the same, they are most welcome. If I understand you correctly, I will share what I DO hear on a weekly or monthly basis...."if the media keeps talking about it we will go into a recession". Truly, I heard that more a few months ago, ...now people acknowledge that we are in one.
Clearly, the economy is in a state that none of us have seen for a long, long time. The entire automobile industry is morphing into something else right before our eyes. And layoffs are real...there are a lot of people out of work or working reduced hours. Still, I have tried to post as often as possible about the companies that are going after new business or the ones hiring away salespeople who are being marginalized at their current place of employment. For some, it is like the Bee Gees said "Staying Alive, Staying Alive". (God in heaven, please forgive me for ever quoting the Bee Gees on this site. In my heart of hearts it is something I never thought I would do nor did I want to but, man, it was just sitting out there and I had to do it). But eventually ----eventually things have to rebound. The question is when.
I'd be lying to all of you if I told you there are some people I like to hear from more than others. When I see certain people on caller ID I can almost tell you they are calling to tell me something negative. "Do you know what they are doing at my company now?" or something along the lines of "how bad are things now?". And, I understand there are real issues and real troubles. But some dwell on these and other people seem to drive through them more like the Coors Light Train.
So Doc, I THINK I know where you were headed with this post. Might be wrong but I think I'm kind of close.
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"Successful people make money. It's not that people
who make money become successful, but that successful
people attract money. They bring success to what they do."
— Dr. Wayne Dyer: Self-development author and speaker
Every few days I get an e-mail from Nightengale-Conant under the title that is titled "Motivational Quoate for the Day". Most days I delete the quote before I even read it. For some reason I decided to read it today and above is what was delivered.
Kind of ironic given the other comments from earlier today.
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Well, from the point of view of somebody recognizing and naming what he or she wants and going straight after it, it IS awesome......I can see other perspectives, but if we ALL went straight after what we wanted, in a way that felt OK to us ethically, we too would feel more success, yes?
Doc
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so informative article, great ideas, thanks nice shared.
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