How to Build Your Reselling Business This Year

Reselling is a popular business model that’s easier than many to set up. You can start very small to fit around your family, and grow it more or less at your own pace. As the business develops, though, you need to take control of how you use both time and space.

 

Rethink Your Storage

Stock storage is all-important for any reselling business, whether it’s a home-based operation or one run from an office. For businesses run from home, it’s arguably one of the most important things to get right, because if your stock is muddled your business becomes chaotic, stressful, and more time-consuming. Living amongst boxes of stock is also damaging to your quality of life and your mental health, as you feel like you’re never away from work.

Practical storage solutions include:

• Warehousing – for a small reselling business this is likely to be overkill. You don’t need that much space, and it would be expensive with extras to factor in such as VAT and business rates.
• Self storage – this is a solution that’s really gaining ground with small business owners as there are lots of advantages. The range of storage unit sizes, the locations, the lack of a long contract and the ability to up- or downsize as needed are just a few. Best part in renting a self storage unit is they have the highest standards when it comes to keeping your items secure at all times.  They welcome business use, and some will take a delivery for you if you can’t be there. 
• A home stock room – if you’re lucky enough to have a spare room, you could consider this option. Put your existing bedroom furniture in a self storage in Guildford so it’s there if and when you want it back, then install shelving or hanging space for your stock. You’ll be able to shut the door on the business at the end of the day and reclaim the rest of your house.

 

Keep a Stock Inventory

When you’re just selling one or two items, monitoring stock levels and profit isn’t hard. As the business grows, however, it gets more complicated. These tips will help you get your stock organised and keep it that way:

• As soon as you get a delivery or buy new stock, put it in the storage area, whether at home or your storage unit. Once it’s in its proper place, it’s halfway towards being sorted.
• Label shelving areas so you know automatically where things go, and never deviate from your system. If boys’ clothes are always on a particular shelf or rail, be rigid in always putting them there. It’s tempting to pop items in the wrong place temporarily when you’re busy but, if you forget where you put something, it’s harder to keep track of stock numbers.
• Have a workflow system. How you do this is up to you, but once you find a way that works, stay with it. eBay sellers, for instance, might like to do all photography at once, then move onto writing descriptions and allocating stock numbers before actually listing the items online. Others might like to take one item and finish listing it before starting another. Whichever way you work, be methodical, as the routine will help you avoid mistakes.

 

Take Control of Time

Being time-efficient can be incredibly hard when you work for yourself. Here are a few strategies that can help:

If you have self storage for stock, make it also work as your packing room instead of grabbing items then taking them home to pack up and send. Put a small table or desk in one corner so you have somewhere to work, then prepare all your orders for posting right from the stockroom. Keep all your packing materials in the same place as your stock, wherever that happens to be.

Pack up items before they’re even sold if you’re super-organised and can trust yourself to label the parcels accurately. Bulk packing can save lots of time, but you do need confidence that your system won’t have you sending the wrong parcels to your buyers.

 

Any reselling business has a huge growth potential. Suitable storage and solid working methods make for efficient business running. In turn, you claim some time back for either leisure or even more business building. 

 

*This is a collaborative post.