Catering Equipment Directory

Those who are starting a dollar store often become panicked as they search for the right dollar store merchandise for their business.  It seems like there are many dollar store suppliers, but none offer the complete solution to their needs.  Some may offer great prices.  However the dollar store merchandise selection lacks.  Others may offer a wide selection, including almost everything items every a dollar store needs to carry.  Yet their prices seem awfully high.  As you begin your search for merchandise and suppliers, move with caution.  Read on as I provide 4 mistakes to avoid in your search.

#1) Blindly accepting the advice of others.
When starting a dollar store never blindly accept anyone's word for the quality of dollar store suppliers you locate.  That is unless they are reputable dollar store experts or they are dollar store owners who have regularly used the dollar store suppliers in question.  Check more than one reference.  There is simply too much at risk to submit orders for dollar store merchandise without feeling confident you have located a reliable supplier before ordering.

#2) Not checking business references of prospective suppliers.
Never fail to check references.  As note in #1, don't just check one reference and call it good.  Check several references before making a decision.  Ask hard questions about customer service, timeliness of deliver, quality of products and pricing.  Get all your questions answered before you make a final decision.  

#3) Generating a huge 1st order for a prospective supplier.  
Make it your policy to test before you invest.  Always generate a small test order first.  Do not allow yourself to make a big investment in dollar store merchandise from a new supplier only to find out the information from reference checks does not match the performance you are seeing.  It is a lot easier to keep your business running while resolving an issue over a small amount of money than it is to have so much tied up that you literally cannot generate another order until the problem is solved.

#4) Failing to drive problems to a satisfactory resolution.
If you are starting a dollar store never fail to provide feedback when there are problems.  While there are exceptions, in most cases the company wants your business.  They will work to keep your business by addressing your issues.  Do your part by raising the issue and then working with the supplier to get it properly resolved.  If there is no resolution you will know the problem is from the supplier side where not making it an issue would have left you feeling unsure.

To your success when starting a dollar store!