Office Supply Store – Online Business Plan

An Office Supply Store is essentially recession-proof and there is an “all year round” demand for office supplies, as an office can’t work without the basic supplies like paper, inks, cartridges, pens, pencils, chalks, markers, etc. Educational Institutions and Ngo’s are also big-time Consumers of office supplies. Entrepreneurs can find sustainable revenue in the form of Office Supply Stores. Opening your own shop would require strong inter-personal skills and perseverance. Apart from that that you must know how to sell!

A Business Plan

Make an estimate of the start-up costs. An office supply store will need significant investment costs, as you will have to purchase office supply wholesale. Add the monthly rent for the shop into account and the expenses build up significantly. Add to this the inventory costs and operational costs which include electricity and miscellaneous expenses. Make sure you are ready before investing in this business. Make a business plan and do a reality check. Hire an attorney or accountant in order to make an estimate of the expenses as well as the profits/losses for at least the next three years.

Register your business and business name. Take into account the legal documents expenses. Apply for a business loan to finance your business if required.

Buy Products Wholesale

Find wholesale vendors in order to buy your office supplies. Look up wholesale office suppliers, and contact them. Ask for a price list to be sent to you. Alternatively, you can get in touch with other Office Supply businesses in order to find out about the vendors. Buying your products wholesale will ensure a huge margin in your profit share. Therefore it is extremely important to strike the right chords with wholesale office products.

Shop and Staff

Buy the shop if you have it in your strengths, but it is not at all advisable to do so. It is better to lease the shop space and contact various property owners about leasing. Make sure you read each and every word of your lease deed before signing it; this will ensure you stay out of possible trouble. Also, leasing the shop gives you the option to choose the best location for your shop. You must choose a location where there are a lot of offices or in the main market areas of the locality.

Hire staff in order to keep your shop running. Running a shop requires at the very least two helpers, so go ahead and hire them.

Sell Online

Now, for one of the most important advantages; the number of potential customers you can reach is immense if you sell your office products online. Having only a physical store decreases your number of potential customers immensely. Over 1 billion people worldwide are using the Internet today, meaning with an online store you conceivably have 1 billion people with access to your store.

Another added benefit of an e-commerce store compared with a physical store is the ease with which changes can be made. Take for example changing the price of a product; with e-commerce store prices can be changed in the back end by simply changing the products’ price field. In a physical store, you may very well have to change the price tag on each individual product, the price on the shelf, and even your inventory system.

Open your Shop!

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