What It's Like To Be...

A Toy Distributor


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Forecasting demand for 40,000 different products, arranging for model kits to traverse the globe from Chinese factories to mom-and-pop hobby shops, and enduring random customs inspections with Alan Bass, a hobby kit and toy distributor. Why can't shops place orders directly with factories and cut out distributors? And what is it like to discover your childhood toys were actually samples given out for market research purposes?

The hobby kit and toy distributor business he runs is Stevens International. You can find his family’s brick-and-mortar hobby shop, AAA Hobbies and Crafts, in Magnolia, NJ, and an online store at MegaHobby.com

NEW BOOK ALERT!
You may be aware that I’ve written or co-written five business books, including The Power of Moments and Made to Stick. I’ve got a sixth book out now called RESET: How to Change What’s Not Working. It’s a book intended to help you and your team get unstuck, to overcome the gravity of the way things have always worked. Learn more about the book and order it here. You can also listen to it on Audible and at Apple Books.

Got a comment or suggestion for us? You can reach us via email at [email protected]

Want to be on the show? Leave a message on our voice mailbox at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

  • What do people think your job is like and what is it actually like?
  • What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?
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What It's Like To Be...By Dan Heath

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