Today I’m talking with Carolyn Keating of Wholesale 4 Creatives all about getting started with wholesale. Carolyn has a 10 year background in wholesale for other businesses and she has translated that into helping small creative businesses get into retail stores and get their products seen by bigger businesses.

Today we’re covering a lot of information that is mostly aimed at product-based business, but there are some great tips for cultivating relationships and figuring out pricing information if you’re a service-based business.

Some of the topics we cover are what wholesale is and why it’s beneficial, how you can price your products for profitability in the wholesale space, and how you can connect with people in stores and build relationships so you can be seen and stay top of mind whenever they are placing  new orders. We also cover a few of the ways that customer service changes when you are working in the wholesale space.

Carolyn Keating is the owner of Wholesale for Creatives, a resource for product based businesses looking to develop their wholesale and retail strategy. Prior to launching her business, Carolyn spent a decade in sales with a NYC-based women's accessories company where she developed and sold products to retail chains throughout the country. Her mission is to educate small businesses about the industry’s best practices so they can successfully compete in the marketplace and avoid making costly mistakes. 

Topics Discussed:

• What wholesale is and how it can benefit your business
• Balancing wholesale products and selling on your own platform
• Pricing for profit in the wholesale space
• How to reach out to stores when you’re ready to start selling your products wholesale
• Creating and building relationships with local businesses and buyers
• How pitching a store is similar to pitching a blog post or podcast
• The steps that happen when you’re products have been accepted into a store
• How customer service changes when selling to a buyer instead of direct to the customer
• The importance of dealing with issues quickly and well
• How to stay top-of-mind (in a good way)
• What you need to have in place before considering wholesale
• The importance of having multiple products and manufacturers you trust
• Why you need to evaluate if wholesale is right for you and do it yourself before you hire a team

Resources Discussed:

• The Savvy Community
• Plan to Eat

Connect with Carolyn:

• Website
• The Wholesale Collective
• Instagram
• Facebook