Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

This is very new to me and I am in need of some help.  I have started reading all the articles and doing free online courses through SBA but it is so much to take in. I`ve been toiling around with starting a business for quite some time and need any input on how to find someone to invest in me.  Also for those of you in retail, how did you go about finding a wholesaler for your product?  Please help!  I have many of my ideas written down but I don`t want my lack of finances to stop me from starting a new business venture.  Yes, I have started my business plan.

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Mrs. S Taylor

First of all, you are not telling us what type of retailers or products you want to sell.

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Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

Women`s under garments and lingerie (underwear, bra`s, pj`s, etc). 

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Mrs. S Taylor

Hi Shontay,

Congrats on taking the first steps to entrepreneurship. I can identify with your email all too well!!!

Sounds like you need to go see Kelvin Johnson at the UDC SBDC (Small Business Development Center). I know it is a headache probably to get from where you live into the city via car,  but they are only one block via metro red line Van Ness-UDC stop.  I visited our local SCORE, other local SBDC`s (we have quite a lot in DC Metro area) and tried all these start up workshops offered through SBA. None of them made sense to me until I found Kelvin. Do take my word for it, he is one of the best small business counselors in our area and can help you sort all of this out and get moving in the right direction. Additionally, because this SBDC is located at UDC you can use the resources and services of the university including the school of law (to draft up your legal paperwork) and school of business and marketing (to help you get your business and marketing plan organized) all for FREE. Basically the SBDC is funded and endorsed by the SBA and they get a host of grants to fund their programs as well. So all of their counseling services are offered for free to local small aspiring and emerging business owners. Can you believe that? It is a fantastic service!

They helped me get my business plan completed and to make sense out of that darn SBA website, which is a bit of a mess to navigate through. I am certain they can do the same for you!

Kelvin`s contact info is: kjohnson@udc.edu and the phone number to the center is 202.274.7055

Best,

Shonika

 

Thank you so much!  This is some of the best information that I have recieved so far.  You are right.  I`ve tried navigating through the SBA site and it is just so much information.  I don`t want to give up before I really start, but I guess like they say if it is too easy it`s not worth it.  I`m going to make the contact today and I truly do thank you for taking the time out to give me this information.  I will let you know how it goes!

 

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Mrs. S Taylor

Glad to hear it Shontay-

And should you need additional help, please do not hesitate to contact me offline.

sproctor@groupinteractive.net

Since we are local maybe we can meet up one day.

I know it is not always easy but I can assure you it is always worth it if you just Stick With It!

Continued Success,

Shonika

Hi Shontay,

You need to decide also, what brands you will want to carry.  I can help you with getting in contact with wholesalers if you like.  It is very time consuming going through catalogs and choosing merchandise.  My big hurdle with the wholesalers is customer service.  Even the best suppliers, Shirley of Hollywood and Dreamgirl are slow and have very poor customer service which can affect your customers experience.  So it is a constant struggle trying to decide what to order, what will sell, and how much to keep in stock. 

Feel free to contact me, and my best to you. 

Vicki

Thank you for the information.  It`s been a while since I logged on...in all honesty I think I tried to do too much too fast, so with that being said I need to take some time to really evaluate what it is I want to do.  I still would like to start my own business, but at this time financing is going to be pretty tough to get especially since I just bought a house. 

In the meantime do you have any other tips on how to deal with wholesalers?

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Mrs. S Taylor