Advice about distributorship?
I have a small (UK-based) company offering a service. I am quite well established: Ltd co…VAT registered…rent a small unit/studio…..have some storage space…advertise on web and have SEO in place….and so on…I now want to start selling selected products that are relevant to my business. So I am trying to get the UK distributorship for a company based in Hong long so that I can sell their products here. Can you offer tips and advice? I would especially welcome recommendations about contractual issues and reasonable mark-ups. Ta. (This HK don’t seem to have any other distributors or ‘franchise’ options ready-set up).
Contact the government department for UK Trade and Investment for information and help on importing. Speak to your local Business Link for similar help. They and your local Chamber of Commerce sometimes organise trade missions to other countries for businesses that are interested in working with firms abroad.
Make sure you have legally drawn up terms and conditions on the arrangement you set up , particularly about payment and what happens if you receive faulty goods. We’re distributors for goods from a company in Holland. It’s easy to pop across to see them if there’s something seriously wrong and they visit us from time to time as part of our business relationship. It’s not so easy to do that with a firm in Hong Kong.
The company you’re dealing with should have some recommendations about retail prices. Work out what all your costs are on top of the price of the goods and then see whether charging the price that people pay for similar products gives you enough profit. If you need to charge a higher figure, know why the product is worth so much more.
The other bugbear of bringing goods into the country is the currency that you pay in. We have to pay in Euros and with the pound the way it is at present, our profit margins are being squeezed. Fortunately we have a 90 agreement on payment so we can juggle a bit to find better rates but right now it’s hard. If you can agree to pay in sterling, you know you have a consistent price.
Good luck!
One Response to “Advice about distributorship?”
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Thank you so much for everything throughout the summer. I think that it is a wonderful thing that you are doing to put aside time from your busy schedule and running your company to be able to assist new entrepreneurs. I am glad to have made some great business connections throughout this summer and will contact you for advice in the future!
Brittany Sirtonski, Owner/Managing Director - Dare to Dream Dance and Visual Arts summer camp for girls
Contact the government department for UK Trade and Investment for information and help on importing. Speak to your local Business Link for similar help. They and your local Chamber of Commerce sometimes organise trade missions to other countries for businesses that are interested in working with firms abroad.
Make sure you have legally drawn up terms and conditions on the arrangement you set up , particularly about payment and what happens if you receive faulty goods. We’re distributors for goods from a company in Holland. It’s easy to pop across to see them if there’s something seriously wrong and they visit us from time to time as part of our business relationship. It’s not so easy to do that with a firm in Hong Kong.
The company you’re dealing with should have some recommendations about retail prices. Work out what all your costs are on top of the price of the goods and then see whether charging the price that people pay for similar products gives you enough profit. If you need to charge a higher figure, know why the product is worth so much more.
The other bugbear of bringing goods into the country is the currency that you pay in. We have to pay in Euros and with the pound the way it is at present, our profit margins are being squeezed. Fortunately we have a 90 agreement on payment so we can juggle a bit to find better rates but right now it’s hard. If you can agree to pay in sterling, you know you have a consistent price.
Good luck!
References :
Distributor of goods from Holland