Are you looking for ways to expand your business?

Do you sell your product(s) through resellers or would like to?

Instead of expanding by opening a new store have you thought of making a deal with a business to resell your goods? Obviously you would provide the reseller with a wholesale price (discount off retail) but using an existing business that is already located in the market allows you to extend your distribution without the associated startup cost.

Offer Exclusive Deals or Customized Products

To dominate a small or narrow market of resellers, consider doing exclusive deals with them and put together specific packages of products, features for them that you will not offer anyone else in the same area.

You could also offer to private label your products with their brand or logo.

The Pro's and Con's

The positive thing about working through resellers is the ease of gaining new distribution into market areas where you do not have a presence. The downside is that the end user is the customer of the reseller and not your own.

If your reseller goes out of business you may still need to provide warranty and customer support to the end users who have purchased your product. You would also loose access to the resellers customer base but you could always recruit a new reseller.

Whereas, opening your own store in the market provides complete control but comes with the costs to open a new location and hire staff. Geographic expansion and adding additional distribution layers are common ways for business owners to expand and grow.

What have you done t expand your business? What other pro's and con's might I have missed?