If you are thinking about starting your own business, the eternal question of where to get your inventory is probably always on your mind. Doing some research about where to get product always leads you to three options. You either buy it from a wholesaler, you import the items or you have another company drop ship it for you. There is one option here that I did not mention and that is you can also make your own inventory. This option is usually not explored in the first portion of building your business.

So if you are debating between the drop shipper and the wholesaler there is a small discussion you need to have with yourself. Obviously you will want to know if the wholesaler you are thinking about using is really a wholesaler instead of a middle man. The next question is the one that most people miss since they are worried about supply. That question is, ?does this supplier sell a product that I want to put my name on??

When you think of your business you want to build a brand and to build authority. If the product line is questionable in regards to quality, is that something you want to be working with? Most people will only give you one chance since there is so much variety to choose from out there. If you get recognized as a seller with lesser quality items, it will be hard to shake that title. Starting right is crucial. Using well known brands is a good way to circumnavigate those problems. Better known brands have already worked through the glitches of design and have engineered most problems out of the product. It's hard enough to deal with shipping problems, customers who change their minds, customers who are missing ?the common sense? gene and the challenges of marketing, without adding brand or product problems. Leaving that problem out of the equation calms the entrepreneurial spirit. The essence of being in business or starting a business is usually uncertainty and it does not make sense to add more problems to think about.

So now when you are thinking about drop shipping, look and see who your competition is for that particular product. Do your competitors buy from this company? Do they appear to move some volume? Do they have good search engine results? If so chances are they are a good vendor. The same goes with wholesalers, check around. Go to forums and ask some questions. People that have had a bad experience are the first to speak out against a company that did them wrong. It's usually the only way they can get back at them. You can find out a lot of information without revealing the details or your business plan. Just keep in mind the question of ?Do I want this company to represent my good name?? I have a saying that I live by, I never let someone else have control of my success. I cannot and will not let another company make or break me. I would much rather go down in flames because of my own doing that allowing some other vendor ruin all my efforts. I think most people would agree.