How big a hill am I looking at?

[rocksolid]

I am in the early stages of starting a business. I have my product almost ready to go and I will researching stores to try and sell it to. Walmart wants all kinds of documents including a rating from D&B to confirm my stability. Am I aiming too high. The product I will be selling is a small item I am having made in China. I will be selling it on line as well, but I wanted to try and get it into a Walmart or Target as well. Should I aim lower in the beginning and then once the product is selling try for the bigger stores? Is anybody currently selling to a big chain store?

 

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[Kung Fu Steve]

I am no expert by any means but I think even the "Snuggie" had to make some decent sales before taking up valuable shelf space in wal-mart stores. As big as they are I'm sure they are looking for guaranteed sales instead of "I think this will sell".

But never set your sights too low. Anything is possible. If that hasn't been proven over and over throughout history already I don't know what has. We have put people on the moon...! Surely you can put a silly product on a silly shelf!

 

[GlobalWealth]

In my last company I sold services to Walmart and several other big box retailers. As a service provider, we didn't have the product fulfillment issues you will have to deal with, but I will forewarn you, many businesses have a hard time dealing with the big boxes from the get go.

They are very demanding and the order quantities can be overwhelming. While it seems cool to get an order for X thousand widgets, if you cannot deliver in the timeframe they demand, you are sunk.

They will also destroy your margins. You are dealing with the smartest retailer people on the planet. They know your business better than you do. In most cases, they will start with a price point they demand, and work backwards with wholesale pricing which essentially means they will dictate to you what price they will pay. It is up to you whether you make money at that price point.

I would consider starting smaller with online sales and smaller retailers for your distro chain, before going global. This will allow you to work out your own supply chain kinks. You don't want to destroy the relationship before it begins.