certified business opportunity - Business Supply Company

You are considering the office products industry at an opportune time for the entrepreneur. To understand what’s going on, it’s important to remember two numbers:

More and more, people want to buy office products and have them delivered to their business or home. We didn’t create this trend. We can’t change this trend. Most likely, no one can change this trend. It’s the same trend that happened with records, books, travel planning, and other industries. No one could stop those trends either.

This trend has big implications for owners of investments in retail space dedicated to office products (aka “the superstores”). Those owners are always worried about “same store sales.” As the two numbers above keep chugging along, same store sales will fall. It’s just the math. And as they do, the chains will start closing stores.

If you don’t believe it can happen, ask anybody at:

Wherehouse Music
Blockbuster re: Netflix
Waldenbooks
Tower Records
Any travel agency

It’s starting to happen with office products too. People like delivery because it’s more convenient, plus it saves traveling time and gas money. That hurts companies that are built on retail stores. Office products as a whole is naturally moving online too. Why is this happening? It's because "office products" are generic items like paper, pens, toner, etc. These items are not "jewelry" where the customer needs to touch and see them before purchasing. Office products and the Internet are a nature marriage. Below is an article from the Dallas Morning News, December, 4 2005. Of the top 5 online retailers, two of them are in the office products industry with each at a annual gross sales of 3.0+ billion: OfficeDepot.com (#3) & Staples.com (#4). Amazon.com took the top spot at $6.9 billion per year.

The other big trend is demographics. The small-medium business segment (SMB) of the office products market (companies with fewer than 100 employees) has annual office supplies purchases over $50 billion. One of the largest channels into these companies is independent office products dealers. This may come as a surprise, since we’re all used to seeing “superstores” on every street corner. But, those stores cater mostly to individuals. The companies that own those stores are huge and they won’t go away soon. But, they will be saddled with high overheads from unproductive assets. They have to cover those overheads so they need to keep prices up. So, there will be market opportunities for sales-oriented entrepreneurs who have a delivery-based office products offering.

The Factors that make Office Products a Great Business Choice:
There are several factors below which make office products a great Industry to become involved in.

Everybody needs office products.
Most office products are consumable so customers buy regularly.
The brand names are known. Customers intuitively know the quality of a Swingline stapler, Acco paper clips, or Hammermill paper. So there’s no need to represent the quality of the products.
The products are not too complicated. They [mostly!] are designed for easy use.
Office products have fairly high value per pound of weight. This keeps delivery costs reasonable, so there’s no need for the Associate to hold inventory.
There is a tradition of independent office products dealers.
The office products industry is undergoing significant change as customers switch to a delivery-based shopping model. This is causing instability in the major retail chains and provides an opportunity for new players to participate.
There are few other industries that have so many factors supporting a part-time effort.