How to market product

athlone M

Hi all.
I'm thinking of starting a small agricultural related business supplying a product to a very niche market.
I dont want to go to the expense of start up for equipment without knowing retailers will have an interest in my product.
My problem is how to approach potential customers, one of my weak points is i dont have the gift of the gab.
Another thing is it will take me a year to have this product availabe for the retailer so how do i get them interested in something that basically doesnt exist yet and its something the are already supplying so is the only way to make sales is to under cut the price of there current suppliers?
Thanks for any feedback.

NathanKingerlee

That sounds a bit tricky!

bigneacy

you'll need some pretty intense sales skills if you're going to try and sell something that doesn't exist...

ReadySteadyGo

This is an obvious answer I know, but I would approach this very openly

Find out the person in the shops, who is responsible for making decisions on products they stock and talk to them.

Tell them you are thinking of going into that business and you are looking for feedback. Ask them what you would need to do, in order to get stocked in their shop. Look for a commitment from them, that if you could supply the product they would buy it. Try to get an idea of number units sold per month.