284 | 4 Common Wholesale Mistakes and How to Correct Them with Katie Hunt

How did you decide that it was time to start wholesaling for your business? This is one of my favorite questions to ask my coaching clients, our Paper Camp students, and even our guests here on the podcast, because even though there are a lot of similarities between our stories, everyone's journey is so different.

In some cases like mine, deciding to sell wholesale was a very intentional and deliberate choice. For me, I knew when I started my stationery business, that wholesale would be the best business model for me. I had already dabbled in custom design and I didn't love it. I had an Etsy shop that was bringing in a decent volume of orders, but it felt like a slow grind. They were small orders one by one.

I was intrigued by wholesale, although I was a bit naive too! The idea of selling in higher volume, building relationships with other business owners—that felt right for me and it felt right for where I was in the season of life that I was at at the time.

Now some people get into wholesale because they feel like they have maximized their retail direct to consumer sales channel and they want to diversify. Other people got into wholesale because they were approached by stores and asked if they sold their products wholesale, so they figured out what that meant and how to sell wholesale on the fly. Whether it is an intentional or an accidental decision to move into selling wholesale, the most successful brands are those that have a strong wholesale foundation, meaning their product sales, marketing, and operations are ready for wholesale.

Today on the podcast, I want to share some of the biggest mistakes that I see new product brands making when they enter wholesale. And I will share our four part wholesale framework that we teach at Paper Camp so that you can avoid making these common mistakes and ultimately sell more of your products.

Today's episode is brought to you by Paper Camp. This is our signature program where we teach you how to scale your wholesale program through four weeks of live coaching calls, videos & community connections. Paper Camp has run 40 times in 11 years & we've coached 1000s of brands whose products are sold in Target, Nordstrom, Container Store, Barnes & Noble and independent boutiques all over the world. Make sure you're on our waitlist!

If you are listening to this episode the week that it airs, we are currently accepting scholarship applications for our 41st round of Paper Camp. The deadline is Friday, February 17 at 5PM PT! Learn more and submit your application today!

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You can view full show notes and more at prooftoproduct.com/284