[nicolaa123]

I was talking to my friend who currently has his own business, due to way things are the business is not going that well and he will be down to one customer in the new year as many of his have gone out of business. Plus the manual work he does has had a toll on his well being.

We were talking and he is thinking of starting up an Internet based business as he needs to do something to pay the bills and also get him off a manual type job!

I joked about a pet food business as am looking at buying overseas. Now I know there is zoo plus for a lot of brands but I also know that there are a lot other brands you can only get overseas.

My question is, with all the internet sites you can buy from, do you think there would be room in the market for a small independent, especially if he was to import foods you can not order from a uk stockist??

 

[Cookieandme]

I would think the sheer cost of stocking the different brands would not be cost effective, if you could get the manufacturers to sell to you.

 

[nicolaa123]

I would think the sheer cost of stocking the different brands would not be cost effective, if you could get the manufacturers to sell to you.

Very good point..

 

[newfiesmum]

Manufacturers of anything don't do a lot to support the small business as they do not want to sell a few sacks of food, they want to sell a whole warehouse full. I also think that there are an awful lot of pet food places online already. I don't know of any foods that you have to import and don't forget he would have to sell them a lot cheaper than the store up the road.

Then there is the problem of getting seen in the first place. So many websites, millions in fact, all in competition.

I don't want to put a damper on an idea, but I don't think it would be successful at least not for a very long time.

 

[Cazzer]

well I think the market for the likes of catz, macs, petnatur etc is a very small one, hence no one in the UK stocks them. The vast majority of cats owners having never heard of them. I suspect that even if he could persuade a manufacturer to sell to him that he would not be able to compete with the likes of FMS and Floyds price wise

 

[nicolaa123]

All very good points. He is exploring a few ideas, to be honest I was thinking the same as you guys, but its always good to get second opinion..