Becoming a distributor

[Guzzo]

Has anyone here successfully become a distributor for an established company overseas? I know of a product line that is immensely popular in the United States, however, the only two distributors are located in Texas and California making it both difficult and costly for east coast consumers. I've been playing with the idea in my head and I think an eastern distribution would be immensely successful. So, if you have been successful in becoming a distributor I have some questions;

1. How did you do it? How did you approach the company?
2. What obstacles did you encounter?
3. Any advice for making the process easier?

Any insight would be great, just trying to get a bit more info.

[Lambo]

seems to be a lack of distributors in the forums.....

[andrewrichardgale]

this is a good question because i have the same idea

[byzantium]

Reword your subject line. People likely think you're talking about MLM, where suckers are frequently given lofty titles like "distributor" or "independent consultant". You're not talking about MLM but about becoming a franchisee, the way I see it. A franchise is legally different from MLM, although be careful here too because MLM's have started calling the phony "businesses" that suckers buy into things like "personal franchises". Con men have no shame.

[zharlene]

I know an obstacle...that's because one of my friends was trying to be a distributor (and decided to give up on the idea):

Potential customers are always asking for free samples, which are not always "free" to the distributor. You'll meet a lot of businesses claiming to be "established companies".

[andrewrichardgale]

zharlene that dosnt sound that bad at all, i already planned on giving free samples and of course your going to run into bullshit in any business

[lappyhappy]

Depends on the product and a lot of other things but the best thing to do is give it a whirl and see how it goes. Contact the manufacturer and find out what their requirements are for becoming a distributor. This kind of thing is all about the leg-work and pounding the phones.