BUILD BUSINESS WITH DISTRIBUTION DEALS

BUILD BUSINESS WITH DISTRIBUTION DEALS

A major cost for many start-ups that develop physical products is storing and distributing their products. One shortcut to the market is establishing a relationship with a distributor who services your marketplace, otherwise known as a distribution deal. In the beginning, Made for Success was a two-person company operating a book publishing company out of a residential home. Lacking warehouse space and shipping infrastructure, the company didn’t have the essential infrastructure to expand.

The company started to research solutions and identified a distribution company called Ingram Publisher Services, a division of the world’s largest book distributors. Ingram, a multibillion-dollar company representing hundreds of mid-tier book publishers, created this solution to provide distribution and sales infrastructure.

Upon signing the deal, Made for Success instantly had access to five distribution centers domestically and three distribution centers internationally to store and sell books. The company could also print inventory in four countries across the globe, all integrated into complex operational infrastructure for storing, selling, and invoicing. Within a short period of time, Made for Success books were available globally. Otherwise, it would have cost the company millions of dollars to build out. In return for the distribution infrastructure, Ingram Publisher Services receives a percentage of the wholesale revenues from each book sold.

Distribution deals bring numerous advantages, including decreased time to market and access to infrastructure that is beyond the scale of a company like Made for Success. Odds are, if you operate a start-up, there are distributors in your industry who can help provide the ability to scale your business at a fraction of the cost of building it yourself.