Editor’s note: This article was first published in March 2011; its examples, such as the first iPhone described as already outdated and the claim that people in other countries still do not know what a mobile phone is, are from 2011.
Just today I came up with a business idea around outlets, one that could be a very profitable business, after noticing that some companies have no way to get rid of products that were once fashionable and no longer sell, or that were simply pushed aside by a newer, higher-end range before all the units had been sold.
By the outlet market we mean products sold at between 50% and 80% off their original market price, sometimes even 90%. This market, or way of moving products, has no international reach. Let me explain.
If Princess Barbie was in fashion two years ago and Queen Barbie has come out this year, it is only natural that no mother will buy her daughter Princess Barbie, at least in Spain. But there are other markets where nobody has heard of Princess Barbie or Beggar Barbie, so those products could reach those places at a low price.
Another field is mobile phone technology. While here the first iPhone is well and truly out of date, in other countries people still don’t know what it is to have a mobile phone. The same goes for laptops, televisions and all kinds of products that have become outdated in our market.
How to do it
First and foremost, negotiate with these companies. If they don’t get those products out onto the street, even at a lower price, they will take a loss. They already count on those losses; in fact, they are usually built into their prices, and in some countries companies even have insurance for unsold goods.
The more products you have, the better. You can stock toys, tech products, old books, even clothes (in another article we’ll look at an innovative new business that has emerged around clothing).
How to get the products to these markets. The easiest way is clearly a multilingual online store that brings all the products together. Within the outlet itself, you could even offer bigger discounts to retailers interested in becoming distributors in their country.
Another way is to build contacts and sell directly wholesale. This business idea may seem complicated, although the hardest part is probably making the first contacts and negotiating prices with the companies willing to hand over their products.
Not long ago someone set up an online store for banned books, which shipped books that had been censored by the government of a particular country. The site (whose name I can’t remember right now) lets anyone get hold of whatever book they want, from whatever country, so the business idea we are proposing is very viable and could certainly be a profitable business.
Further reading
- Business ideas for 2011
- Business ideas in leisure and tourism
- Business ideas on the internet
- The advantages of starting a business in a downturn
Featured image: Steve Elliott from UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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