Finding Wholesalers is Easy.
Don't bother with the link lists you will see advertised if you do a search for wholsale suppliers.Very few suppliers will put their website high up any search engine because they don't need to.You have no choice but to buy from somewhere and they will get the customers as they always have done through reps,advertisements in trade journals etc.
The Trader magazine is an excellent source of addresses and phone numbers of many trade suppliers,and its free to search they're database.
Yell.com is a source beyond compare, you will literally get every name in the yellow pages and details, maps aerial photos,and phone numbers.
Touch Local Business Finder is great and just like yell it has a very user friendly search system,but it really has loads of listings in every catergory.
Any type of item you could want can be found on these business finding websites,and don't forget they want to sell to you,their livelyhood depends on it.
Be ready to spend quite some time on the phone to find the right suppliers,I would get one of those unlimited landline deals from someome like talk-talk, or ntl.
Phone every single one you can find and ask about the products they sell, what times they are open, postcode for your satnav, minimum spend (only mention this in passing - you don't want to seem like a cheap shot!), whether they are open to cash sales or is it stricly accounts?
After speaking to a few you may decide to take a look in person, if so, put the phone down.Take a break and then arrange your travel plans.
Phone up in advance explain who you are; "Hello,I'm Mrs XXXXX, I am the buyer for a newly launched internet sales company, looking to spend 50K a year in this area of goods for the company and would be interested in what you have in stock,would I be able to come down and take a look at your operation?".These are the words they have been having wet dreams about for years, they will say yes ,and then you are in.
