• shops and stores
  • individuals
  • ebayers
  • market traders

The other day I wrote an article for an entrepreneurial website on how to start a business from scratch. I researched it thoroughly and wrote it up and it’s a great article, succinct and to the point, but it’s not practical. I know that when people search online to find out how to make their first million, they actually want very practical advice about how they can do that. So what I’m going to do here is show you how to make £35,000 or thereabouts. What you do with the profit after that is entirely up to you!

How to make your first million (or £35,000 at least) Wholesale Clearance UK Blog

Object of desire

First off let’s imagine that you are going to start your business. You have no money, perhaps just a tenner that your Mum gave you for Christmas, or one that you’ve borrowed off your child. You need to buy something you can sell that is instantly desirable. Ask a room full of women what their favourite colour is and I guarantee at least half will like purple. Result! Buy this job lot of 20 Mini Purple Art Deco ‘Illustration Nails’ Nail Varnish for £9.90 and sell them for the recommended retail price of £2.75. Your net result is £45 profit, but let’s say £42 because you’ve had to pay packing and postage.
How to make your first million (or £35,000 at least) Wholesale Clearance UK Blog

Little Johnny was held over to keep the peace.

Hmmm. £42 burning a hole in your pocket. Resist the urge to treat yourself to an overpriced coffee somewhere and instead purchase these fabulous fun (as long as you’re not a parent) Joblot of 50 Children’s ‘My Melody’ Plastic Recorders that come in a range of funky colours. Sweet! The recommended retail price on these is £4.99 so you stand to earn £200 profit after postage costs.
How to make your first million (or £35,000 at least) Wholesale Clearance UK Blog

These boots were made for walking out of the store!

With £200 you can start to move into the big league. If 50 recorders took you a while to sell this Joblot of 5 Ladies Faded Black Mou Seagrass Circled Boots may hold more appeal. These are handcrafted footwear and they retail between £160 and £260 per pair. This means a potential profit for you of £850.
How to make your first million (or £35,000 at least) Wholesale Clearance UK Blog

Oooh. Suits you Sir!

Now that you’re rich, you can enjoy certain perks, like free delivery on orders over £500 from us at Wholesaleclearance.co.uk! It’s not quite a platinum card but it’s getting you there isn’t it? So next up, buy two, yes two!, Joblots of 40 Men’s Branded Mixed Suit Jackets (20) and Suit Trousers (20). The RRP for these items is between £65 and £105.00. These are quality branded items in a mix of sizes, so there is something to appeal to everyone here. If you can sell these then you earn not £3000 in profit but because you bought two lots you have the potential to earn £6000 in profit! Whoop. Buy another few lots of these to double your money.

Now that you have a small amount of floating cash you can invest in business cards, a more expensive website or some marketing, or just keep ploughing the money back into stock. Reinvestment in the key here. Don’t spend your profit until the business really can hold its own.

How to make your first million (or £35,000 at least) Wholesale Clearance UK Blog

Fruit of your labours

So now you have somewhere in the region of £10,000 profit and some pretty business cards. Cool. I hope you have a garage. Why not invest in an ambitious lot such as a One Off* Joblot Of Ex-Comet Store Electrical which includes Cookers, Fridge/Freezers, DVD Recorders, Vacuum Cleaners computer cables, ink cartridges and so much more.

The cost per item averages out at £6.50 which is an amazing deal. Potential profit is £35,000. Imagine where you could take your business from there. The sky is the limit. Or your imagination at least!

3 Responses to “How to make your first million (or £35,000 at least)”

Lee chapmanFebruary 19th, 2013 at 6:52 pm

Hi, I am selling via eBay and amazon and in the last month have done fairly well.
You mentioned a website on selling goods which would need a lot of money to advertise it.
Your theory on how to sell is good but where do you attract that custom? Am I on the right track?

Karl BaxterFebruary 25th, 2013 at 3:04 pm

Hi Lee, you must be on the right track if you are doing well on eBay and Amazon in Jan/Feb as things are slow. So keep up the good work!

I’ll have a think about advertising and maybe blog about that.

Thanks for the comment!