Setting up a business website?

I am undecided if I should set up a website, but people keep asking if I have one.

I mostly sell wholesale to shops/online shops and therapists.

My products are weighted blankets and other weighted/sensory items. Mostly they are made to order.

My main supplier, I just keep an eye on their website and stock them as required, the others place orders.

The problem is potential new customers, wholesale and retail. Retail I usually refer them to my main stockist or can take the order myself.

I was thinking of doing a drop box or google doc file showing all the fabrics I have in stock, mainly for the stockists.

My other thought was do a website without a shop just to showcase the products (and fabrics). I rarely have much stock on hand to just sell, most is assigned to one of my stockists. Hence not really wanting an online shop option.

There is also the issue that I make a huge range of products, in heaps of sizes so would make it more complicated than I can get my head around. lol

So, should I go the file option or set up a website that I could add a shop option to at a later date?

Fellow business owner. Avid online consumer.

If you’re going to bother with retail, retail property. Use a good quality program like Shopify or kounta that makes ordering seamless for your customer, collects payment and flows into your inventory system.

I would query whether it’s worth it. Not every sale is a good sale. Have you and your accountant gone over the numbers to see whether it’s worthwhile?

Made to order can always have a 6-8 week time frame specified.

But I would not do a Dropbox solution.

I don’t think I fully understood the situation but do you sell to someone who onsells online? If so clearly it can be done. But would that out your business relationship at risk?

I am leaning toward not having a website. Some of my stockists want to see my fabric range.

It is tricky.

This is my main stockist, 99.5% of the items on this page are made by me. Just showing as an example. https://www.sensoryoasisforkids.com.au/product-category/weighted/

For example, a lap pad I can make in 3 different weights but in any fabric you want. It is the same for every fabric I have and most of the products I make come in multiple sizes.

I was thinking the drop box just for the stockists to see the fabrics, not to order or anything else.

I am really not keen on doing the whole website thing.

This is what I do

I'd definitely recommend a Shopify site, they're brilliant.

That scenario isn’t that difficult.

You have three different sizes of product a. Each of them gets set up as a main inventory item. Then they have sub items for want of a better word with the various fabric choice. Most decent inventory systems allow for exactly this scenario.

It if you don’t want to sell retail, don’t want a website, and make sufficient profit selling wholesale then just do that.

If you’re planning to do a Dropbox to assist your wholesale customers, have you asked them what they would find easiest to manage? They may already have systems in place that you could work in with.