I have a counter in pasar pd labu and currently thinking to have an egg distribution business.what are the things i should know before hand?

e.g :

  • where can i get source of egg? (agent/breeder)
  • what kind of egg do i need to get? (i’ve heard padang egg, blitar egg)
  • how’s the price fluctuation work?

This is a Quora question I was asked and here is my answer.

I cannot answer your specific questions because they depend on local knowledge about the types of product available to you and the sources.

From a more general market research standpoint, I would do primary research by visiting other egg resellers in your market area to find out the type of product they carry, how much inventory do they stock, how well does it sell, and how much inventory do they have left over that they are unable to sell.

Look at how the product is displayed on shelf and if there is any particular signage or packaging. Take note of pricing and price differences between sellers and the seasonality or timing for price fluctuations.

You are not trying to reinvent everything yourself, but model what others are doing, because at some level, what they do is working, otherwise they would probably not be doing it.

If your competitors serving your area are very similar to sellers out of your service area, then go visit those out of your service area and ask them questions. Since they do not directly compete with you, they may be willing to give you more insight into the questions above.

If you can, I would try to specialize in a more unique product that others do not carry. This may give you some competitive advantage, where customers are more captive to you. Then, you stand a better chance of picking up their spending on other products you might carry.

Costs are always critical to look at, because you want to sell this product profitably. In general, in the U.S., for food products, you want to try and keep your costs of goods sold (the cost of the raw ingredients plus packaging plus transportation to you plus any labor tied to packaging the product) under 40% of your retail price. Your marketing costs and all other operating costs you want to try and keep under 40%, which leaves you with a 20% profit margin. These are just general rules of thumb and will be different by product and market, but that is what we shoot for in selling food products in the U.S.

Start out small with limited inventory so you can test and get your supply chain figured out. As you see success and get your supply chain and selling processes working, you can slowly increase from there.