My partner and I want to set up a mail order business for car parts?

We thought maybe start off as mail order/internet order and then branch out into a shop if it was successful. We are having no luck making ends meet by working for other people! I am fed up seeing my other half slaving away for a minimum wage!

We are on a very low income, have consequently had a lot of problems with money - nearly lost our house to repossession last year and so our credit rating is non existent. Presumably this means we wouldn't be able to set up our own business as we wouldn't be able to get credit/loan?

Or would we be able to get a grant from the Welsh Assembly (we live in Wales)?

Any advice on how to get started would be appreciated thanks.

This kind of business can be started quite slowly and with a minimum of out put. Suggest that this is your plan.

1) Find your supplier for car parts - do a dropship arrangement if possible.
2) Decide upon your company name and brand image.
3) Decide who you want to sell to and where they are.
4) Set up a web site - elance/guru/scriptlancers will do this cheaply for you. Godaddy and Hostgator for domains and hosting.
5) Set up a catalogue that can go out and send to a list of people.

All of the above can be done whilst you still have your job. Just takes a lot of hard work - but will be worth it, if it succeeds. In this way you are not risking your current income.

If this starts to be profitable - then the next phase:

1) Get yourself a good business plan written up - bizguru.us or businessplannow.com
2) Take the plan to the Welsh Assembly showing that you have proved the concept (made sales) and ask for grant to expand. Also try your bank.
3) Start expanding.

Good luck.

"My partner and I want to set up a mail order business for car parts?'

Ok...why???

I actually think that's insane because people with low cash flow should never go into an inventory based business.

You should go into a SERVICE based business which you can grow just by hiring new people.

Cleaning, web design, car repair...anything....anything where it's EASY TO GET OUT OF OR CHANGE IF IT DOESN"T WORK!

Why don't you start small, and start selling a few items on ebay. You can sell stuff at a fixed rate or auction it and it will give you an idea if this sort of business is for you. You can do this along side a full time job, thus keeping the risk low.

If this does seem to work, and you build up some cash flow, buy more stock, expand in to an ebay shop and keep selling that way. Then consider if your own shop/website is the way forward (as these can both be costly outlays)