Home-based bar stool supplier for venues

Independent bars, cafes, pubs, restaurants, brewpubs and hotel owners opening or refreshing their seating, plus the designers and contractors who fit them out.

You buy at trade price and sell at a markup per stool, with extra margin on large orders, custom finishes and delivery coordination. Repeat orders come as venues expand or replace worn seating.

• Selling and quoting to business owners
• Organising orders and delivery dates
• Basic product knowledge (frames, seat materials, heights)
• Following up with customers

• Commercial general liability and product liability insurance, check what your insurer needs for furniture sold to venues
• Whether commercial seating needs to meet fire-safety or flammability standards in your province or municipality, ask your suppliers for documentation
• Damage in transit and returns, agree who pays before you take an order
• Long lead times and deposits, especially for imported stock or custom orders
• GST/HST registration once you pass the small supplier threshold, and provincial sales tax rules where you operate
• A home-based business licence may be needed from your municipality, check locally

Startup costs are estimated at typically around $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the samples and swatches you buy, how you build your catalogue and how you promote to venues. Because manufacturers can ship direct, you may not need to hold much stock.

Monthly revenue is estimated at typically around $1,500 to $8,000, depending on order sizes, your product range and how many bars, cafes and restaurants you win as customers. Longer lead times on custom orders can affect when you are paid.

Check what insurance your insurer needs, including commercial general and product liability. Check whether commercial seating must meet fire-safety or flammability standards in your province or municipality, GST/HST registration once past the small supplier threshold, and any home-based business licence.