Home-Based lighting supplier to electricians

Electricians, small building and renovation firms, property managers and small independent retailers.

You buy at trade prices and sell at a markup, with volume pricing for repeat customers. Larger project quotes bring bigger orders.

• Selling to trade customers
• Knowing lighting products and specs
• Organised with orders and suppliers
• Comfortable with numbers and pricing

• Electrical products sold in Canada generally need certification from an accredited body (such as CSA or cUL marks), so check every product you stock
• Some lighting products must meet energy efficiency rules, so check with Natural Resources Canada
• Check whether your municipality requires a home-based business licence, and whether you can store stock at home
• Register for GST/HST, and check your province's rules on PST or QST and resale certificates
• Quebec may have French-language labelling and documentation rules
• Product liability and commercial general liability insurance, and returns or faulty batches from suppliers

Startup costs are typically estimated at around $2,000 to $10,000, depending on how much stock you hold and how much ships directly from suppliers. Your product range and trade accounts will affect where you land in that range.

Monthly revenue is typically estimated at around $2,000 to $10,000, depending on how many trade customers you win and how often they reorder. This is revenue before costs, so check your margins on each product line.

Check that every product has certification from an accredited body, such as CSA or cUL marks, and meets energy efficiency rules through Natural Resources Canada. Also check home-based business rules, GST/HST and provincial sales tax, and Quebec French-language labelling.