Online commercial refrigeration dealer

New and expanding restaurants, food trucks, bakeries, bars, convenience stores and small grocers, plus owners replacing a broken unit.

You earn the margin between your wholesale price and what the customer pays, or a dealer commission. Freight and optional extras like installation referrals add to each order.

• Sales and quoting
• Learning equipment specs and sizing
• Following up with customers
• Organizing orders and freight

• Check your state's sales tax registration and resale certificate rules, and how tax applies to your sales
• Freight damage and returns on large units: agree who is responsible with your suppliers before you sell
• Check refrigerant, energy efficiency and local health code requirements so you do not sell a unit a customer cannot legally use
• General liability and product liability insurance, and check HOA or lease rules for a home office
• Small margins mean one bad order can wipe out a month's profit, so get deposits on big orders

Startup costs are typically around $1,500 to $6,000, depending on your setup. Because units ship direct from manufacturers, you never hold stock. Treat this as an estimate, and plan to take deposits on big orders since margins are small.

Monthly revenue is typically around $3,000 to $15,000, depending on how many restaurants and shops you win and the size of the units you sell. This is an estimate of revenue, not profit, and one bad order can wipe out a month's profit.

Check your state's sales tax registration and resale certificate rules, plus refrigerant, energy efficiency and local health code requirements. Also check insurance, HOA or lease rules for a home office, and who is responsible for freight damage with your suppliers.