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Retail & wholesale startup checklist

Location, assortment, suppliers and margins: the operating plan for a physical or wholesale business that opens once and stays open.

12 stepsOrdered by phase · personalized by your co-founder

1Choose location and format on evidence

  • Count foot traffic at different times of day before signing anything — weekend traffic is not weekday traffic.
  • Match format to reality: convenience, destination, wholesale or hybrid depends on your assortment and customers.
  • Model the rent against realistic daily sales: rent should be a % of expected revenue you can defend.

2Build assortment with margin discipline

  • Curate 3 roles: traffic drivers (popular, thin margin), margin makers (high markup), and one signature item only you carry.
  • Negotiate supplier terms: price, MOQ, delivery, credit period and return policy — get them in writing.
  • Set a minimum gross margin per category and walk away from items below it.

3Stock control from day one

  • Track stock in units and value — cash is tied up in shelves whether you feel it or not.
  • Know your two numbers weekly: stock-turn rate and dead-stock value.
  • Plan seasonal buys backward from last year's data or, without data, buy half and reorder fast.

4Open, then convert passers-by

  • Run a soft opening week: fix service and stock issues before the grand launch.
  • Capture every buyer's contact (receipts, WhatsApp, loyalty) — a store without a list has to re-advertise every day.
  • Launch with one visible offer that gives people a reason to walk in this week.

Don't guess your way through this

Tell your co-founder your idea and country — it will turn this checklist into your personalized Journey, run the market research, and produce the documents for you.

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