Many will tell you to start in your own hometown, I think this is the wrong way to go about exploring ECA prospecting. Hometown prospecting is the right idea but throw that "smaller" thinking on a larger scale... Grab a phone book; put together a list of smaller towns, starting with ones within your region/county. From there do a little bit of research into the businesses these town already possess. I would categorize into two separate types:
(1) Towns that have larger scale departments stores
(2) Towns too small to have department stores
Reason being is your pitch to the business(es) located in an area without a department store do not have large competition so you will be approaching the owners differently. Simply makes it easier to stay organized is all. Don't limit yourself to only one town, group them! Often smaller towns will have the same or similar franchises and not just Ma & Pop stores. Maybe see if a few of these businesses would be interested in doing this collectively. Small town way of thinking is to band together so who knows, it's just one more way to market your idea!
Now, as for the "type" of business to approach the answer is simple
-Do they sell a common product that people buy? ie. necessities, toiletries, etc. (Staying away from the obvious, you wouldn't list a common grocery item as it is not practical)
-Can you ship it at a reasonable price?
-Has the TC market been flooded with product X already?
If you can answer Yes, Yes, and No then this is the perfect business to approach and approaching them with a game plan of including a cluster of other shops throughout surrounding areas will not only make them feel more at ease (not being "targeted") but also would put a little bit of pressure on them (if they don't jump on this opportunity someone else might, they could have had these potential sales and lost out.)
When one is wanting to recruit ECAs the possibilities are endless, as long as you are willing to not give up! Different people buy different things everyday, EVERY business is a lead, so follow it!
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Many will tell you to start in your own hometown, I think this is the wrong way to go about exploring ECA prospecting. Hometown prospecting is the right idea but throw that "smaller" thinking on a larger scale... Grab a phone book; put together a list of smaller towns, starting with ones within your region/county. From there do a little bit of research into the businesses these town already possess. I would categorize into two separate types:
(1) Towns that have larger scale departments
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