Drive the profitability of your wholesale and distribution business with Australia’s most awarded coaches

Sunlover Heating Oasis Logo

Tenfold client since 2011

Sunlover Heating Oasis Logo

Tenfold client since 2011

Wholesale and distribution is a volume game. Managing supply chains, working capital and stock turns requires precision to be profitable. Small changes – whether those changes are negative or positive – can have a big impact.

Since 2002, Tenfold Business Coaching has been improving the capacity and capability of Australian distributors and wholesale businesses, like Sunlover Heating.

If you believe your wholesaler and distributor business could be more productive and more profitable, find out what you can achieve with an experienced Tenfold business coach.

Business coaching for distributors and wholesalers

Know your numbers

If you’re not sure how much you’re making on every order fulfilment, there’s a risk you’re leaking money. Harsh but fair. Now’s the time to change that.

Get advice to improve your financial performance.

Get ahead of the pack

Secure your position as the preferred supplier for A-grade clients.

Differentiate your business based on the reliability of your supply-chain management.

Have an edge over the competition.

Be in control

A strong business is like a well-oiled machine: all the parts work to deliver the outcome you plan for.

Control the gears that drive profit:
Sales | Cash Flow | Margins

Bulletproof your business

Protect your distribution business from the knocks.

Realistic planning and resource management to operate a productive warehouse with profitable throughput.

Lead a high performing team

Attract and retain a high-performing sales team of BDMs, account managers and sales reps.

Be supported by an efficient operations team: warehouse manager, pick and pack crew, inventory managers.

Freedom to Choose

Work ON your business, not in it.

Scale your business, or just take time off without thinking about shipping.

Financial independence to give you options.

Back your distribution and warehousing business growth with:

Financial tools to track and improve performanceNext-level strategies for your big pictureBest practices for pricing, systems and cost controlManagement coaching for efficient warehousing operations

Back your supply chain business with smart strategies for bankable growth

Business Coaching Firm of the Year for growing Australian businesses

Awarded: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017

Team group
The Business Excellence Forum & Awards Coaching Firm of the Year 2022
Logo
Logo
Logo
Logo
Logo
The Business Excellence Forum & Awards Coaching Firm of the Year 2022
Logo
Logo
Logo
Logo
Logo
Meet the Tenfold Team

Intel and accountability to grow your distributor business

Know what you need to know to drive your business results.

Dashboard

You wouldn’t make a guess about freight schedules, so don’t make guesses in your business.

As growth experts, our business coaches get the right intel to make informed decisions to improve your distribution business.

  • Best Practices: Level up with SOPs to tighten your debtor days, stock turns and improve your cost control.

  • Financial Models: Data-based plans to target improvements for the best version of your business, from warehouse capacity to fulfilment accuracy and staff efficiency. Predict and manage the impact of changes on your cash flow.

  • Big Picture Vision: Realistic plans for scaling up your wholesaling business to provide you with financial independence and freedom of choice.

Take the guesswork out of your business. When you know better, you do better.

Dashboard

Strategic decisions in distribution: the right niche and business model

Experienced business coaching supports informed decision making

Our experience in coaching distribution and wholesaling businesses is that there is a range of options for a niche, such as deciding:

  • Non-exclusive versus products covered by an exclusivity agreement
  • Commodity items versus speciality items
  • Out of the box product vs installation and commissioning required
  • Time sensitive items like food and fashion garments
  • Consumer products versus industrial equipment
  • Local versus overseas supplies
  • Made to order versus off the shelf products

At Tenfold Business Coaching we know that business owners face the strategic decision of whether to distribute direct or use sub-distributors, retail dealers, licensees or franchisees. You also need to weigh up the decision to operate own factories/warehouses and delivery vehicles or outsource to 3PL.

By understanding the nature of the products and their use to the end client you can critically assess the value of your role in the supply chain. There are great business models for wholesale and distribution, and there are also some models that are highly competitive and low margin that are hard to make money from.

It’s important to know the strengths of your business (for example your location, logistics capability, working capital and borrowing capacity) and that of yourself as the business owner (access to markets, appetite for growth and risk, ability to make strategic decisions, leadership and management skills).

By critically reviewing these factors our coaches support business owners to assess the suitability of their business to run profitably with their current offering. From that position of clarity, we identify improvements to the model or explore shifting the business into a better model.

Advanced coaching for next level growth

Customised strategies for supply chain businesses

Photo of business coach Ashley Thomson advising a business owner on niche strategy
Photo of business coach Ashley Thomson advising a business owner on niche strategy

Tenfold business coaching uses a range of advanced strategies to give wholesaler and distributor businesses a financial edge:

  • Improve supplier terms with the view to optimising gross margins;

  • Lock in exclusive agreements to differentiate your offering to end clients;

  • Embed negotiation skills in key roles to advance commercial with suppliers, customers and third party logistics providers;

  • Cost benefit analysis on running own warehousing and deliveries versus outsourcing to 3PL, assigning value to control and management for practical assessment.
  • Financial modelling and chain-link reviews to identify opportunities to tighten working capital costs and save on interest expenses.

Back your business to go further. Speak with Tenfold today.

Managing time and cost pressures in the supply chain

Applying insight earned through experience

Efficient warehousing and logistics operations are critical as large amounts of cashflow can be tied up in orders. At Tenfold, some of the contributing factors we consider and assess include:

  • Lead time from order acceptance to commencement of manufacturing
  • Manufacturing timeframe
  • Shipping and customs timeframes
  • Warehousing and local storage timeframes

On top of this, some products have a design component that also takes time. This means more working capital is required for growth: in many cases growth needs to be financed by borrowings. To provide financial stability, majority of the annual profits need to be put back into the business, leaving little opportunity for profit to be drawn down and paid to the owners

Calculating the current of cash flow is crucial to short-term viability and long-term success.

It bears stating that in distribution and wholesale cashflow is extremely important, more so than almost any other commercial sector. Many end clients will pay 30 days end of month with some larger clients extending payments out to 120 days end of month. Meanwhile some overseas manufacturers will require payment or a deposit prior to manufacture starting.

Wholesalers and distributors often require finance (such as trade finance, invoice finance) to cover these cashflow shortfalls. The cost of borrowing needs to be factored into financial modelling. If the business doesn’t have good profit margins, a high portion of gross profit can be lost to borrowing costs.

Managing finance well means keeping a tight handle on the metrics that matter:

  • Gross profit margin per product
  • Stock turns
  • Debtor days
  • Inventory $
  • Stock in transit
  • Finance facility capacity
  • Warehouse capacity

You can’t avoid the pressures in distribution, but you can manage them. Explore Tenfold’s experience in supply chain services.

Elevate your supply chain business  
with Tenfold Business Coaching

Expert Advice | Smart Strategies | Real Results