Why your wholesale plans keep falling apart and what needs to change this year

By Therese Oertenblad, Small Business Collaborative

Every January, product-based business owners tell me the same thing.

“This is the year I get consistent with wholesale.”

And yet by spring, most of those plans have already fallen apart. Not because you are not capable or committed, but because the way you are planning your wholesale is setting you up to struggle.

If you want predictable wholesale sales, the plan behind them needs to support you, not drain you. Here are the real reasons your wholesale planning slips every year and what needs to shift if you want different results.

1. You are treating wholesale like a side task instead of a sales channel

This is the most common pattern I see inside Small Business Collaborative.

Most business owners want to grow their wholesale business, but wholesale ends up squeezed between other tasks. It only gets attention when things are quiet or when confidence is high.

Selling wholesale to retailers requires consistent attention, even in small amounts. Not intensity. Not long hours. Simply a steady presence. A wholesale sales plan will only work when it becomes something you return to regularly.

2. You are guessing instead of planning around the buying year

A lot of business owners feel behind because they guess when retailers buy. You do not need a long list of seasons to understand this. You simply need to know that retailers plan earlier than you think and make decisions long before the products appear in stores.

When you stop guessing and start planning your wholesale year with the buying cycle in mind, everything becomes easier.

You pitch earlier.

You follow up with more confidence.

You stop feeling like you are always chasing stockists rather than supporting them.

3. Your goals are clear but your structure is missing

Saying you want more stockists is not the same as having a wholesale sales strategy.

Saying you want consistent wholesale orders is not the same as having an annual sales plan for your small business.

A plan needs structure. It needs a rhythm that fits you and a level of consistency you can actually maintain. Without that, wholesale will always come in bursts because your activity comes in bursts too.

4. Outreach feels too big because you are approaching it all at once

Many business owners imagine outreach as a huge task involving long lists, complex spreadsheets or sending hundreds of email pitches. No wonder it feels overwhelming.

Inside Sales Growth Lab, we break it into something you can actually sustain. You do not need to master buyer outreach emails overnight. You simply need a rhythm that does not exhaust you.

If outreach feels overwhelming, you are not the problem.

The system you are trying to use is.

5. Your sales mindset is holding more power than you think

This is the part that quietly undermines so many wholesale plans.

Most business owners assume they should naturally know how to sell simply because they run a product business. And when selling feels uncomfortable or inconsistent, they think it means something is wrong with them.

Nothing is wrong with them.

They simply have never been taught how to approach retail buyers with confidence or how to follow up with retail buyers without doubting themselves.

Mindset shows up in very practical ways:

• Avoiding follow-up

• Assuming silence is a no

• Hesitating to reach out

• Feeling guilty for selling

• Disappearing when things get busy

  
  

Inside Sales Growth Lab, we start by helping you boost your sales mindset because once this shifts, your confidence, consistency and results shift too.

6. You are planning in isolation

Trying to plan your wholesale business entirely alone is one of the biggest reasons it collapses by spring. You are not meant to guess your way through wholesale planning or seasonal wholesale trends.

Support is what turns a plan from a document into a habit.

If you want predictable wholesale sales, your approach needs to change

You do not need more hours or a complicated spreadsheet.

You do not need to suddenly love selling wholesale.

You simply need a structure that fits you.

You need:

• clarity about what to focus on

• a rhythm you can stick to

• mindset support so selling feels lighter

• an understanding of how wholesale works in the UK

• a plan you can actually maintain

  
  

That is what creates predictable wholesale sales.

Ready to build a wholesale plan that actually works

Most small business owners send one email, hear nothing and assume the buyer isn’t interested.

In reality, silence almost always means the retailer is:

• busy

• doing stock counts

• preparing for a season change

• short staffed

• waiting for budget

  
  

Following up is one of the simplest ways to increase wholesale orders, yet it’s the step most people avoid because they don’t have a system.

Predictable wholesale sales come from repetition and structure, not guesswork.

A Good Wholesale Plan is Simple, Repeatable and Sustainable

If you want a wholesale sales plan that finally feels clear, consistent and realistic, the waitlist for Sales Growth Lab is now open.

This is where we build your structure, strengthen your mindset and support you through the habits that make wholesale predictable all year.

Join the waitlist here and be the first to know when doors open.