How to become a telecoms reseller in the UK
Most people who start a telecoms business have already worked in one. You know the products and you know the customers. What you do not know yet is everything sitting behind the sale.
This is what actually has to happen, roughly in order.
- 01
Decide what you are selling
Hosted voice, connectivity, mobile, or a mix. Most people start with what they already know how to sell.
- 02
Choose a wholesaler
Gamma, Giacom and others sell through the channel. What matters is margin, support quality, portal usability, contract terms and how much they let you brand as your own. Talk to several.
- 03
Decide whether you need a RID
A Range Identifier lets you hold and port numbers in your own name, and it makes you independent of a single wholesaler. It is not required to start selling hosted seats, and plenty of good businesses never get one.
Get one if you want portability and independence. Skip it initially if you want to start selling next month.
- 04
Sort out billing early
This is where new resellers come unstuck. Rating CDRs, applying tariffs, producing bills that reconcile with what the wholesaler charges you. Wholesaler portals, dedicated billing platforms, or an outsourced bureau. Decide before you have customers, not after.
- 05
Get the compliance right
ICO registration if you handle personal data. TPS and CTPS screening before you make a single outbound call. Terms of business that reflect the wholesale contract you are signing.
What you need before your first sale
- 1 A company
- 2 A wholesale agreement
- 3 A billing route
- 4 A brand and a website
- 5 Terms of business
- 6 And a plan for where the first twenty customers come from
Most people get four of those six sorted and then discover the website was the one they should have started with, because every prospect checks.
Positioning
The mistake almost everyone makes
Building the business around a price. There is always someone cheaper, usually someone bigger. The resellers that last compete on service, on a sector they understand, or on being genuinely easier to deal with.
Decide that early, because it shapes your brand, your website and who you call.
Start as a technology partner, not as a reseller
The businesses that struggle hardest in this market are the ones that spend three years selling one product on price and then try to broaden. Starting with a proposition built around what the customer needs, rather than around the one thing you can sell today, is far easier than repositioning later.
If you want help with the brand and website
That part is what we do. Companies starting out get a route that reflects the budget: brand, positioning and a site that grows with you rather than needing replacing at year two.
Questions
Hosted voice, connectivity, mobile, or a mix. Most people start with what they already know how to sell.
Gamma, Giacom and others sell through the channel. What matters is margin, support quality, portal usability, contract terms and how much they let you brand as your own. Talk to several.
A Range Identifier lets you hold and port numbers in your own name, and it makes you independent of a single wholesaler. It is not required to start selling hosted seats, and plenty of good businesses never get one. Get one if you want portability and independence. Skip it initially if you want to start selling next month.
This is where new resellers come unstuck. Rating CDRs, applying tariffs, producing bills that reconcile with what the wholesaler charges you. Wholesaler portals, dedicated billing platforms, or an outsourced bureau. Decide before you have customers, not after.
ICO registration if you handle personal data. TPS and CTPS screening before you make a single outbound call. Terms of business that reflect the wholesale contract you are signing.
A company. A wholesale agreement. A billing route. A brand and a website. Terms of business. And a plan for where the first twenty customers come from. Most people get four of those six sorted and then discover the website was the one they should have started with, because every prospect checks.
