About Distribution Business

Distribution Business (distributionbusiness.org) is an independent editorial resource for founders, operators, and managers in wholesale distribution and B2B logistics.

Our content is researched and written for practical implementation — not generic business advice and not dropshipping playbooks.

James Cole spent 15+ years inside wholesale distribution operations: negotiating supplier terms, living with Net-30 cash gaps, fixing pick accuracy on the floor, and sitting through ERP implementations that either saved the P&L or burned a year of runway.

One hard-earned lesson that shows up across our guides: a supplier quote that looks 10% cheaper can destroy margin after freight, duty, defects, and DSO — so we push landed-cost thinking and service KPIs (fill rate, OTIF) over vanity revenue.

Another: software demos sell features; distributors win or lose on customer-specific pricing, EDI, and whether receiving variance is visible before the truck leaves. That is why our software pillar names real platforms and evaluation scenarios.

James leads the distribution column. The specialist masthead is James Cole, Elena Vargas, Marcus Hale, Olivia Grant, Noah Keller, Alex Rivers, and Maya Chen.

We publish hub-and-spoke guides across six pillars: getting started, wholesale sourcing, logistics, distribution software, growth, and industry-specific playbooks.

Geographic scope is US-first (LLC, EIN, Net 30, state sales tax concepts) with notes where UK/EU practice differs. If a guide assumes US permitting, we say so.

Guides are reviewed for accuracy against current wholesale practices, regulatory basics, and software categories used by distributors. We correct factual errors when readers flag them via Contact.

We disclose affiliate relationships where software or marketplace links appear, per our Affiliate Disclosure page. Free templates live on Resources.