HVAC stands for heating, ventilating and air conditioning. It can refer to large systems used in industrial offices and other sites where temperature and humidity are closely monitored to maintain safe working conditions. In smaller commercial sites, this can mean the equipment and appliances used to control ventilation and temperature. HVAC equipment includes air filters, boilers, air conditioning units, economizers, humidifiers and heat pumps. HVAC or climate control systems are in high demand in commercial sites as well as in residential areas. Becoming an HVAC wholesaler might turn out to be a lucrative venture for you. It doesn’t take a college degree to be a distributor. All you need is business sense and knowledge on how air conditioning and heating systems work. Your market will most likely be composed of real estate developers and large industrial site owners among others.

Choose an HVAC manufacturer. You can become an HVAC wholesaler for a variety of manufacturers. Your choice will probably be influenced by the amount of investment that you need to put into running a dealership. Other factors that you need to consider include marketing and advertising assistance, the monthly quotas, and the extent of dealer support services provided (see Resources).

Make inquiries on dealership requirements. As soon as you narrow down your choices, you can now start making inquiries on what each manufacturer requires from its wholesalers. You will probably need to start getting your start up capital together by arranging for finance options as needed. Most manufacturers will require a business plan and credit reports to ensure that you’re financially stable to maintain this kind of venture.

Prepare a business plan. For your dealership application to be approved, you need to have a solid business plan on how you will go about attracting revenue for the business. You need to come up with sales projections and strategies to invite clients.

Put your capital together. HVAC manufacturers require prospective dealers to come with substantial capital to support the business. HVAC systems and after-sales services can cost a lot so to land a wholesaler deal you will probably need at least a million dollars to get started.

Select a commercial site. Your dealership will need a physical address. Most manufacturers have a couple of stipulations when it comes to choosing a business site. For instance, you have to be the only local HVAC wholesaler for that particular brand in your specific area to avoid compromising the other dealers’ ability to land sales deals. Understand that you might need to finance acquiring or renting a business site apart from the costs of the dealership package. An ideal commercial site for an HVAC dealership would be one that is spacious enough to contain your inventory. For this, you can opt to acquire a commercial site that was formerly used as an appliance store.

Hire and train people. You would not be able to run the HVAC dealership on your own. For starters, you will need to hire technicians for your after-sales services, sales representatives and store personnel. For the most part, the manufacturer will provide you with training materials to help your staff understand how the products work and how they are supposed to be marketed to potential clients.

Acquire delivery vehicles and other equipment. You will need to invest on repair equipment and delivery vans to supplement your operations. The manufacturer will only provide your inventory and training on how to handle its products.

Build your client base. As an HVAC wholesaler, you will need to build a client base composed of real estate developers who make housing communities, department stores who will sell your products to the local market and upcoming commercial offices in need of individual temperature control systems. For this, you can attend industry-based events that bring together building contractors, procurement specialists and managers for industrial sites who may be interested in your products.

Create a marketing strategy. With dealerships, the manufacturer will provide you with marketing support but this will cover country-wide promotions. It would be a good idea to supplement these promotional efforts with localized advertising. Tap into mainstream advertising—run print ads on your local newspaper, commercials on radio and TV channels and come up with promos for department stores and appliance centers to avail of.