Posts Tagged ‘international commerce’

If you’re a small business owner you may have considered looking into exporting your goods and services overseas. Exporting is a billion dollar business – when it is done properly. As a small business you will have to rely on the help of a professional exporter to help you get your business up and running. Setting this up is a daunting prospect to say the least, but it can be done and you can turn a nice profit from an exporting business.

The biggest problem with turning your company into an exporter is understanding where to start. It is a very detailed business that requires patience and a lot of hard work to get off the ground. When you have a successful exporting business in place, you could earn a profit of 10% for every transaction that you make. While the process is considerably more complicated and detailed than what we present here, this quick guide will give you an idea of what you need to do to get started.

• In order to be successful in exporting you need to make contacts with manufacturers and distributors overseas that want to trade with you. The best way to do this is to make a list of everyone you know outside of your home country and asking them to aid you in finding partner companies. If you do not know anyone overseas, contact the foreign embassy of the country you want to export to and ask to speak with whoever is in charge of their global trade initiative.

• Once you have made your initial contact start researching the country you want to export to. You need to identify the market niche you are interested in exporting to and research the popular trends that are sweeping the country. This will give you a good look at the viability of the market you are interested in. Make sure you also research aspects of exporting that include any restrictions that are in place, tariffs that may need to be paid and any trade barriers you will have to overcome.

• After you have prepared all of your research and targeted the market you want to import to you can start contacting the list of people you made who could be interested in working with you to build your exporting business. Take your time talking to these people and get to know them well so that you are confident they are the right fit for your business and will make a viable selling partner. At this point you can put into place deals that are agreeable to both of you that include prices charged, the amount of goods to be delivered, distribution to the customers, letters of credits and shipping agreements.

• With an agreement in hand you will need to find a competent exporter to partner with in order to get your goods delivered to your overseas partner overseeing the selling and distribution of your exporting division. Research is key here and most exporters will be able to explain the intricacies of the business to you in order to develop a good working relationship that ensures your products are delivered on time.

Welcome to our new Export blog. We hope you will enjoy my rambling & ranting on the subject of Exporting!

On this blog I will concentrate on providing insights affecting US companies in Exporting overseas.

Some of the areas will include:

• Banks, they should help you to finance business and NOT overheads. We are going to talk about Letters of Credit, Financing, and Trade Credit.

• Business Start-Up, how to run a business while you keep your job and test the water, before you jump into business and commit your savings and/or borrowed money. Do you really need a VC before you can earn yourself a good living?

• Government, why most government export assistance for small business may be a sincere offer, but in reality is nothing but hot air.

• Marketing/PR, the high tech way to create awareness for your products and services for the small budget.

• Outsourcing & Virtual Assistants, the technology driven way to timeshare professionals and keeping you overheads down.

• Freight Forwarders, moving goods from the US to their final destination overseas is one of the biggest challenges facing the exporter - I’ll share insights about the    important role of freight forwarders and review terms of sales and focus on the important documents that make up the typical export sale.

• International Markets, helping identify market segments with information about each country market and its economic environment and the potential for various products.

Let us know what you think and let’s talk EXPORT, ……SMALL BUSINESS EXPORT!