Import Export Secrets Blog

The First Step in Developing Your Import Export Business

In today’s post, we’re looking at the very first step in the
development of your Import/Export business, which is:

Market First!

This is the most critical step for you to grasp, understand
and internally digest.

You NEVER first buy a whole bunch of stuff in the hope that
someone will buy it… and yet this is what MOST folks do,
unwittingly – even big businesses!

But not you.

Because you will be better informed and be able to make
qualified judgement calls on what sells and what totally sucks!

You learn how to spot trends.

Sell people what they want!

1. People buy for *their* reasons, *not yours*.

2. People *rarely* wans what’s best for them, or most
affordable for them, or most practical for them. This leaves
the importer and exporter with a massive opportunity.

3. Opportunities *always* come disguised as problems.

4. People rarely want what you want to sell them.

The whole point to all this is that you need to uncover “The
One Thing” that they do want, that you can use to propel your
entire sales process.

You can do this by asking 9 simple questions…

1. What keeps them awake at night?
Eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. This covers both
“pain” and need for pleasure.

2. What are they most afraid of?
This is their problem to which your product offers a solution.

3. What are they most angry about?
…And who specifically are they angry at?

4. What are their top three daily frustrations?

5. What trends are occuring and emerging in their lives and
businesses?

6. What is the BIG secret they desire most?

7. Is there a specific method they use to make purchase
decisions?
Eg. Accountants – Overly Analytical

8. Who else is selling something similar to them and by what
method?
Eg. Newspaper Ad, Website, eBay, Phone, Fax, Email, Letter,
Radio, TV, etc)

9. Who else has tried selling something similar to them and
failed?
How did they fail – ie, Wrong message, wrong time, wrong
price, etc.

Remember
The money is in the marketing of the thing, not the thing
you are selling.
You must follow this paradigm shift in thinking to gain
significant financial rewards.

Put simply, Import/Export is the exchange
of goods and services between countries.

The Australian Import/Export industry is worth in the region
of $237 billion anually!

There are so many ways to profit – various businesses are
only too pleased for you to handle exports or imports from
or to Australia, or any other trading country, worldwide,
whereby you never actually get to see, feel or touch the goods.

Or you may, like us, prefer to handle the whole process and
import and market the items directly yourself or with a
partner.

Do you begin to see the opportunity?

There are truly unlimited opportunities in the Import/Export
world.

So you can see, that if we are on the same wavelength, that
this will be a vital rat race escaping skill that you need
to have.

Remember, this stuff has been around for CENTURIES!

IMPORTATION:

1. Register your business and ensure that all licenses and other legal requirements have been complied with.

2. Obtain a list of suppliers dealing in the products you wish to import and select the most dependable. Do a comprehensive research on the industry. This can be done with the assistance of your bankers through their correspondents overseas.

3. Obtain a pro-forma invoice or firm offer from your selected supplier. Make sure that their quotation includes, among others, the terms of shipment such as FOB, C&F, or CIF. Payment for imports can be done in the following manner:

a.) By Letter of Credit (L/C) – Once you have agreed with your supplier on the pricing and other terms and conditions of your purchase, open a letter of credit with your bank. Depending on the agreement with your supplier, the L/C can either be sight or usance, revocable or irrevocable, confirmed or unconfirmed. Under a sight L/C, payment for the goods are made upon presentation of the documents from the supplier through your bankers (which is commonly the L/C opening bank) regardless whether or not you have received the goods imported. Under usance L/C, payment is made at a later day, after 30, 60, 90 or 120 days. A revocable L/C is one which you can revoke even without the consent of your supplier. A confirmed L/C is one by which the L/C advising bank, by virtue of their confirmation of the L/C, is liable to pay your supplier the value of the imported goods should the L/C opening bank be unable to pay your supplier for some reason.

b.) By Open Account (O/A) – Payment is made at a later date depending on your agreement with the supplier.

c.) By Documents Against Payment (D/P) – Under this mode of payment, you have to effect the payment of the imported goods upon presentation of the import documents by the bank.

d.) By Documents Against Acceptance (D/A) – Under this mode, the documents are forwarded to you through an appointed bank in your locality and upon your acceptance, (i.e. signing the relative document signifying your acceptance of the liability) the bank then surrenders the documents to you, and payment will be made later, after 15, 30, 45 or 60 days depending on your agreement with the supplier.

e.) By Prepayment – Advance payment must be made before supplier ships the goods

Note that the basic import documents consist mainly, but are not limited to, original Bills of Lading (B/L) or Airway Bill; original Commercial Invoice; original Packing List; or any such other original documents which you may require. These documents are necessary so the importer can secure the release of the imported goods from the shipping/airline companies and customs authorities.

EXPORTATION:

1. Register your business ensuring that all requirements have been complied with.

2. Choose the products that you are going to export and ascertain from the difference governmental agencies that these are not banned items. Where necessary, obtain a list of all the documents that are required especially for regulated products. If you produce or manufacture your own products for export, know your production capacity. If you subcontract the production of your goods, know the production capacity of all your subcontractors.

3. Open an account with a bank with international connections or one with correspondents in the locality of your customers.

4. Where necessary, obtain a background check of all your would-be customers through the aid of your bankers.

5. From new buyers, always insist on prepayment before you ship your goods.

6. If you agree on payment by Letter of Credit (L/C), ensure that the L/C is irrevocable and at sight.

7. Try to understand the different modes of payment for international trade, as discussed above, under Importation.

This is a simple step-by-step guide on import and export procedures. While requirements may vary from country to country, the general and basic procedures are essentially the same.

What Sells, What Sucks

(Finding Lucrative Markets)

You need to find the market first. This 5 minute preview video outlines what kind of markets you should be getting into, and which ones you should be avoiding.
The full version of the video goes into much more detail, and also takes you on a market intelligence field trip, which teaches you exactly what products you should and shouldn't be selling.

Press "Play" on the video below. If the video doesn't display, refresh the page.

In the moment, for the moment,

Steve
Import-Export-Secrets.com