How do I start my import export business!

Do you really expect to get everything on this single page to know everything about starting your own import export business? Well, maybe, and that is why our site is call easy-import-export.info. However, you can drill into any details of the following steps, and spend lots of time digging more. We are providing a guideline here, and we will strongly recommend you to sign up to our FREE newsletter to receive other great tips about import export business.

1. After you decide what role you want to play in import export chain, you will definitely need to find a product to work on. Try sticking with something you know, and you love because it will become just another boring 9-5 job for you if you choose to work on a product that you don't like. Internet is a good source to find the product. Shopping mall, mega retail stores, or traveling to a country of your choice are other good ways.

2. Now, you have to start calculating your profit margin and also check out your competition. There are lots of books in these topics. We won't go into details here since it is a whole new topic. You can check out the sites of your prospective competitors and make a price comparison to get initial idea on your products present market price.

3. Attending trade show oversea to find manufacturers for the products of your choice is no longer your only option now. Internet has changed everything. Go to "Sourcing" to find more details.

4. Register your company and ask about local and federal regulations. Always follow the law, and never think you don't have to follow the law because you are a small company. For company registration and tool, please go "Small Business Tools".

5. At this point, you are already an entrepreneur and small business owner. You should celebrate that you have started your journey to financial freedom. No matter you are going to sell direct to the customer by having a retail store or internet ecommerce store, or you are going to sell to wholesaler and distributor, your next step is definitely marketing.

6. During the sales process, you will need to learn some basics about import/export such as profoma invoice, shipping term such as (FOB, CIF), payment terms, letter of credit (talk to the bank to find out). After that, you will also need to start searching for custom broker and freight forwarders to see if they have experience in shipping your products.

7. If all goes well, you are in business. Congratulations! Now, depending on your role, there are different degrees of customer support you need to provide. If you are just providing support service to the wholesalers and retailers, you might be able to handle your business just with your own phone and email. However, to service end customers, or if your retailer is a mega retailer such as Best Buy, the customer support service might be more than you can handle.