Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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HOW TO BECOME A MILLIONAIRE WITH YOUR OWN HOME-
BASED IMPORT/EXPORT SERVICE
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(4) Will you start with any particular type of products? You
should select products that you understand and enjoy.
(9) Can you communicate well? If not, you'll need to learn good
communications, writing, skills.
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
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(3) Determine how you will sell the products.
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(5) Foreign embassies will gladly provide you with
information about products and companies from their country.
Contact the embassy of the country in which you're interested.
Most are located in New York City or Washington D.C. A handful of
other large U.S. cities also house a few foreign embassies.
Many foreign firms will "drop ship" for you. This allows you
to make sales without investing much money in buying inventory.
You simply make a sale and collect the money from the customer.
You then send the drop ship fee to the supplier. The supplier, in
turn, will ship the merchandise directly to the customer.
GETTING STARTED
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correspondence with foreign firms. And, perhaps, a fax machine. A
home office may be tax deductible, so check with your bookkeeper
or CPA.
IMPORT EXAMPLE
(3) Select products that you think you can succeed with, and
purchase samples. Samples can be ordered by registered letter
with international money orders as payment.
(5) If you think you can sell the item, contact the U.S.
Customs to determine duty fees, if any.
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(9) When you successfully sell the trial shipment, it's time
to place bigger orders and perhaps use lower cost surface
transportation.
EXPORT EXAMPLE
(3) Contact U.S. companies that make the products, which may
interest your potential customers. The best way to find U.S.
manufacturers is by looking in the Thomas Register of American
Manufacturers, available at most libraries.
(6) Figure the total shipping costs and develop a price for
the overseas buyers.
(8) Your letter should include shipping and lead times, and
the number of days you'll hold your price.
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(9) When your overseas customer buys, make certain that you
have arranged satisfactory payment procedures. Usually, this is
done via bank-to-bank collection, wire transfer, confirmed Letter
of Credit, or by air mailing an international money order.
If all is well, this is the time to begin working with the client
for additional orders.
SELECTING PRODUCTS
you think you can sell, and for which there's a proven market,
and contact the suppliers.
Once you have some product samples, you're ready to test how
well it will sell. First, look over the product and make sure
their are no problems that would make it unsuitable for the
American market. You may need to have the supplier make
modifications.
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Get their reactions. Do they like the product? Can they sell it?
Can they accept the price? Are they willing to place a test
order? If all the answers are favorable, you are ready to place a
trial order.
(5) If you are going to place large orders, you may want to
visit the supplier.
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foreign language.
SELLING OPTIONS
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along with the other products they sell.
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out of the question except for all but the largest companies.
Therefore, most of the time you will be selling to wholesalers or
directly to businesses that need the product. The big problem
with exporting is that some of the buyers may decide to bypass
you and try to deal directly with the manufacturer.
CUSTOMER CREDIT
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information on American suppliers and customers. There are small
local credit reporting agencies listed in your phone book. Also,
there are large national firms such as TRW or Dun & Bradstreet.
These reports will cost from $50 to $200 each. Many foreign
countries also have credit reporting agencies that you can use.
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Letters of Credit are formal payment methods that offer a
lot of protection to the parties.
Payment in Advance means that the buyer sends the money when
the order is placed. It is the simplest and easiest method to
use. However, you'll want to make sure that you are dealing with
an honest supplier. Many times you may be ask to pay 1/2 of the
cost in advance.
SUPPLY AGREEMENTS
INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING
FOB -- free on board and means that the freight has been
paid by the exporter to the specified location. Example, FOB to
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
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dock of his factory. After that, the importer takes over all
transportation arrangements. You'll want to avoid these terms, if
you are an importer.
Shipping rates and time can vary greatly depending upon the
mode of transportation and the point of origin. For small, low
weight items shipping by mail (air or sea) could be the best
method. Usually, sea freight is the cheapest.
INSURANCE
DOCUMENTATION
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REGULATION AND CUSTOMS
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
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(4) Shipping problems.
(5) Misunderstanding of agreements.
(6) Improperly filled out documents.
(7) Exporter cannot fulfill the amount of product that you
need.
(8) Your shipment arrives late.
SUCCESS ANALYSIS
1. Time Investment 9
2. Start-up Costs 9
3. Gross Income Potential 9
4. Net Income Potential 9
5. Income in Relation to Investment 9
6. Stability 8
7. Overall Risk 6
8. Potential for Growth 9
CONCLUSION
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up to you.
SOURCES
Latin American Trade Directory, P.O. Box 12-1007, San Jose Costa
Rica. 400 pages
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