ForumsHome

When you are sitting around twiddling your fingers wondering where to sell to next! I am actually pretty serious about this. That’s the first sign. The next is underutilization of capacity at your manufacturing facility (or, in the case of a service, underutilization of intellectual capital = people). Say you are only at 60 percent plant capacity. You need to ramp up to fully utilize your people/equipment and going global is a great way to do it. The advantages are numerous. Here’s my shortlist:

1. Increases sales and profits (especially if fixed costs are tied to domestic operations) = bigger chunk of growth gain.
2. Earns a greater return from a set of core competencies.
3. Generates economies of scale in production.
4. Enhances local competitiveness and opens up the way to larger, more lucrative customers.
5. Create jobs, productivity growth, and wealth.
6. Enlarges the pie of potential investors.
7. Insulates seasonal domestic (local) sales by finding new foreign markets and selling excess production capacity.
8. Cuts costs through global outsourcing.
9. Reduces dependence on existing markets.
10. Capitalizes on tax advantages.

Another sign is that you’ve been so successful locally or domestically that you’ve saturated the market with your product or service offering. It’s time to look elsewhere for opportunities and overseas in a logical next step.

Only start a business if you:

1. Know it inside and out (instant credibility factor)
2. Are passionate about it
3. Have key customers lined up to buy from you immediately
4. Are willing to do what it takes to make it a success
5. Have a sufficient working capital to tie you over in good times and bad

Starting and running a profitable business is not for the faint-hearted.

I wonder if anyone in the history of the human race has ever been dissuaded from doing something because they were told it was "not for the faint-hearted". :-)))

There is but you won't know until you to start doing your homework. I addressed part of this question at the very beginning (refer to the question about filling a container) but the short answer is start with a known and reliable shippng company -- say, UPS -- for example because they can walk you through the process in a way that makes you feel confident and comfortable with what you are doing. Further, they will most likely quote you in a timely fashion with economical rates (no plug intended here!).

Duties, customs, taxes, insurance (exchange rate) ... all have to be factored into the selling price to the customer. So you can present pricing in such a way as:

• Price of goods
• Price of transportation (and all other costs involved to deliver goods to customer's door).

The bottom line is that ALL expenses should be included in your price quotation to your customer and recouped when you collect payment.

By the way, look for a shipping agent who knows the territory you are about to ship to. This helps immensely and can save you headaches later on.

When you first start out, I suggest you target countries where the natives speak your language: English (New Zealand, the UK, Australia or Ireland, for example). Why make it complicated? As you develop experience and an understanding of what it takes to expand your business internationally, start to think about expanding into other countries where the consumers are a perfect target for purchasing your product/service offering -- even if they don't speak your language!

Down the road, yes, interpreters are a necessary ingredient to global business success because you want to keep growing globally -- right?

I would go with your gut and definitely cross all your t's and dot all your i's before you take action. Food products are tough to bring into markets so start off by contacting: http://www.buyusa.gov/home (where you can find out anything/everything on a country you wish to do business in).

Look for the country you plan to export to on an exclusive basis (check with an attorney when you reach the point of a contract because you want him/her to go over it with a laser sharp eye/mind) and select the country. Go to the left side bar and look for Contact Us. Find people are are experts in the "agricultural" segment of business. Then start firing away with your questions, including the ones you are asking me here!

These people will definitely be able to answer all your questions and our tax dollars (assuming your are based in USA) pay for it.

By the way, the wholesalers you refer to, are they in the country you wish to business or in the USA? If they are in the country you wish to do business, keep asking questions to learn more!

Good luck -- go for it!

Thank YOU for the opportunity. I really enjoyed the experience and I hope that everyone gained a little something from it.

Best wishes to all,
Laurel