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Hi MK,

Congratulations on taking your first steps to develop a business of your very own. But please do continue to stay with your employer, even as a temp, while you work on getting your business launched and established.

One of my clients is originally from Africa and I helped him with his business plan to launch his businesses; one of which was an import/export business. A good basic education resource that he found useful was a business start-up guide called:

"Make success to come to you! Start your own Import/Export business." Here is the link to the site that sells that business guide:
http://www.smallbizbooks.com/c/s/00021.html

I bought a copy of it as well so I could help me with how to apply what he learned from it and how to apply that to some of his business plan. You might find that business start-up guide of use to you since importing can be a tricky process and you will want to learn the basics and fundamentals so that you get a solid start. If I recall correctly, it has a list of resources and ways to calculate your costs to import goods into the US.

You've probably thought of this but I'd be remiss not to suggest that you try to "pre-sell" as much as you can so that you don't have inventory cost that you have to carry for too long. I believe one of the keys to getting a good foothold in the business you are entering is to be able to "turn" your inventory (in other words sell it quickly) and have adequate margins since early on you may not have high-volume of sales and will not steady cash flow to keep things moving and with enough profit to allow you to grow the business.

I hope the above helps you in some way.

Dennis Lowery
Adducent, Inc.

Hi,

Before you venture into your new business you need to do a thorough market research on the particular type of business you want to engage into. Is there a need for your type of business or you just like the business. If there is a gap in that line of business and you feel that starting your own will fill, then carry on otherwise look before you leap.

As regards the cost of importing textile here is a link that you might explore www.usitc.gov take a tour of the link and get all the information regarding your textile importation into the USA. They will give you the customs duty and tarrif you will pay.

When you are done with the research you now make your business plans. All you need is know the amount of funds at your disposal and tailor your plans to fit your financial budget.

Good luck

Costs can very - hard to pin it down. Much depends on the manufactuer (are they busy are they not), where the good will be marketed (each market has its own unique costs), how long you will hold the goods before sale or how long it will take you to sell them, etc, etc, etc. You really need to sit down with someone face-to-face and try to work on all the scenarios to determine your costs.

Here are some good likes to help you better understand importing goods to the US:

www.business.gov/expand/*import*-*export*

www.tradekey.com/c_*Import*-*Export*

www.*importexport*help.com

http://www.exim.gov/

U.S. Commercial Service (buyusa.gov/home/export.html)

Best of Luck:

Business Money Today
www.BusinessMoneyToday.com