Anonymous said...
Hi John,
Is it possible to succeed to have a business situation where I'm (being an American and U.S.- based) exporting a product from one foreign country (say Australia, Germany or UK) from a supplier to another country (say China)?
Is there anything special (e.g., only having to work with U.S. customs brokers?) in being in U.S. that we should focus on only considering exporting U.S. products or can your taught techniques (MOQ FOB) work regardless where the supplier and customer are located?
Is it possible to succeed to have a business situation where I'm (being an American and U.S.- based) exporting a product from one foreign country (say Australia, Germany or UK) from a supplier to another country (say China)?
Is there anything special (e.g., only having to work with U.S. customs brokers?) in being in U.S. that we should focus on only considering exporting U.S. products or can your taught techniques (MOQ FOB) work regardless where the supplier and customer are located?
You've complicated the question, let's see if I can break it down.
Multinationals trade that way all the time, but moving massive amounts of commodities around and booking profits here to escape taxes there is the payoff. Toblerone can do it with Toblerone Chocolate, Apple with iPads.
At the small business level you must provide a value recognized instantly by the buyer and the seller (not buyer or seller, but both.) Your participation must be more valuable to them than their money. If you cannot state precisely what that is, expect your target market to fail on this point too.
You serve customers. In your scenario, how will you serve customers in a 3rd country from USA?
Why would you working from USA serve a Japanese market with product from Australia better than an Australian?
Why living in USA would you not bring unmet foreign demand to USA products?
When there is a problem, why will anyone cooperate with you in a solution since you are in USA? Better for them you get burned and everyone proceeds without you.
If you are planning on exclusives, they do not exist in international trade. It is possible to pay millions for an exclusive, I've seen it happen, but it has no effect. Anyone who pays for an exclusive, or bets on an exclusive, loses. I can say this a million times, but people will proceed as though exclusives matter. And then they fail and cannot figure out why.
I'll also say this... the scenario has the implausibility of a scam, in which someone in Country One asks a USA person to arrange a shipment from Country Two to Country One, or vice versa. If someone has suggested this deal to you, expect to be scammed. (The hundred times I've seen that before, in every instance the person says to me, "No, that's not the case." It turns out to be the case.)
The customer is the most important thing. The product is the hardest thing. At some point you must speak to a customer. There is no reason speaking to the customers cannot be the first thing you do. If you have a business card, arranged financing, found a "product", gotten a license, created a website BEFORE speaking to a customer, then you've wasted all that in time and money.
When you speak to your customer first thing, you can ask directly: "Why is my participation worth more to you than your money?"
People think I am kidding when I say such things. Not at all. It comes from an attitude that respects the position of the customers.
Of course, better yet, "I believe you in China will buy Australian beef shipped direct to you in China through me in USA because...." (You fill in the blank, I cannot think of a reason anyone would.)
Form a hypothesis as to why people will buy from you, and then test it. Before you put a dime into anything else.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.