An associate who consults in big business exports lamented to me after stumbling across a website with some 500 comments about small business importing how he must have missed the boat, by not going after a certain group, that is the young import, small-business oriented crowd.
Here is the link to which he refers.
http://startupbros.com/step-by-step-guide-on-how-to-find-a-profitable-product-to-sell/
Which has a pre-requisite link that is the more to the point.
http://startupbros.com/how-you-can-make-big-money-importing-from-china-the-rise-and-fall-of-my-empire/
I'd judge what this fellow says as fair and balanced. The problem is in the second link where he points out ultimately he got nowhere using the advice he is giving. He throw out comments like "my friend got $60,000 in sales in three months.." OK, gross or net, and "then what happened?"
But in essence, the process outlined is
1. Find something cool on Alibaba
2. Sell it on ebay and amazon
3. Use the marketing tools (google ads) to promote...
And then get rich.
Here is the reality: The best suppliers in the world will never be on Alibaba. They are busy with first rate customers, and will not waste time with the dilettante start-up. Only 2.96% of items sold retail in USA comes from China. So to focus on China is to miss out on 97.4% of what the world has to offer. Online retail sales in USA is less than 6% of retail. So to work the web exclusively is to miss out on 94% of your customer potential. And the killer; the cost of acquisition of customers online is almost always more than any possible profit. Now, those with visions of get rich quick on the internet cannot comprehend any of those words. So explaining an alternative does not good.
Now, I never tell anyone they will get rich in int'l trade, who knows, I can only show them how to save time and money getting there. And this fellow makes clear it is easy to lose your shirt if you make mistakes, noting "there are huge risks." And the word risk comes up 61 times in the post.
Well, entrepreneurs never take risks.
The advice is good is that is the way you want to go. But the advice is exactly the opposite of what you need to know if you are looking to build a business that is viable and supports your desired lifestyle.
For example:
Well, in the world of viable business, none of that is true. Plus, the means of finding a "winner" under the processed advised is the same as everyone else, so your winner is quickly knocked off by anyone willing to sell for a penny less. Plenty are willing.
Those who thrive in small business international trade never start with the product. They start with the customer. The most important thing in business is the customer, and the hardest thing in business is the product (or service) and getting that right. When you get your customers first you take no risks.
Self-employment is necessarily personal transformation. It only works in serving others, and putting yourself into it, not just trying to get crap cheap and find a buyer before anyone else does.
Part of the personal transformation for many is preliminary work of wasting time doing it the wrong way and eventually getting to the point where one is wise enough to recognize better advice. There is nothing new with the internet, I was working trade lead catalogs in the early 70s and selling through mail order and getting nowhere, nothing new in all that. Just not future then as now. Working for people who did well in int'l trade taught me how it is done.
My friend in big biz export is missing nothing. These people will labor and learn, and then be ready later to move up to a better way. You cannot warn them off with facts, they just gotta do what they gotta do.
I teach for those who are ready.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
Here is the link to which he refers.
http://startupbros.com/step-by-step-guide-on-how-to-find-a-profitable-product-to-sell/
Which has a pre-requisite link that is the more to the point.
http://startupbros.com/how-you-can-make-big-money-importing-from-china-the-rise-and-fall-of-my-empire/
I'd judge what this fellow says as fair and balanced. The problem is in the second link where he points out ultimately he got nowhere using the advice he is giving. He throw out comments like "my friend got $60,000 in sales in three months.." OK, gross or net, and "then what happened?"
But in essence, the process outlined is
1. Find something cool on Alibaba
2. Sell it on ebay and amazon
3. Use the marketing tools (google ads) to promote...
And then get rich.
Here is the reality: The best suppliers in the world will never be on Alibaba. They are busy with first rate customers, and will not waste time with the dilettante start-up. Only 2.96% of items sold retail in USA comes from China. So to focus on China is to miss out on 97.4% of what the world has to offer. Online retail sales in USA is less than 6% of retail. So to work the web exclusively is to miss out on 94% of your customer potential. And the killer; the cost of acquisition of customers online is almost always more than any possible profit. Now, those with visions of get rich quick on the internet cannot comprehend any of those words. So explaining an alternative does not good.
Now, I never tell anyone they will get rich in int'l trade, who knows, I can only show them how to save time and money getting there. And this fellow makes clear it is easy to lose your shirt if you make mistakes, noting "there are huge risks." And the word risk comes up 61 times in the post.
Well, entrepreneurs never take risks.
The advice is good is that is the way you want to go. But the advice is exactly the opposite of what you need to know if you are looking to build a business that is viable and supports your desired lifestyle.
For example:
It needs to be small and light – It needs to be a simple item - Keep it in the $10-200 range - Don’t sell what you buy - Don’t go seasonal –
Well, in the world of viable business, none of that is true. Plus, the means of finding a "winner" under the processed advised is the same as everyone else, so your winner is quickly knocked off by anyone willing to sell for a penny less. Plenty are willing.
Those who thrive in small business international trade never start with the product. They start with the customer. The most important thing in business is the customer, and the hardest thing in business is the product (or service) and getting that right. When you get your customers first you take no risks.
Self-employment is necessarily personal transformation. It only works in serving others, and putting yourself into it, not just trying to get crap cheap and find a buyer before anyone else does.
Part of the personal transformation for many is preliminary work of wasting time doing it the wrong way and eventually getting to the point where one is wise enough to recognize better advice. There is nothing new with the internet, I was working trade lead catalogs in the early 70s and selling through mail order and getting nowhere, nothing new in all that. Just not future then as now. Working for people who did well in int'l trade taught me how it is done.
My friend in big biz export is missing nothing. These people will labor and learn, and then be ready later to move up to a better way. You cannot warn them off with facts, they just gotta do what they gotta do.
I teach for those who are ready.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
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