Import And Export Business Q&A Continued

Question:

Can you guide me as to where I could find more information on regulations for export to Mexico? We are a US company that would be shipping within the U.S. The product would then be sold in Mexico by the customer.

Answer:

We do not provide consulting of the nature you have requested. My suggestion for either you and/or your customer is that they get our course on exporting - it will guide you/them through all the processes and provide details on which public/private organizations you need to contact with regards to specific products for the specific regulationsand requirements regarding those items - you may review details of the course here and feel free to forward this message to your client:
http://www.importexporthelp.com/trdspm1.htm

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Question:

I know you don't need a certificate to start a business but regarding the commission fees, is there a difference regarding the income of an agent compared to a broker on the same transaction(connecting seller to buyer) or is it just a title difference? Are there certain income the broker can make that the agent can't just because one has the license? I'm seriously thinking of starting the business, but I just need to do a bit of research according to your advice on the blog.

Answer:

In regards to the "title" - that is all the difference there is - whatever you choose to call yourself. I have been referred to in agreements as the International Sales Coordinator, International Marketing Consultant, Export Agent, International Business Broker - bottom line is, I don't care what they call me as long as they have my name or my business name spelled correctly on their checks.
You also refer to the term "license" - the only licensed individuals in import export are "Customs Brokers" and they are not working as agents/brokers for the manufacturer and earning a commission, they get paid to make sure all the i's are dotted, t's are crossed on any documentation and sometimes provide other shipping related assistance. Our course will teach you who you need to work with to get the deals done without trying to do it all yourself.

Follow Up Question From The Same Person:

Thank you for your clear explanations. I was probably confused between a broker and a Custom Broker.

I have one last question and I hope you don't see it as being too straight forward. Can you tell me why I should choose your product over other Starter Kits($400 range), classes plus support, books/notebooks (Entrepreneur.com), e-books, import/export coaching, CD-roms, DVDs and etc.?

Answer to Follow Up Question:

There are a lot of good materials on the market and I have probably purchased or reviewed most of them over my 20 years in this business. First off, I would be very, very wary of any "coaching" programs or those that offer what I call hand holding "support" - I have written enough about these type of programs on my import export business blog that I will defer you to go find them and read why.

In most instances, the "support"/"coaching"/"hand holding" personnel will be doing nothing more than reading from the same hand book they supply you with and in most instances these hand holding sessions can be quite expensiveright up front to the tune of thousands of dollars.

Our course provides you with all the information, much of it proprietary from our publisher, that you will need to follow in order to start and succeed in your own import or export business. Do we guarantee you will succeed - absolutely NOT!

I did not start this business to sell information products or training, I started it because in the late 80's the Internet was not readily available - yes, AOL was and I was one of their first 100,000 customers. I started it because I spent hundreds of hours visiting the library, visiting with actual importers and exporters, visiting with international bankers, department of commerce personnel, buying various materials that turned out to be such a waste of time and money it was unbelievable.

In getting started I found some very unique and incredibly helpful information and thought I wonder if others would be interested in saving all the time I spent if I would put this information together in the form of a couple of reports. Low and behold, they were.

I found this course in the early 90's (it has been updated about every 2 years since but still includes some very valuable proprietary info like the one video that was co-sponsored by the US Dept. of Commerce - it still is one of the best resources around).

I have been sent books, CD's, access to web sites and more in those subsequent 15 years and in regards to actual training programs, the "only" change I have made is the addition of the China Trading program about 18 months ago. I did so because it is not competitive with the import export training course and is a uniquely different niche within the international trade business.

I do not want to sway you from the direction you are headed to the China trading program, I am just making you aware of what and why I only offer a very narrow, targeted group of materials.
I also have become good friends with the publisher of the import export courses over these years because I know he has integrity. An example of which was with a recent customer. Their course was just shipped to them about 2 weeks ago and one of the ebooks was updated just a few days ago - he emailed them a copy of the new version since they had just purchased the course a few weeks ago.

Additionally, there are a "few" bonus items I send you when you get certain packages through our web site - the publisher has encouraged me to publish these items as an ebook and try to sell them but I decided to keep them special and only give them to people who get either our Importers Master package, Exporters Master Package or the combo of these two, the Import Export Toolkit. I feel anyone purchasing these complete packages are far more serious and I would rather have my information in their hands rather than everyone's.

So the bottom line is this, yes, there are a few good resources on the market and you don't need to 2nd mortgage your home to get started in this business and in most instances you will not be getting answers from someone who is doing what you hope to do as you are getting this correspondence from me.

One of the reasons I am working so late is because I just signed on a new manufacturer today and I am compiling some leads to send them over the weekend.

I guess a lot of what you have to base your decision on is that gut feeling of who do you trust - I have put my life out there on the web site and blog, my information is "easily" verifiable, is theirs?

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Ron Coble
International Trade B2B Help Center

Import Export Business Questions-Answers Continued

QUESTION:

I am writing to confirm that I have gone through all your letters. They're really enriching. I didn't know where I would have gotten all these info. Thanks a million.

Let me be frank with you. I am an industrious person who has been in China for the last four years. I've seen a great deal of business. I've understood that the best way to 'cut my own share of the international money' is getting into trading business. However, I got a big problem. That problem of kick-starting a company on my own. You know; the protocol and finances needed to own my own licences etc.

I need your expertise advice here. I have got the money to subsribe as a paid member to your site. I understand that after subscription I wouldn't be able to count the number of customers knocking on my door. Now, without all necessary paperworks such as licence. How can I go about this business? Or is it the only way?

ANSWER:

First, I cannot advise you on what or how to operate a business in China.

My advice would be, since you write very good English, that you hire yourself
out to Chinese companies to help promote their products as an Export Agent/Broker
but also get yourself on payroll (to help carry you over until commissions start coming in) to
translate or prepare their correspondence, advertising, etc..

I know there is great difficulty in interpreting correspondence to English and many Chinese
companies use online translation programs that are next to worthless.

In regards to the services we offer, we really do not have a membership site. The export leads service may be of some benefit but it too is run by one of the many publishers we deal with.

I am not sure this has provided you with any assistance, but I hope it does and I wish you the best in whatever you decide to pursue.

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QUESTION:

Finding your website and customer service assistance has been very helpful in getting me in the right direction to how I will consider starting up my business. I want to import products from china through an import service, although I am skeptical about how much profit do the importing companies makes off of me and is it more or less then me importing the goods myself? Do the import companies get the products for cheaper then I could? In the world of business its all about knowing people and having this opportunity to ask you questions is very much appreciated as well as the access to your website.

ANSWER:

A couple of things I would really recommend to you, if you are just getting started with Importing goods.

1) Do market research on the products you are considering - just because you like something does not mean others will like it or wish to buy it from you at a price that allows you to make a profit. There is a market research tool that is built into a program I will recommend to you later that is very well regarded as being one of the best, if not the best, market research programs available.

2) If the price an importing company or company that has already imported the product is reasonable enough for you to make a decent profit, then why concern yourself with how much market they are making? Especially in the beginning. They have family's to feed and bills to pay like we all do and are going to mark up what they import at a rate the market will bear.

When you are educated and prepared to take on the responsibilities of importing the goods yourself and at the much higher quantities they most likely have to buy, then do so, but the importers serve a much needed purpose for which they deserve to profit for their time and efforts and most of all "risk".

3) Once you have decided to buy and import products on your own, you should really get a copy of our Importing business course. Don't do like so many people do who end up calling after they have got themselves into a mess because they did not invest in a "real" course that teaches them the processes and acts as a resource library for them to refer to during their entire business career.

Here is the link to our Importing Business Course

4) Now, as an alternative to getting started and working with verified importers and being able to perform the market research you need to be successful, I am recommending you start with this service and only "after" you have established a market for products should you consider getting our importing course and trying to import on your own.

Visit the following web site, take in all the videos and information they have there and do some searches as a guest for the products you are considering. See the verified Importers they have who make these products available and then decide if you wish to subscribe to gain direct access to them and their unique marketing research tools: http://www.importexporthelp.com/redir/odssd.htm

I hope the above suggestions will help you.

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The above questions and answers represent actual emails received at our Import Export Help Center web site. You are encouraged to read the Archived posts to this blog as there are many Questions and Answers. We will continue to post until all Q and A's are published here and all new ones will then be posted shortly after the actual exchange.

Ron Coble
International Business Marketing Services