CHOOSING THE PRODUCT
CHOOSING THE PRODUCT
The question asked most often is, "What product should I select to import or export? Should it be rugs or machinery?"
Keep it simple in the beginning. If your firm already manufactures merchandise or provides a service, that product or service is what you sell. But, for your own import/export business, your job will be to sell someone else's product or service. In other words, you will be the middleman.
The Personal Decision
Most people begin with a single product or service they know and understand, or have experience with. Others begin with a line of products, or define their products in terms of an industry with which they are familiar. Above all, product selection is a personal decision, but the decision should make common sense. For example, if you aren't an engineer, don't begin by exporting gas turbine engines. Or, if you are an electronics engineer, don't start with fashionable textiles.
A good example is the established American house painter who began making excellent profits exporting a line of automated painting equipment to Europe. He knew the equipment before be began.
Start your business with a product or service with which you have an advantage. You can gain that advantage because of prior knowledge, by doing library research about a product, by making or using contacts, or by understanding a language or culture.
The Technical Marketing Decisions
Keep in mind, the product you select might have to adapt to the cultures of other countries.
Product Standards. Most foreign countries have their own product standards such as flammability, labeling, pollution, food and drug laws, and safety standards, etc. Altbough many of these standards parallel those of the United States, you must be aware of the differences.
Technical Specifications and Codes. Most of the world uses 220V, 50 Hz, but we use 120V, 60 Hz. Similarly, most of the world uses the metric system of weights and measures. Determine how you can convert your product to meet these specifications and codes.
Quality and Product Life Cycle. The marketplace for first-generation products is dwindling. Even the least-developed countries (LDCs) want second- and third-generation models. On the other hand, in the life cycle of product innovation, manufacturers introduce new products first to developed countries (DCs), leaving an opportunity for you to make sales of an earlier model to LDCs. Assess the stage in the life cycle in which you find your export/import product.
Developed Countries Distinguishes the more industrialized nations—including all member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as well as the Soviet Union and most of the socialist countries of Eastern Europe—from "developing" or "less-developed" countries. The developed countries are sometimes collectively designated as the "North" because most of them are in the Northern Hemisphere.
Least-Developed Countries (LDCs) The United Nations considers some 36 of the world's poorest countries to be the least developed of the less developed countries. Most of them are small in terms of area and population, and some are landlocked or small island countries. They generally are characterized by:
• Low per capita incomes, literacy levels, and medical standards
• Subsistence agriculture
• Lack of exploitable minerals and competitive industries.
Most LCDs are in Africa, but a few, such as Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Laos, and Nepal, are in Asia. Haiti is the only country in the Western Hemisphere classified by the United Nations as "least developed."
Other Uses.
Different countries use some products for differing purposes. For example, motorcycles and bicycles are largely recreational vehicles in the United States, but in many countries, they are the primary means of transportation.largely recreational vehicles in the United States, but in many countries, they are the primary means of transportation.
The question asked most often is, "What product should I select to import or export? Should it be rugs or machinery?"
Keep it simple in the beginning. If your firm already manufactures merchandise or provides a service, that product or service is what you sell. But, for your own import/export business, your job will be to sell someone else's product or service. In other words, you will be the middleman.
The Personal Decision
Most people begin with a single product or service they know and understand, or have experience with. Others begin with a line of products, or define their products in terms of an industry with which they are familiar. Above all, product selection is a personal decision, but the decision should make common sense. For example, if you aren't an engineer, don't begin by exporting gas turbine engines. Or, if you are an electronics engineer, don't start with fashionable textiles.
A good example is the established American house painter who began making excellent profits exporting a line of automated painting equipment to Europe. He knew the equipment before be began.
Start your business with a product or service with which you have an advantage. You can gain that advantage because of prior knowledge, by doing library research about a product, by making or using contacts, or by understanding a language or culture.
The Technical Marketing Decisions
Keep in mind, the product you select might have to adapt to the cultures of other countries.
Product Standards. Most foreign countries have their own product standards such as flammability, labeling, pollution, food and drug laws, and safety standards, etc. Altbough many of these standards parallel those of the United States, you must be aware of the differences.
Technical Specifications and Codes. Most of the world uses 220V, 50 Hz, but we use 120V, 60 Hz. Similarly, most of the world uses the metric system of weights and measures. Determine how you can convert your product to meet these specifications and codes.
Quality and Product Life Cycle. The marketplace for first-generation products is dwindling. Even the least-developed countries (LDCs) want second- and third-generation models. On the other hand, in the life cycle of product innovation, manufacturers introduce new products first to developed countries (DCs), leaving an opportunity for you to make sales of an earlier model to LDCs. Assess the stage in the life cycle in which you find your export/import product.
Developed Countries Distinguishes the more industrialized nations—including all member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as well as the Soviet Union and most of the socialist countries of Eastern Europe—from "developing" or "less-developed" countries. The developed countries are sometimes collectively designated as the "North" because most of them are in the Northern Hemisphere.
Least-Developed Countries (LDCs) The United Nations considers some 36 of the world's poorest countries to be the least developed of the less developed countries. Most of them are small in terms of area and population, and some are landlocked or small island countries. They generally are characterized by:
• Low per capita incomes, literacy levels, and medical standards
• Subsistence agriculture
• Lack of exploitable minerals and competitive industries.
Most LCDs are in Africa, but a few, such as Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Laos, and Nepal, are in Asia. Haiti is the only country in the Western Hemisphere classified by the United Nations as "least developed."
Other Uses.
Different countries use some products for differing purposes. For example, motorcycles and bicycles are largely recreational vehicles in the United States, but in many countries, they are the primary means of transportation.largely recreational vehicles in the United States, but in many countries, they are the primary means of transportation.
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