Haven't updated this for a while I know. I am waiting to hear back from David Knowlton on when we can meet. Jarry's dad should be in town in March and I look forward to talking to him. I did interview my father about his experiences in South America and asked him detailed questions about his small importation business that him and a friend had many years ago. He mainly brought back artisan products every time he would go to South America for his job. He would stuff his suitcase full of them. Later he got into bringing back custom fit leather jackets (Uruguay is known for their low-price high-quality leather). He would measure customers ahead of time and then would take the measurements with him and they could be made within a few days. His friend had a small shop that they would sell the products out of. He even had his young sons go door to door with cheap artisan hand painted crafts that he could make a very good profit on. He was a bit hazy on how he handled customs. He thought that he had to declare them in customs and pay a small fee. Shouldn't be that big of a deal but I would need to get specifics for my business plan.
Because of my business background and knowledge I am not to worried about marketing/selling the products. Mostly I just need to figure out which products to focus on and how to get them here. I want to go big with this project and part of the purpose is simply to see if it is possible so I don't want to sell myself short and just deal with small inexpensive items. I have been learning some interesting things about importing that I will detail shortly.
Anyone else have any ideas of who I can talk to or what resources would be helpful to find official/ credible information?
James,
ReplyDeleteYou should familiarize yourself with the full U.S. Customs regulations regarding importation as soon as possible. That phrase "a bit hazy about customs" makes me nervous for your future success in this venture. It's not only a matter of not getting tangled up with the law (of the U.S. or of the countries from which you will import). It's also relevant to just what sorts of items you eventually chose to import, so it's directly relevant to your capstone project. Finally, be sure to post full, annotated details of what your research into Customs regulations turns up.
Perhaps you could visit various shipping locations such as USPS and UPS to try and figure out what the limitations are with customs. That could give you a better idea of what possible items could be shipped. Here is a link that you might check out.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.usps.com/international/
I would even venture into airlines. Check out the customs in Airlines. I used to work at a a bridal shop that had their shipments come from out of the country and there was a huge, bug issue with customs at the airport. a lot of girls didn't get their wedding dresses on time... :S
ReplyDeleteJames,
ReplyDeletethe conversation was a good start. And talking with David Knowlton will be good too. But at this point you've got to be reading and studying and figuring things out if you're going to make a go of this. You can't just talk with a couple of people. Where are the best articles about this subject, including, but more than the customs question.
The most successful people in business are the ones who know the most, who pay the most attention, who work hardest at figuring things out.
Figure this out with the help of good thinkers and writers. Where are they?