In general goods import trade business, goods are imported from overseas manufacturers to domestic consumers. Importers usually need to go through four stages of work, namely, import preparation, import negotiation and contract signing, import performance and import aftermath. Each stage of work includes several tasks.
The work in the import preparation stage mainly includes conducting market research, establishing a company, forming a team, finding suppliers, establishing business relationships, and conducting credit investigations.
Enterprises engaged in import and export trade must first submit a customs declaration unit filing application to the customs where they are located. In addition, before importing special products (such as meat products, cosmetics, dangerous chemicals, crude oil, automobiles, etc.), importing companies must register with relevant government departments in advance. Enterprises that have not registered or obtained approval are not allowed to import such products as domestic consignees.
(I) Conduct market research
Only when importers are familiar with the goods and understand the domestic and foreign market conditions can they smoothly carry out the import of goods. When importers engage in import trade, they must first conduct market research, including domestic market research and international market research. After investigation, if the importer believes that a certain product is suitable for domestic sales, the import cost will be estimated to ensure a certain profit and evaluate the market prospects. After determining the feasibility of importing the product through investigations on market prospects and market saturation, you can start investigating overseas sources.
(II) Establish a company and form a team
After the market research is completed, first register and establish a company, obtain a business license, apply for various qualifications of the company, and obtain a business license; at the same time, recruit personnel to form a team and build a company structure.
(III) Find suppliers and establish business relationships
Importers (import salesmen) can use domestic and foreign trade fairs, network resources, third-party introductions, advertising and other channels to find overseas suppliers or manufacturers, and conduct research on their production capacity, product quality, service quality and other aspects, and then select several ideal overseas suppliers. At the same time, importers must also find and select powerful domestic distributors to ensure that imported goods can be sold smoothly. After determining the cooperation partner, you can establish a business relationship with it.
(IV) Conduct credit investigation
Importers can inquire about the exporter’s credit status through their domestic bank (or third-party professional institution) with the exporter’s bank in the exporting country, and use it as the basis for whether to continue doing business.