AboutHank S Expertise Ask me about sourcing products in China, finding manufacturers in China, importing from China, developing new products in China, moving manufacturing to China, price negotiations with suppliers in China, and logistics-related issues.
Experience I lived in China from 1993 to 2003 where I learned Chinese and worked in the fields of logistics, marketing and manufacturing services. I have visited hundreds of factories in China. I am authorized by the NYS Unified Court System as an interpreter of Mandarin Chinese. I have an MBA in international business and entrepreneurship. I work in a U.S. company as product development and sourcing manager.
Education/Credentials MBA, International Business & Entrepreneurship, City University of NY
BA, East Asian Studies & Chinese, City University of NY
Studied international trade taught in Chinese at the University of International Business & Economics in Beijing
Chinese language study at Beijing University & Nanjing University
Question hi sir,im staying in china for the past 4 years.next year ill be leaving to my country,but i would like to import goods from here(start a small business).sir can U please guide me in this.should i take a license first?.i donno where to begin or wot to do.wot are the best stuffs to import from china?and how will i find a good supplier?i would like to prefer importing clothes and lingeries.is it good idea?.reply me bye
Answer You should read my other posts. You are asking the wrong question.
You need to ask yourself what you can SELL in your home country. Then you'll have the answer to your question, "what should I import?"
Importing is easy compared to selling and distributing. How are you going to do it? Who can you sell to? What relationships do you have that might help you get started?
Whatever you import you need to sell. In order to sell it, the product has to be either (a) cheaper than others or (b) the same price as others but better in some way. You can't be cheaper than others because you are competing against importers with three things you don't have: established vendor and client relationships, experience and cash flow. And the problem with innovating a new product is that it costs many tens of thousands of dollars--if not hundreds of thousands--and tremendous effort and sacrifice (with no guarantees of success) to take a great idea and turn it into a great product.
You might try to find something that nobody else is selling. Problem is, if nobody else is selling it there's probably a good reason. You will need to contend with higher barriers to entry, whatever they may be.
Clothes are great because everybody needs them. But if you talk to anyone who imports and sells clothes for a living they will tell you 1,000 reasons NOT to import clothes. My top three reasons not to sell clothes are competition, competition and competition. Have you noticed all the clothes being sold around you? And guess what, they're all cheap and they're all made in China (or a poorer country).
Lingerie? Now wait minute readers.... Maneka doesn't have the word "man" in his name for nothing! Now you're talking! You could sell it door-to-door...
But seriously, at least once you go from "clothes" to "lingerie" you have narrowed down your target market considerably. The more you can do this the better. For example, maybe you will sell lingerie to old ladies who want to spice up their twilight years. Now that's a niche! Despite the relatively small demand for this sort of product, it is probably an underserved market nonetheless. I think you can buy maternity lingerie so why not lingerie for sexually active elderly women? Of course it's more fun to sell lingerie to hot twenty year-olds, but how are you going to compete with Victoria's Secret?
Anyway, the point is not to convince you to sell lingerie to old ladies. The point is to get you to think about the questions you need to be thinking about. You'll need to take inventory of your relationships and experience and ask yourself what you have the capability to sell. Then you can come back and ask me how to source the product. Good luck!
