I'm looking to extend my business relationships overseas in the industry of exporting/importing, any advice?

If you have no team or your team is lacking what they have it could be a great reason to reach out to them. On the other hand, if you have or can build the right team there is little to gain from partnering with starups like this. Remember that it takes a team to build a successful business and they are not the first or second to try this. My caution would be to make sure you have someone with food safety/regulation experience on your team. This business model has safety concerns which must be addressed to make it viable. Having started, worked with and consulted for food startups, as large as $1B, I can assure you there is a significant public health risk associated with this business model. Sorry to be the voice of reason here, but it is better to hear it from me than someone who is suing you due to a case of food poisoning or worse. As the purveyor of food - or even if acting as a conduit - you have an obligation to consider the public's health and safety. There is an assumption that the product will be safe, just as you assume your Uber will not be a 1971 Ford Pinto with bald tires and an unlicensed driver. Disrupting an industry by challenging the regulations is a great way to go, think Uber or airbnb. Even with the disruption you must still be able to service the customers in a safe way. The FDA states that there are "about 48 million cases of foodborne illness annually...these illnesses result in an estimated 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths." Food industry regulations, both local and federal, have evolved as a necessity. If you would like to talk through options which begin to address the safety concerns I would be more than happy to talk with you.

#1) PROVE THE ASSUMPTION: Start with a dropshipper's existing products to figure out what sells best before you spend money on manufacturing and warehousing. Amazon is perfect for this - they will pay you 4%-10% to promote 253,000,000 products (http://bit.ly/1q2M85R) - you can sign up at https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/ Alternately, get very small amounts of the product (maybe even just buy some from a competitor) and try selling them on ebay and amazon. Nothing hurts more than having $50,000 of imported product gathering dust in your fulfillment warehouse while listening to a voicemail from a debt collector. #2) SOURCING There are several options here. Many people prefer Alibaba.com. Warning - if you use Alibaba, you are stepping into a tank of pirahnas. There are more scam "manufacturers" on Alibaba than real ones. Use Escrow or AliSecure Pay if you buy. If the supplier says they only take T/T, Western Union, Moneygram - just say no! I prefer American Made when possible. If you're like me, try Ariba's Discovery Service - http://bit.ly/1q2NFZu - which will allow you to find suppliers with a physical presence in the USA. Note: Many things can be made on demand (someone purchases, one gets made and shipped) instead of in 500+ manufacturing runs. Start there if you can - Books on CreateSpace.com, Clothes on CafePress.com, Playing Cards on MakePlayingCards.com, etc - to test out your exact product. #3) START YOUR SITE This is an entire topic in itself. One of the fastest ways I know for newbies to start in e-commerce is with a SquareSpace.com store. Other options include GoDaddy.com and BigCommerce.com. If you can stand to use the templates they provide instead of trying to customize them, you'll save yourself a lot of hassle and expense - customization usually looks terrible unless a designer/coder was hired to do the work. If you do customize, find someone on odesk.com or elance.com. #4) MARKET Figure out where your competition is advertising. Are they getting free, "organic" SEO results on Google? Using social media to drive billions of dollars of sales? (NOTE: That was a joke - don't count on social media as the nucleus of your marketing campaign. Please!) Are they paying for Google ads ("PPC"), buying email lists, using strategic partnerships for promotion, relying on shopping portals, using banner advertising, or something else entirely? There's probably a good reason - figure out what it will take to play in those waters. At the same time, try to find a small enough niche that you can win in it. #5) BEWARE Be careful about artsy things. If someone is attracted to something artistic, it's usually because there is a story behind the art for them, or because it's cheap. If you're going to try to sell artistic things, you may want to consider doing some serious research first about who has been successful in that area. Look at etsy.com to see handmade artsy items (very cool). #6) WORTH A LOOK Worth checking out as you start your journey: Art.com, yessy.com, Artfire.com, ArtPal.com #7) DEEP FOUNDATION If you need help, reach out for a 15 minute call and we'll discuss a go-to-market strategy specific to your goals.

The online food delivery industry is at its growth stage, especially after lockdown. There is a surge in demand due to the COVID-19 outbreak as the customers were unable to visit their favorite restaurants and opted for ordering food online. As a precaution, even the restaurants have reduced the sitting capacity in the restaurants, which is one big reason for the increase in online orders. Apps like Uber Eats, GrubHub, Deliveroo are high in demand with an increasing number of downloads each day. This is because consumer behavior has changed, people now feel it safe and more convenient to order food online during the pandemic to avoid crowded places. Even the restaurants that earlier did not have the online services available have started investing to digitize their food ordering and delivery system. However, the entrepreneurs demand platforms similar to top players like Uber Eats. Here is a blog that has explained in detail “How to build an app like Uber Eats”: https://www.fatbit.com/fab/how-to-build-an-app-like-ubereats/ To build an online food ordering and delivery platform you can either opt for a ready-made solution that is a cost-efficient investment or build the website/app from scratch. Food Delivery Solution like YoYumm is suggested based on the features they offer to their customers and the after-sales services provided by the Yoyumm team to build an app like Deliveroo and Just Eat. For more information, you may visit: https://www.fatbit.com/online-food-ordering-software.html For entrepreneurs who are planning to invest or start their online food ordering and delivery business, this is the right time as the demand in the market is high for food delivery services. On the other hand, if we talk about the offline food business, they too are finding their way back. Offline food joints and restaurants have resumed their services after lockdown with more safety and sanitization precautions for both their customers as well as staff. Although the footfall is comparatively less still the business owners are looking for a better solution to cope up with the new norms and change in customer behavior. Take Away The online food delivery marketplace provides customers with the choice & convenience of getting food delivered at their doorsteps with a few taps on their mobile phones. To deal with the change in norm due to the pandemic online service for food ordering and delivery is in demand and entrepreneurs/restaurant owners should pay attention to online food delivery services. You can either create your own platform to receive the order and deliver food or register your restaurant/food joint on platforms such as Uber Eats, Just Eats, and Deliveroo to make the best use of the new digital opportunities. Suggested read: Looking To Start an Online Food Delivery Platform? Take a Look at These Key Features (https://www.fatbit.com/fab/depth-feature-analysis-create-successful-online-food-delivery-platform/ )

Hello! I am a former automobile dealer, and I had an auto repair shop, body shop, and licensed vehicle inspection station in central Missouri. I am very familiar with this industry. I entered this market at the wrong time, grew quickly, and hit the Great Recession at the wrong time. My goal was similar to yours, to wholesale vehicles, but also to export classic cars to the middle East. Canada is a great source for people here, because the prices are in fact lower for US buyers. I am still somewhat involved in the automotive niche, and I even recently purchased a replacement engine on a Scion from Canada because it was about one third of the price that I would have paid anywhere close. One thing you mentioned that stuck out in my mind is focusing on SUVs and trucks. When you specialize, you create your biggest potential. If you can create a name for yourself for supplying a particular size of truck, say a 1/4 ton pickup with an extended cab, you might be able to connect with volume buyers who are looking for low cost alternatives to buying new. This could be municipalities with tight budgets, small transport companies, service industry companies, etc. Once you find a hot niche, word could spread fast, and if you've mastered the supply side, you will be able to move vehicles super fast. And if you have the capability of doing some mechanical upgrades on the vehicles before you sell them, you'll make a greater return on your investment. One example of a hot niche is Jeep Cherokees in Colorado. Cherokees sell for 20% to 30% higher in Colorado than what they go for in the Midwest. I know of a person who did nothing but purchase Cherokees and fix them up for selling in Colorado. He had a very solid business. The advantage to focusing down on a very tight selection of vehicle models is knowing what to expect. You'll know what parts are likely to be worn out at a particular mileage, where these vehicles tend to rust first, what mechanical issues are common, or electrical problems that you can run into. When you are wholesaling and buying anything and everything, you'll heighten your chances of getting burned. I've been there myself, and learned some hard lessons. At the end of my run in the business, I wish I could have hit the rewind button and only scoped out a narrow variety of vehicles that I had the most knowledge on. I plan on re-entering the business soon. I've got a particular car in mind, the 1995 Ford Mustang. I rebuilt one of these, and I know all of the gory details for this car. Right now, they are a dime a dozen, and you can find them everywhere. My plan is to restore them and sell them, because this body style and the Fox body are the next ones which will become "nostalgic". Drill down and find out which pickup truck is your best prospect. Factor in common problems, cost of repair, and demand out on the market. Then stick with that model within a certain range of years, and make a name for yourself in that niche. You are guaranteed to have better success if you take that approach!

COSTCO AFFLUENCE: You might be surprised to know that 54% of CostCo's Wholesale Club (CWC) members are considered wealthy, or "affluent", with only 15% just "getting by" or "poor". BUSINESS VS CONSUMER: Approximately 24% businesses, 76% individual consumers. Even though business customers drive about 60% of CostCo's revenue, about half of that is for home use, so it's about 30% business revenue and 70% individual consumer revenue. HOUSEHOLD: 35% of CWC members have 2 person households. 56% have three or more in their home. I have a ton of paid tools at my disposal for market research. For much more detail on other demographic data for CWC, along with info from BJs and other wholesale clubs, set up a call with me on Clarity.