How can I stay competitive among the local competitors as an agent importing foreign goods?

Here is my list of seven recommended books: (1) The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company - Steve Blank and Bob Dorf (2) Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup by Bill Aulet (3) The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup - Noam Wasserman (4) Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers - By Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur (5) Here's the Pitch: How to Pitch Your Business to Anyone, Get Funded, and Win Clients by Martin Soorjoo (6) HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations by Nancy Duarte (7) Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist - by Brad Feld et al

Great question. You should definitely not drop the idea if you think that it is worth pursuing. Just like you need the tech-founder, he needs a business founder with a dream, and the passion to make it succeed. I suggest that following: 1. Do market validation/ POC to see if the idea has potential (get a general idea of how here: https://clarity.fm/questions/6423/how-do-you-do-market-research). 2. If it shoes potential, start looking for a tech-co-founder. There are numerous ways (try these): www.meetup.com www.founderdating.com www.cofounderslab.com http://www.founders-nation.com www.founder2be.com Linkedin... 3. Do a trial period + sign a founder's agreement. Happy to help you with any of the above once/if you need. Good luck! I've successfully helped over 350 entrepreneurs, startups and businesses, and I would be happy to help you. After scheduling a call, please send me some background information so that I can prepare in advance - thus giving you maximum value for your money. Take a look at the great reviews I’ve received: https://clarity.fm/assafben-david

Message me, I live in Shanghai, China.. If I understand better maybe I can assist you.

It all depends on what one decides to be a definition of a "success story." For some entrepreneurs, it might be getting acqui-hired, for some -- a $10M exit, for some -- a $200M exit, and for others -- an IPO. Based on the numbers I have anecdotally heard in conversations over the last decade or so, VCs fund about 1 in 350 ventures they see, and of all of these funded ventures, only about 1 in 10 become really successful (i.e. have a big exit or a successful IPO.) So you are looking at a 1 in 3500 chance of eventual venture success among all of the companies that try to get VC funding. (To put this number in perspective, US VCs invest in about 3000-3500 companies every year.) In addition, there might be a few others (say, maybe another 1-2 in every 10 companies that get VC investments) that get "decent" exits along the way, and hence could be categorized as somewhat successful depending on, again, how one chooses to define what qualifies as a "success story." Finally, there might also be companies that may never need or get around to seeking VC funding. One can, of course, find holes in the simplifying assumptions I have made here, but it doesn't really matter if that number instead is 1 in 1000 or 1 in 10000. The basic point being made here is just that the odds are heavily stacked against new ventures being successful. But that's also one of the distinguishing characteristics of entrepreneurs -- to go ahead and try to bring their idea to life despite the heavy odds. Sources of some of the numbers: http://www.nvca.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ven... https://www.pwcmoneytree.com/MTP... http://paulgraham.com/future.html Here are others' calculations of the odds that lead to a similar conclusion: 1.Dear Entrepreneurs: Here's How Bad Your Odds Of Success Are http://www.businessinsider.com/startup-odds-of-success-2013-5 2.Why 99.997% Of Entrepreneurs May Want To Postpone Or Avoid VC -- Even If You Can Get It http://www.forbes.com/sites/dileeprao/2013/07/29/why-99-997-of-entrepreneurs-may-want-to-postpone-or-avoid-vc-even-if-you-can-get-it/

I'd suggest forgetting about trends, and instead focusing on finding problems that lots of people will pay you to solve for them. Here are some ways to get started: (a) Have a clear idea of the few areas where you may have a view of what lies just beyond the edge (technology evolution, market needs, etc.) (b) Identify problems that need to be solved, preferably using primary research (i.e. talking to people). (c) Remember that sometimes people cannot easily articulate what the problem is, so understanding what the problem is might require some effort. (d) Figure out if the problem is big/widespread enough that it is worth solving. Am happy to talk if you'd like to brainstorm your early-stage venture ideas.