How do I access the US, Canada, UK, EU import-export data on a particular product for free?

Hi First of all, the fact that you are talking about market research ('validation') is great. I've seen so many startups invest time and money, only to find out later that no ones wants/needs their product, or that they only want a certain aspect of it (whilst the startup spent money developing a whole bunch of other features), or that they aren't willing to pay the requested price. So you're already one step ahead. Also, the sooner you validate your product, the better! The best ways to validate your idea is to see whether people are willing to actually pay for your product/service. The best way to get investors, is to show (1) that you are solving a need, (2) that you have traction, and (3) that the investors will get a nice return on their investment. As for methods of validation, here are the most efficient methods. 1. Check that people will actually buy/pay for the product. You can do this by setting up a Wix or Wordpress website (this can be done for free / very low costs). If your venture is a mobile app, then you can create what’s called a Clickable Prototype (“CP”) (a visual of the app in which the images change when you click on something - you can do so using the Apple Keynote tool or Microsoft PowerPoint). On the website, include the price of the product/service, and enable people to order it (YES, even if it doesn't really exist yet!). I am happy to explain how this can be done whilst still being fair to your potential customers (the people who click the "buy/download” button). 2. Determine your target market/customers. 3. Spend a small amount (say $100 - depending on your budget) on the most relevant platforms and promote your product/service - linking to the website that you created. This way, after only spending a very small amount, you will be able to know (if you did it right): a. Do people like your product. b. Do people want/need your product (not the same as 'a'). c. Are people willing to pay for your product? (not the same as 'b' - and this being the most important stage) d. How much they are willing to pay. (you can check this by having 2-3 landing pages with different prices on each). 2 last important points: a) In order to rule out external factors like an unattractive landing page or advertising campaign, and assuming you have the time, create multiple landing pages / advertising campaigns, with different designs. b) During the above process, don't forget to check how much it costs you for each user/customer that clicks the "buy" button. If for example each click on your promotion/advertisement costs you $2, and only every 10 people who click go on to the "buy" page - that means each sale is costing you $20. Then check what your average profit per sale is, and then you'll know if your service/product is worth pursuing (obviously there are additional factors like return customers, referrals etc, but you will get a good estimated/validation of the idea/business). Regarding questionnaires and talking with people, these methods are also very good, but it is crucial that you implement them correctly, otherwise your results might be misleading. I’ve successfully helped over 300 entrepreneurs and I’d be happy to help you. Doing validation correctly can save you a lot of time and money. Before the call, and in order to make the best of your time, please send me more information about your product/service and your target market. Best of luck!

Total Addressable (at least in the US) can be built based on market data sets, both free and for fee. For early child care centers, Market Data Retrieval and NCES (publicly available data set) are two recommended sources. For Serviceable, that depends on a) your own business / operating model and b) the current and projected penetration of comparable competitors in market. For the former, consider things like technology usage and implementation capabilities. For the latter, if you have identified clear competitors, it is unlikely that you will have access to accurate info. So, if you can estimate these numbers and reverse-engineer, that's a good starting point. This would also be a great time to consider how your SAAS product is differentiated and will give you a chance to think through different scenario models for customer "switching" (from an existing competitor product to your own).

The art of the "cold pitch" is definitely something that needs to be worked on, and doesn't come naturally to everyone. A couple of quick tips: 1. 4 is not a big enough target group, you've got to cast a bigger net. Try pitching 20, and aim to get 3-5 responses. 2. When sending a cold email, really think about what you are offering them. Whilst you'll get the odd good egg that simply wants to help - you can't expect entrepreneurs and small biz owners to take time out of their day to answer your questions. To counter, why not tell them you're conducting research in the space, and would be happy to send the finds/reports back to them in a nice format, which could in turn help their business. 3. Don't give up, keep hustling. Try changing around the emails slightly, track which emails convert into responses, and fine tune from there. Good luck and feel free to book a call if you want to chat more. Best James.

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