There are many reasons for employing a professional customs agent. When you start your importing business, you immediately encounter fierce competition from producers, manufacturers and companies from the far corners of the world.
In the early stages particularly, it’s important to survive in a tough economy and difficult environment – that is why it is so important to develop a global mentality; an attitude that concentrates on the global marketplace and not just the local market. Thinking out of the box is what it’s all about.
The traditional local mindset has been embedded in many business managers for years, however this needs to end if you are to truly compete. Furthermore, trying to do everything yourself is not only short-sighted, but will stop your business right in its tracks and from expanding and developing the way it should.
Your business objectives of increasing company profits in the short-term are misguided if long-term strategy is neglected as far as importing and exporting is concerned. To compete effectively in global market, you need to take a longer-term view and the right attitude. This will also mean that you will need knowledgeable partners on your side such as a customs agent experienced in all global aspects of international trade.
This simple change of attitude is imperative to your success but remember that it will take time before you will see any real returns. If you and your business are willing to make this kind of commitment, ultimately, you will reap the rewards.
Finding the right foreign suppliers is tough:
A company with very little or no experience in the world of importing and exporting will find it really difficult to find foreign partners or even determine which countries might be best to import from.
Although market research is usually the first step and independent research is imperative, the challenge of navigating foreign markets is not easy with differences in product specifications, plenty of red tape, foreign languages as well as cultural barriers as well as the political and financial risks to consider.
You will need to consider the state of the economy, language barriers and tariffs, too (local governments impose taxes as well as import duties on imported merchandise – commonly referred to tariffs).
For these many reasons, before embarking on an import/export programme it would be wise to hire the services of a customs agent experienced in all these and other aspects that will make your life a lot easier when importing from international markets.