Regardless of the country from which you import the goods, the import process always includes 6 stages through which you have to go.
And if you thoroughly disassemble each step of the import process, make a certain number of transactions, then you can definitely become a professional, and after 5-10 years of work you will already be an expert in several areas. But it seems to be very difficult to become an absolute expert in all areas of import.
Simply, because of the presence of a huge number of regulatory documents, tariffs, regulations that are constantly changing and updated, it is impossible to keep track of everything and do an import business. I do not know specialists who are equally deeply versed in all 7 stages of the import process.
Therefore, I believe that when there is a team of experts, each of whom is good in his field and an excellent project manager manages the relationship with them, who understands all stages, but is a narrow expert in 1-2 areas, then the importing company has a very strong competitive advantage.
In my opinion, the main advantages of such a project manager for managing the entire import process should be:
- communicative qualities;
- the ability to manage the process;
- the ability to control and bring each stage to the end;
- analytical mind and discipline in numbers.
If you are a small or medium-sized entrepreneur, then you have a choice. Or at the initial stage, you have to become such a manager and manage your import business on your own. At the same time, you must perform some of the stages, and outsource all the most complex processes, such as logistics and customs clearance.
Or you hire such a project manager for import management from China to your team, with partial involvement of outside specialists. But you still, as the owner of the import business, must manage it.
In any case, an entrepreneur who decides to do an import business with China must undergo additional professional training and understand all 6 stages, understand how an import business works from the inside. Otherwise, nothing good, there will be no waiting for you.
6 Steps of Import
You will always go through these 7 steps, no matter what product you want to import and from which country you want to import.
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Country of Import
Decide where your product will be manufactured. In my case, it will be China or Southeast Asia, depending on the product. Countries have different export/import regulations. While goods from Asia can be cheap, many other factors can drive up costs. The import requirements for specific goods depend on many criteria:
- whether the imported product is subject to quota restrictions;
- whether a reduced duty rate is eligible for an imported product;
- is there a ban on the import of the imported product into the territory of the country, since it occurs in the country that is under the embargo;
- And many other criteria.
Knowing the country of import, you still need to know what specific product you will be importing to see all the restrictions and benefits, specifically for this import product.
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Product Import
Determine the exact product or product that you will be importing. Many people always argue about which stage is the first to determine the country of import or the product of import. I believe that the country of import is primary. Because when I’m going to import a product, I already have an unambiguous idea of what kind of product I want to import.
In the paragraph, the product of import, we are talking about a full description of the product or product that I want to produce or purchase in China (or any other country) and import to Russia or another country. It is necessary to draw up a TK (technical task) or TS (technical specification) in which to describe in detail the imported product in terms of all possible parameters. This stage is probably one of the most tedious, difficult, and most important. If we are talking about Jasa import China or any other developing Asian country, remember, you always get what you order. Therefore, in the TK, write down the maximum possible number of parameters that characterize your product.
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Supplier of The Imported Goods
Finding a supplier is the most exciting but also the most difficult part. But you don’t care, at the initial stage, you should choose a company and only then build relationships with people who work in this company.
When choosing a supplier, you must be guided by several criteria by which you will evaluate, qualify and select a supplier. Moreover, this process should be systematized and standardized as much as possible. Otherwise, you run the risk of wasting a lot of time and getting very little results.
- Calculation of Economic Efficiency of Import
We remember that import business is, first of all, a business and the main ultimate goal of any business is to bring profit to its owners. whenever we are going to import something, we must remember about the economic component of the import business. We must be able to determine the efficiency and profitability of imports with you. And for this, we need to be able to calculate the cost of imported goods. To be able to calculate the cost, you need to know what to count and how to count. We need to know about all transport procurement costs that affect the total cost of production.
- Supplier Management
After we have done all the preparatory work and planned calculations of the cost of our goods, we realized that it is very profitable and efficient to import from China, we proceed to the most important part of our import – the process of manufacturing or purchasing our imported goods and everything that this is connected.
- Delivery of Imported Goods
When your imported goods are ready to be shipped to any country, either the logistics companies or your internal logistics companies come into play. Of course, when we talk about small and medium import business, most often the delivery is handled by the involved logistics companies or freight forwarding companies.
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