SCALING Expanding Business into International Markets - Especially USA/CAN/EU(schengen)/UK/CN

[chabs]

Hi all,

I am posting after seeing some emails saying that these forums have improved recently. Thought I would post to see if others had been through similar experiences with expanding their product based businesses into international markets, and what their stories are like.

Personal context:

• In Australia, selling mostly Chinese made product. I've experimented with products made from other sources, and will continue to expand in those, although Chinese product is dominant and likely to remain so.

This is the current bullet point list of what I'm thinking for expansion, let me know your thoughts, and if there is anything obvious that is missed:

• Chinese Domestic Market: It's possible to rent a warehouse in China as a foreign company, this can be used as a base for shipping out goods. It's also much cheaper than getting large warehouses in my local market, and shipping containers can be stored/packed there. I can also arrange for non-warehouse staff to work from here as a base, as we will need Chinese based staff (as opposed to contract-based work currently) for work such as quality control, product development and databasing. It'll also serve as a point to receive domestic samples, and the process of developing and approving new products can be sped up significantly. I have seen how it's also possible to build large "creative spaces" where we can hire locals who are trained at making content to sell on Taobao, etc. The biggest advantage of the Chinese market is that by virtue of having goods produced there, we are essentially already on the cusp of operating there.

• The US market: This is the first priority market to try and crack, I've visited the US 4 times in the last 2 years alone, and have managed to figure out how to develop some product lines with some help from people I know, mostly in CA/TX/FL. As far as I know, the first steps are setting up trademarks, LLC, requesting AMEX to setup a US card so I can build credit, etc. It's also very very clear amazon is dominant and there will need to be some sort of play with Amazon, this may mean finding listing software such as channelengine, or whatever you guys recommend, to link Netsuite to Amazon and create listings. I have researched a little into how Amazon marketing works as well, and the type of advertising techniques and overall culture of Amazon buyers will be challenging to learn! Please let me know other steps for the US market. Probably the most remarkable thing I noticed, is how many Chinese operate their Amazon stores, completely from China. It's so common and I've seen it in so many industries that friends are in, from iPhone items, to bikes, to construction supplies, etc. This might mean with a small Chinese team, we can probably get the ball rolling in the US faster than it would initially seem. Biggest advantage of the US market is the sheer size of it!

• EU (Schengen) market: This market will mostly be focused on the blue banana economic zone, ignoring the UK. Please share any challenges or insights you guys have. In addition to the steps around trademarks/incorporating/etc which will need to be done in the US, I am considering how taxes will work in each major EU country. I have done a little research in logistics and I think the warehouse we buy/rent will most likely end up being in the Netherlands, between Rotterdam and Antwerp ports, although happy to take any insights or advice from others who have set up in the EU. The first markets I am thinking of focusing on will be the Dutch, German and French markets, maybe branching into the Scandanavian, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese markets soon after, each will need a unique marketing mix and it'll be challenging to find reps/workers in each to sell the product. The most exciting thing about the EU market is that there is a very large popuation within a relatively small km (miles) radius around where we can plop a warehouse. Big advantages for distribution!

• UK/Canada: I haven't done any research on these two markets yet, as they didn't interest me as much as the others yet. It will also make sense to focus on the other three economic regions before taking a crack at these. Happy to hear any thoughts or advice tho, as these would be logical next steps.

If anyone else has been through similar experiences, it would be great to hear from you! Please also feel free to ask questions if you had anything to ask .

 

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[Librarian4869]

Hi all,

I am posting after seeing some emails saying that these forums have improved recently. Thought I would post to see if others had been through similar experiences with expanding their product based businesses into international markets, and what their stories are like.

Personal context:

• In Australia, selling mostly Chinese made product. I've experimented with products made from other sources, and will continue to expand in those, although Chinese product is dominant and likely to remain so.

This is the current bullet point list of what I'm thinking for expansion, let me know your thoughts, and if there is anything obvious that is missed:

• Chinese Domestic Market: It's possible to rent a warehouse in China as a foreign company, this can be used as a base for shipping out goods. It's also much cheaper than getting large warehouses in my local market, and shipping containers can be stored/packed there. I can also arrange for non-warehouse staff to work from here as a base, as we will need Chinese based staff (as opposed to contract-based work currently) for work such as quality control, product development and databasing. It'll also serve as a point to receive domestic samples, and the process of developing and approving new products can be sped up significantly. I have seen how it's also possible to build large "creative spaces" where we can hire locals who are trained at making content to sell on Taobao, etc. The biggest advantage of the Chinese market is that by virtue of having goods produced there, we are essentially already on the cusp of operating there.

• The US market: This is the first priority market to try and crack, I've visited the US 4 times in the last 2 years alone, and have managed to figure out how to develop some product lines with some help from people I know, mostly in CA/TX/FL. As far as I know, the first steps are setting up trademarks, LLC, requesting AMEX to setup a US card so I can build credit, etc. It's also very very clear amazon is dominant and there will need to be some sort of play with Amazon, this may mean finding listing software such as channelengine, or whatever you guys recommend, to link Netsuite to Amazon and create listings. I have researched a little into how Amazon marketing works as well, and the type of advertising techniques and overall culture of Amazon buyers will be challenging to learn! Please let me know other steps for the US market. Probably the most remarkable thing I noticed, is how many Chinese operate their Amazon stores, completely from China. It's so common and I've seen it in so many industries that friends are in, from iPhone items, to bikes, to construction supplies, etc. This might mean with a small Chinese team, we can probably get the ball rolling in the US faster than it would initially seem. Biggest advantage of the US market is the sheer size of it!

• EU (Schengen) market: This market will mostly be focused on the blue banana economic zone, ignoring the UK. Please share any challenges or insights you guys have. In addition to the steps around trademarks/incorporating/etc which will need to be done in the US, I am considering how taxes will work in each major EU country. I have done a little research in logistics and I think the warehouse we buy/rent will most likely end up being in the Netherlands, between Rotterdam and Antwerp ports, although happy to take any insights or advice from others who have set up in the EU. The first markets I am thinking of focusing on will be the Dutch, German and French markets, maybe branching into the Scandanavian, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese markets soon after, each will need a unique marketing mix and it'll be challenging to find reps/workers in each to sell the product. The most exciting thing about the EU market is that there is a very large popuation within a relatively small km (miles) radius around where we can plop a warehouse. Big advantages for distribution!

• UK/Canada: I haven't done any research on these two markets yet, as they didn't interest me as much as the others yet. It will also make sense to focus on the other three economic regions before taking a crack at these. Happy to hear any thoughts or advice tho, as these would be logical next steps.

If anyone else has been through similar experiences, it would be great to hear from you! Please also feel free to ask questions if you had anything to ask .

Hi!

Something to look into while researching the EU - import duties. Especially if it's coming from China. I don't know what you're selling but let me give you an example. There's been a BIG influx of Chinese build EV's coming into Europe recently. Super cheap obviously but not necessarily bad - some are build by GEELY & are essentially Chinese build Volvo's (GEELY owns Volvo). Not sure I would buy one myself but they're extremely popular.

Now, guess who didn't like that? The Volkswagen Group (owns Porsche, Audi etc.). & no, they didn't want to compete so they complained to the EU about it. The EU followed by putting a 38% import duty on all EV's coming from China... (this is on top of a 10% levy on vehicles from outside the EU)

It's always the consumer who ends up paying for these things... But worth looking into.