There are actually many jobs that you can do while keeping an eye on your infants.
As a stay at home mom, you may find that you already have the skills necessary to be successful in many different fields. You already have an attention to detail and a strong work ethic. All you need to do is apply that to something you can do from a home office. Becoming an importer of wholesale Chinese merchandise is a great way to use your skills to earn some much needed cash.
Operating an importing business can eventually become very profitable. Like anything, you typically start small and work your way up to the big leagues. In this article, we will cover some of the important tips and tricks surrounding the import industry. Hopefully, by the end of the article, you will be ready to go from stay at home mom to a stay at home importer.
Why Should You Want To Become A Stay At Home Importer?
Location Freedom:
Before we get started in outlining the steps to becoming a stay at home importer, let's talk about some of the advantages. The most obvious advantage is your ability to work from anywhere in the world. Open up your laptop and work from the Tahiti islands or the comfort of your own home office. As a stay at home mom, you probably won't be working from any islands, but your home office will do just fine.
Low Investment:
As a beginner, you can create a very profitable import business with very little money. Depending on what market you are focusing on, you can get started for as little as the cost of an international calling service, an internet connection, a PC and a lot of determination.
Schedule Freedom:
The best part about working from home in your own business is no one’s looking over your shoulder. It's up to you to do what's necessary to succeed. No more clocking in and out when someone tells you too. As your own boss, you make the rules. While it is advisable to have a set schedule, you can take time off whenever you want. Undoubtedly, you will have to work during the same hours as your partners, buyers and sellers. However, besides that, there are no other scheduling restrictions.
Exciting & Dynamic Opportunities:
Importing Chinese wholesale products into your desired market will be an exhilarating experience. If you like meeting new people and solving challenges, then this is the industry for you. You will find yourself talking with partners and suppliers from around the world. Many people love this type of daily communication and find it to be adventurous.
Start Working From Home and Grow As Large As You Want
Most stay at home moms that have started their own import businesses have grown the operation into something large. Eventually, you will need to hire employees to help with your abundance of daily duties. If you are well organized and possess some solid sales and marketing experiences, you can really turn your stay at home gig into something large. All you really need is the right mentor and information to point you in the right direction.
Where Do You Begin Starting a Wholesale Chinese Import Business From Home?
This is a very important question. Often times we find that starting a new business require that we follow a guaranteed path to success. As they say, “We don't need to reinvent the wheel.'' Instead of doing things your own way, sometimes it's better to follow the path of those that have already achieved which you seek to achieve. With regard to becoming a stay at home importer, you will want to engage in the following steps, in order:
Select the right wholesale Chinese merchandise to order
Develop a website that caters to your product niche and partners
Put in the effort to find the buyers you want to work with
Practice the paperwork
Discover the most convenient shipping method
Keep Brainstorming New Products
It is important to keep in mind that English is the language of international business. You don't have to be a fluent speaker, but it helps to have some basic English skills to help you along the way.
Select the right wholesale Chinese merchandise to order
This is going to be the most important part of the whole process. Selecting the right Chinese wholesaler to work with will determine your reputation within the import industry. It is recommended that you start off by selecting a product niche that you are familiar with. Even if you don't have any import experience, knowing your product in and out will help you explain yourself to interested buyers. As a mother, you will have lots of insight into baby products, household supplies and you may even have some additional experience from your days before you were a stay at home mother. This will all be helpful in determining the products you want to import. After selecting the products you want to offer, get started on finding the appropriate Chinese wholesaler to work with.
Develop a website that caters to your product niche and partners
Your strategy will depend on which niche you are attacking. If you plan on offering your imported Chinese goods on an ecommerce strategy, that's one thing. If you deal directly with retailers and sell your products as distributor, that's another thing. There many a few different ways you can design your website, but you should first determine how you will position yourself. Let's take a look at some of the ways you can position yourself:
Import to Wholesale & Distribute
This is a strategy where importers import large amounts of Chinese wholesale merchandise and offer them to other retail stores at a wholesale rate. Since you are also purchasing products on a wholesale basis, your profit margins will be slim. Most retailers will only buy your items if it makes sense for them. Therefore, you will have to rely on importing in volume to make real profits.
As an example, if you import 1000 baby hats at $2.00 each, your cost is $2000 before you factor any shipping costs. Let's say the total including your shipping cost was $2500. The suggested retail price of your goods may be only $4.50. That means the retailer has to purchase your goods at a minimum of 30% less to make it worth his time. $4.50 - 30% equals = $3.15. 1000 x $3.15 = $3150. If you purchased the Chinese goods for $2500 and sold them for $3150, that would be a profit of $650. If you can make $650 profit on your initial investment of $2000, that would equal roughly a 33% return. Anyone would consider that to be a solid investment.
eCommerce
Many people decide they can earn more profits by selling their imported goods directly to consumers online. While this is true, it takes some upfront leg work to get your online store in front of customers. The online market has become so saturated with ecommerce sellers that it can be hard to find an opening. However, if you research hard enough and know how content marketing and online advertising works, this may be a viable option for you.
Amazon / eBay
These are two of the oldest and most well known ways to offload your wholesale Chinese products. Take some time in looking through the sites to learn how they operate. Alternatively, you can take a look at a few other articles we have written that explain how you can use Amazon and eBay to find importer success
Product Consignment
This method is growing in popularity. Many physical retailers are less likely to take a chance on purchasing a large quantity of an unproven product upfront. They are more willing to accept your products on a consignment basis and reimburse you as they sell. This is a well known strategy that has existed for years. It is also one of the most proven ways to find success. If you can afford to wait for your products to sell, you can find greater returns with this method.
Door to Door Wholesaling
Never underestimate old-fashioned face to face selling. Once your products have arrived from China, you can load them up into your van and drive around to various stores that need what you have to offer. By simply bringing in a tablet that contains your prices, photos and information, you can open negotiations and see if the stores have a need for what you have.
Once you have discovered the way you prefer to position yourself, you can begin creating your website. Take care in using the proper keywords and content when building your site. This will help you achieve the best google search engine rankings.
Find and Start Building A Relationship With Buyers Before Ordering Your Wholesale Chinese Goods
You can do a lot of the work behind finding partners to work with before you even order your wholesale Chinese products. If you are ordering wedding dresses, you can begin to contact wedding dress retailers and ask them if they would be interested in seeing the products you have to offer. If you call enough wedding dress stores, someone will be in need of restocking. This can be a very proactive way to discover partners and buyers that work with you directly. Sometimes simply picking up the phone and saying hello is enough to break the ice and begin a long term relationship.
Practice the paperwork
Perhaps the most difficult part of your adventure will be completing the correct import paperwork. For someone who isn't experienced in this, it can be hard to know which paperwork you need to fill out. One of the ways you can get started is by simply doing your own research and speaking directly with the customs officials in your country. They will be more than willing to help you discover the paperwork you need to get your goods into the country. Any additional papers you may need will be most likely supplied by the Chinese shipper / supplier.
Discover the most convenient shipping method
There are many different shipping methods you can use. The exact method you choose will depend on your products, the weight, and the class of merchandise. Your main choices will be between air, sea and ground. However, within those choices, you will also have to decide if you want to work with a:
Freight forwarder in China
Freight forwarder in China and your home country
Freight forwarder in only your home country
Let the supplier handle the shipping
Coordinate shipping with a third party inspection service that will verify the quality of your merchandise and deliver to your freight forwarder
As you can see, there are a number of things to consider here. Discuss this with your supplier and do some of your own research online. Depending on where you are located, the import rules and regulations will vary. In some cases, it will make sense to work directly with a freight forwarder and in other cases you can just let the supplier handle it.
Now that you are ready to start ordering your Chinese products, let's talk about a few tips that will help you along the way.
Other Tips For Operating A Successful Import Business
Stick To A Schedule
Pick a work schedule and stick to it. Even though you are working from home and are a stay at home mother with other responsibilities, it will help you to pick a schedule. Get your children on a routine that gives you a few hours of free time to work on your business. You will thank yourself later.
Always Brainstorm New Products
The market is constantly changing. Keep brainstorming new product opportunities that will help you earn large profits. You never know what that next hit product will be.
Work With A Bookkeeper
Keeping accurate records of your transactions and financial standing is essential to any business. You should know your numbers. If you are organized and have bookkeeping skills, you can do this for yourself. However, if you feel that you need some assistance in keeping track of the numbers, you can outsource this service for a very affordable price.
The most important tip you can remember will be to stay focused and don't give up. If at first you don't succeed, pick yourself back up and try again.
