0816_TOEFL-Test-and-Score-Manual-1997

122 ● 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business
Seibert spent her free time collecting ceramic art, remodeling her
home, and working in her garden. Rice studied Italian prior to booking
a villa in Tuscany. She invited the Seiberts to join them on the vacation,
beginning their long-standing friendship.
In Tuscany, the women wanted to go somewhere while their husbands
played tennis. The women drove to Impruneta, a tiny village located
about two hours outside of Florence. The town’s signature craft, deep
orangey-pink and white-tinged pottery, intrigued them. They selected
pots to buy and dragged their husbands back to the village. Their husbands
agreed that the pots were beautiful and durable. Thinking big, the
women called customs brokers to figure out whether it was feasible to
buy a pallet full of pots. If they couldn’t sell them, they would just keep
them. They spent $3,000 on pots and another $1,000 to ship them back
to New Jersey by boat.
Tips for Becoming an
Exclusive Importer
An exclusive importing relationship is based on trust. The people
you buy from have to honor the relationship, and you have to
make every effort to sell their products. Here are some tips on how to
establish a trustworthy arrangement with an overseas company:
• First, confirm that they don’t have any existing relationships with
other U.S. companies.
• If necessary, hire an interpreter to help you negotiate the agreement.
Work with a local attorney to draft an agreement in the local
language. Make sure you understand all the terms and aren’t breaking
any local or national laws.
• Start with a short-term deal to test the market for the product. If
things look promising, extend the contract.
• Find a reputable customs broker to handle the shipment of goods
from the manufacturer to your warehouse.
• Set up a system to track sales and shipping information.
• Communicate frequently with your supplier. It’s easy to keep in
touch via e-mail, Skype, and telephone calls.