Export Business Training in Nigeria: Why Most People Fail
Export Business Training in Nigeria: Why Most People Fail in Export Business
Have You Failed After Attending Several Export Business Training in Nigeria?
Yes, this is a common scenario after attending some export business training in Nigeria organized by non-performing exporters. Though it is a known fact that many entrepreneurs fail the first time, but they learn from their failures, and the kinds of personalities that led them to try once will make them try again and again until they ultimately succeed. This can only be possible after acquiring the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical skills in your new venture so it’s recommended you attend export business training in Nigeria organized by performing exporters.
Another way of looking at this is to ask yourself what experience you have had in business. exporting are definitely businesses that require knowledge of purchasing, marketing/ selling, finance, and other functions that go along with being your own boss.
If you really want succeed doing export business in Nigeria, I suggest you attend a practical oriented export business training conducted or organized by entrepreneurial exporters who can truly show you how to be successful doing export business in Nigeria especially how to get buyers for your export products.
Before Going into Export Business, How Is Your Financial Situation?
You normally need some money to buyer your export product samples, build your online presence, register your business and for basic equipment, communications, and so forth. Then, if you plan to buy merchandise for export, you will probably have to pay for it before you can sell it and collect from your buyer. In addition, you may have to lay out cash for transportation, storage, and other services.
Many people make a living acting as agents or brokers and do not take title to or possession of merchandise. Doing business this way limits their need for capital, but even so, they usually set up an optimized online presence and marketing and other expenses. Also, if you plan to quit your job to start this business, you will need money to live on, probably for several months.
Persistence, Patience, And Judgment
The non-performing exporters who organizes most export training in Nigeria will always assure you that export contracts are waiting for you, all you need is to attend their one or two days’ seminars, buy their books, buyers list or subscription to have access to the contracts. Which is never true, export business needs persistence and patient to prevail. A good export training will expose you to strategies and skills to a successful export business while you will need patient and persist ency in getting export leads and sales
You are not likely to be very successful in the first few months, so be prepared to give your export business some time to develop. On the other hand, if you are losing money or barely breaking even, you may judge that the time has come to change your export business model or to close for a while.
How to Pay Attention to Detail is a Vital Point You will be Taught in Export Business Training in Nigeria
In international trade, as with any business, you have to give the buyer exactly what he or she asks for.
One of the important point you don’t get from some export business training in Nigeria, is that they fail to tell you that a successful export business needs 100% attention to details. You will need to pay attention to exactly what your client wants, product quality, packing, documentations, importing country’s requirements etc.
So, if you are a broad thinker who doesn’t like to be bothered with details, you might want to find a different kind of business.
Contacts with Buyers for Your Export Business
It is certainly possible to start an export business by finding an attractive product and then looking for buyers, and this is the way it is usually done. Selling, however, is usually much harder than buying. If you have or can find someone who wants to buy a product from you, and will give you the specifications, you can probably find and supply the item.
It’s recommended you invest your money and time to getting buyers first before products. You can use sample product pictures, an optimized and target driven online presence etc. to source for buyers and those who need your export products.
Before Attending Export Business Training in Nigeria, These Are 20 Important Questions You Should Ask Yourself
Now, let’s look at the 20 questions. Your answers to these can be the beginning of your export business plan.
- Why are you thinking of starting a business? What are your objectives?
If your answer is “to make money,” you should probably spend extra time on good planning with realistic financial projections.
If you are unemployed and want to start a business because you don’t feel like looking for a job, please think again. Some people who are in this position succeed, but many would be better off getting more work experience, even at low salaries.
- What do you have going for you?
For most of us, starting a business is a lot harder, and every asset you have may be called into play. If you have export business training and experience, capital, product knowledge, contacts with buyers, travel experience, or foreign languages, you’ll be in a much stronger position than if you lack these things.
- Have you attended export business training or have an export mentor?
There is some good export business training in Nigeria that can offer your everything you need to know before you start exporting. Also have a mentor who is an export expert can help you get along with the business.
I recommend you attend an export business training in Nigeria where they will offer you mentor-ship and support to commence your export business. You have better chances when you have a mentor who you can always run to if you have any issue relating to your export business.
- Do you plan to work as a merchant, an agent, a broker, or some combination of these?
The easiest way to go into export business is usually by buying and reselling, which makes you a merchant. Unfortunately, this model usually requires quite a bit of money and involves risk. You might, for example, buy and sell some goods and not be able to collect from your customer.
Some people begin as commission agents, and you can be a selling or a buying agent for a foreign company.
There is usually a formal written agreement by which the principal designates a firm or individual to act his agent in return for a commission on completed transactions.
The third alternative is for you to just try to broker, or arrange, deals between unrelated parties. You can try to collect a commission from either party to the transaction, or from both.
- When you start, will you be working full-time or part-time?
Many people try to start businesses on a part-time basis, and sometimes they do well. Often, however, they find themselves under a lot of pressure and have to surreptitiously make phone calls or do other work on their small ventures while they are being paid to do something else.
Another option is for one person to work on a new business while a partner keeps pulling in a salary.
This can work well if the one salary covers the couple’s expenses.
A final option is simply to quit work and try to build up the new business. This maximizes the chance of being successful but it entails a risk that you will use up all of your savings and have to go back to work. This recently happened to a person I know.
He and his partner are still working at their business in the evenings and on weekends.
- Who, if anyone, can help you with the work in the beginning?
Even a very small business involves buying, selling, accounting, and a variety of other tasks, and most people aren’t good at all of them. It is very helpful to have a partner or an employee and/or to subcontract some functions such as preparing tax returns.
- What is your target market?
This is among the most important questions. If you “shotgun” your products at millions of people, you may not hit any of them. Use a rifle at first. Instead of offering Nigerian foodstuff products to anyone in the United States, try Nigerian foodstuff products to African restaurants. That is a market you can identify and contact. Instead of trying to export Nigerian food products to anyone in the world, try selling them to African stores that sell to middle-income consumers in selected countries in which most household love African local dishes.
- How do you plan to sell to customers in the target market?
If you can find a product that will bring customers running to you, you’ll be among the fortunate few. Most people have to attract customers by promotion and then sell to them. You will probably need a plan for promoting sales and a “sell sheet or product list” to use in meetings with potential buyers.
- Which type(s) of product(s) do you plan to deal in?
The best answer to this question is that you will deal in a product for which you already have a customer. If you cannot do that, try looking for a product that you like and know a lot about, that is available in sufficient quantity.
- What will be your sources of supply?
Exporters usually try to deal with producer that produce merchandise, rather than buying from intermediaries.
Middlemen have a role to play, but each one has a profit and costs that increase the price to the consumer.
If you export, you will probably find potential suppliers in several parts of the country. Some factors to consider in selecting suppliers from which to buy are its reputation for quality, its cost structure, distant, availability etc.
- How will you ship your merchandise?
There are several different methods of shipping. Small items can be handled by couriers. You might use airfreight for larger shipments and sea or land for still larger ones, but the decision also varies with such factors as the value and fragility of the cargo.
In international shipping there are a number of standardized terms such as FOB and CIF. It is important that you understand these shipping terms.
- Which method of international payment do you plan to use?
Inexpensive, secure payment is vital to any business. In international transactions there is an extra element because money must cross international boundaries. This has been made easier by new methods of payment but, in some cases, is complicated by counter terrorism measures.
Unfortunately, in most or all countries there are unscrupulous people who try to order merchandise from overseas and not pay for it.
- Which foreign government regulations will concern you?
International traders are subject to the laws of multiple jurisdictions—federal, state, and local—in both the exporting and the importing countries. There are also bilateral and multilateral agreements that come into play with regard to many transactions.
- What will be company’s name and form of organization for your export business?
Should your business bear your name or a trade name that you create and register? Should you incorporate, and if so, which kind of corporation should you select? Your answers to these questions have important implications for liability and taxation.
- What will you do for an office and office equipment?
Many people start businesses in their homes, and that has become easier and more acceptable than it used to be. You will save a lot of money, but of course there are disadvantages. You will have to find another place for business meetings, and you may suffer from being too close to your spouse and kids, the refrigerator etc.
- In your export business, how will you communicate with your suppliers and customers?
There is an art to knowing when to use phone, fax, and e-mail, and a science to picking the most cost-effective services.
- Which service companies will you need, and how will you select them?
You may want to use the services of a lawyer to help set up your business. Then you will need a bank, an Internet provider, a telephone, and perhaps power supply. When you start doing business, you will need a freight forwarder and perhaps a customs broker, a courier service, and others.
- Where will you get information and help as your export business develops?
You will often need clear, accurate, up-to-date information about such things as trade regulations and transportation costs, and you would like to be able to get information quickly and at a reasonable cost.
You might also want to look for help with general aspects of organizing and operating your business. It is available in some areas from business mentors, Export Business Training, Nigerian export promotion council, the Nigerian chamber of commerce, and other organizations.
- As you plan to start your export business, how much will you invest, and where will the money come from?
No matter how you start the business, you will have to make some investment. It is wise in the beginning to determine your start-up costs, including equipment, the cost of your time, and “working capital” to see you through until you start to make a profit.
Once you have a bottom-line number, you will know whether you have enough money. If you don’t have enough, you will know how much more you need and can look at possible sources. You can consider various kinds of loans as well as capital investment by friends and relatives.
- What is your income and profit potential?
After you figure out the start-up costs, you should project sales and then project your income and your expenses. The difference between income and expenses is what you will have left to put back into your business and for personal use.
Serious about starting an export business, I suggest you should learn before exporting. Attending one of the export business training in Nigeria, organized by a reputable export company will boost your investment.
You can check out our export business training, we offer online training and offline practical workshop where you implement and run trails before investing your hard earned money unnecessarily.