Consulting and supply of goods

Import and export are the most important issues in international trade. Many businesses supply some of their resources from international markets. There are also companies and traders that exclusively import to meet the needs of domestic markets.

Import and export consulting and business processes

Export and import consulting requires a lot of experience and expertise that this experience and expertise has been obtained by a perfect understanding of the domestic and international markets and the rules governing the relevant organizations and policies. Export consulting includes consulting in terms of international marketing and product introduction, consulting on the issuance of proforma invoices, consulting in terms of cargo insurance and introducing various clauses of cargo insurance, etc.

Market Studies

The most important factor in business is market and customer identification; you can produce products that are profitable for you by knowing the needs of the market and the interest of the customer. It should be noted that if this step is not accomplished correctly, the other steps will not work properly. Once the need is identified, the trader should look for the most cost-effective way of production and determine whether supplying is better from domestic or foreign companies.

Cost analysis

Analyzing cost and profitability in business is very important. The importer must first consider whether the import of this product is profitable for him/her. By analyzing all the import costs of a product, we can know the final cost of the product and compare it with other options. Product prices, insurance, transportation, check, clearance, etc., are among the costs that must be considered.

Quality analysis

Sometimes, despite spending money, the product does not have a good performance in the market because of its poor quality. Low quality will threaten the business reputation. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to what kind of quality is going to be obtained according to the price. Cost and quality are directly related. In other words, if one wants to get higher quality has to pay more.

If you want to be successful in the market in the long term, you need to pay so much attention to the quality of your products. In this regard, factors such as the level of business technology, the seller’s commitment to proper product performance, the percentage of defective products, paying attention to quality control, etc., can be considered.

Time analysis

Successful marketers are people who act on time. When the market need is identified, it should be handled quickly; otherwise, competitors will supply sooner than you and the opportunity will be gone.

Price of products

One of the most important variables in international trade and initial evaluation is price. Lower prices can help you sell more products in many cases. Finding a producer with a reasonable price can be an important variable for entrepreneurs.

Brand reputation

Another influential variable in the initial evaluation can be the brand. A reputable and well-known brand, relying on its reputation, attracts more customers. It can even be said that customers are usually willing to pay more for a reputable brand.

Sourcing

If the entrepreneur, after checking and analyzing the situation, decides to import or export, he/she should try to source, which means choosing several sellers. One of the most important issues in choosing a seller is to find the source in two stages checking sellers and validating qualified companies.

Validation

Different businesses can be validated based on the following indicators:

• Checking the legal registration of a company: The first step in checking the validation of a company is to control its legal registration. Although the legal registration of a company does not guarantee its validation, the lack of legal registration of a company definitely indicates its invalidity.
• Number of employees: One of the signs of a company’s reputation is the number of employees. Companies with a large number of employees are usually valid, being able to pursue their commitments, and their performance follows professional principles.
• Equipment and resources available: Companies that have more valuable land, buildings, production equipment and resources are often highly credible and faithful to their commitments.
• Contra accounts Banks and Financial Institutions: There is a general rule that companies that have worked with reputable banks and financial institutions and are able to obtain facilities from them are in a proper position. Because usually, banks do not take risks and do not give their resources to companies that do not have a good payback capacity.
• Carrying out previous obligations: One of the appropriate criteria for validating companies is how they fulfill their previous obligations. In order to do so, companies with a good background in fulfilling their obligations are more reliable. Normally, a company that is in a good position according to this index is more likely to be able to meet and fulfill its obligations

In general, there are three ways to collect this information and examine the indicators

1. Checking the indicators by the buyer: according to the technical inspection method, the buyer provides information from the seller. Usually, in these circumstances, the buyer goes to the seller’s location and visits the facilities, products, employees, production line, etc. and obtains the necessary information in person.
2. Checking indicators by validating companies: Another way is to ask specialized companies that work in the field of determining the validation of companies. These companies charge a fee for providing validation services. Of course, there are companies whose main activity is not validation, but by having an appointed agent in the seller’s country, in addition to their main activity, they provide validation services to their own country companies.
3. Checking indicators by government organizations: Some commercial government organizations provide business services to businessmen in their country. Iran also helps businessmen with economic advisers to perform better in dealing with foreign companies. Iran has trade advisors in countries such as China, Iraq, the UAE, Turkey, etc., which assist merchants in validating companies for free.