If you are starting an Import-Export Business in 2024, you should know this!

if you're looking to start your import export business in 2024 then this video is for you running a business is hard and importing is even harder but through my 15 years of experience importing into the UK I have learned a lot of things so in this video I'm going to be walking you through the stepbystep procedure of the things that you need to know if you are importing Goods into the UK in 2024 I had made a similar video a couple of years ago when I started this uh YouTube channel so please feel free to check out that video as well because the content in that video will be a bit different to what I'm going to be covering in today's video so that video was called importing into the UK okay so let's dive into it so step number one identifying the product as simple as it sounds this is the most important step when you are starting your business so I see from many of my consultation clients as well this is the thing that most of you struggle with so the first step is to identify and short list the product that you're going to be exporting or importing into the country so how do you decide the products it could be via finding out what the trends are in the countes that you're planning to export or where the countries that you're planning to you know import the goods into and how do you find that it could be by following the industry news or following the newspapers and then also maybe your contacts in the export country where you know you will be understanding what are the new trends that's coming up or even via the government agencies like the Chamber of Commerce as well for example you might know that India government is hugely promoting millets these days even for manufacturers in India who are making Millet based products they are getting lot of subsidies from the government and they are promoting the exports from of millets from India into different countries as well so if you are in the Millet uh space you know make sure that you ID identify if there is a demand for millets in the countries that you are planning to export if you need more help on deciding the products of how to shortless those products I've made another YouTube video so I'm not going going into depth on this video today so where in the other video I have already covered even a few websites where you can do your research and find out if there is a trend or demand for those products while doing your research you need to find out if there is a demand for your product that you are exporting also if there is demand for the product that is being imported example if it's into the UK is there is an actual demand for those products you also need to understand are there any restrictions because if especially if it's a food product or you know even with any product of that matter you need to understand if there is any restriction for those products into the country or even for exports or for import are there any restricted ingredients if it's any food product as well do you need any specific licenses example if you are importing rice into the UK you will need to take license every single time or are there any special certifications that you might need like we say about the phytosanitary certificate or um you know the pesticide certific so any other certificates that you might need then you also need to understand what are the costings that's going to be coming up so how much of a Duty does your product have does your product have an import vat or does it have a levy so all these kind of costings you need to understand another thing when you are uh importing food product to understand is the expiry date or the shelf life of these products because especially if it's perishable product you need to be more careful because it might be only a few weeks so you need to understand what's the exact expiry date or even if it's dry goods or um you know the Frozen products as it you need to know how much of a shelf life or a best before date you have for these products so accordingly you can plan your marketing and your storage and all those kind of things and then what's the packaging size are you going to be targeting the uh the shops then if it's a shop then it might be 100 G 200 g packs or are you targeting the Caterers or the Food Service customers then it could be 1 kilo 2 kilo 5 kilo 10 kilo bag so you need to understand who is your Target customer and accordingly you'll be planning the packaging as well so once you have kind of finalized or shortlisted what your product is then comes the next step which is Step number two which is selecting your supplier or shortlisting your buyer so youve kind of have an idea now what the product might be or going to be you can even short list a few items and see you know your your final list as well then you need to understand so okay so who are going to supply these products for me where are they based which country are they based in the country as well which town or city are they going to be based if it's in India is it going to be in Mumbai is it going to be in Gujarat or is it going to be in the south of India so where are they based and where can you get the best price from when you are sold in these products and then you need to do your due diligence on those suppliers as well so how long have they been in business are they um you know manufacturing any similar products to yours or are they manufacturing for you for the competitors that you're planning to supply or are they exporting already from uh India or any other country and are they exporting to the specific country where you are planning to export suppose if you're planning to export from India into the UK so have they been exporting into the UK the reason why we try to understand so that because when we are new in the business it will be helpful if they have been exporting into the UK then they might have an understanding of what are the certifications or the requirements for the UK market so that will be a bit of a help for you and then it'll also be good to check the quality of the goods how long have they been uh you know manufacturing these products so what's the quality of the goods what's the accreditation of the factory because we will be visiting the their premises as well so you need to check what accreditations they have for their Factory and then can they Supply you on a regular basis then once you have kind of uh shortlisted all those then you know always I recommend don't just stick with one supplier try and speak to a few suppliers because that will help you in negotiating the pricing and the terms and conditions as well so when you are negotiating so when you come to the final stages you have shortlisted a few suppliers and going to finalize who the supplier is going to be you will need to see what are their payment terms and conditions what is a delivery terms and conditions how much is the lead date that they need to have you know so suppose if you have to place an order so how much days do they take for manufacturing how much days for shipping so what's the lead date that you need to provide to them so when they say the delivery terms you'll come across a few terminologies which I have covered in the previous videos but a quick recap you will come across something called X works you will come across something called fob and CNF so X works means that the price they are quoting you is for the price for picking up from their Factory and if it's fobb or free on board which means that it's a price up to the suppliers Port so if it's Indian Port Mumbai Port it will be up to the Mumbai port and if it's CNF or CIF it will be cost and Freight or it'll be cost insurance and Freight which means they cover all the cost including the shipping up to the destination Port which is in the UK or the country wherever you are based so basically they'll be manufacturing all the goods it will be loaded onto the container the container will be taken to the port where the Customs clearance and the paperwork and the procedures will be done at the suppliers uh port example Mumbai Port after which all the Customs procedures are done it'll be loaded onto the ship and then they also pay for the freight which is from the Mumbai port to the London Port they pay for the freight up to the London Port from where your Duty begins and that is what is CIF and when you are starting in business CIF or CNF will be the most recommended terms of delivery because then you have to look after the procedures only from your port or the UK pool and then comes stage number three which is documentation so once all the goods are loaded onto the ship you can get the documents so you know you will have to get the documents from the supplier usually the supplier Freight forward agent or the Customs agent they will supply it to the the destination Freight forwarding agent as well usually if they have a connection so you'll have your commercial invoice you'll have your packing list bill of leading which is provided by the shipping company or if it's sent by air freight then you'll have something called the airway bill and then you'll also need to provide your country of origin declaration in your invoice which is with the Rex number saying that these are manufactured in India and only then you will get the reduced Duty rate so please make sure that you give the Declaration from the supplier side otherwise you will not get the reduced Duty rate and you will end up paying the full Duty rate and then you will also sometimes depending on the products that you import you will have to provide extra certifications which will be the phytosanitary certificates or it might be the licenses that you might have to take or pesticide certificate depending on the products that you take you'll have those extra certifications that you take as well so with regards to these documents it is very very important that you provide all these to the freight forwarders at the destination they receive all these on time so that you can avoid any delays I also used to give a percentage ingredient breakdown of all my products so that for me I understand if there are any restricted ingredients in the product and also it's easy for the freight forwarders to calculate the duty rates and the levy so that they know what are the ingredients in how much percentage once they receive all these documents and it goes on to the next stage which is customs clearance that is the stage when you know the freight forwarder receives all the documents what they do is we'll give them all the ingredients list and all the certifications and the Bill of leading and everything so they know what are the products that's coming in then they enter it into the hmrc system that this is the shipment coming in this is the container in this person's name from here to here these are the goods that is coming into the system and these are the duty rates that you'll have to pay so that is where the Customs clearance takes place and then they will inform you okay so the freight forwarder will say this much is the duty that you'll have to pay or this much is the levy or the import V8 that you'll have to pay there might be situations that the container can get inspected it can be taken for um inspection by the port Health authorities they can do a random check as well so that can delay your you know all the systems and the procedures so make sure that is a reason why which is not in our hands actually so make sure you provide all the necessary documents definitely so that there are no delays from your side but if the Customs or if the port Health authorities decide to um you know to take your container for inspection then that can that has to be done and they're going to be charging you for that so please keep that in mind as in spite of providing everything there are chances that your product can be taken for sample inspection so after all those is as I said the stage number five which is import duties and taxes so then the freight forwarder agent will tell you what are the import duties or the taxes or the levy or the V8 that you'll have to pay and you'll have to pay all those amounts so this is where when you are paying the duty where the importance of um certification of origin comes important because if you haven't declared that the goods are from India you will not get a reduced Duty rate so you make sure that you have given the Declaration the products are from India so you get the reduced Duty rate because of the trade deal once you have paid the duty and the levy and the vat it comes onto the next stage which is your Lo local transport and Logistics after the goods are cleared at the port and the duties are all paid the container will be released to you you will then need to arrange a local Logistics from the uh port to the Lo to the warehouse where you want it to be delivered you can speak to the freight forwarder because they will have contacts with uh the other companies the transport companies to arrange this local Logistics so that is the final step so after the logistics are arranged then the goods reach the warehouse and make sure you inspect the goods you count the number of boxes that's there in the container check if there is any damage straight away or let the warehouse know that if there is any damage and so that you can inform the supplier in case of any issues which is has to be you know pretty quick and as soon as you receive the goods so that is the full process or the full journey of the goods straight from when you start supplying the goods from the origin and into the destination the entire process that takes place so let me know in the comments below what are your business ideas that you're planning in 2024 and if there are any challenges that you're facing as well then you know maybe I can have a look at it and then we can plan future videos also you guys can in the community create a community and let's start helping each other out so wish you all the very best and I will see you in my next video take care bye-bye

Channel: Nisha Menon

Views: 65,429

Keywords: importing to the uk, importing from india to uk, how to import from india to uk, import guide, how to start an import business uk, how to start an import export business, nisha menon, importing into the uk, importing into uk, what to know when importing into uk, guide to importing, import export, import export business, import from india, india exports, procedure of export import, exportimportbusiness, exportimportonlineclasses, start export import business 2024

Id: NmVRaJ_9u6Y

Length: 13min 17sec (797 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 15 2024