Ship it! Whether buying or selling, there are ins and outs for importing or exporting in today's global marketplace.

SINCE MARCO POLO TRAVELED HIS FAMED TRADING ROUTES and Bedouins plied the fabled markets at Timbuktu, entrepreneurs have scoured the globe buying goods in one place and selling them in another. Big corporations have long been invested in the $1.3 trillion two-way trading between the United States and foreign countries. But a new era of global commerce is dawning as more American entrepreneurs venture into the import/export business. Now smaller traders--from one-person shopkeepers to mid-sized wholesalers joint venturing with other businesses--are launching out overseas.

When Todd Alexander decided to start a business importing fine Italian wines home to Atlanta in January 1993, he thought the application process would be simple. He got labels of the 60 brands he planned to import, attached a check for the registration costs of each--about $10-$20 per label--and filed the appropriate forms with the state and federal government. The only thing left was to wait for a series of personal and financial background checks to be completed. But what Alexander thought would take three or four months ended up taking nine.

Maybe it was because Alexander, who owns Vendemmia Inc. (which means "harvest" in Italian), was only 26 years old when he applied to become an importer. Or maybe it was because alcohol is one of the U.S. government's most regulated commodities. Whatever the reason, Alexander says he was grilled a hundred different ways. "The hardest part has been the paperwork for the state and federal government," he says. "There are so many forms to fill out and I hate paperwork."

For entrepreneurs looking to export, the lure of much-wanted U.S. goods abroad, from boilers to telecommunications, bring visions of cashing in on the $575 billion in exports. Equally attractive is the export of "intellectual property," a.k.a. technical skills and management training by American consultants and project managers to foreign governments and corporations. On the flip side, U.S. businesspeople who wish to import are usually either seeking to cut product or labor costs, or want to sell exotic items that aren't "made in the U.S.A."

But neither logistics nor language are keeping either side at bay. Thanks to telecommunications, transportation and other high-tech systems, the geographic borders of the world are blurring. Whether you're importing or exporting, you have to develop a market strategy, learn the process and regulations, understand the nuances of culture and customs, and be committed to making it work to be successful internationally.

DETERMINE IF YOUR COMPANY OR PRODUCT IS EXPORT-READY

If you have dreams of taking your company or product global, you first need to assess whether there's even a market abroad for what you have to sell. As a general rule, most American goods are considered wanted and valued overseas--even when similar items are made in that country. But there are a few questions you should ask yourself first: Is my product or service successful domestically? Who buys it and why does it sell well? Is there a foreign market similar to it? Will this make it easier to sell abroad?

You should also make sure your domestic business is strong enough to allow you to spend time developing the international side in both capital and time resources. You should also examine how an international sale will dovetail with your overall business plan and domestic marketing strategy. If you've made a pro-export assessment, then it's time to get some outside opinions.

"Go through any department of commerce," suggests Karen Babino, manager of marketing and business development for TransAtlantic Imports in Atlanta. "The federal and state governments, even in most major cities, have an international desk or affiliation, and in some cases, offices abroad that you can call on," she explains. When going global, advises Herb Smith, chairman of Smith International Enterprises, a global sourcing import distribution company with offices in Cleveland and Hong Kong, check with your state's economic development office. Many states now have their own international trade offices with field offices located around the world. They can provide help, from finding office space and equipment to information on special assistance programs offered to exporters

The federal version, the U.S. Export Assistance Center (EAC) can help you assess the international potential for your product. An outgrowth of a joint effort between the Commerce Department, the Small Business Administration and the Export-Import Bank, EACs are one-stop resource centers where entrepreneurs can get expert advice, foreign market research and access to export financing.

EACs are a unit of the Commerce Department's Commercial Services Division, and offer customized services, from an international company profile ($100), which can provide information on prospective trading partners, to customized market analysis ($5,000) of your particular company and product or service. The offices are staffed by Commercial Service officers who can assist in your search.

Part of the EAC's mission is to increase the number of small- and mid-size companies exporting products. There a 19 domestic EAC hub sites around the country: Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago; Cleveland; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Long Beach, California; Miami; Minneapolis; New York City; New Orleans; Philadelphia; Portland, Oregon; San Jose, California; Seattle and St. Louis. They also do on-site counseling for potential exporters, all free of charge.

Private organizations such as Assist International (212-725-3311) can help you get started for a fee, while nonprofit ones like the National Minority Business Council (212-573-2385) of New York City offers free help.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Research and identify the best foreign markets for your product or service. This is the basis for your international marketing plan. Assess where the best places are to start and identify a strategy for entering that market. K.L. Fredericks, director of the Harlem office of the EAC, suggests using the "funnel approach," which means considering all countries as potential customers. From there, she advises using population and statistics, economic reports, domestic and foreign government regulations, political and currency stability assessments, trade barriers or special assistance programs to identify the best potential markets for your product.

Look at the top 25 markets where your product or service is needed. You can create this report using Census Bureau statistics for both imports and exports and by searching through the National Trade Data Bank (NTDB) at federal depository libraries (http://www.stat-usa.gov). The NTDB uses an international "harmonized" coding system to determine how well a product will sell overseas. This system gathers statistics from the product's shipments and ranks it in both total dollars spent and the number of units purchased. "The focus should be on the product, not the country, unless you have a particular expertise," adds Fredericks.

Foreign service officers at Commercial Services offices overseas are also a source of information on a particular product in a given country that can be funneled back to the EAC office. They can also provide a list of distributors in that country.

Even when importing, you need to be aware of the regulations in the foreign country you are buying from and the U.S. Customs and state requirements governing products coming in. Not knowing the process may cost you time in receiving your goods, and money.

That's what happened to Floris Brown last August when she went to Ghana to buy collectibles to sell in her Afrocentric boutique, JGillyard Treasures, in a St. Louis suburb. Although Brown had been to Ghana twice before, like most tourists, she'd always brought her things back home in suitcases. This time, she decided to import the items like a real businessperson and split the shipping costs with another vendor whose husband knew how to import.

But when her partner backed out, Brown was left to handle the shipping process herself. This included getting a shipping container and arranging for its transport to providing the appropriate documentation--including a "bill of lading" describing the cargo and stamped by the exporting country--and an "entry of goods" form filed with U.S. Customs upon arrival.

Fortunately, her Ghanaian hosts were local business owners who knew a shipping agent. "My friends knew the process and that's the only reason I ended up doing this," says Brown. She just managed to get her 1,100 pounds of African statutes and carvings on a ship headed for Savannah, Georgia, the day before she was to return to the U.S. The total cost to transport the shipment, which included I the container, shipping costs, terminal handling charges and harbor fees, was about $1,100.

"Basically, I was dependent upon someone else for everything--I'll never do that again. Next time, I'll know what to do myself," she reflects.

Enthusiastic but ill-prepared entrepreneurs like Brown set out into international ventures expecting to do business the way they operate domestically. Rarely does it work the way they envisioned.

"That's why you have to spend time with someone who has done this before," says Karen Mayo, executive director of special projects for the Port of Miami and president of Mayo Communications International, a Miami-based marketing firm.

Had Brown contacted the U.S. Customs Service before leaving home, she could have gotten information on how to import her container, including a list of authorized shipping agents and brokers participating in its Automated Manifest System. She then could have been granted a conditional release of her shipment upon arrival from Ghana and five days before actually landing stateside.

LEARN THE COUNTRY'S CULTURE AND CUSTOMS

Part of doing your homework is understanding the people and their culture. While it sounds all too simple, it will be a linchpin to your success. "Study your market," advises redericks. "Language and customs can be a barrier to trade," she readily points out. People usually do business with people they know or get to know, and feel they can trust with their ideas, time and money. communication is crucial to that exchange, whether you're exporting importing.

While international firms may prefer to communicate with American businesses in their native tongue, most expect to communicate in English, the international language doing business. However, it behooves American entrepreneur to become familiar with the language, especially in Latin American and European markets, if they expect to win customers.

That's what helped Alexander, now 29, launch Vendemmia Inc. (see "Drinking in Profits," Enterprise, September 1996), a $1.2 million Atlanta-based wine distribution business. Fluent in Italian, Alexander loved the culture, its wines and traveling back and forth to the country he first visited as an exchange student in high school.

After college, he got a job working as a management trainee for a New Jersey-based wine distributor. A few years and some experience later, he quit and headed back to Italy on a six-month trip to write a book on Italian wines.

"Halfway through the trip, I decided I was going to import Italian wine because the vintners were unhappy with their U.S. distributors," explains Alexander who says his ability to overcome the language barrier was a huge plus. "Being able to pick up the phone and speak the language allowed me to start as quickly and efficiently as I did."

DEVELOP AN INTERNATIONAL MARKETING PLAN

Now that you've identified your market, you have to determine what your goals are there--sales, market penetration, distribution sources, even the terms and conditions of your sales agreements. You should also include the strategy for financing and capitalizing your efforts. This plan will outline your strategy for entering that market and form the backbone of your international structure.

"You must have the same elements in your international plan that you have in your domestic plan, while allowing for differences in pricing, distribution and transportation costs," advises Mayo.

The International Trade Administration (800-USA-TRADE; http://www.ita.doc.gov) in the Commerce Department and its partnering agencies, from Agriculture to the Small Business Administration, can also help you identify the specifics your plan should include, such as marketing and pricing strategies.

The plan should address your strategy for distributing your product in that country: indirect, direct or via foreign investment. If you want to import, the process is essentially the same, only done from abroad.

Indirect exporting allows you to sell or distribute your product via a middleman such as a broker or export management or trading company. Direct exporting means your company will sell directly to that foreign consumer or find a local representative on your behalf. Both methods are good options for small businesses just getting into the international market. Exporting via foreign investment entails establishing a physical presence in that country via an office, distribution center, assembly operation or even a manufacturing facility. A variation is selling directly to a foreign company stateside, providing the appropriate sales receipts and letting them take responsibility for getting the product out.

That was the case for A.L. Eastmond Inc. and its EASCO Boiler Corp., an industrial boiler manufacturer in bronx, New York. A few years ago, a Mexico City factory-owner was "visiting the area when someone told him about us" says owner Leon Eastmond. "He contracted us and we sold him a firebox boiler. We built everything here and he arranged for all the transport and shipping," he adds. The risk to Eastmond was nil; technically, he sold a product domestically that was bound for export.

Or perhaps you decide to set up a foreign-based distributorship that has ties, if not a partnership, with a foreign-based firm. That's what Smith did when he bought a Hong Kong-based import business from an American firm that distributed "soft goods" to discount stores like Kmart and Dollar General.

"After I bought them, I found out that their one client was in financial trouble and losing its business. I had to develop new business. I also had to find key suppliers over there for things that could be supplied to American businesses," explains the CEO of Smith International.

Smith's business strategy was to create a company that could do business in China via a joint-venture relationship with a Chinese firm. That may be the only way you'll get to do business, particularly in the Far East where foreigners cannot own businesses outright.

Every marketing plan must have a budget and address the financing and the capitalization costs needed to do business abroad. "Most small business owners can't stay away as long to travel far, and the costs and expenses involved are felt to be too much for smaller businesses," explains Joseph Saffell, chairman of the International Business Development Consortium Inc. For that reason, he advises African American entrepreneurs to look closer to home to places like the Caribbean.

"Many businesses say that access to capital to venture into new markets is the main drawback," says EAC's Fredericks. For companies trying to export, there are financing sources and lines of credit through state and federal governmental programs. Such agencies include the SBA for loan guarantees under $800,000 and the Export-Import Bank for deals over that amount.

"In China, they deal with an irrevocable letter of credit," explains Smith. Besides ownership restrictions, Smith says his company is also based in Hong Kong because its currency is pegged to the U.S. dollar, ensuring a stable currency. He advises that once you begin to look at global markets, check with your local domestic bank to find out if it has foreign affiliates or associations so that it can make bank or credit transfers for your firm.

But in smaller developing countries, particularly when Importing from cottage-sized crafts-based businesses or small manufacturers, it's often cash-in-advance; without it, many of these vendors cannot even start a project.

KNOW YOUR MARKET

Language may not be the only barrier to building an international business. Often there is a intelligent style of working in other countries So, if you're trying to get a product made very quickly, time may be an issue, especially when importing on a deadline. Similarly, in some countries, offering an "incentive" may be expected to get your product in or out.

"A timetable is a major problem in Africa and India," says Alioune Dieng president of AfritexUSA, a New York-based fabric wholesaler. "You could have agreed to a certain time and not get your goods because time is not seen the same way there. Time means money here in America," says Dieng, who also has suppliers in Pakistan and China.

The perception of what is quality and cultural differences may also affect your product. That's what Twyla Lang-Gordon found out when she began importing "customized" kente cloth to sell to Greek sororities, fraternities and graduating seniors. "I had a friend from Togo whose family owned a kente cloth manufacturing plant. I was able to place an initial order for 40 scarves with them. I mailed a sample scarf along with a cash advance. When they sent back the package, they'd made up the scarves with the lettering going sideways!" she recalls. "I took them to the meeting anyway, and sold out. I told them they could wear it as a belt," she recalls. "They [weavers] were envisioning them as designs and were not familiar with Greek letters at all."

Since then, the Los Angeles-based Motherland Imports has moved its operations from Togo to Ghana and gone through several "weaver villages" before finding two that now supply the 5,000-6,000 scarves Lang-Gordon sells annually the way she wants them.

She also realized that she needed a local representative to communicate her needs more effectively and monitor the quality of her product. "You have to have someone over there checking on your product and making sure you're going to get your order," advises Lang-Gordon. It's also the way she communicates with her village factory, since telephones aren't readily available.

BE IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL 

Ultimately, the best advice is to take your time and understand how the international marketplace will fit into your overall business strategy. In fact, if your domestic strategy is strong and your reputation known, you may not have to go out looking for business--the opportunities may come to you.

Eastmond says his company's products are legendary: "We have the fastest turn-around--to build, set up or provide emergency service--of anyone in the country," he says matter-of-factly. That Eastmond can build a complete ready-to-install system at a competitive price has made the $15 million company a favored supplier of contractors and engineers. It's also gotten it the 1994 Manufacturer of the Year award from the MBDA. Having your own Web site also doesn't hurt when searching new markets.

K.L. Fredericks contacted Eastmond about turning EASCO's sights abroad. "The Commerce Department came with a detailed marketing survey of our products and their potential market in China," explains Eastmond and his director of marketing, Omor Igichon. "The Chinese have a $1 billion annual boiler market." It is also typical of the $220 billion in large-scale projects scheduled to begin in BEM (big emerging market) countries by 2000.

EASCO is now considering an export deal to China for 12 of its boilers, in a range of sizes, to supply heat and hot water for apartment buildings that will house 50-1,000 families in Beijing. To make the deal, Eastmond may partner with a New York-based Chinese firm that wants to be its representative there. The process has taken two years.

But for now, the 70-year-old manufacturing company is proceeding cautiously. "We're negotiating pricing. If we can't make money, I'm not doing it," states Eastmond, who'll ship the units the same way he did to Mexico--ready-to-install and without the responsibility for shipping it. Never one to lay all his eggs in a single basket, Eastmond says the local markets of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are his "bread and butter." But he's looking to expand nationally and internationally if the deal is right--a move that more 21st century businesses will have to make.

"What businesses must understand is that soon they will no longer have a choice about whether to go international or not, because international is coming to them," says Mayo. "We need to start thinking global because our neighborhood is the world. And the sooner you're ready, the more likely you'll win."