Mini-Importation business is a small scale importation business, based mostly on the importation of products at low cost from overseas to resell at higher price for profit.
Importation business used to be seen as a business for the elite and people with connections, or a business meant for the “Rich Igbo men”, who are referred to as “Importer-exporter” “my container is on the high see”.
Back in those days before venturing into this business you needed millions of naira, be a traveler and not only that, you also had to have connections with the high and mighty. These days technology has taken the business to another level, which means you really don’t have to travel overseas to import goods, from the comfort of your space, your phone or laptop and a good internet connection you are good to import.
- Read also; JPMorgan says Bitcoin could hit $100,000 but warns it would be “unsustainable”
- No approval for 50% increase in electricity tariff – NERC
However, before venturing into this business, there are a few salient points to consider, so as not to run at a loss.
- First and foremost, get pick a niche; by this I mean have a specific set of products you intend to sell. For instance, you can’t be selling snickers today and the next day you are selling electronics, and the day after you are selling human hair, you are going to be seen as an unserious or unfocused business person.
- Secondly, project a target market; by this I mean have specific set of people you would like to sell the products to, for instance, if you are to sell human hair, then you bear in mind that your target audience are women, mostly younger women.
- Make thorough Research about the products you want to sell so as to have every detail about it. Don’t just dabble into it because everyone is selling it.
- Always start with the little money you have, do not go overboard by buying in excess for the first time, “you don’t test the dept of a river with both feet” Start small and watch the trend of things before investing huge into that product.
- Get a reliable logistics company to always deliver your goods promptly.
- Draft creative marketing strategies to sell your goods, because you wouldn’t want to tie down your capital without returns.
- Always bear in mind that selling and making profit is the deal of this business, if you can’t sell don’t bother investing in mini-importation business.
THINGS YOU NEED FOR IMPORTATION BUSINESS
Whether you want to be a part-time importer or a full-time importer, you need the following things for mini-importation business: –
- A Phone/laptop
- A good internet connection
- Active browser (Preferably Chrome Browser)
- An active phone number (WhatsApp Number)
There Are lots of countries you can import anything from
- MALAYSIA
- INDIA
- USA
- UK
- CHINA
- UAE (DUBAI)
- JAPAN
- GERMANY
- TURKEY, etc.……
It’s no longer news that China has overtaken other countries to be at the fore front of Manufacturing and production. They are unarguably the largest manufacturers in the world. Gone are the days when people considered goods from China as inferior quality.
Not anymore, China has improved in their production and even the best companies from all over world now go to china to help them produce and then ship down to their various countries, ranging from mobile phones/laptops, Electronics. Groceries and even fashion brands. So, if you still have the mindset that China made products are inferior quality, kindly do away with such subscript mindsets.
There are a lot of websites where you can import directly from the comfort of your space and they include:
- 1688.com
- alibaba.com
- aliexpress.com
- ebay.com
- amazon.com
- dinodirect.co
- lovelywholesale.com
- tmall.com
- taobao.com
- 1688.com
- dhgate.com
- Ipmart.com
- dealextreme.com
- hktdc.com (Hong Kong)
- madeinchina.com
- ec21.com (South Korean website)
- wish.com
- tradekey.com (Turkish website)
- auctionexport.com (if you are interested in the importation of cars kindly check out this site).
This are just few out of many sites you can shop from (you are advised to explore the sites with Google Chrome Browser for a better browsing experience.)
List of top selling products you can choose to start your mini-importation business and resell here at extra cheap prices, they include:
- Human hair
- Smart wristwatch
- Jewelry
- Dresses
- Hair growth creams
- Perfume
- Waist trainers
- Sneakers and shoes
- Car tracker & Car fuel saver
- Flat tummy tea
- Penis enlargement pump
- Phone screen protector
- Anti-snoring products
- Blood pressure monitor
- Beard growth oil
- Scar/acne/stretchmark removal creams
- Detox machines.
- Medical tools
- Kitchen tools
- Electronics
This is a long list of things you can import but there are many others you can explore. With efficient market research, you can discover more hot selling products that people want and explore them optimally.
Brief description of the major websites
www.1688.com most of the product on the site are very cheap compare to other site, after a survey and found out that a product on 1688 was sold for 2 times its price on www.alibaba.com about 3 times its price on www.aliexpress.com almost 7 times its price on www.ebay.com and close to 15 times its price on www.Amazon.com reason is www.1688.com is an e-commerce site created solely to serve the indigens of china, which is the reason why the site is in Chinese language but can be translated to English language using Google Chrome browser.
www.aliexpress.com This is one of popular online retail/Drop shipping store in the world right now. It has about everything you may need. Ranging from mobile phones, foods, household and kitchen items, clothing, shoes, foods and just about everything. Their products are quite cheap as their target audience are regular consumers. They sell like most ecommerce stores (Jumia, KONGA) as you can order for just one item and pay through the platform. On AliExpress, the items have a fixed price, meaning “you no fit price am”.
Although some sellers do give discount when you want to buy large quantities, only a few sellers though. For shipping fees, some sellers offer to ship some of their items free of charge, you have to target such items to get free shipping and it will take a lot of time, 60 days at times. Some items often come with shipping fees though.
www.alibaba.com This is another international wholesale platform and is mainly in English language but can be translated into other languages like: French, Italian, German, Spanish, Turkish, Japanese, Dutch, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic and Hindi. It is the largest business market place in the world. Alibaba mostly targets large factories and manufacturers.
People who buy from there are mostly, Manufacturers, suppliers and large trading companies hence, the minimum amount of goods you can buy from them is like 500, Unlike AliExpress, you can negotiate the prices of goods you want to buy. Suppliers offer their goods at factory price. So, for personal shopping and buying of few items, Ali express is good. For bulk buying, in very large quantities, (containers)Ali Baba is your best bet.
Conclusion
Mini-Importation is a very interesting and fantastic opportunity to leverage on, because you can start with very low Capital (as low as 10,000 naira) and it’s a scalable business.
However, kindly do a thorough research before venturing into this business or do well to seek the assistance of well-grounded and experienced import professionals as this would save you a lot of stress, time, money and help you source for bestselling products.
By; Authentic Mike
