Costing

It is important to consider the logistics of moving your merchandise to your customers. For businesses considering international trade, however, it becomes a crucial part of their decision making and planning process.

Many countries seek to discourage imports through the imposition of tariffs, quotas and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) though they may agree to make concessions to selected countries, usually in exchange for some sort of trade agreement.

When you make a capital investment, whether in equipment for your existing business or by investing in another business, you do so because you expect to generate income in the future. If this were not the case, you would not make the investment.

It is often helpful to split up funds within a business to show sources and applications. Sources show from where the money has come; applications show to where the money has gone.

The documentation required when sending goods to customers in other countries can seem complicated to a new exporter.

Certificates of origin (CO) verify a product’s country of origin and state where the product was manufactured, produced or processed, though this can become more complicated when raw materials come from one country and a product is then manufactured in another.

You will be aware from running your business in your domestic market that there is a difference between costing and pricing. It is only rarely that businesses can add up all the costs, then add a margin, and call that the price.

The import and export of goods requires a written contract. The terms of this contract must be clearly understandable by both the exporter and the importer, even if they do not speak the same language, and even if their two countries have different business practices and legal systems.