If you’re looking to source stock for eBay or any other business at lower-than-low wholesale prices, or if you’d like to start a profitable import-export business, then you ought to take a look at doing business with India!
India is set to become an industrial and economic powerhouse over the next couple of decades. It’s one of the so-called BRIC nations (Brazil, India, Russia and China) that many economists say will dominate the world by 2050.
There are so many reasons why India has potential as a source or business partner it’s difficult to list them all, but here are a few:
- India has a healthy economy that’s actually growing through the global recession.
- It’s modernising at a cracking pace. Lots of western manufacturers are there with factories that produce goods to western quality standards.
- It’s a low cost country, where goods can be produced very economically. Apparently it costs FIFTEEN times less to manufacture products in India than it does in Europe.
- Many business people speak English.
- India has good links with the UK. There are large Indian communities, so opportunities to find a business partner or supplier in the UK who can help you source from India.
What can you source cheaply in India?
Right now some of the best, most do-able products to look at include food products particularly herbs and spaces, home textiles, clothing and fashion, footwear, leather goods, cosmetics and health products, jewellery, handicrafts, ornaments and decorative goods, household goods, toys, spare parts.
And here’s a tip: If you’re interested in sourcing for your business and helping out some of the poorer people in India who haven’t benefitted so much from the boom you might look at sourcing and selling ethical fair trade products too. There are quite a lot of producers of organic goods in India as well… organic products are big business in the UK right now.
You don’t have to buy in massive quantities. Even if you’re just selling on eBay, doing mail order or running a small shop or stall you could still source very effectively in India. Don’t worry about shipping. Goods can be shipped from India in just a few days and costs for small shipments are low.
Of course there are a few snags involved with sourcing from India: Most Indian businesspeople aren’t all that geared up to selling abroad at the moment. It’s very new to them. (Remember, it took China decades to become an international force.) And there is a fair amount of bureaucracy. But I’m sure that over the next few years all that will change.
One last idea. If you’re looking for a more unusual business opportunity then entrepreneurial you might also look at selling products to India. India’s consumers are becoming increasingly affluent and demanding. They’re wanting all the things that we take for granted in the west – mobile phones, MP3s, laptops, tablet computers, luxury goods and so on. There are already over 1,000,000,000 people in India and it’s predicted it will be even bigger than China within 20 years or so. So there’s lots of potential to turn the tables.
Also worth looking at:
Here’s an article you might find useful if you’re interested in import-export as a business, or sourcing your stock abroad: Import Made Easy!