Inspiration For Import Export Business Success
I hope you will take a few minutes to read this post in it's entirety because it will hopefully provide you with some inspiration to succeed whether in the import export business or any business.
When I read the commentary provided below in an electronic newsletter I subscribe to this morning it really hit me that much of what was being quoted was so important to everyone searching for success in this business, any business or life in general.
The commentary posted below is appropriate to you if you are considering the import export business or any business and includes some of the BEST quotes about business and life in general that I have read in some time so I hope you will find them as inspiring as I did.
I have never owned an Apple computer or an Iphone, Ipad or anything that Steve Jobs helped bring to the world but when I learned of his passing last evening and the accomplishments that have helped literally millions of people around the world it really hit me that we have lost what can only be equated to our generation's Thomas Edison.
It is sad that our illustrious government leaders from all parties are not declaring what a true American and World hero Steve was? The real creation of jobs is having government get out of the way and allow entrepreneurial ingeniuty move forward with out the heel of government bureaucratics squashing it from existence before it has a chance to flourish.
It is also sad that we elevate people who are great at one sport or another to 'hero' status when in reality they have done nothing to elevate the level of mankind for anything other than a period of game played.
So to conclude my intro to the excellent, excellent commentary below I simply say Steve Jobs, may you rest in peace and know that the world is a far better place because of the time you were here and know to that not only were you the hero of those younger than you those older than you (me).
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The following is the word for word commentary by Mr. Simon Black, Senior Editor for SovereignMan.com and is published with the authorization of his organization:
Sovereign Man
Notes from the Field
Date: October 6, 2011
Reporting From: Hong Kong
You've undoubtedly heard by now that Steve Jobs passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer; it's been all over the news with wall-to-wall coverage, and iCandle vigils have sprung up all over the world. Jobs is being remembered as a pioneer, a technological revolutionary, a visionary. Rightfully so.
But it's important to give credit where credit is due, and the world owes a tremendous debt to Steve Jobs for something else. He was perhaps the greatest living example of 'philanthropy' in action.
While people like Warren Buffet are pleading with the government to raise their taxes and give away their wealth to sycophantic bureaucrats, Jobs showed time and time again that the best way to improve people's lives is to create value and be productive.
Steve Jobs was one of the most productive human beings to have ever lived; he started several successful companies which directly employed tens of thousands of people. Indirectly, his businesses improved the livelihoods of millions across the globe, from Chinese factory workers to iPhone app programmers to Apple shareholders.
In building an empire and unimaginable wealth for himself, Steve Jobs enriched the lives and livelihoods of others by creating value. Not by forced redistribution. Not by giving things away. By creating value.
Ironically, just as I write this I am watching President Obama on Bloomberg Television trying to explain how many jobs his new plan will create-- 1.9 million in his estimate:
"We're just going to keep on going at it and hammering away... until... something gets done. I would love to see nothing more than Congres act... so aggressively."
Politicians would do themselves and their constituents a great service by comparing their own track record for enriching people's lives against Steve Jobs' performance, and then kindly stepping out of the way. The path to prosperity is not paved in votes, but rather in freedom: the freedom to create, produce, risk work hard... and be rewarded for your efforts.
If you have the time, I'd encourage you to take a few minutes and read some of Jobs' own words; there are boundless sources online that will praise his creativity, drive, and intellect, but perhaps no one is better suited to explain Steve Jobs than the man himself.
Below I've pasted in some key quotes taken from his 2005 Stanford commencement address, and an old 1985 interview with Playboy magazine that the folks at Zero Hedge dug up. Enjoy.
Jobs on -not- following the crowd:
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma-- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
Jobs on change and politics:
"We're making the largest investment of capital that humankind has ever made in weapons over the next five years. We have decided, as a society, that that's where we should put our money, and that raises the deficits and, thus, the cost of our capital."
"I think it takes a crisis for something to occur in America. And I believe there's going to be a crisis of significant proportions in the early Nineties as these problems our political leaders should have been addressing boil up to the surface."
Jobs on charity... and the importance of failure:
"And that's the problem with most philanthropy-- there's no measurement system. You give somebody some money to do something and most of the time you can really never measure whether you failed or succeeded in your judgment of that person or his ideas or their implementation. So if you can't succeed or fail, it's really hard to get better."
Jobs on careers:
"Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. . . As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. . . So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."
Jobs on making it count:
Most of the time, we're taking things. Neither you nor I made the clothes we wear; we don't make the food or grow the foods we eat; we use a language that was developed by other people; we use another society's mathematics. Very rarely do we get a chance to put something back into that pool. I think we have that opportunity now. And no, we don't know where it will lead. We just know there's something much bigger than any of us here.
Jobs on [the blue screen of] death:
"[D]eath is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new."
Well done, Mr. Jobs. Be thou at peace.
Simon Black
Senior Editor, SovereignMan.com
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Remember, there are over 5 1/2 years of posts in this blog and you are encouraged to use the archive date links located on the lower right side of the navigation bar where they are listed by Month/Year to access them or you may wish to use the search box located in the upper left side of the blog to search for specific words or phrases.
Until next time.
Ron Coble
The International Business Times is the leading provider of international business news online.
Showing posts with label export import business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label export import business. Show all posts
Import Export Business Questions And Answers
The following was a comment made to a post I made back in June 2010 and rather than having the answers to the commenter's questions buried in the comments I decided to make my answers and reply a new post.
As a reminder - the links to 5 1/2 years of archived posts in this blog are located in the lower right of the sidebar area (you will have to scroll down to see them) - These are IMPORTANT posts with IMPORTANT information you need to know - after reading this post/page, go check them out, bookmark the blog so you may easily return as we update when valuable and important events occur - real world information and REAL experience.
Commenter's Post and Questions:
This is a very informative blog you have written and I do agree that you should motivate yourself and make your own decisions to determine your own success. I am very impressed at your honesty in a business where many will bend the truth to make an easy progress. However, I have two questions:
1. Are you saying that great mentors are hard to find in this business?
2. Why shouldnt you be in this business for the money? Of course i am interested in travel and succesful business building, but are you saying that I should still have a motivation to participate in international trade even if i am without a comfortable profit?
3. Is this a business that can be done part time until you have fulfilled your obligation of your current full time job? (Im on a contract)
Please forgive me if I have taken anything into misconception. I am a hard worker with a mind of an aggresive leader, however I believe that money is the ultimate reward for such an attitude.
Thanks alot sir for an honest blog and great knowledge.
My Reply with Answers to the questions above:
First, I must emphasize that you should read ALL the posts within this blog - the archived posts are available by Month and Year and are listed in the lower right side of each page of the blog (or should be) - many of these types of questions have been answered since I began the blog in February 2006.
OK, in answer to your questions:
1. Are you saying that great mentors are hard to find in this business?
In reality finding "great" or "real" mentors are hard to find in any business based on my definition of a mentor which is where you and I may part ways.
A mentor (in my view) is someone that you actually (physically) work with in an office environment and those types of situations are virtually unheard of today. So onto the online type of mentor.
At the http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mentor website you will find the following as some examples for the use of the word mentor:
After college, her professor became her close friend and mentor.
He needed a mentor to teach him about the world of politics.
We volunteer as mentors to disadvantaged children.
Young boys in need of mentors.
So again, in my interpretation of the above, a mentor is someone who is "physically" present or available to answer your specific questions.
There are some high priced courses offered some I have seen for as high as $8K to $30K which offered to provide you with a 'mentor'....unfortunately, most of these do not live up to what the customer believes they are paying for when commiting this unecessaryily high amount of money to learn this business.
In most instances people get nothing more than someone who has earned a very nice commission off of you who is reading from the same materials that they have already sent you.
I addressed the need for someone to have someone to discuss their options with about a particular deal several times over in the blog, primarily under the subject heading of "making decisions".
A mentor is not there to make your decisions but should have provided you with the knowledge so that you can make an informed decision based on your own research and abilities....it is NOT their business, it is yours after all.
In regards to the course of instruction we offer - I consider it to be your 'mentor'. It is an 18 year work in progress that includes most, if not all, the questions that both we and the publisher have received over those years that may not have been covered at the time....with updates to the 'mentor' course, those questions and answers to them are now included.
The step-by-step instruction of a mentor is provided by the course....the decision making is provided by you!
2. Why shouldnt you be in this business for the money? Of course i am interested in travel and succesful business building, but are you saying that I should still have a motivation to participate in international trade even if i am without a comfortable profit?
I think there may be some misunderstanding of what I was trying to say about "being in the business for the money".
The problem that I see with MOST people who look at the import export business is they are "opportunity" seekers who when faced with having to operate a "real" business will never succeed and ultimately base their failure on the course because "it did not work for me". They are ultimately searching for the magic button (or book or course) that after they read it, everything will go exactly right for them and they will be rich and famous within months.
They jump from one business opportunity to another, usually the more hyped it is, the more people fall for it because they are looking for the easy.
The Import Export business is that - a business! Our course is your mentor, it provides you with the step by step instructions that are needed to succeed in the business.
Back to your question, yes, MONEY is the absolute motivation, otherwise why bother, but again, don't look at this business like a magic carpet or genie in a bottle.
3. Is this a business that can be done part time until you have fulfilled your obligation of your current full time job? (Im on a contract)
Most people start the business on a part time basis and that is what both the publisher and I recommend....whether you can evolve it into a full time income by the time your contract is up? I cannot assure you of that, nor can anyone else and this is something that I also addressed elsewhere in the blog....please read the entire blog, the entire course page and linked to pages in the course page, then make the most informed decision possible, it will be your first major decision in this business.
Putting aside the legal reasons why I cannot answer this question, there IS no guarantee you will earn any money at all in importing or exporting. Just like there's no guarantee a new restaurant will make money, or a guarantee that you'll get a job in your major after graduating from college. There's also no guarantee you won't die 5 minutes after ordering the course.
I hope the above will better clarify what was stated in previous posts within this blog?
Ron Coble
Import Export Business Help Center
As a reminder - the links to 5 1/2 years of archived posts in this blog are located in the lower right of the sidebar area (you will have to scroll down to see them) - These are IMPORTANT posts with IMPORTANT information you need to know - after reading this post/page, go check them out, bookmark the blog so you may easily return as we update when valuable and important events occur - real world information and REAL experience.
Commenter's Post and Questions:
This is a very informative blog you have written and I do agree that you should motivate yourself and make your own decisions to determine your own success. I am very impressed at your honesty in a business where many will bend the truth to make an easy progress. However, I have two questions:
1. Are you saying that great mentors are hard to find in this business?
2. Why shouldnt you be in this business for the money? Of course i am interested in travel and succesful business building, but are you saying that I should still have a motivation to participate in international trade even if i am without a comfortable profit?
3. Is this a business that can be done part time until you have fulfilled your obligation of your current full time job? (Im on a contract)
Please forgive me if I have taken anything into misconception. I am a hard worker with a mind of an aggresive leader, however I believe that money is the ultimate reward for such an attitude.
Thanks alot sir for an honest blog and great knowledge.
My Reply with Answers to the questions above:
First, I must emphasize that you should read ALL the posts within this blog - the archived posts are available by Month and Year and are listed in the lower right side of each page of the blog (or should be) - many of these types of questions have been answered since I began the blog in February 2006.
OK, in answer to your questions:
1. Are you saying that great mentors are hard to find in this business?
In reality finding "great" or "real" mentors are hard to find in any business based on my definition of a mentor which is where you and I may part ways.
A mentor (in my view) is someone that you actually (physically) work with in an office environment and those types of situations are virtually unheard of today. So onto the online type of mentor.
At the http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mentor website you will find the following as some examples for the use of the word mentor:
After college, her professor became her close friend and mentor.
He needed a mentor to teach him about the world of politics.
We volunteer as mentors to disadvantaged children.
Young boys in need of mentors.
So again, in my interpretation of the above, a mentor is someone who is "physically" present or available to answer your specific questions.
There are some high priced courses offered some I have seen for as high as $8K to $30K which offered to provide you with a 'mentor'....unfortunately, most of these do not live up to what the customer believes they are paying for when commiting this unecessaryily high amount of money to learn this business.
In most instances people get nothing more than someone who has earned a very nice commission off of you who is reading from the same materials that they have already sent you.
I addressed the need for someone to have someone to discuss their options with about a particular deal several times over in the blog, primarily under the subject heading of "making decisions".
A mentor is not there to make your decisions but should have provided you with the knowledge so that you can make an informed decision based on your own research and abilities....it is NOT their business, it is yours after all.
In regards to the course of instruction we offer - I consider it to be your 'mentor'. It is an 18 year work in progress that includes most, if not all, the questions that both we and the publisher have received over those years that may not have been covered at the time....with updates to the 'mentor' course, those questions and answers to them are now included.
The step-by-step instruction of a mentor is provided by the course....the decision making is provided by you!
2. Why shouldnt you be in this business for the money? Of course i am interested in travel and succesful business building, but are you saying that I should still have a motivation to participate in international trade even if i am without a comfortable profit?
I think there may be some misunderstanding of what I was trying to say about "being in the business for the money".
The problem that I see with MOST people who look at the import export business is they are "opportunity" seekers who when faced with having to operate a "real" business will never succeed and ultimately base their failure on the course because "it did not work for me". They are ultimately searching for the magic button (or book or course) that after they read it, everything will go exactly right for them and they will be rich and famous within months.
They jump from one business opportunity to another, usually the more hyped it is, the more people fall for it because they are looking for the easy.
The Import Export business is that - a business! Our course is your mentor, it provides you with the step by step instructions that are needed to succeed in the business.
Back to your question, yes, MONEY is the absolute motivation, otherwise why bother, but again, don't look at this business like a magic carpet or genie in a bottle.
3. Is this a business that can be done part time until you have fulfilled your obligation of your current full time job? (Im on a contract)
Most people start the business on a part time basis and that is what both the publisher and I recommend....whether you can evolve it into a full time income by the time your contract is up? I cannot assure you of that, nor can anyone else and this is something that I also addressed elsewhere in the blog....please read the entire blog, the entire course page and linked to pages in the course page, then make the most informed decision possible, it will be your first major decision in this business.
Putting aside the legal reasons why I cannot answer this question, there IS no guarantee you will earn any money at all in importing or exporting. Just like there's no guarantee a new restaurant will make money, or a guarantee that you'll get a job in your major after graduating from college. There's also no guarantee you won't die 5 minutes after ordering the course.
I hope the above will better clarify what was stated in previous posts within this blog?
Ron Coble
Import Export Business Help Center
Export Import Business Q & A
You will find this Export Import Business blog contains important information, including many questions and answers to those questions from nearly 23 years in this businesss. This blog has posts going back to February 2006 that contain valuable knowledge for both individual international traders as well as company owners who are seeking to enter or expand their business operations - be sure you visit and read the archived posts listed by Month/Year on the lower right side navigation area of this blog and bookmark them so you may reference later.
Today's export import business question is:
What if I have no formal business education, business experience, and very little sales experience? Does interest in foreign cultures/languages and prior residence overseas help?
My first suggestion for you is to visit our Export Import business blog (this blog) at the link below and spend a day or two or however long it takes to read the posts that are not outright advertising.
Over the past years I have posted most of the best questions that I have received over the past 23 years along with the answers to those questions. You will serve yourself well to spend whatever amount of time necessary to read all those Q&A posts as well as others related to the business. I will try to answer your questions in reverse order.
Does interest in foreign cultures/languages and prior residence overseas help?
Yes, but simply having lived there and simply having an interest in their culture does not guarantee you success in international trade, it merely gives you that advantage in your business over someone who does not have the interest or living experience.
And, by the same token, someone who has the business educations, experience and sales experience is at a disadvantage to you by not having the experience you have. Am I making any sense??
"Business education" is often sold for more than it is worth - most courses that are taught in universities are done so by professors who have 'never' sold a single item of anything, whether into the domestic or foreign market.
Most of your formal courses get into technicalities that simply make the business seem unattainable or at a minimum, incredibly complicated.
What if I have no formal business education, business experience, and very little sales experience?
Some of my answer to this question is posted above but in regards to experience or sales experience let me state that more important than either one of these factors is "your will to succeed" and "your interest in doing so in this business".
The "your interest in doing so in this business" is probably the more important of the two.
The business has to interest you. You cannot focus on the money, you have to have an interest in bringing about business between two parties and getting paid for your efforts and time in doing so.
You need a seller and you need a buyer.
The seller's products has to be needed by a buyer. Their product has to be competitively priced. It has to be a quality product. The buyer may be looking simply for price, quality or both.
I will not get into repeating some of the information that is already posted on our import export business blog but suffice it to say, our self study course teaches you how to export and import. At what level you work in those businesses is your decision and believe me there are MANY levels in which you can work. And yes, it is WORK but it is YOUR work and YOUR business, remember that.
Many people also ask, which business is best to get started right now. Again, this is your decision but in my opinion, exporting is the better of the two to focus your attention on now. You can always get into importing later and it is really better to focus on one and become successful before trying to get into the other.
In closing, I cannot emphasize enough my suggestion that you read all the information (non-advertising) posts in the blog. Do not make a decision about our course until you have read through those posts.
If you have any questions after reading any of the posts, please put them alltogether in one email and send them to me and I will "try" to answer them.
Hope this email and blog will help YOU make a more informed decision about your future in regards to international trade
Today's export import business question is:
What if I have no formal business education, business experience, and very little sales experience? Does interest in foreign cultures/languages and prior residence overseas help?
My first suggestion for you is to visit our Export Import business blog (this blog) at the link below and spend a day or two or however long it takes to read the posts that are not outright advertising.
Over the past years I have posted most of the best questions that I have received over the past 23 years along with the answers to those questions. You will serve yourself well to spend whatever amount of time necessary to read all those Q&A posts as well as others related to the business. I will try to answer your questions in reverse order.
Does interest in foreign cultures/languages and prior residence overseas help?
Yes, but simply having lived there and simply having an interest in their culture does not guarantee you success in international trade, it merely gives you that advantage in your business over someone who does not have the interest or living experience.
And, by the same token, someone who has the business educations, experience and sales experience is at a disadvantage to you by not having the experience you have. Am I making any sense??
"Business education" is often sold for more than it is worth - most courses that are taught in universities are done so by professors who have 'never' sold a single item of anything, whether into the domestic or foreign market.
Most of your formal courses get into technicalities that simply make the business seem unattainable or at a minimum, incredibly complicated.
What if I have no formal business education, business experience, and very little sales experience?
Some of my answer to this question is posted above but in regards to experience or sales experience let me state that more important than either one of these factors is "your will to succeed" and "your interest in doing so in this business".
The "your interest in doing so in this business" is probably the more important of the two.
The business has to interest you. You cannot focus on the money, you have to have an interest in bringing about business between two parties and getting paid for your efforts and time in doing so.
You need a seller and you need a buyer.
The seller's products has to be needed by a buyer. Their product has to be competitively priced. It has to be a quality product. The buyer may be looking simply for price, quality or both.
I will not get into repeating some of the information that is already posted on our import export business blog but suffice it to say, our self study course teaches you how to export and import. At what level you work in those businesses is your decision and believe me there are MANY levels in which you can work. And yes, it is WORK but it is YOUR work and YOUR business, remember that.
Many people also ask, which business is best to get started right now. Again, this is your decision but in my opinion, exporting is the better of the two to focus your attention on now. You can always get into importing later and it is really better to focus on one and become successful before trying to get into the other.
In closing, I cannot emphasize enough my suggestion that you read all the information (non-advertising) posts in the blog. Do not make a decision about our course until you have read through those posts.
If you have any questions after reading any of the posts, please put them alltogether in one email and send them to me and I will "try" to answer them.
Hope this email and blog will help YOU make a more informed decision about your future in regards to international trade
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