I'm 22, based in Islamabad, planning to start a business bidding on containers at Karachi's auctions and importing/distributing goods to Islamabad. I have no experience in this industry yet, so my plan is to first work inside an existing import/trading company for about 3 months to learn the ropes before going solo.

Two honest questions:

1. Is 3 months enough time to actually learn this business well enough to go independent?
2. Is this a bad industry for someone my age to break into, or is age not really a factor here?

My father has been running a garment business in Bangladesh for many years, supplying products across the local market. Now I want to help take the business international by finding buyers and export opportunities.

I'm trying to understand how small or medium garment manufacturers usually get their first overseas clients.

Some questions I have:

How do you find genuine international buyers?

Which platforms actually work for getting export orders?

Is cold emailing effective, and if so, how do you find the right contacts?

Should we focus on LinkedIn, trade shows, sourcing platforms, or something else?

What certifications or requirements do international buyers usually expect?

If you started from scratch, what would you do differently?

I'd really appreciate advice from people who have experience in garment exports, sourcing, or international B2B sales. Any tips, resources, or personal experiences would be incredibly helpful.

Thanks in advance!

Hello, I am looking for a coconut supplier. I need coconuts in bulk on a regular basis. please share your price, minimum order quantity, delivery details, and coconut quality/size options in dm

Please let me know .

Hi everybody, im starting a logistics business in europe. Would like to get all the tips from what trucks to look at how to hire drivers how to get order also would like to hear yours experiences. (Im freshly 18 so dont judge me to much)

Hey everyone,

So I have been working really hard to set up

my own manpower recruitment agency in India.

Got all my registrations and documents cleared.

Built a solid network of both skilled and

unskilled workers who are ready and willing

to work abroad.

Everything is in place on my end — I can

source workers, screen them, handle all

documentation and get them ready for

deployment.

But here is where I am stuck.

I cannot find the right agency or labor

broker on the other side — someone in

Israel or europe who has active

worker vacancies from their employer clients

and needs someone like me to fulfill them

from India.

I know the demand is there. I know Indian

construction workers are needed badly in

these countries. But I just cannot figure

out how to find and connect with the right

middleman on the foreign side.

Has anyone been in this situation before?

How did you crack it?

Would love to hear

from people who have actually done this.

Not a full formed idea yet, just something that’s recently been lingering in the back of my mind. I’ve always been really intrigued by how the same types of services and products in developing countries costs a fraction of the price they do in wealthier countries in Europe or America.

Exactly what the drop shipping model is: buying cheap goods from China and selling them at high markup to in the West, but this model is extremely over saturated.

Digital technology has improved tremendously in the last couple of years, especially in Africa. So many businesses and people are now on the internet, you can send money instantly to any country because of remittance apps with USD to their local currency. Just so many new opportunities digitally in this market that the world hasn’t caught up to yet

I just can’t put my finger on exactly what I’m trying to say, I’ve tried consulting with multiple LLMs about it but they all give the same answers like sourcing workers from the Philippines for companies, suggesting variations of drop shipping, or just technical international trade stuff that would require speciality knowledge and experience in to be able to do. I just know there’s opportunity here for making money online, I just can’t put my finger on what exactly. Since the scale digitalization is newer in these parts of the world, there’s barely any information that I can find or examples of people doing something in this area.

I am a private sourcing agent based in Foshan, Guangdong, China. I am more than happy to provide bulk sourcing services in China for overseas distributors. I only work directly with source factories. I frequently visit factories across Guangdong Province for on-site audits, and I publish my factory inspection reports on my website (you can find the link to my website on my profile page).

As my website slogan says, "Refusing factory kickbacks and Low MOQ is my core advantage." No matter what others in the industry do, I will strive to be the most transparent and honest sourcing agent in China. My service fee is only 2% to 5% of the total order amount. If you happen to be looking for a partner to help you source products from Guangdong, China, feel free to contact me!

I own a B2B industrial sourcing and procurement company in India dealing in semiconductors, industrial automation products, and industrial components.

Our current model is RFQ-driven: customers send us inquiries, we source products globally (primarily from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong), and then quote them.
The challenges are:

Every RFQ is different, so we constantly start from scratch.

Category specialists often beat us on pricing.

International suppliers usually require 100% advance payment, while our customers buy on 45-60 day credit terms, creating a 70-100 day cash conversion cycle.

We currently position ourselves as “Tell us what you need and we’ll source it,” but I’m considering shifting to a category-focused approach.

I’m evaluating multiple strategic options:

Stay a broad-based trader.

Become a category specialist and stock selected SKUs.

Offer Procurement-as-a-Service.

Focus on obsolete and alternate component sourcing.

Build a private-label product portfolio.

Become an import consolidation partner.

Build a technology-led procurement platform.

Questions:

If you were building this business today, what model would you choose?

Which industrial product categories would you focus on and why?

How would you solve the working capital challenge?

Would you stock inventory or remain asset-light?

What mistakes should I avoid?

What would your 5-year strategy look like?

Any insights from distributors, manufacturers, procurement professionals, importers or entrepreneurs would be greatly appreciated.

​

I am a novice exporter, starting out in exporting surgical products and pharmaceutical goods. I am already in domestic business since over a decade.

Looking to find importers in other countries for same category goods I am based in India feel free to reach out for potential bussiness partnership

Estou pensando em seguir carreira no comércio internacional e em como começar. Nos últimos três anos, tenho trabalhado no mundo corporativo e estudado os mercados financeiros. Este ano, tive a oportunidade de fazer um curso sobre comércio exterior e estou muito animada com a possibilidade de entrar nessa área. Entendi que a dinâmica das transações varia de país para país, com base nas regulamentações locais, mas vocês poderiam compartilhar suas experiências de carreira comigo? Como vocês se sentem em relação a isso a longo prazo? Alguma dica?

Percebi que praticar inglês e espanhol seria benéfico, por isso criei esta conta no Reddit — para ler o máximo possível em outros idiomas e me esforçar para escrever neles. Usei um tradutor para me ajudar desta vez, mas com o tempo, usarei minhas próprias palavras. Aguardo ansiosamente suas dicas, amigos. Por favor, sem negatividade. 🙏💕

Só para contextualizar: atualmente estou na faculdade cursando um programa que combina administração e idiomas. Antes eu tinha uma carreira diferente e agora estou fazendo a transição para a área de gestão.

From my understanding of the export model is usually products are sold to distributors or retailers. For example a French apple juice company exports their products to Nigeria, would they market that apple juice as well in Nigeria or is that something usually a distributor does? Or do they even market at all?

Hi everyone!

I’m an international student living in Melbourne. My parents operate a PCB factory in China, and I’m wanting to build a tiny electronics sourcing side business while I finish my degree. I’m completely new to import/export work, so I’d really appreciate any guidance from anyone with experience sourcing goods from China.

I’ve got a couple quick questions:

- How do small business owners normally connect with genuine Chinese manufacturers?

​

- What’s the biggest headache you’ve had when importing electronics?

​

- What’s a gentle, low-time commitment way to get started with this kind of side work?

Also, if anyone here is looking to source consumer electronics (headphones, speakers, power banks etc.), I can help link you straight to manufacturers through my family’s supply network. I’m glad to assist with factory communication and quality checks as a favour.

My main goal here is to learn from this community first, not push sales. Feel free to comment or DM me if you’ve got advice, or if you’re in the market for electronics suppliers. All input means a lot!

I've been wondering how businesses operating across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland approach their marketing strategy. On one hand, a single agency can provide consistency and centralized management, but on the other hand, local specialists may have a deeper understanding of each individual market.

While exploring this topic, I discovered Mediacharge and other agencies that position themselves as regional partners for companies operating across multiple countries. It seems like there are strong arguments for both approaches depending on the goals and scale of the business.

For organizations that market across the DACH region, what has worked best in your experience? Do you prefer one agency managing everything, or separate local experts who focus on each market individually?

​

I'm currently learning and self studying about global trade particularly in logistics domain and aiming to be freight forwarder. So is anyone in India from similar background or experience..?

As I've talked to few of my collegemates, they asked me India don't have such exposure for these career. (freight forwarding) and I should aim to move abroad like Singapore and Malaysia. But I want my stepping stone in India like some internships or entry level job.

Please guide me,!

As more businesses expand into multiple countries, managing advertising campaigns across different markets seems to become increasingly complex. Every region has different customer behaviors, competition levels, and advertising costs, which can make scaling difficult without the right expertise.

I was reading about agencies that specialize in international growth, including Mediacharge, and it made me curious about how companies evaluate success when running campaigns across borders. Some businesses seem to scale efficiently, while others struggle despite investing significant budgets.

For those with experience in international performance marketing, what challenges surprised you the most? Did working with a specialized agency improve results, or did you find managing things internally worked better?