Views: 347 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2026-08-05 Origin: Site
Many physical factories in Changzhou want to lay out the foreign trade track, but they have never been able to start. I don’t know the start-up process, I don’t know how to handle import and export qualifications, I’m confused about whether to recruit people or find an agent to operate, and I can’t judge the overseas market situation of my own products. This article combines 15 years of practical experience of local factories going overseas to comprehensively dismantle the entire foreign trade start-up process of 0-basic factories, covering core content such as qualification processing, market research, team building, cost budgeting, and order delivery cycles. It is common to manufacturing factories in the entire industry and helps companies avoid most novice pitfalls.
The vast majority of novice foreign trade bosses will fall into the same trap: recruit people first, open a platform, place ads, and completely follow the trend. It seems that the actions are complete, but in fact there is no core direction. In the end, it will only waste time and money in vain. The correct first step for a factory to engage in foreign trade is always market research and positioning. First, clarify three core issues: which overseas markets the product focuses on, what are the core needs of target customers, and what are the differentiated competitive advantages of your own products. Through customs data analysis of peer export data, overseas platform search popularity, and market competition pattern, using real data to replace subjective judgments, and then investing in promotion and manpower after determining the track, we can achieve twice the result with half the effort. TPV Information has been deeply involved in the overseas expansion of Changzhou factories for 15 years, and can customize exclusive overseas expansion strategies and market research plans for local factories for free.
If a factory independently engages in foreign trade, it must be equipped with a complete set of basic import and export qualifications. This is a hard threshold for going overseas, and all of them are indispensable. The complete application process includes six core links: business license to expand export business scope, foreign trade operator registration with the Commerce Bureau, customs consignee and consignor registration, electronic port IC card application, foreign exchange administration directory registration, and tax bureau export tax refund registration. As long as the materials are complete and the process is smooth, the full set of qualifications can be completed in 1 to 2 months. In addition, according to the export product category and target market requirements, corresponding international certifications are also required. Common ones include CE, FDA, RoHS, FCC, etc. to ensure smooth customs clearance of products. Many factories are not familiar with the processing procedures, and running errands back and forth is time-consuming and labor-intensive. We provide a full set of one-stop qualification agency services, with dedicated personnel to follow up throughout the process. The factory only needs to focus on production, and all compliance procedures are fully managed.
Many novice factories are struggling: without foreign trade experience, should they form a full-time team or find an agent to operate? Combined with many years of practical experience, small and medium-sized factories will give priority to professional foreign trade agency operations starting from 0. At present, mature foreign trade salespeople are scarce in the market and their salary costs are high. Most of the people with many years of experience are in stable positions, making it difficult to recruit. Recruiting new employees with zero basic knowledge requires more than half a year of training, and the cost of trial and error is extremely high. The professional agent operation team has a mature operating system, customer acquisition process and practical experience, which can quickly help factories build a complete foreign trade system, start customer acquisition channels, and significantly reduce trial and error costs and time costs.
A factory that is in formal operation can receive its first foreign trade order in 3 to 6 months. There is no fixed standard for order issuance speed. The core depends on market positioning, product competitiveness, platform construction quality and promotion execution. Foreign trade is a long-term business, so be careful not to rush for quick results. Blindly pursuing orders quickly and frequently changing operating methods will disrupt the layout and miss opportunities to accumulate traffic. Steady implementation of every link is the core key for novices to go overseas.
Whether one"s own products can be exported and which countries are best sold cannot be judged by experience and feeling. Market judgment is all supported by data: query the total export volume of similar products, mainstream export countries, and annual rising and falling trends through customs data; analyze overseas customer procurement needs based on keyword search popularity on Google and B2B platforms; compare overseas competing product pricing, product configuration, and competitive gaps to identify your own entry advantages.
Domestic trade transactions have short links and simple rules, while foreign trade is aimed at global customers and involves cross-cultural communication, international logistics, foreign exchange settlement, and product compliance certification in various countries, with longer links and higher risks. The three most common pitfalls for novice factories are: not understanding the regulations of the target market, resulting in products being detained for customs clearance; not understanding trade terms such as FOB and CIF, resulting in loss in quotation; and irregular payment methods, leading to the risk of bad debts. Professional foreign trade services can control risks throughout the process and help factories avoid various overseas risks.
Small and medium-sized manufacturing plants are engaged in foreign trade, with a reasonable annual investment range of 150,300 yuan, covering all costs such as annual platform fees, advertising and promotion, sample logistics, product certification, and personnel salaries. The size of the budget is not important. The core is that every investment can be realized, effective inquiries and customer resources can be obtained, and input and output can be maximized.
There are two mature tracks for OEM factories to go overseas, adapting to different corporate strengths: Factories with R&D and design capabilities and sufficient financial strength can deploy their own brands overseas, control pricing power, and earn high profits; factories with outstanding production capacity and stable quality control can develop the OEM/ODM OEM model and achieve steady revenue growth based on large-volume stable orders. We will customize an adapted overseas plan based on the actual situation of the factory.
The factory"s own employees are familiar with product technology, production processes and corporate conditions, and are suitable candidates to connect with customers. Paired with professional agent operations responsible for independent website construction, Google SEO, social media promotion, and customer development, this is currently the outstanding model for small and medium-sized factories. All customer resources and order data are retained in the factory, and core assets are firmly controlled without being controlled by third parties.
Jiangsu"s local advantageous export industries are concentrated: mechanical and electrical equipment, auto parts, new energy equipment, textiles and clothing, chemical building materials, medical instruments, etc. This type of industrial products and non-standard equipment are not suitable for the cross-border retail model. The B2B supplier model has high customer stickiness, stable order volume, and high repurchase rate, making it a suitable overseas track.
Many bosses mistakenly believe that popular products in China can be directly exported. In fact, the demand in domestic and foreign markets is very different. The Southeast Asian market focuses on cost performance and delivery speed, while the European and American markets strictly control product quality, safety certification and environmental protection standards. Before exporting, market adaptation adjustments must be made and product parameters, pricing and compliance qualifications must be optimized to meet the needs of overseas customers.
Relying on exports from trading companies for a long time, not only has the factory"s profits been compressed, but its core customer resources are also in the hands of middlemen, making the company"s development completely passive. By independently developing overseas customers, the factory can not only earn all profits, but also continue to accumulate its own customer assets, accumulate brand reputation, and pave the way for long-term overseas expansion.
1. Blindly advertising and opening platforms without market research is a waste of budget;
2. The target country’s compulsory certification is missing, and the goods are returned or detained by customs;
3. The trade terms in quotations and contracts are vague, resulting in hidden losses;
4. There is no risk control in the payment method, and bad debts and payment arrears occur;
5. Blindly recruit salespeople, and the personnel do not match the industry and products.
The manufacturing plant with an annual output value of 30 million has mature production capacity, quality control, and supply chain systems, and has a complete foundation for going overseas. After laying out foreign trade channels, it can quickly expand overseas incremental markets and achieve annual sales growth of 20% to 50%. The initial investment is controllable and the long-term return space is sufficient.
The local foreign trade salary in Changzhou is transparent: the basic salary for fresh graduates/with less than 1 year of experience is 5,000-6,000 yuan, and the basic salary for salespersons with 3 to 5 years of practical experience is 6,000-8,000 yuan, with a regular commission rate of 1% to 5%. It is recommended to adopt a stepped commission system to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of salesmen and stabilize team members.
Foreign trade talents with rich working experience are scarce, highly mobile, and difficult to recruit. However, newcomers with zero foundation have strong plasticity and high loyalty. As long as they are equipped with standardized training SOP, they can quickly be trained into key personnel who can independently follow orders and acquire customers independently. TPV provides a full set of systematic foreign trade training, covering the entire process of product knowledge, international trade rules, customer development, quotation negotiation, and order fulfillment.
There is no need for a start-up foreign trade team to be bloated. A suitable configuration of 2-3 people is: 1-2 full-time salesmen + 1 operation person. If the boss personally coordinates the foreign trade business, the position of foreign trade manager can be omitted; if there is no time to take care of both, a full-time person in charge can be added to coordinate the entire business process and effectively control labor costs.
0 For basic factories to go overseas, the core is not to follow the trend and invest, but to sort out the three core sectors of qualifications, market, and team, build a standardized, low-cost, and highly implementable foreign trade system, and reduce trial and error costs. TPV Information has been deeply involved in the foreign trade of local factories in Changzhou for 15 years. It provides one-stop full-link services such as qualification agency, market research, team training, and channel construction to help small and medium-sized factories go overseas smoothly from scratch.
