Advice on startup (would need to import possibly)

SeantheMan

Hi all,

Was wondering if you could throw some friendly advice my way or anything really.
Let me preface this by saying I don't have any degree or experience in business, so please treat me as such. This is a 'pipe dream' at the moment, but I would be willing to try it depending on how easy/difficult you guys believe it to be.

Basically the situation is that I live in South Korea and have done for the last 5 years. During my time here I've noticed obviously what things are popular and what aren't.
I have also compared it to Ireland and wondered why certain things we have are not available here.....even though I KNOW they would be huge.

There is a product that we take for granted that is not available in Korea and I think people here would love it.

- Would it be easier to import loads of this product from Ireland/UK (but this would obviously have huge costs) and sell it somewhere here ?

- Would it be worth contacting the company who makes it back in Ireland/UK and asking for a job with them to promote it here ?
(the product itself is not exclusive or patented and is made by many brands the world over)

- Would it be better to find out how it's manufactured and then try make it myself (but this would include a wide range of costs)

Korea has advertising on Subways, TVs on buses and any number of home shopping channels where it could be promoted.
Korean culture also has a tendency to jump on the bandwagon, so when someone does something...they all do.

I know this product would sell in the millions here. I just don't know how to go about starting.

The product retails for about 3 euro back in Ireland. It's to do with food/beverage.
Guessed it ? It's cordial.

They don't have it here in Korea, but they go through so much water.

They have water dispensers in classrooms and they order water to their homes in packs of (2l) bottles, often 40 at a time (I was shocked to come home one day and see 40 x 2l bottles of water waiting outside my front door.

Anyways, any advice is appreciated. Don't steal my pipe dream :P

pedroeibar1

The first question is how much money do you have?
The second question is what is your proficiency level in the local language?
The third question is what qualifies you (in particular contacts/business links) to import / distribute cordials?
The responses to those will determine the advice.

If cordial is not being imported currently, there is a reason for it. For example Suntory of Japan owns Ribena (and Lucozade), Miwadi is owned by Britvic,. Neither of the foregoing companies are slow off the mark.

pedroeibar1

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

If cordial is not being imported currently, there is a reason for it. For example Suntory of Japan owns Ribena (and Lucozade), Miwadi is owned by Britvic,. Neither of the foregoing companies are slow off the mark.

Indeed. I would avoid getting into a business like this, it might seem like a great possibility but probably there are many issues with it, you would never even think of.
In my opinion the only way to broach it is to go to the main manufacturer in Ireland, make a deal with them as a sales agent in Korea, get a bunch of samples and different flavors, and then sit down with a drinks distributor in Korea.
You do not want to be handling product or setting up your own distribution business if you are not experienced. But you could make a handy commission if there was actually a demand or interest in the product, and you were just closing sales but never actually handling the product.

pedroeibar1

I don't know enough about the shelf life / stability of cordials and fruit extracts , but Coke & Pepsi & Guinness all export 'syrup' and have it mixed with water/carbonated at destination to save shipping costs.
You would stand a chance if you have more attributes than just living in Korea, what can you bring?

SeantheMan

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

I don't know enough about the shelf life / stability of cordials and fruit extracts , but Coke & Pepsi & Guinness all export 'syrup' and have it mixed with water/carbonated at destination to save shipping costs.
You would stand a chance if you have more attributes than just living in Korea, what can you bring?

That's the thing.
As I mentioned, I am really new and just thought it an interesting prospect as there is a huge opening here ....I wouldn't call it a gap in the market...as there is no market yet. But they would lap it up.
I guess maybe I can mail KiaOra or Robinsons or something.

pedroeibar1

SeantheMan wrote: »

That's the thing.
As I mentioned, I am really new and just thought it an interesting prospect as there is a huge opening here ....I wouldn't call it a gap in the market...as there is no market yet. But they would lap it up.
I guess maybe I can mail KiaOra or Robinsons or something.

You'd be wasting your time sending 'them' an email: 'they' get dozens of emails from dreamers every day . Focus. You haven't answered the main questions yet, nor have you done homework, yet you have 4k+ posts on gaming & related boards. Do you really think Coca Cola (owners of Kia Ora) would be impressed by you?

distribution is the key for this - i.e. to get it into shops.
big shop groups will only deal with big distributors usually - main reason being that they don't want to have an account for every product.
you could try talking to a musgraves, tesco here etc as a test to see if there would be any interest.
getting packaging in english could be expensive.
also EU food rules etc could come into effect, along with tariffs as it's outside EU.