My New Business Venture Meets Resistence.

[SharinganUser]

I have chatted to a few friends of mine about a new business venture I am going to start in the fall. My plan is to sell local resources overseas, because the local economy is quite stagnant,(and obviously I can profit from the sales). A lot of the mills in my area have closed down because there is no one buying the lumber. Yet, my buddies somehow think I can magically come up with enough capital to build a factory, and manufacture wood products and market them at a competitive price. Aside from using alchemy, I can't think anyway to push the lumber to a Canadian company (I am Canadian) because as far as I know, nobody over here can afford to buy our lumber, which is why the local mills are closed in the first place.

If I can sell some of the lumber to foreign markets, it would create jobs in the area (Mills reopened) and various other business' in the area would benefit from a ripple effect (several restaurants and bars have shut down despite being successful 10-20 years previous). In addition to those effects, one expert manufacturer explained to me that Canada is going weather the recession a lot better because we have a lot of resources that can be sold to foreign markets, and the profit can then be reinvested to develop more competitive manufacturing.

Every time I've mentioned this to people, they've acted like I just said the n-word, or that I love Hitler(I don't btw). I would just like to hear some people's thoughts on this idea and have an open discussion. Any ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Create Reality]

Well as far as I know, NAFTA will result in one less expense selling to the U.S. and Mexico. I suppose rare woods are the biggest money makers. Canada is a mostly decidious forested area, fir and pine are usually abundant I think.

 

[Alle_Gory]

I have chatted to a few friends of mine about a new business venture I am going to start in the fall.

Are your friends in business and can they understand the lingo? Are they or do they have entrepreneurial personalities? If no, you're wasting your time.

I can't think anyway to push the lumber to a Canadian company (I am Canadian) because as far as I know, nobody over here can afford to buy our lumber, which is why the local mills are closed in the first place.

Why are the prices so high?

In addition to those effects, one expert manufacturer explained to me that Canada is going weather the recession a lot better because we have a lot of resources that can be sold to foreign markets, and the profit can then be reinvested to develop more competitive manufacturing.

LOL. Not likely, but it is possible. The problem is Canadian labour is very costly with the union contracts, and management is sh*t in most places. Inefficient and expensive. Not a good combo for business.

Ideally, things should work out like you say but they don't.

Any ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Find someone to talk to that does something similar like this. Import export business. Don't talk your mouth off though, ideas can make money.

 

[Hooligan Harry]

The problem you will have when you discuss most business ideas with people is that they cannot often see the bigger picture. They see the details and the problems in the details. They fail to understand that there is no such thing as an original idea, only original execution. They think of their own needs and wants more than other peoples and it warps their perspective.

What separates the successful businessmen from the poor one is the ability to see the bigger picture and think long term from day one. Most people simply cannot do this. If they could, everyone would be a tycoon of some sort. Dont waste your time talking to friends unless they are in the industry.

Do your research. There are a lot of websites where trade leads are aggregated and posted. See which areas have a demand for what you have and make contact with the people that have advertised. At the same time, find yourself an accountant with experience in import/export and get the ball the rolling. Resources are ALWAYS in demand no matter what the state of the economy. Trade leads though are always a good place to start to see if and where the pent up demand would be.

The biggest problem you have with resources of any kind is capital. Very often, you have to export large quantities. Shipping is expensive and the volumes are large so your initial costs are high. When you consider that most importers are going to want 60-90 days from invoice you need a fair amount of scratch to keep your head above the water.

Considering the fact that the economy is in the ****ter at the moment, the mills may be a little more keen to negotiate terms with wholesalers. So chances are, you could arrange 60 days with your customer and 90 days with the mill. With a confirmed purchase order, any bank will lend you the money. Find the customer first and everything else will fall into place very quickly.

I could not help but splutter when I saw suggestions that you open a factory and start manufacturing yourself overnight. Yes. Cracking idea that. Then in a years time, when you are making millions, you can buy that steel mill and you can start making spaceships to arrange space tours too. You need to diversify after all.

 

[SharinganUser]

Are your friends in business and can they understand the lingo? Are they or do they have entrepreneurial personalities? If no, you're wasting your time.

They understand the lingo, but don't have good business sense. One of them is about to go on welfare. He suggestion was to get government grants to build a factory to manufacture the products myself in Canada. If it were that easy to do that, there would be factories everywhere in Canada producing Canadian made goods. But it isn't and there's not.

Why are the prices so high?

You answer the question yourself in the next quote, just affix high gas prices and you'd have the answer 100%

LOL. Not likely, but it is possible. The problem is Canadian labour is very costly with the union contracts, and management is sh*t in most places. Inefficient and expensive. Not a good combo for business.

Ideally, things should work out like you say but they don't.

I totally agree with you on this. It's ideal in the short run as it would create jobs immediately in the logging, but if the money is invested properly it can create jobs in the long term. Even if it doesn't pan out that way, it's still better to have food on some people's plates as a posed to no food on anyone's plate which seems to be the direction my town is going in.

Find someone to talk to that does something similar like this. Import export business. Don't talk your mouth off though, ideas can make money.

I will do that. Thank you.