What Aspiring Exporters Should Know

The greatest impediment to the development of export business in Nigeria is lack of adequate information about the business, says Mrs. Aderonke Adeyemo, MD, STEM Business Academy who also is among the 60 people currently selected across the nation to participate in the Federal Government-sponsored New Exporters Development Program.

She recently shared her wealth of knowledge and experience of the export industry with SuccessDigest where she disclosed the basic and very important information that people who are thinking of becoming exporters should have before getting in.

First Thing To Do
If you are thinking of going into the export business, the first thing you need to do is to ask yourself the question, “What do I want to export?” You should have an idea of what you want to export or how much money you have to do the business. This is because the amount of money you have will determine the area you can go into.

There are lots of things you can find in abundance here that you can export. In fact, entrepreneurs have to broaden their minds to the fact that whatever you are doing, you can export them. For example, you can export cosmetics. There are many West African countries that depend solely on what we produce here in Nigeria.

People export biscuits, locally produced artificial hair attachments, leather bags, and shoes. You can also export plywood, but you have to add value to it before exporting it. People can export clothes, processed vegetables, fish, etc. There are lots of Nigerians in the UK, USA, and South Africa who are in need of Nigerian foods which people can export to them.

You must have passion for what you want to do. And you must be able to see the future demand or need for what you want to export. Is it something that will go out of fashion or will remain to be in demand? Personally, I prefer food processing business because it is something that has demand everywhere, both in the local and international markets. All you have to do is to find ways of meeting the regulatory standard.

The food processing business is something you can start very little, and it has the capacity to grow. You may not make an instant profit at the beginning because you need to first develop your market. No exporter will disclose his or her customers to you so as not to start competing with him or her directly. You will have to find your own customers.

If you are looking for a business that has good potential for growth, food processing is one of them. You will even get incentives from the government because you are buying the products of farmers which in essence means promoting agriculture.

Learning About Export

Also very important before you start investing in the export business, is that you need to learn as much as you can about the business. Most of the products you may want to export have specifications required by the country you want to export to which you must meet before the product is allowed to enter the country.

So you must learn how to register with the necessary regulatory agencies, know what the specifications are and how you can meet them. You will also need to know about packaging your product to meet international standards.

In a nutshell, to help you learn the business fast and safely it is better to get a mentor, that is, someone who is already doing the business. They could ask you to pay them for the opportunity to learn from them. The money you will spend on the training is worth it as you will be able to gain the needed knowledge about the business and avoid the hidden pitfalls in it.

Now ready to start exporting?

What to put in place You need to have a limited liability company. You also need to register with the Nigerian Export
Promotion Council. The registration fee is N11,000, and You will be issued with an export license within 3 or 4 days of payment. The Nigerian Export Promotion Council has made it easy for people to get an export license.

All you need to do is take your company registration certificate there and you will be issued a license to export. You can do it yourself without having to pay the sum of N50,000 or more to any consultant for it. However, it must be included in your company’s memorandum of understanding that export business is part of what you want to do.