World Trading Need a global network? Give this veteran a try.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Business owners are constantly bombarded by pitches for tradegroups and hot new Web sites that promise to improve theirinternational sales. But if you need a resource that has withstoodthe test of time, you should take a gander at the World TradeCenters Association (WTCA).
Jen O'Conner, director of Brooklyn Goes Global (BGG), theinternational division of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce in NewYork City, says the WTCA has been the most valuable network BGG hasworked with. "The WTCA has given us a phenomenal number ofoverseas buyers interested in what Brooklyn businesses have tosell," she says.
O'Conner says the vast majority of the 1,200 sales proposalsBGG sent out last year on behalf of Brooklyn manufacturers (90 to95 percent of whom are entrepreneurs) came from leads generated bythe WTCA. The nonprofit, nonpolitical association, which focuses onglobal trade, provides services in 337 cities in 101 countriesworldwide. Among its dazzling array of tools: facilities that canbe used to host meetings, and a gamut of business services such asvideoconferencing, an active trade-lead operation, market researchand group trade missions. Herbert Ouida, WTCA's executive vicepresident, describes the organization as one-stop shopping for thenearly 500,000 companies affiliated with it worldwide.
Classic Clothing Inc. founder and owner Shawn Korenman foundhimself on the fast track when a potential buyer in Thailand foundan ad for his company on the WTCA Web site. "He came over hereand spent $40,000 on his first order," says Korenman, 26,whose New York City company sells about $300,000 worth of recycledjeans, bags and shorts a year to U.S. and internationalclients.
For more information, visit http://www.wtca.org
Christopher D. Lancette is an Atlanta journalist who coversinternational topics for Hispanic Business and otherpublications.
Fast Track
Name and age: Robert McCracken, 45
Company name and description: McCracken Leasing leasesand sells golf-cart fleets to courses in his native Australia.
Based: Manhattan Beach, California
Founded: 1992
1998 sales: $85,000
Teeing off: "I was living near a golf course when Ithought of the idea," McCracken says, "I kept seeing allthese white buggies. I mentioned that to my brother, Len, inAustralia, and he said everybody there walks [around the courses].So we started checking into getting some carts there."
Avoiding fairway hazards: "The new vehicle tax inAustralia is something like 90 percent--so if you wanted a new$5,000 cart, it would end up costing you more than $9,000. The taxon used vehicles [26 percent] is stiff, too, but it's bearable.Shipping them one at a time would cost a lot of money on top ofthat, so we don't send carts to a club until we have a signedagreement for a number of them."
Chip shots: Once the carts arrive in Australia,they're very low maintenance. "All you have to do is plugthem in." One mobile mechanic can service McCracken'sentire operation. The carts also run well for several years,allowing McCracken to generate three to four times his purchaseprice through leasing revenues.
Clubhouse advice: "You've got to be careful whenyou take on an overseas partner. My saving grace was having mybrother in Australia. I can't give $30,000 worth of golf cartsto a drunken lout. California's Export Small BusinessDevelopment Center also helped me out a lot--getting me throughpaperwork and shipping stuff."
How Does It Translate?
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Contact Sources
Brooklyn Goes Global, fax: (718) 237-4274, BGGint@worldnet.att.net
Classic Clothing Inc., (718) 832-3289, fax: (718)832-3263
McCracken Leasing, (310) 545-8419, fax: (310)545-6119
World Trade Center Association, ovida@wtca.org