Wow!  It’s been a busy, busy week and it’s only Wednesday (as I write this).  FBI is in the middle of a week full of seminars and networking events for Textile Week and, if that wasn’t enough, we’re doing a fashion show with the California Market Center in conjunction with the Focus Apparel and Accessory show on Saturday, March 20 at 4:30 p.m. in the CMC penthouse.   

I walked the Textile show twice, once on Monday and then again on Tuesday.  One of my clients is looking to source some fabrics and trims and I was happy to help her out.  I know, I’m a sucker for fabrics…last GlobalTex show I was blabbering on about Modal© and how soft and drapey it is.  Now I’ll blabber on about Tencel© and how wonderfully absorbent it is. 

I had the good fortune to chat with textile industry expert Walter Meck of Fessler, U. S. A. He took the time to show me some of the latest fabrications and discussed some of the different properties of the fibers they’re using.  I’m a huge fan of their products, especially after having visited their facilities in Orwigsburg, PA.  You know how some people like to know where their food comes from?  I like to know where my clothes come from - watching fibers spin into yarns, yarns knit into fabrics and fabrics turned into garments truly makes me smile.

I’ve also had the opportunity to sit through some of the seminars this week and had a great time meeting some new FBI members at the networking event Monday evening.  Our series of seminars during Textile Week are free for members and everyone is welcome to attend.   I’m looking forward to attending Frances Harder and Dana Fried’s Apparel Business Workshop on Thursday, March 18^th.  I know a lot about the business of fashion, but I’m always eager to learn more and I know I’ll pick up a ton of useful information tomorrow.  This workshop is not a part of the Textile Week seminars, so there is a fee, but it’s one of the best investments you’ll ever make if you want to be successful in the apparel industry. 

Speaking of being successful in the apparel industry, I came in at the tail end of Staci Riordan’s “Legal Strategies for a Profitable Fashion Business” seminar yesterday and was reminded of a number of important things.  Check out her blog to find out about the legal side of the apparel industry. The detail that stuck with me was how important it is for businesses to build a great team of industry experts to rely upon.  If you’re dealing with a copyright infringement on one of your designs or international trademark issues with your apparel brand, seek the counsel of an apparel industry lawyer.  If you need capital for your business, find a factor who deals specifically with the apparel industry and understands your retail environment.  Want to know more about how to make your apparel business profitable?  Talk to the experts.  I wanted to know more about fabrics, so I went to one of my experts. 

The FBI has so many resources available for products, services and consulting, it never ceases to amaze me.  Membership starts at $250 per year and with the membership, you get one hour of free consulting with one of our experts along with a whole host of benefits including free seminars, discounts on many services, great networking opportunities and the chance to participate in our fashion shows at a greatly discounted rate.  Hey, if I wasn’t already a member, I’d have joined a long time ago.  Just because I’m considered an industry expert doesn’t mean I won’t jump at the chance to learn from another industry expert.  How do you think we become experts in the first place?

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology expert working with Fashion Business, Incorporated.  Email:  jill@fashionbizinc.org

Jacquelyn, our intrepid Director of Membership, has more activities on her plate than any three people I know. Yet, she and our FBI Board Member, Ernesto Mantilla, along with a group of talented videographers put together some great videos highlighting a number of fashion related activities as well as a tour of the California Market Center.

Click here for a video highlighting last month’s MAGIC show.  Click here for a video from the FBI’s Designer Launchpad fashion show, and click here for a tour of the California Market Center.

More and more people are turning to social media and youtube to spread the word about new products, trends, services and other types of promotion.  If you or your company are looking for a low cost way to create brand or identity awareness, you really need to look into Linkedin, Facebook, MySpace, Youtube and more for ways to inform and update new and existing customers.  Look for upcoming FBI seminars to help jumpstart your online and social media marketing campaigns.

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated.  Email:  jill@fashionbizinc.org

Well, of course it does!  Especially if you were at the Neiman Marcus “Fashion Rules” event last week in Beverly Hills.  I’ll admit I’m not really a Neiman Marcus shopper.  My budget may allow for an occasion splurge at one of their very fine restaurants or bars, but that’s about it for me.  However, I have a great appreciation for the store, the merchandise and the value of the brand “Neiman Marcus.”  I was grateful to have the opportunity to attend the event and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The store was packed with NM’s loyal customers and a few curious onlookers (me included).  Events were staged throughout the store as well as food and beverage stations.  A makeshift runway was setup on the second level with models wearing the newest looks and accessories for summer.  There was a terrific display of NM’s photographer, Matthew Rolston’s, latest images and signed copies of his newly released coffee table book. 

My favorite part of the evening was Ken Downing’s presentation via video-conference, straight from the Paris runways.  The poor man was up at 4:30 a.m. in Europe to broadcast live to Beverly Hills with the latest, greatest trends for Fall, 2011.  No, I’m not going to reveal them here.  You’ll just have to wait and see, or better yet, subscribe to one of the Trend services available.

While walking around the store, I kept thinking about how well the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus store is arranged and merchandised.  Aside from the fact that the merchandise is beautiful and of such great quality, there really is an art to creating a directional flow in a store and how the products are displayed.  The display cases, racks and shelves are never over crowded with product, allowing your eyes to take in the details of each item.  Nothing is crammed in or fighting for space. Yes, I realize they have multiple thousands of square feet to work with, but so do other department stores whose racks always seem to explode with product.  Boutiques are a different animal altogether, but the best ones follow the same principles.  Ever stopped by the Prada store in Beverly Hills?  The sleek, Rem Koolhaas designed store is an excellent statement in minimalism.  Each piece is given enough space to “speak for itself” and shines brightly among other jewels on Rodeo Drive. 

Don’t forget, FBI is doing a number of seminars next week at the Los Angeles International Textile show March 15 - 17 in the California Market Center.  Stop by our office at suite C786 for three days full of informative sessions as well as a mixer on Monday evening starting at 5:00 p.m.  Meet some of our great members, employees and contributors (including yours truly) and get to know us, if you don’t already. 

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated.  Email:  jill@fashionbizinc.org

It’s tradeshow season in Los Angeles. This week, FBI was at the GlobalTex show at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For those of you who haven’t attended, GlobalTex is more than a textile show, its main focus is on textile and fashion trends. I attended the inaugural show in October, 2009 and blogged about it here. This time, there were a number of great seminars, FBI included. We presented a panel discussion on “Turning a Changed Economy into a Profitable Business Opportunity” which included Frances Harder as moderator, Bobby Hines – International Trade Specialist with the U. S. Department of Commerce, Ken Wengrod – President of F. T. C. Commercial Corp, Susan Brandt – Internet marketing expert, and Dana Fried - apparel industry expert and owner of Delphic Consulting. It was a lively discussion regarding the ups and downs of starting your own business in today’s economy.

My favorite non-FBI seminar had to be Fiona Jenvey’s Men’s and Women’s trend focus seminars from MUDPIE, Ltd. As someone who is not on the cutting edge of fashion trends, I’m always interested to see how designers, stylists and retailers translate the trends from the couture runways to desirable, saleable products. I’ve bumped into Fiona at GlobalTex, but I’ll admit it right here, I follow her daily through her LinkedIn page and Mudpie group postings. I like to think of these seminars as a designer’s or merchandiser’s cheat sheet. Taking a sneak peak at colors, fabrics, prints and textures as well as designer’s inspirations and global influences is one of my favorite things to see at tradeshows or on-line. Trend and color forecasters like Design Options, MPDClick and Style Sight do the research, follow the fashion shows and focus on the next, great influences to allow mere mortals to focus on key ideas and colors for future deliveries. All of these companies provide pay-for-service websites and newsletters for their subscribers to stay in touch with all of the latest trends, even if they’re far from the runways and tradeshows.

So what else did I learn at GlobalTex this time? Well, I made sure I wore comfortable shoes.

1. I’m looking forward to Spring/Summer 2011 for the colors and trends. If you’re not paying attention, or haven’t subscribed to any of the trend services above, I’m not going to it give away.
2. Tradeshows are the best place to gather a lot of information in a small amount of time.
3. Trade shows are still the best way to see and feel new products, colors and designs. I’m a big fan of technology, don’t get me wrong, but nothing beats holding something in your hand to really understand the product. (This isn’t new, I cribbed this from my previous blog, but it’s still relevant.)
4. Take advantage of seminars whenever you can. You never know what you’ll learn. FBI has a number of free or low-cost seminars coming up at L. A. International Textile Week. Stop by and say “Hello.”

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated. Email: jill@fashionbizinc.org

Let’s hope that what happens at MAGIC doesn’t just stay in Las Vegas. Let’s hope that the excitement, energy and dare I say it, enthusiasm I felt at last week’s MAGIC show is carried forward throughout the year. It was nice to see a lot of foot traffic, new faces, new brands and even orders being written. I know this isn’t a barometer for the economy, but it was encouraging none-the-less.

It’s a lot to see and do with all of the shows happening at the same time: POOLTradeshow, PROJECT, MAGIC, S. L. A. T. E., WWDMAGIC, STREET and more, it’s hard to keep track of everything and impossible to see everything unless you have a pair of rollerblades with you. I was excited to be a part of the SOURCING at MAGIC marketplace and seminars. FBI presented a number of seminars and panels on a variety of topics. Frances Harder and the FBI team presented seminars on “No Risk = No Sales: How to Plan, Merchandise and Brand your Product in a Global Market,” “Turning a Bad Economy Into a Profitable Business Opportunity” and “Retailing for Profit in a New Economy.” I’m not sure how Frances had any vocal chords left after four seminars, but she was still raring to go at the FBI cocktail event Wednesday night at the Hard Rock.

It’s exciting to be a part of these seminars. We met a lot of interesting people with great stories to tell and great products to bring to market. We even signed up a number of new members, excited to take advantage of a discounted FBI membership rate for the MAGIC seminars. I know how excited and eager people are when they have a great idea or design to develop and sell. The challenge becomes how to bring that product to market. MAGIC and all of the related tradeshows are a shining example of people and companies who were able to successfully launch their ideas and sell them to targeted consumers. FBI seminars, classes, consulting and training are all designed to support fashion businesses from inception to profitable multi-million dollar brands. I speak from personal experience when I say that it’s thrilling to see our members “fly the nest” and become the next great brand. It’s not without a lot of hard work and long hours, but by taking advantage of the FBI membership, our members benefit from our expertise, knowledge and know-how to help them navigate the pitfalls of this industry.

I’m looking forward to MAGIC in August, 2010. I hope to see more FBI members showing their lines and doing great business. I know if they take advantage of their memberships, they’ll be well on their way.

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated. Email: jill@fashionbizinc.org

I had lunch with a friend recently. I mentioned FBI was presenting a number of seminars on Sourcing at MAGIC, February 16 – 18, 2010. When she asked me what sourcing was, I had to think long and hard about how to describe sourcing in general. It seems easy enough to describe: the supply of resources as required by a business process. I’m sure that’s not what she wanted to hear, so I thought about it for a while. She is a screenwriter with no experience in any sort of manufacturing or service industry. I realized, however, that sourcing can be applied to almost any business process. In her case I related it to her wedding, I asked her to think of her wedding planning as sourcing. Think of the logistics, planning, purchasing, deliveries, setup, payments and tastings as sourcing.

Unless you’re doing everything yourself, including sewing your own dress, baking your own cake, growing your own flowers and playing all of the instruments in the band, you’re sourcing. Many brides hire a wedding planner – let’s call that the agent. The agent’s job is to facilitate the sourcing process. They smooth out the bumps, they help ensure shipments are on time, they deal with customs and suppliers and manufacturers to make sure everyone has what they need to get the merchandise manufactured and delivered on time. In the case of a bride, however, late shipments, extensions, customs holdups and shortages aren’t acceptable at all, so the wedding planner has his or her hands full just as much as an agent. Throughout the wedding planning or sourcing process there are a number of vendors supplying goods and services. A bride might have a caterer supplying food, a photographer, a DJ or band, florist, clergyperson, venue and more. A manufacturer might have fabric or trim suppliers, cutting and sewing services, shippers or freight forwarders and more. Retailers can be as demanding as a bride, so keep in mind your retailers requirements throughout the sourcing process.

That’s not the half of it, however. You don’t just start sourcing, just like you don’t just start planning a wedding. First, you need to think of your budget. How much do you have to spend to bring your products to market or to get yourself and your spouse-to-be to “I do?” Second, what should the end result look like? Third, what is the timeframe to get to the deliverable? How long do you have to plan this? In the wedding world, it may be months or years, in the retail world weeks are better than months and rarely can anyone get away with years. Fourth, how do you find a reliable, high quality agent or wedding planner that fits your requirements - budget, personality, location, contacts, etc.? Do you work off of recommendations, advertising, Angie’s List? How do you know that the person you entrust with your business will provide the services you need? Fifth, how do you begin to execute your plan? Where do you find your suppliers? How do you know the designs and fabric swatches you sent months ago will be delivered to your specifications and quantities? Can you get TOP samples? A bride can’t. But she can have her gown custom altered and chances are good, you can’t do that with your production run. Sixth, what about logistics? What are you doing to track your purchase orders, customs clearing, quota numbers and containers? Let’s hope you have a good system in place to provide visibility to all of that information. If the bride is savvy, she’s tracking her information in an organizer or spreadsheet. Last, but not least, how are you tracking your finances? Letters of credit? Payments to your agent or vendors? Due dates and payment terms? Hopefully the bride is tracking her deposits and payments by check or credit card.

By the time I finished explaining the sourcing process with my bridal analogy, my friend actually understood sourcing better than many of my clients. Then I hit her with “Hopefully, this is the only wedding you’ll ever have to plan. Apparel manufacturers source year round for millions of products to be delivered to thousands of retailers. It’s like planning hundreds of wedding a year, without the cake tasting or big parties at the end.” And, if you do it right, make your deliveries and even make your margins, you’ll keep on doing it year after year.

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated. Email: jill@fashionbizinc.org

F. B. I. members Erin Wieczorek, Susan Brandt, Korena Ellis and I had the opportunity to attend Hong Kong’s Fashion Week and World Boutique this past January.  It was a huge and well-attended event.  Taking over most of the five floors of display space in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, there was truly something for everyone.  Susan Brandt was hoping to find one or more fabric suppliers for a new product she’s developing.  Korena Ellis and Erin Wieczorek were also looking to develop new products and find potential manufacturing and sales resources.  I was intent on enjoying this unique opportunity and hoping to gain a better understanding of the global markets for supply and demand.  

The World Boutique, Fashion Week and all of the activities, seminars and fashion shows related to these events were exceptionally well-executed.  A big round of applause goes to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) for putting on such a well organized show.  An entire floor was dedicated to Mainland China sourcing with other floors and areas dedicated to a variety of merchandise and sourcing opportunities.  It truly was a global market place with attendees from all over the world.  Asia, to be expected as well as Australia, New Zealand and India were all well represented, as were buyers from the Americas and Europe.  

As has come to be expected, the fashion shows were the major highlights of Fashion Week, with the spotlight shining on Vivienne Westwood’s Thursday night show.  Other shows included Taipei In Style, William Tang/MARCCAIN by William Tang, La Mer by Ali Charisma (see photos above), Global Sphere by Ika, Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers, Moiselle, International Designers Show and an incredible Knitwear show.  

The Vivienne Westwood show was an invitation only event and the invitations were hard to come by.  Luck was not on our side, but from all of the press and photos, it looked to be a fantastic event.  Ms. Westwood’s husband, Andreas Kronthaler, Creative Director and Christopher di Pietro, Marketing & Merchandising Director  - both of Vivienne Westwood - presented a seminar on “Vivienne Westwood Kingdom Decoded” concentrating on how they’ve built their Asia business and are now expanding their retail sales in North America.  A special mention was made about the latest store opening in Los Angeles, the first retail shop for the iconic brand to open in 9 years.  

Of special note was the permanent HKTDC Design Gallery located next to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.  This retail store is devoted to Hong Kong designers and products manufactured within Hong Kong and the New Territories.  The store sells jewelry, accessories, toys, books, games and more, highlighting some of best and brightest of Hong Kong’s up and coming designers.  What a great thought!  Maybe we can do the same for California designers?

This show is definitely worth attending for anyone looking to find manufacturing resources in Asia as well as anyone looking to sell to global markets.  The HKTDC office in Los Angeles made it easy for our members to attend with special airfare, hotel and exhibitor rates.  Hopefully, this offer will be available again.  If you have the chance, don’t miss out.  

  Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated. Email: jill@fashionbizinc.org

Fashion Business, Inc. in conjunction with the California Market Center’s Winter FOCUS | Apparel & Accessories Show was delighted to present the “DESIGNER LAUNCH PAD” fashion show. The FOCUS show featured emerging designers alongside established brands in the loft-like setting of the California Market Center’s penthouse showrooms.

Frances Harder, Jacquelyn Umof and Erin Wieczorek of FBI along with stylist and producer Leila Baboi, former West Coast Market Editor of Women’s Wear Daily and the great team from California Market Center put on a fantastic show featuring seven promising new designers. The show took place Saturday, January 16, 2010 in the California Market Center’s penthouse location for the FOCUS show. It provided an exciting setting for a great show, with expansive views of Downtown Los Angeles’ twinkling city lights. The show sold out quickly and was standing room only.

Some of the designers were showing their lines for the first time. Others are already experiencing success at retail. Even more exciting, many of these designers are manufacturing their designs right here in California. We thank all of the designers, Leila Baboi, FOCUS Apparel & Accessory show and especially California Market Center for all of their hard work and effort in putting on a great show.

Featured designers included:

ALTHEA HARPER COLLECTION (www.altheaharper.com) – a collection of ready-to-wear styles in soft, drapey fabrics, gorgeous colors and body skimming silhouettes. Many people are familiar with Althea as one of the finalists from Project Runway, season 6. Her premier collection of designs did not disappoint her fans or those who have just discovered her.

ANAHI BLUE (www.anahiblue.com) – a swimwear collection by designer Michele Sparks. Michele’s designs are a welcome addition to the swimwear market. Elegant, classy, fashion-forward swimwear that provides coverage and even a bit of camouflage for those of us with less than swimsuit-model bodies. Her styles made a great SPLASH! on the runway.

CAMELIA SKIKOS COLLECTION (www.cameliaskiknos.com) – a collection of ready-to-wear styles in beautiful silks, some with leather accents. Her designs have a strong, geometric feeling to them, influenced by modern art and sculpture combined with the softness of silk and feminine curves. Camelia produces all of her designs in California.

DUSTIEDOLL (www.dustiedoll.com) – a collection of contemporary fashion presented in knits and jerseys, adorned with studs, chains and other hardware. Dustie is a local Southern California designer and is manufacturing her products locally.

LI CARI (www.shoplicari.com ) – a collection of ready-to-wear designs from Jazmin Whitley. The Li Cari collection was filled with fantastic styles and inspired silhouettes. Jazmin is a young designer with a huge celebrity following and is well known from her MTV reality TV show “MTV’s House of Jazmin.” She produces her products in the U. S. and Italy in order to ensure all labor law compliance.

RISSA BY MARISSA ERSKINE (www.lovelyrissa.com) – a contemporary collection from Marissa Erskine. The RisSa collection was filled with beautiful dresses and knitwear in exotic, colorful silhouettes.

ZA ZA ZSU (www.zazazsu.net) – Sahar Hersel describes her collection as “Sunday Sexy” and that it was! Luxurious fabrics combined with elegant, effortless styling created a cohesive collection of pieces. Sahar produces all of her products domestically.

We welcome these designers to FBI and look forward to many more great collections!

Well, not really, but when implemented properly, software should certainly simplify a business, not complicate it. The idea behind software is to do just that, simplify processes. Especially repetitive processes such as data entry, report generation, purchase order creation, bookkeeping and more. When a business starts getting weighed down by their systems, whether they’re bypassing the system to export their data into a spreadsheet or database, they have to jump through too many hoops (screens) to get the data they need, or more likely, the systems don’t have all of the features or functions the business requires, that’s the time to re-evaluate business processes, systems and required functionality.

Recently I found myself trying to explain ERP software (Enterprise Resource Planning) to a client and why it might not be the right investment for her business at the moment. I’m not saying ERP software isn’t a good investment for many businesses, because it definitely is. What I was trying to convey to her is that it wasn’t necessarily right for her business at this point in time. She’s a small apparel manufacturer, with 5 million in sales last year, who needs to track sales orders, purchase orders, raw materials, finished goods and have some sort of integration to a general ledger. She and two other people in her office are handling everything manually right now, with the exception of her bookkeeping, which is on Quickbooks. Finding a solution for her will not be a problem. There are many affordable options for her to choose from which will allow her business to keep growing.

Software is an ever-changing commodity, or at least it should be. Much like the automobile industry, software is constantly being updated. New features are added all the time. New cars arrive every year and even your old favorite cars (Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Ford Explorer) are re-designed every few years. System updates, or patches to fix bugs or problems, are constantly being released. Once you buy or lease software, you should expect to stay current with your support contracts in order to receive new updates and system support. You don’t buy a car and never have it serviced, do you? The same can be said for your software. At some point your business may change or outgrow your existing systems and it’s time to buy something new. Remember those carefree days driving a two seat convertible? Now you’re driving along in a seven passenger SUV or minivan. Times change, so should your software, or it should have the ability to change with you (not as easily done with a car!)

As businesses grow, so do their requirements. As it grows, the owners and employees will need a more fully integrated suite of software solutions – Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Warehouse Management (WMS), possibly pattern making and grading software, maybe Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or ecommerce and point of sale retail management, forecasting and planning, and most definitely integrated accounting. The thing is, a growing business needs tools to help manage all of the existing pieces, and if done properly, allow the business to keep growing by integrating additional software or migrate to more robust solutions. Without the people-power to enter data, run reports, analyze information, etc. however, the systems create more work than can be handled by the business, leading to frustration and complications.

Different types of businesses may have different system requirements as well. Privately held businesses have different needs than publicly held businesses reporting to shareholders, board of directors and the ever-present Sarbanes-Oxley accounting and reporting requirements. Transparency and accountability are the cornerstones of any publicly held company and, as such, have much more stringent accounting requirements. ERP solutions are designed to meet Sarbanes-Oxley guidelines and truly do simplify business processes, at least from an accountant’s standpoint. Business owners may not like having such stringent reporting and accounting requirements, but the government demands it and these systems provide the tools to manage it.

The key to simplifying business software is to understand the business – customers, services, products, reporting and accounting needs, then finding the right solution to support it. There’s no one single solution that’s right for all businesses, which is why there are so many software companies out there. It’s the same with automobiles. There are so many different types of cars out there to meet so many different needs. Figuring out the right solutions for a business takes time. Understanding what the business looks like today and what it may look like three years from now is an important exercise when trying to plan out the system architecture and how it will support the needs of the business now and into the future.

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated. Email: jill@fashionbizinc.org

Recently, Fashion Business, Inc. conducted a seminar on selling goods to foreign markets. We were fortunate to have Julia Son from Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and Bobby Hines, International Trade Specialist, from U. S. Department of Customs as our guest speakers. It was a fascinating discussion, not easily summarized in a few paragraphs, but I’ll do my best.

As I’ve talked about in previous blogs, if you’re looking to expand your customer base, perhaps you should look outside the U. S. borders. The U. S. government has a number of programs in place to help your business sell to foreign markets if, and it’s a big IF, the products you’re looking to sell are made primarily in the U. S. I won’t try to explain the details of this – go to the Office of Textile and Apparel website for more information on what types of products qualify. All products will need a certificate of origin in order to be considered for export. For mixed origin materials or manufacturing, you’ll want to check with the Office of Textile and Apparel to see if your products will qualify. NAFTA or CAFTA goods have a different set of rules and regulations, so be sure to check with the Office of Textile and Apparel regarding these qualifications.

Enough of that, The U. S. government is very happy to encourage businesses to sell internationally. Exporting goods to foreign consumers helps strengthen our economy and who doesn’t want that? The Department of Commerce has offices in over 170 countries. Some of the many purposes of these offices are to help to identify markets for your company’s products, determine the best methods to handle financial transactions, orders, shipments and more. Plus, help you make connections in the countries your looking to develop your business contacts. Looking to find out the basics of exporting? Go to http://www.export.gov/ for essential information. Want to know more? Consider purchasing A Basic Guide to Exporting available at the U. S. Government bookstore.

When I talk about exporting with some of my clients, I usually hear about all of the barriers they’ve encountered trying to create an international business. Well, that may be true. Not all countries have the same type of trade relationship with the U. S. Some of those barriers may be with a specific country, or perhaps with the type of product a company is trying to export. Your best bet is to look for countries with Free Trade agreements with the U. S. Currently, we don’t have a Free Trade agreement with India, which makes trying to export products there very difficult. You’ll have a better chance trying to sell to Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Peru, Oman, or Singapore each of which has a Free Trade agreement with the U. S. Free trade isn’t limited to these countries – remember NAFTA or CAFTA? There are plenty of trade agreements with more than 150 countries, so do some homework to find countries and markets that are right for your products.

Looking to sell your product to China? Your first stop should be Hong Kong. Why? Prospects are bright, despite the global economic downturn. The U. S. government expects Hong Kong and China to bounce back faster than the rest of the world and Asian markets are hungry for U. S. products. Hong Kong is an easy entre to Mainland Chinese markets. It has a separate legal system, currency and customs system from that of Mainland China. And, did you know, English is the official language in Hong Kong? Hong Kong has an open financial banking system. There are no foreign exchange controls. It may be easier for you to get paid through a Hong Kong company rather than a Mainland Chinese company. If that’s not enough to entice you, Hong Kong is a free port with virtually no duties or tariffs; perfect for small to medium sized firms looking to do business in Hong Kong or Mainland China. Hong Kong is the perfect stepping stone into Mainland China and the rest of Asia. Want to find out more, go to Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) for information.

One more thing, the U. S. is one of the last countries in the world still using the Imperial measurement system. Almost every other country uses the Metric system. If you plan to sell products to foreign markets, make sure you sell them in the correct unit of measure for each country. A 32″ waistband won’t get you very far in many countries.

Some important websites to visit for anyone looking to export U. S. goods:

http://www.export.gov

http://www.buyusa.gov

Jill Mazur is an independent apparel business and technology consultant working with Fashion Business, Incorporated.  Email:  jill@fashionbizinc.org