Starting an export business

From zero to your first sale abroad: the free helpers, the money, the paperwork, and six worked game plans (food, energy, medical, aerospace, machinery).

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🧭 START HERE — from zero to your first sale abroad (the universal path)You don’t need to be rich, know a senator, or have an MBA. America has free helpers whose whole job is getting ordinary people started. This is the path…
💻 Game plan 1: Software & services — a two-person studio selling to Europe & Australia🎯 The concrete business: a web-development / design / marketing studio (you, maybe one partner) selling to small businesses and agencies in the UK, Germany…
🌾 Game plan 2: Food & farm — a specialty-sauce brand exporting to the UK & Gulf🎯 The concrete business: your own BBQ/hot-sauce or snack brand, made at a co-packer (no factory!), sold by the pallet to importers in the UK, UAE and Saudi…
⚡ Game plan 3: Energy — refurbished generators & solar kits to West Africa🎯 The concrete business: buying used/surplus 20–100 kVA diesel generators and new solar kits in the U.S., refurbishing the gensets with a local mechanic, and…
💊 Game plan 4: Medical supplies — Class I trading to Gulf & African clinics🎯 The concrete business: an export trading company for low-risk (Class I) American medical supplies — exam gloves, instruments, gauze, exam furniture — sold…
✈️ Game plan 5: Aerospace — surplus parts brokerage for A320/737 operators abroad🎯 The concrete business: a parts brokerage for the world’s two commonest jets (Airbus A320 family, Boeing 737NG) — consumables and rotables with FAA 8130-3…
🛠 Game plan 6: Machinery — used CNC & woodworking machines to Latin America🎯 The concrete business: buying used 3-axis CNC mills, lathes and industrial woodworking machines at U.S. auctions, and selling them to job shops and…
🛒 Game plan 7: E-commerce — an American outdoor-gear brand sold worldwide from your garage🎯 The concrete business: a private-label outdoor/camping accessory brand (straps, tools, camp kitchen gear — pick one hero product) launched on Amazon US…
💰 How the money works — the financial model of a startup, in plain wordsEvery business, from a lemonade stand to Boeing, runs on the same five numbers. Learn these and you can read any business — including yours. The five numbers…
🧰 Financial tools & software — what to use, where to find it, what it costsYou need less than you think — but you need it from day one. The golden rule first: separate bank account for the business, always. Mixing money ruins your…
📣 Marketing campaigns that fit a tiny budget — ideas that actually workMarketing isn’t ads. It’s making the right people aware you exist, repeatedly, until trust forms. Pick TWO of these and do them consistently — two done…
⚠️ The hard truth: most startups don’t make it — how to be the exceptionRead this chapter twice. Roughly 1 in 5 new businesses closes within a year; about half are gone within five years (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — it’s…
❤️ The emotional side — and the money side nobody posts aboutThe money truths ① You can lose money. Not “might underperform” — actually lose your savings if you ignore the loss limit. Respect that the way you’d respect…
☎️ The complete helper directory — who to call, for what, in one placePrint this. Every one of these exists to help you and most are free. SCORE (score.org) — free business mentors, any topic. SBDC (americassbdc.org) — free…