Pictures only fo today
суббота, 30 июня 2012 г.
четверг, 28 июня 2012 г.
Russian "shit happens" day coming soon
So it seems, that July the 1st will bring a lot of surprises...
Rospotrebnadzor will bring into being its new requirements - a million page long "Technical requirements" for every type of products. They will also make everyone acquire "Declarations of conformity" to the new requirements. That shit is gonna cost... In cosmetics, it is surprisingly close to the European technical requirements of 1976, but it has a separate tests for any cosmetics, marked as Nano.
Customs will begin integrationg with the WTO....Oh, that is going to be about tons of papers.
Every government institution is preparing a set of something nice and refreshing.
The results to expect: Higher costs, a period of nightmare, when nobody knows what to do, a lot more paper work.
Na zdorovje!
Rospotrebnadzor will bring into being its new requirements - a million page long "Technical requirements" for every type of products. They will also make everyone acquire "Declarations of conformity" to the new requirements. That shit is gonna cost... In cosmetics, it is surprisingly close to the European technical requirements of 1976, but it has a separate tests for any cosmetics, marked as Nano.
Customs will begin integrationg with the WTO....Oh, that is going to be about tons of papers.
Every government institution is preparing a set of something nice and refreshing.
The results to expect: Higher costs, a period of nightmare, when nobody knows what to do, a lot more paper work.
Na zdorovje!
How to find business partners in Russia
Well, here I am writing this thing. Funny, because I am actually a Russian, looking for foreign business partners. so yes, pick me! Pick me! Ok, right, first you have to think...
I have gained most of my experience in the b2b products sector, so I will be looking into the key issues of the sphere.
The main boundaries, Russian partners might help to pass are the following: certification, customs clearance issues, various internal regulations, regional markets.
Unfortunately, Russia is a very dynamic bureocratic state. So, if you are looking for effective partners, you need to make sure, the people you are going to work with have recent (not older than 6 months) expertise in the field. Remember, Russia is permanently on an italian strike. You may master the laws and regulations, but unless you work with the internal order of government institutions, all this knowlege will do little. The situation regarding the certification of some items is a good example. You can only acquire certificates for some products in Moscow, even though, the regulation allows them to be certified country-wide. This seems to be an inside-institution agreement, but the inner workings might be as complicated as one's imagination allows.
Strictly speaking, you should check the reputation of your partners. Russian courts find it hard to cope with trademark ownership issues of lesser brands, so "mimic private labelling" is not a too rare occasion. So, there is a chance that a strong and well-connected company might jst stop buying the goods one day, while increasing sales on and on. As anywhere in the world, it is very important to estimate the opportunities and capabilities.
Just remember: Russia is a country of wonders.
I have gained most of my experience in the b2b products sector, so I will be looking into the key issues of the sphere.
The main boundaries, Russian partners might help to pass are the following: certification, customs clearance issues, various internal regulations, regional markets.
Unfortunately, Russia is a very dynamic bureocratic state. So, if you are looking for effective partners, you need to make sure, the people you are going to work with have recent (not older than 6 months) expertise in the field. Remember, Russia is permanently on an italian strike. You may master the laws and regulations, but unless you work with the internal order of government institutions, all this knowlege will do little. The situation regarding the certification of some items is a good example. You can only acquire certificates for some products in Moscow, even though, the regulation allows them to be certified country-wide. This seems to be an inside-institution agreement, but the inner workings might be as complicated as one's imagination allows.
Strictly speaking, you should check the reputation of your partners. Russian courts find it hard to cope with trademark ownership issues of lesser brands, so "mimic private labelling" is not a too rare occasion. So, there is a chance that a strong and well-connected company might jst stop buying the goods one day, while increasing sales on and on. As anywhere in the world, it is very important to estimate the opportunities and capabilities.
Just remember: Russia is a country of wonders.
How to import to Russia?
Modern Russia is a bureocratic country, that's for sure. Here is a short summary of the actions, necessary for conducting import and export customs operations.
All the goods, imported to Russia are subject to customs clearance. The procedure normally takes place before the goods can be picked up, which creates some security concerns for the importers. Exceptions are made for imports and especially exports, transferred by pipeline.
In order for everything to work fine, the system should work in the way, described below. I will describe it based on air freight imports. Procedures for marine \ land freights are almost the same, though vary in some details.
For goods, delivered for distribution inside the country, the following issues are to be arranged for the recieving company:
- Signed contract with the supplier with all the latest changes and additional agreements.
- Distribution agreement with the supplier (supports the right to sell inside the country)
- Bank's approved Contract Passport
- All the necessary certificates (only issued in Russia\ the Customs union countries).
- Company registration papers, Company codex, Taxation information etc.
All these documents must be presented for every customs clearance procedure. Copies, approved by the company's stamp.
For every batch of products, there must always be:
- An invoice
- An airwaybill
- Packing list (never required, but appreciated)
All these documents MUST BE travelling with the plane's crew, so that they can be given to the customs officials by the captain. Attention! Transport documents, clipped to the pallet are normally ignored, and the cargo is assigned the "Missing invoice" status. This prolonges the customs clearance by at least one week, with an inevitable complete search of the entire cargo and possible customs price correction.
To complete customs clearance, the recieving company must present a customs declaration in a special format, accompanied by copies of all the above mentioned documents.
Documents, created specifically for customs clearance:
- Invoice translation
- Documents, supporting the price, which is declared. These include price lists and copies of the export declaration of the Seller.
- The declaration itself, prepared using customized software, developed solely for the purpose of creating customs declarations for the Russian Customs.
It is strongly recommended to use the services of a brokerage firm, still there are several surprises:
- Brokerage firms almost never work officially with assorted cargos. You will be offered to declare the goods yourself. This is standard practice. The thing is, fines for brokerage firms are exceedingly high. Thus, they might be obliged to pay a 45000 euro fine for an extra pair of gloves in a 2-ton batch of clothing.
All the goods, imported to Russia are subject to customs clearance. The procedure normally takes place before the goods can be picked up, which creates some security concerns for the importers. Exceptions are made for imports and especially exports, transferred by pipeline.
In order for everything to work fine, the system should work in the way, described below. I will describe it based on air freight imports. Procedures for marine \ land freights are almost the same, though vary in some details.
For goods, delivered for distribution inside the country, the following issues are to be arranged for the recieving company:
- Signed contract with the supplier with all the latest changes and additional agreements.
- Distribution agreement with the supplier (supports the right to sell inside the country)
- Bank's approved Contract Passport
- All the necessary certificates (only issued in Russia\ the Customs union countries).
- Company registration papers, Company codex, Taxation information etc.
All these documents must be presented for every customs clearance procedure. Copies, approved by the company's stamp.
For every batch of products, there must always be:
- An invoice
- An airwaybill
- Packing list (never required, but appreciated)
All these documents MUST BE travelling with the plane's crew, so that they can be given to the customs officials by the captain. Attention! Transport documents, clipped to the pallet are normally ignored, and the cargo is assigned the "Missing invoice" status. This prolonges the customs clearance by at least one week, with an inevitable complete search of the entire cargo and possible customs price correction.
To complete customs clearance, the recieving company must present a customs declaration in a special format, accompanied by copies of all the above mentioned documents.
Documents, created specifically for customs clearance:
- Invoice translation
- Documents, supporting the price, which is declared. These include price lists and copies of the export declaration of the Seller.
- The declaration itself, prepared using customized software, developed solely for the purpose of creating customs declarations for the Russian Customs.
It is strongly recommended to use the services of a brokerage firm, still there are several surprises:
- Brokerage firms almost never work officially with assorted cargos. You will be offered to declare the goods yourself. This is standard practice. The thing is, fines for brokerage firms are exceedingly high. Thus, they might be obliged to pay a 45000 euro fine for an extra pair of gloves in a 2-ton batch of clothing.
среда, 27 июня 2012 г.
Being married is great
One of the best motivators for writing a business plan is your wife in a soon-I-will-be-holding-a-frying-pan-instead-of-your-tea mode. Love you, darling, thank you!
After all, I've got my supplier. I've got the idea on how this works. Well, now I've got to do this.
Err, wish someone gave me money
After all, I've got my supplier. I've got the idea on how this works. Well, now I've got to do this.
Err, wish someone gave me money
Russian vodka brands - anyone interested?
Just wanted to ask, if anyone would like some info on the famous russian vodka brands. =)
Cheers!
Cheers!
Russian business perspective - what's up?
In the 1990's when the world was younger, grass was greener and vodka was sweeter, Russia used to be free market economy with few rules, except for those of the outdated criminal code. Today in 2012 Russia is a country, ruled by Regulations with a big capital "R". Technically, binding businesses into a bureocratic came as a result of government policy of "vertical construction". The results are: Doing anything in Russia requires a paper for it and papers have a life of their own. My favorite example is the situation with the cosmetics market over the past 6 years or so.
One paper is never enough. So it seems, as you always had to have at least 2 documents for every cosmetic product. Before 2010, these were the "Sanitary Expert conclusion", issued by Rospotrebnadzor and the "Declaration of conformity", issued by a multitude of different government testing facilities. The funny thing is, test for both papers were almost identical. They checked the PH value, looked for bacteria, heavy metals and radiation. The paer logic (for imports or inside sales) was the following: "The first paper confirms the safety of the products, the other proves that it corresponds to the Russian standards - GOST's.
In 2008, a new form of "Sanitary conclusion" was introduced. The paper got the name of "State Registration Document". Technically, it was the same, but was supposed to last "for the duration of the product's existence". The old sanitary documents could only be valid for 2 years, while the declaratrions of conformity were only valid for 1 year. The routine was complicated and mildly expensive.
In 2010, Russia formed a Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan. To celebrate the event, all the old papers were abolished, the previously "eternal" state registrations were assigned an expiration date of January the 1st 2012.
Customs Union for more efficient bureocracy and transparency? Well, 2 sets of papers again. New "State Registrations" - now lasting eternaly. The cost to acquire went up 5-15 times, depending on the product. Well, we still have to prove conformity with the standards, don't we? A set of "Declarations of conformity". valid for 1 year was introduced. In late 2011 it was replace with the "Certificate of conformity" valid for 2 years, which was banned in February 2012 to be replaced with "Declarations of conformity" (yes, again), valid for 1 year.
These regulations are reinforced concrete. It is illegal to import any cosmetics without these sets of documents. Of course, any American, European or international certificate, like GMP, ISO, organic labels etc. is not valid in Russia. Currently, a package of documents for importing cosmetics to Russia is 50-70 sheets for a batch of 100 positions.
Other fields see the same development of bureocracy. Construction companies deal with ROSTEHNADZOR. A standard document package for a commercial building is around 350-400 sheets.
The key difference is that Russian regulations are almost never inspired by public organizations. It is strange for a Russian to hear that acertificate is issued by an association. The Russian overlooking institutions prefer the word "Nadzor", which means "Overlooking enforcement".
Stay tuned. I appreciate comments. =)
One paper is never enough. So it seems, as you always had to have at least 2 documents for every cosmetic product. Before 2010, these were the "Sanitary Expert conclusion", issued by Rospotrebnadzor and the "Declaration of conformity", issued by a multitude of different government testing facilities. The funny thing is, test for both papers were almost identical. They checked the PH value, looked for bacteria, heavy metals and radiation. The paer logic (for imports or inside sales) was the following: "The first paper confirms the safety of the products, the other proves that it corresponds to the Russian standards - GOST's.
In 2008, a new form of "Sanitary conclusion" was introduced. The paper got the name of "State Registration Document". Technically, it was the same, but was supposed to last "for the duration of the product's existence". The old sanitary documents could only be valid for 2 years, while the declaratrions of conformity were only valid for 1 year. The routine was complicated and mildly expensive.
In 2010, Russia formed a Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan. To celebrate the event, all the old papers were abolished, the previously "eternal" state registrations were assigned an expiration date of January the 1st 2012.
Customs Union for more efficient bureocracy and transparency? Well, 2 sets of papers again. New "State Registrations" - now lasting eternaly. The cost to acquire went up 5-15 times, depending on the product. Well, we still have to prove conformity with the standards, don't we? A set of "Declarations of conformity". valid for 1 year was introduced. In late 2011 it was replace with the "Certificate of conformity" valid for 2 years, which was banned in February 2012 to be replaced with "Declarations of conformity" (yes, again), valid for 1 year.
These regulations are reinforced concrete. It is illegal to import any cosmetics without these sets of documents. Of course, any American, European or international certificate, like GMP, ISO, organic labels etc. is not valid in Russia. Currently, a package of documents for importing cosmetics to Russia is 50-70 sheets for a batch of 100 positions.
Other fields see the same development of bureocracy. Construction companies deal with ROSTEHNADZOR. A standard document package for a commercial building is around 350-400 sheets.
The key difference is that Russian regulations are almost never inspired by public organizations. It is strange for a Russian to hear that acertificate is issued by an association. The Russian overlooking institutions prefer the word "Nadzor", which means "Overlooking enforcement".
Stay tuned. I appreciate comments. =)
суббота, 23 июня 2012 г.
Future updates + some self-loathing
Earlier, I wrote about making myself do things. So I can have my own business in Russia. I need advice, bloody hell, lots of advice.
The problem is I am a lazy, self-dismotivated bastard. My wife wants me to quit my mother's business, but she wants me to do it for 14-year-old girl reasons, thouugh we are both 24.
Right. So, I havre these massage tools coming to the country and I expect the certificates soon afterwards. Now, my current problems are:
- I am the director general in a firm with little turnover from selling professional cosmetics, which I decided to make an online-selling range, rather than a saloon based one.
- I have to make my own money. No, I do get paid now, but as I said, my wife keeps telling me, she'd prefer 500 bucks a month with my mother at cannon shot distance.
- I don't have people to work with, as well as means to pay them. What this "company of mine" is now making just a bit more than my current salary.
- I only expect demand for the massage tools I am going to import.
- There is a chance, that if I follow my wife's demand and burn all the bridges, I'll find myself not making a living and choosing between selling the car to try to float for a couple more months or getting a job with a salary of $800 a month or even less.
- This mess also jeopardises my educational plans, as I am to start my Masters in global marketing online in August.
Well, what I want to share in the future:
- Problems of cosmetics market around the world
- How to turn creative management into a global crisis
- Democratic vs totalitarian market regulation system. Which is worse.
Stay tuned!
The problem is I am a lazy, self-dismotivated bastard. My wife wants me to quit my mother's business, but she wants me to do it for 14-year-old girl reasons, thouugh we are both 24.
Right. So, I havre these massage tools coming to the country and I expect the certificates soon afterwards. Now, my current problems are:
- I am the director general in a firm with little turnover from selling professional cosmetics, which I decided to make an online-selling range, rather than a saloon based one.
- I have to make my own money. No, I do get paid now, but as I said, my wife keeps telling me, she'd prefer 500 bucks a month with my mother at cannon shot distance.
- I don't have people to work with, as well as means to pay them. What this "company of mine" is now making just a bit more than my current salary.
- I only expect demand for the massage tools I am going to import.
- There is a chance, that if I follow my wife's demand and burn all the bridges, I'll find myself not making a living and choosing between selling the car to try to float for a couple more months or getting a job with a salary of $800 a month or even less.
- This mess also jeopardises my educational plans, as I am to start my Masters in global marketing online in August.
Well, what I want to share in the future:
- Problems of cosmetics market around the world
- How to turn creative management into a global crisis
- Democratic vs totalitarian market regulation system. Which is worse.
Stay tuned!
среда, 13 июня 2012 г.
Kickstart: SMM, marketing or sales?
It turns out, I will most likely start with next to no starting captal and with next to no experience in venture capitalism. Shortly, sorry, bro, no money.
Well, here are some pre-business plan ideas. So I have found this supplier, who sells this simple equipment. I happen to know people, who will be looking forward to buy that from me quite quickly. So, clearly, the first steps will be about personal sales. Like, I get a batch, sell most of it, reinvest the funds, sell again.
The key elements for goods for this period:
- Not perishable. An item can be sold after a year in storage with no loss in value
- Light & compact. Cheaper transport fees, less storage space required
- Simple. No service support, no 50-page user manuals. The client knows what to do with the stuff
So, it crystalizes into:
- B2B
- Homogenious assortment
- Maximizing speed rather than quantity
Well, here are some pre-business plan ideas. So I have found this supplier, who sells this simple equipment. I happen to know people, who will be looking forward to buy that from me quite quickly. So, clearly, the first steps will be about personal sales. Like, I get a batch, sell most of it, reinvest the funds, sell again.
The key elements for goods for this period:
- Not perishable. An item can be sold after a year in storage with no loss in value
- Light & compact. Cheaper transport fees, less storage space required
- Simple. No service support, no 50-page user manuals. The client knows what to do with the stuff
So, it crystalizes into:
- B2B
- Homogenious assortment
- Maximizing speed rather than quantity
Kick number 1
One of my first steps is to create a business plan for myself. This should include:
- A strategy of achieving my business goal
- Sheldued plan
- Opportunities and motivations for me & my future associates
- A strategy of achieving my business goal
- Sheldued plan
- Opportunities and motivations for me & my future associates
Kick me!
Well, my life has been difficult over the past months. Now, I will have to switch from theory to practice. I also intend to use this blog as a "kick log" for myself.
So the situation is: I work for my mother's business and both me and my wife hate it. I tried to find a job, but with my current age and qualification, the situation looks quite hopeless. My top expectations were around $1000 a month, which is actualy higher than grads normally get.
Still, I want to go on my own, that is start and run my own business. So, here we go!
My options so far:
- Import and distribution of beauty industry supplies to Russia
- Cosmetics from the EU
- Massage rollers and stuff from China or the EU
My goals:
- Achieve a sizeable income by September
- Get free from my mom's grasp
- Use the money to: Fund my Master's and to purchase real estate in the EU\US\New Zealand by 2015.
I welcome any critical responses!
So the situation is: I work for my mother's business and both me and my wife hate it. I tried to find a job, but with my current age and qualification, the situation looks quite hopeless. My top expectations were around $1000 a month, which is actualy higher than grads normally get.
Still, I want to go on my own, that is start and run my own business. So, here we go!
My options so far:
- Import and distribution of beauty industry supplies to Russia
- Cosmetics from the EU
- Massage rollers and stuff from China or the EU
My goals:
- Achieve a sizeable income by September
- Get free from my mom's grasp
- Use the money to: Fund my Master's and to purchase real estate in the EU\US\New Zealand by 2015.
I welcome any critical responses!
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