Importing Goods From China? Learn How to Finance your Import/Export Company

It is no secret that many small importing companies have become big importing companies by capitalizing on the opportunity to buy goods from Chinese companies and re-sell them at great profit margins. With that accelerated growth comes a very big challenge. Sooner or later, you will get an order that exceeds your available financing.

Now what? Do you turn the order away? Do you send it to the competition?

Purchase order financing can help you deliver on this order and make the sale, while using none (or little) of your own money. It can help you make big sales and grow your company – sometimes exponentially.

To qualify for purchase order financing, you must meet the following criteria.

1. Your business must invoice between $50K and $600K per month
2. You must sell finished goods (e.g. be a re-seller or distributor)
3. You must sell your products to other businesses or to the government
4. Your profit margins must be at least 15% (higher is better of course)

If you meet these criteria, purchase order financing can help you deliver on those big orders and help you take your company to the next level. PO financing is simple to use and easy to qualify for.

A transaction works as follows. Once you have an order in place, the financing company opens a letter of credit naming your Chinese supplier as the beneficiary. The letter of credit (or LC) guarantees payment to the supplier, provided they deliver the products correctly. This enables you to complete the transaction.

Once the order is delivered to your end client, an invoice is generated. The transaction is settled once your end client pays the invoice, usually 45 days after receiving it.

As opposed to other types of financing, PO financing is easy to qualify for and to set up. The set up time is usually a couple of weeks. As you can see, this type of financing can help you grow your company by enabling you to take large orders that in the past you would have turned away.