By Uche Usim
RUNNING a freight brokerage can be financially rewarding. Indeed, there’s much money to be made as a clearing and forwarding agent. The interesting part is that this business can be done anywhere, in any country. As long as international trade exists and your country is a partaker, you are in business.
So whether you are in China, Nigeria, Ghana, Brazil, Canada, U.K, India; you can do this business and earn lucrative income based on commissions for every successful deal and transaction. If you are still interested in learning how to start a freight forwarding business, then keep reading.
Step 1: Make the decision
No one wakes up and jumps into an industry without due diligence and some personal assessment. The freight brokerage industry is a tough one, so you need to really decide if this business is for you.
2: Can you handle deadlines and pressure from clients? Are you prepared to bargain hard with clients, companies, trucking or haulage companies and custom agents alike? Are you prepared to learn what it takes to be in the freight forwarding business? These are a few questions you must answer.
3: Gain the necessary experience
Knowledge and skills in both logistics and business management are essential when considering starting a freight brokerage business because there are a lot of protocols to be observed before a transaction can be completed. You have to deal with clients, custom agents, shipping companies, competition, etc.
Moreover, you also need to expose yourself to learn how the freight brokerage business works. You can do so by researching or gaining experience from a reputable company first. This way, you get to learn the ropes as well as the ins and outs in the industry, which will absolutely come in handy when setting up your own company.
4: Identify a niche
Another important step to starting a freight brokerage business is determining the specific niche you want to cater for. This determines your area of expertise. There are many niches in the freight forwarding business and I bet that you can’t serve them all.
You may want to focus on the agricultural industry or cater to the chemical industry. You may want to target immediate or accessible areas or some other locations. I even know some clearing and forwarding agents that just focus on clearing cars from the ports, you can do the same.
To be continued
Source: Mytopbusinessideas