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What products are not economical to import from China?

2 points by amohajerani ↗ HN
I am brainstorming on ideas for starting a business, where I'd build and sell in the US. It'd be easier if I don't have to compete with Chinese goods. What product categories are not economical to import from China, either because of their size, shelf life, custom-built requirements, etc.?

My background is in hardware, manufacturing, and electromechanical devices.

6 comments

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themerone
Good luck. I think the safest industries are probably the hardest to crack into (medical, aerospace, utilities.)
smt88
> I am brainstorming on ideas for starting a business, where I'd build and sell in the US.

You're starting on the wrong end. Don't brainstorm products.

I have been around entrepreneurs for 20 years, including more than 10 years of advising them, and this is never how successful businesses start. It is how a lot of failed businesses start, though.

You should start with a single question: what do I have an unusual (or unfair) advantage doing?

This could include:

- knowing a lot of potential customers (for a B2B business)

- having skills that you could charge your company $0/hr for (like digital marketing or software development)

- lots of your own capital

- deep understanding of an underserved target market, ideally from being in that market yourself

If you don't have one (or ideally more) of these things, don't start a business. It's not a good idea for most people anyway.

Once you can identify who you can sell to more easily than most people, then you can decide what to sell them. And you still might not find anything.

"Things that don't compete with China" is a small and unbelievably capital-intensive space, and it's exclusive to things like military and trade secrets. You can't just jump into one of these.

amohajerani
Thanks for feedback. This is very helpful.
thorin
Sofas. Hence there are many sofa factories right near me in the middle of the UK.

Quite a few pieces of technical climbing or whitewater activity gear.

smt88
> Sofas. Hence there are many sofa factories right near me in the middle of the UK.

In the US at least, sofas are often assembled in the US out of parts imported from China and Southeast Asia.

> Quite a few pieces of technical climbing or whitewater activity gear.

Also in the US, the biggest brands are all either 100% made in China or they parts are made in China and then assembled here[1]. Certainly many of the important metal parts are made in China.

1. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-gear/gear-news/black-d...