Feasibility of coming to Cairo and set up an online business?

I guess you will face some problems on delivering the goods from Egypt to other country, unless you send by container, but you can try it.

you are welcome at Egypt and good luck

Wild wrote:

I guess you will face some problems on delivering the goods from Egypt to other country, unless you send by container, but you can try it.

I'm not thinking of quantity exports at first but individual sales on a retail basis. So I would have assumed that there would be a post office for simple individual packages to be mailed abroad. Thank you for you advice

amarakl wrote:

you are welcome at Egypt and good luck

Shukran Akhi

If you find a good post office to sent abroad without the staff oppening the boxes and sometime taking from it, let me know it. Of course except DHL.

Wild wrote:

If you find a good post office to sent abroad without the staff oppening the boxes and sometime taking from it, let me know it. Of course except DHL.

Of course DHL.  I have used in Oman before. They are quite efficient. Thank you for the information

Hi Sharky,

I think for this to be viable you'd have to find a unique angle. A unique proposition that would entice people to want to buy online. What types of Egyptian goods did you have in mind? A lot of things sold here are tied to a specific sense of place - EGypt and people's experience of the country. Souvenirs are tied to lived experiences so it might be difficult to sell such thing online. Those are just my thoughts. So, you'd have to get a clearer idea of what type of products to feature, your target demographic, and how to market it to them...then logistics of finding suppliers, how orders are placed, shipping etc. Anyways, good luck!

If you are going to run it as a legitimate business here in Egypt then you have to have an Egyptian partner by law - or the law as it stands now.  Who knows in 6 months time!  Good luck.

what I know is that this is not a law anymore for some time now! Maybe you can find more info on the website ofAmerican chamber of commerce or American embassy, even if you are not an American.

Hi Sharkykt

Online Business has its own business propositions and nuances of execution. All the people who have responded to your idea have touched upon them. For you to set up the business you have to plan on the following
The value proposition you have to work on is that the customers get genuine products at a cost lesser than the importers who would import products from egypt & sell them in the local countries and in a shortest possible time. Being an operator in Egypt surely will take care of the aspect of genuine products being sold (you have to live up to that expectation though..)

1) Target Market: Since this is on online business you will have to cater to as many countries as possible. You sure can begin with a few countries and then expand your reach over a period of time. Online business provides you the advantage of expanding your reach and you should make best use of it. You should also explore the leagal provisions of doing business with people in the countries you want to serve and also the country you want to execute the business from.
2) Products: You surely have to know about the type of products you would put up for sale. Not all products can be sold, because of fragility, restrictions in exports from egypt and imports in the destination countries. You have to have an extensive online portal for display of products and you have to keep catering to the seasons across the world to cache in on the market. For ex- christmas, new year, festivals in different countries, marriage season....you have a plethora of such occassions to cater to across the countries. Products you display should follow the tastes of the consumers. Therefore you should understand a bit of the consumer mentality which should not be difficult for you to do.
3) Suppliers: YOu have to establish a good supplier base who can keep supplying to you the products you would require on a continuous basis and at the price you want.
3) Logistics: I would think that it is the courier companies that can provide you with the best of the service. Once you attain a good volume, you can probably negotiate good rates with them. I am not sure how good is Egy Post for international movement and I think finally they tie up with one or the other courier companies to move their products too. So it is better that you deliver the goods either through DHL / FedEx / Aramex / UPS...
4) Order Management & Payment: This proably is the most important thing that you have to set yourself for. Booking of orders by customers, receiving of orders at your end, consolidating these orders, packing of these orders in the way it is wanted by the customer, despatching them, providing information to your customers on the despatches, order tracking mechanism and handling customer queries / complaints are aspects you have to take care of. Payment is another aspect that you have to provide necessary and effective mechanisms for the customer to pay and for you to receive them. Simply because there are multiple mode of payments that you have to give your clients to work on. Credit card, debit card, paypal etc. You also have to work out how the money will reach you. What currency payments will you accept? What are the rules and regulations for foreign currency transactions in the home country and how will you accomodate them vis/vis your clients.
5)Handing of warranty / damages / returns / claims / reverse payments / insurance: These are necessary and very important aspects of business you must work on. Anything can happen and if you do not provide for these then there will be a big question mark on the sustainability of business.
6)  Use of technology will be a very important factor. This will require investment and majority of the investment will be taken up by the Information System Infrastructure that you have to provide for the business.

Good Luck to you on your venture....

Sorry, but for me all these sound like a SCAMMING!
A man that worked in Army, and has a payment now of 567 GBP, and wants an online business, trying to see if someone is interesed to get into his business....

valibilic wrote:

Sorry, but for me all these sound like a SCAMMING!
A man that worked in Army, and has a payment now of 567 GBP, and wants an online business, trying to see if someone is interesed to get into his business....

No no please. I am honest and genuine! When I worked in Oman I set up online through my website Adventerarabia.com sadly it went bad when in Uk. I imported from Pakistan, india and Oman and role retail. I headed it as unique gifts from the Middle East and Asia. So I have some experience and learned some lessons. I'm only asking for advice. I've visited Egypt yet but will come over this year to research suppliers etc. But just on tourist visa. I used to sell frankinsence and myrrh, brass gifts like marine antique reproduction items, chess sets, silver ware and khunjars etc.. Items from Egypt perhaps the hand painted papyrus pieces, copper decorated and painted plates showing the history, scarabs etc... By visiting first I can look for there producers. I am working in Uk now but am getting to point that this rat race isn't for me. I'm only after advice from expats' experiences

Stumble_On wrote:

Hi Sharky,

I think for this to be viable you'd have to find a unique angle. A unique proposition that would entice people to want to buy online. What types of Egyptian goods did you have in mind? A lot of things sold here are tied to a specific sense of place - EGypt and people's experience of the country. Souvenirs are tied to lived experiences so it might be difficult to sell such thing online. Those are just my thoughts. So, you'd have to get a clearer idea of what type of products to feature, your target demographic, and how to market it to them...then logistics of finding suppliers, how orders are placed, shipping etc. Anyways, good luck!

Thank you. My angle is that of gifts depicting the Egyptian history.

twinarun wrote:

Hi Sharkykt

Online Business has its own business propositions and nuances of execution. All the people who have responded to your idea have touched upon them. For you to set up the business you have to plan on the following
The value proposition you have to work on is that the customers get genuine products at a cost lesser than the importers who would import products from egypt & sell them in the local countries and in a shortest possible time. Being an operator in Egypt surely will take care of the aspect of genuine products being sold (you have to live up to that expectation though..)

1) Target Market: Since this is on online business you will have to cater to as many countries as possible. You sure can begin with a few countries and then expand your reach over a period of time. Online business provides you the advantage of expanding your reach and you should make best use of it. You should also explore the leagal provisions of doing business with people in the countries you want to serve and also the country you want to execute the business from.
2) Products: You surely have to know about the type of products you would put up for sale. Not all products can be sold, because of fragility, restrictions in exports from egypt and imports in the destination countries. You have to have an extensive online portal for display of products and you have to keep catering to the seasons across the world to cache in on the market. For ex- christmas, new year, festivals in different countries, marriage season....you have a plethora of such occassions to cater to across the countries. Products you display should follow the tastes of the consumers. Therefore you should understand a bit of the consumer mentality which should not be difficult for you to do.
3) Suppliers: YOu have to establish a good supplier base who can keep supplying to you the products you would require on a continuous basis and at the price you want.
3) Logistics: I would think that it is the courier companies that can provide you with the best of the service. Once you attain a good volume, you can probably negotiate good rates with them. I am not sure how good is Egy Post for international movement and I think finally they tie up with one or the other courier companies to move their products too. So it is better that you deliver the goods either through DHL / FedEx / Aramex / UPS...
4) Order Management & Payment: This proably is the most important thing that you have to set yourself for. Booking of orders by customers, receiving of orders at your end, consolidating these orders, packing of these orders in the way it is wanted by the customer, despatching them, providing information to your customers on the despatches, order tracking mechanism and handling customer queries / complaints are aspects you have to take care of. Payment is another aspect that you have to provide necessary and effective mechanisms for the customer to pay and for you to receive them. Simply because there are multiple mode of payments that you have to give your clients to work on. Credit card, debit card, paypal etc. You also have to work out how the money will reach you. What currency payments will you accept? What are the rules and regulations for foreign currency transactions in the home country and how will you accomodate them vis/vis your clients.
5)Handing of warranty / damages / returns / claims / reverse payments / insurance: These are necessary and very important aspects of business you must work on. Anything can happen and if you do not provide for these then there will be a big question mark on the sustainability of business.
6)  Use of technology will be a very important factor. This will require investment and majority of the investment will be taken up by the Information System Infrastructure that you have to provide for the business.

Good Luck to you on your venture....

Thank you for your detailed response. I have quite some experience before on selling gifts online and I think products depicting Egyptian history is where I want to look at. Thanks