THE PROBLEMS FACING KITCHEN TABLE, WOULD BE COTTAGE LEVEL BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURS, IN BELIZE.

THE PROBLEMS FACING KITCHEN TABLE, WOULD BE COTTAGE LEVEL BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURS, IN BELIZE

I have a distributor for both hammocks and chocolates in the USA, dunning me for product. Since I have been unable to get the nylon I want to start local, hand woven hammocks, I´ve decided to go across to Guatemala and see if I can arrange to pick up some acrylic string type hammocks. They make them too small over there, for Mayan Indians, rather than what I need for gringos, that are 6 ft 6 inches in height and weigh around 220 lbs. So eventually I need to get them made to custom order.

The questions I am facing, are; if I go and bring ready made hammocks across to Belize for packaging and re-exporting, do I have to pay duties and fees at the border on them? This question worries me, and already I´m struggling within the constraints of freight costs, packing and handling. The margin is getting narrower and narrower. The same thing, if I import cardamom spice, for chocolate making, do I have to pay duty on the spice, as the stuff is going into chocolates for export. Also the packaging has to be imported. Have to make a trip to Guatemala City to see if I can get the packaging material there, as there is none available in Belize.

Since this is just a kitchen table entrepreneurial idea and start up business, it is impractical to get into bureaucratic paper work and expenses. The travel hours lost and costs would make it impractical. Got to make a decision soon. The alternative is to buy a house lot and build a house in Guatemala and export from there and give them the jobs. Not what I had in mind when I started out with these ideas. I was thinking of job creation for Belizeans. Think I will go across to Melchor this weekend and get at least ONE FREE SAMPLE acrylic colored made hammock to mail out. How do you freight 100 hammocks to the USA or CANADA?