What actually happens, week by week
Clients tell us the most valuable thing we provide early on is a calendar. Here is the shape of a typical full engagement.
Week 0 — Discovery call (free)
Thirty minutes by phone or video. We ask what you make, your annual volume, whether you have shipped internationally before, and what triggered the interest. You receive a short written summary and, if relevant, a proposed scope within two business days.
Week 1 — Scope letter and kick-off
A signed scope letter fixes deliverables, fee, timeline and who does what. Kick-off is a ninety-minute working session where we collect product specifications, cost data, existing labels and any prior correspondence with buyers.
Weeks 2–3 — Assessment and research
We classify products, model landed cost, review labelling and build the market shortlist. You get a mid-point check-in so nothing lands as a surprise in the final report.
Week 4 — Written report and decision meeting
The report is presented in a working meeting, not emailed and abandoned. We agree which market goes first and what has to be fixed before a shipment can move.
Weeks 5–10 — Execution support
Document set built, freight tendered, partners screened, insurance reviewed. We attend calls with your forwarder, broker and buyer as needed and keep a single shared action tracker.
Weeks 10–12 — First shipment
We are on call through booking, loading, filing and clearance. Any exception — a hold, a document query, a rolled booking — is handled with you in real time.
Week 13 — Handover and training
Runbook, templates, contact list and a recorded training session. We schedule a no-charge review call ninety days later to see how order two went.
How we charge
Flat fees against a written scope. We do not bill hourly for advisory work, because clients then avoid calling us — which is precisely when mistakes happen.
- Fixed-scope projects — 50% on signature, 50% on delivery of the final deliverable.
- Retained advisory — a monthly fee for ongoing questions, document checks and quarterly reviews, cancellable with thirty days' notice.
- Workshops — per-session fee, materials and recording included.
- Third-party costs — broker fees, certificate fees, translation and travel are passed through at cost with receipts.
Invoices are issued by email with net-15 terms. We accept ACH transfer and business check.
What we ask of clients
- One named decision-maker with authority to approve the scope.
- Accurate cost data. Landed-cost models are only as good as the numbers going in.
- Access to your existing labels, specifications and any prior buyer correspondence.
- Reasonable turnaround on document reviews — a shipment schedule does not wait.
- Honesty about capacity. Winning an order you cannot fulfil is worse than not winning it.