What is the Best Way to Organize an Import and Sales Business of Malaysian Manufactured Slippers in Hungary?

Abstract

The aim of the thesis is to aid a starting import business of colorful slippers to Hungary at first, with hopefully expanding operations over other European countries later. The enterprise is the author’s with a partner and co-owner family member. The importing will be its first operation as it was non-functional previously since we acquired it last year. Currently there are no employees or assets. The aim is to launch the product in the 2016 season (May to August) due to flip-flops being seasonal products in continental climate. The first season’s order is planned to be of fairly small scale; firstly it is important to gain experience about the whole process and to precisely determine the market need. The firm’s resources are limited and the owners have little or no experience in sales and promotion activities. The first season’s objective is to establish the product and introduce a brand in the country. To accomplish the goal utilizing pop-up stores on beaches and major shopping hubs, also being present in major music festivals would contribute to the fresh and stylish image. To back this up with a marketing campaign online media is the key as it is cheap and reaches a wide audience. Hungary is home to one of Europe’s biggest festivals and some of the best with hundreds of thousands of foreigners visiting mostly from Europe. The image created on the festivals will be very valuable towards the expansion plans. This thesis is intended to help better understand why we trade, how successful import businesses operate and how should it be done effectively with a specific product: flip-flops.