Exporting firearms from the USA can open up doors to a new, valuable source of revenue for gun merchants. However, the firearms export process is not 100% risk free.
A significant part of successfully exporting firearms from the USA is risk management; taking measures to minimize the most likely risks that merchants can experience, with as little burden to the business as possible.
While no export risk can be eradicated completely, with the right interventions these risks can be reduced greatly, increasing your ability to make international firearms sales a valuable source of revenue.
When it comes to exporting firearms from the USA, there are four primary risks that merchants should be aware of. Fortunately, there are four ways to minimize them, too:
1. Financial Risks
There are a number of financial risks associated with exporting firearms from the USA. Perhaps the most notable are the risks of non-compliance with US regulations, and the risks of investing in sales activities to countries with low demand for American sporting firearms.
Reducing these risks means doing two things: being proactive in staying up-to-date with the latest export regulations, and researching relevant markets. Regular firearms export insights into sales and global markets can be found here.
2. Legal Risks
With a huge amount of complex regulations surrounding the export of firearms from the USA, there are a number of legal risks that exporters face.
For example, there are risks associated with assigning the wrong export classification (ECCN) to products you export, exporting goods without a valid license, or failing to include the necessary paperwork with the shipment.
The best - and easiest - way to reduce the legal risks when you export firearms from the USA is to use appropriate, automated tools to ensure all boxes have been checked prior to shipping.
3. Reputation Risks
Selling internationally is a lot different from selling domestically. And while merchants may have a robust process in place for domestic sales that satisfies their customers, it may not always be as straightforward to build and maintain a strong reputation in international markets.
For example, lengthy shipping times and a lack of understanding of local laws may affect how customers perceive your organization. Working to build a solid export process and learning to use the right tools can help.
4. Safety Risks
In addition to the standard risks that come with exporting, there are also specific risks associated with exporting firearms from the USA. Regulatory compliance risks, for example. To reduce these risks, there are a number of things merchants can do.
One is ensuring that all end use and end user information is collected and inspected, and that your customers are vetted thoroughly.
It’s also important to conduct restricted party screenings, and to refuse orders if something doesn’t look quite right.
Developing a Risk Management Strategy
The best way to address all of the above risks, and reduce the risk of them occurring, is to create a risk management strategy. There are 6 steps to achieving this:
- Identify the export risks that your business is most likely to face
- Prioritize risks to enable you to focus on the most severe possibilities
- Determine the best preventive measures to reduce these risks
- Consider how risks could be managed if they were to happen
- Evaluate the strategy to gauge its effectiveness
- Continually monitor risks and adapt the strategy as needed
Valuable Risk Reduction Tools
While there’s a lot that goes into successful risk management, innovative US exporters are relying on simple yet effective tools that help to make exporting firearms from the USA a more straightforward, more robust, more replicable process.
Dedicated software solutions, such as EasyExport, can help to reduce financial, legal, reputation, and safety risks simultaneously. It
- Automatically scans orders to determine what approvals are required
- Completes applications for necessary export licenses
- Vets purchasers and ensures any necessary import license are obtained
- Speeds up the export process to get shipments to customers quicker
- Alerts exporters when all export documentation is in place
Risk management is a big part of exporting, and it can be tricky. But no one said merchants had to handle all this alone.
By using software that is specially designed to manage the risks of exporting firearms from the USA, merchants can enjoy peace of mind that they’re operating in a way that maximizes the chance of success.
