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Export readiness audit
A structured 40-point review of your product, capacity, pricing, packaging, IP and internal processes, delivered as a written report with a prioritised action list.
What is covered
Montgomery, Alabama · Established 2016
Export advisory for women-led American businesses.
Joo Commerce Advisors helps small and mid-sized U.S. manufacturers, food producers and consumer-goods brands sell into international markets — with documentation, compliance and logistics handled properly the first time.
Susan Smith
Founder & Principal Advisor — 22 years in trade operations
◆ Export readiness
◆ HS classification
◆ Incoterms® 2020
◆ Freight & customs
◆ Distributor search
◆ Trade finance
Who we are
A small Alabama firm with a very specific job
We sit between an American business owner and the paperwork, partners and rules that stand between her product and a buyer abroad. Most of our clients ship their first international order within four months of starting with us.
We are not a freight forwarder, and we do not take commission on your sales. We are paid a flat fee for advice, documentation and project management — which means our recommendation is never influenced by a carrier or a broker.
- Woman-owned
- Independent
- Flat-fee engagements
- Alabama registered
- Serving all 50 states
Services
Six ways we get a product across a border
Engagements are modular. Start with one, or run the full programme from assessment to first repeat order.
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Market selection research
Tariff lines, demand signals, competitor pricing and distribution structure for a shortlist of three to five candidate markets, scored against your capacity.
See the method☰
Compliance & documentation
HS classification, country-of-origin, certificates, commercial invoice and packing list templates, EEI/AES filing guidance and restricted-party screening.
Documentation list▲
Logistics coordination
Incoterms® selection, forwarder and broker tendering, insurance review, packaging and labelling specs, plus a shipment runbook your team can reuse.
How we coordinate⚑
Distributor & buyer search
Longlist, screening calls, reference checks and introduction support, followed by a plain-English review of the distribution or agency agreement terms.
Partner screening●
Team training
Half-day and full-day workshops for owners and operations staff: documentation, payment terms, letters of credit, and handling a customs hold calmly.
Workshop outline
By the numbers
Nine years of steady, unglamorous work
0Engagements delivered since 2016
0Destination markets advised on
0Clients who return for a second project
0Average client rating out of 5
Our process
Full process detail
Four stages, fixed scope, no surprises
Discovery call
Thirty minutes, free of charge. We establish what you make, where you want to sell it and whether we are genuinely useful to you.
Written assessment
Two to three weeks. Product, compliance and capacity review with a scored market shortlist and a costed action plan.
Execution support
We build the document set, tender your freight, screen partners and sit on the calls with you until the first shipment clears.
Handover
Your team receives a runbook, templates and a recorded training session so the second order does not need us.
Industries
Where we have the deepest files
We turn down work outside these categories rather than learn on a client's budget.
Specialty food & beverage
Labelling rules, shelf-life declarations, FDA registration questions and cold-chain packing for sauces, snacks, coffee and confectionery.
Home & textile goods
Fibre content declarations, flammability documentation and carton optimisation for furnishings, linens and decorative goods.
Light manufacturing
Components, fittings and tooling: classification, origin rules under trade agreements and dual-use screening.
Health & personal care
Ingredient disclosure, registration timelines and importer-of-record structures for cosmetics and supplements.
Client words
What owners say afterwards
Susan found two classification errors that had been quietly costing us duty for a year. The audit paid for itself before we shipped anything.
We had been told exporting was too complicated for a nine-person company. It was not. It was just unfamiliar, and Joo made it familiar.
The distributor screening saved us from a partner who looked excellent on paper. The reference calls were worth the entire fee.
Latest notes
From the advisory desk
Short, practical write-ups from work we are actually doing. No newsletters you cannot unsubscribe from.
Read all articlesFive documentation mistakes that hold a container at the border
Most detentions we see are avoidable, and four of the five are typing errors. A practical checklist.
Read the noteLanded cost: the line items owners forget
Demurrage, port fees and the exchange spread are where first-time margins disappear.
Read the note
Next step
Tell us what you make and where you want it to go
A discovery call takes thirty minutes and costs nothing. If we are not the right firm for your situation, we will say so and point you somewhere better.