Product distribution 101 - advice needed Entrepreneur

Hi redditors,

I've got a pretty complex question but all opinions and advice are very welcome.

TL;DR: Thanks to a friend of a friend, my family got a chance to partner up with a small Italian frozen pastry/baked goods company and organize distribution of their products in the Czech Republic (that's where we live currently). It's an amazing opportunity not only to gain some money, but to learn about business - but I simply have no idea where to start. What we basically have to do is to make a list of local hotels/shops/restaurants which might be interested in buying and selling these goods, then contact them and strike a deal, and then organize transportation from Italy.

Sounds pretty easy, but I bet there's a lot of nuance here - and sadly I don't have enough time to read a couple books about international trade. Perhaps you can help me? A few questions to begin with:

• Is there a way to gather information and contacts of potential customers quicker than just manually googling each and every freaking restaurant/hotel/supermarket around and calling/mailing them?
• What might be other options apart from hotels and restaurants? Perhaps some large companies which sell frozen goods? (it might be a bad idea because they could refuse our deal and then contact the Italian company on their own, robbing us of the opportunity)
• Selling stuff is an art in and out of itself. Are there any specifical problems/things we should definitely mention or know about when trying to sell frozen goods like pastries and cakes, or food in general? Should we offer them discounts of any kind? Are there any tricks companies use to negotiate better prices or generally get a better deal that newbies like me have no idea about? How to make the first contact - send an email, call them, turn up in person with a printed out catalogue?
• What about transportation? We got prices for palettes of goods and the name of the town in northern Italy from where the goods will depart, but that's pretty much it. I presume they've got their own trucks with refrigerators, but even that's not known for sure yet. What are some troubles to be expected when organizing transportation?
• Also, are there any websites/YouTube channels where these topics are discussed in a way that suits beginners, so I can jump into it with at least some basic knowledge?

Thanks a lot in advance, I appreciate any help.

Submitted August 13, 2017 at 04:51PM by darmanius http://ift.tt/2vutBsq Entrepreneur