Hi,

My company has gone a massive contract to be the distributor for a brand in Southern Africa. This forces me to get knowledge on the importing business seriously fast. Ive tried every resource and I have a fair idea but some areas have become unclear to me. I need to know everything prefectly and have everything in order as this venture has landed me in between the big companies and they all watching my company. Please help me with some questions I have:


Quick info about my company:

Im importing high end audio equipment but this venture/brand is speakers (Powered speakers). The company has 2 divisions below it and is currently using a virtural offices as offices.

Company Register:

I have a CC but havent used it as yet. Ive managed to run my one company for 2 years under a sole and havent found the need to use the CC. The problem I have with the CC is the taxes and accounting requirements. Do I need to be a registered company to import and would I need to be also to obtain credit at a later stage? Because the company has grown now I wont mind so much using the CC.

VAT register

Due to me importing and selling to dealers, Ill need to register for VAT. Ive heard this is a long process and I probably wont have it completed before my 1st two shipments land. Ive been told that you can back track VAT once you are registered, is it true? and will the dealers be able to back track also?

Importing licence

Ive tried every resource and I still havent found out what this is for and where do I obtain one. Ive emailed SARS and havent had a response. Some websites mentioned that its only needed for certain products and some mentioned that its needed for all imports....???

Offices, home or let

Ive looked everywhere around my area and I havent found offices to match my starting budget nor my needs. I figured I should use the house Im renting for now as a base. We have virtural offices for all our meetings and for that reason my actual office wont have anyone coming round to it. I wanted to find offices but as mentioned Ive been unsucessful in finding anything. I also figured that its better to start at home until te budget is big enough to afford offices easily. Im however worried about the VAT registering side... will they register the company for VAT even if its based at a rental house?

Accounting software

We currently have Pastel Express start up. We have been told to change over to OMNI because of the add on modules. Has anyone had any problems with this software?

Insurance

Ive looked high and low for insurance and I constantly get told we dont insure sound equipment. Im on the edge of killing someone as I dont get this, Im a distributor and I dont use the products. Does anyone know of a insurance company that actually listens?

Thank you for all your help