Shizuoka Business

Archive for June, 2011

Firstly – where do I go and how do I get there?

By far the best place to start is with the Canton Fair in Guangzhou – www.cantonfair.org.cn which runs in April and October. The best way to get there is by flying into Hong Kong either direct or indirect (a short stop over in Dubai is usually cheapest) an economy ticket should set you back around £395. Once in Hong Kong there are a variety of ways of making it up to Guangzhou but I find that the easiest and cheapest way is by train, all trains run from Hung Hom station in Kowloon and arrive at Guangzhou East station in Guangzhou, tickets are around $190HK one way.

What paper work do I need?

You will first and foremost need a Chinese Visa which you obtain through a Chinese embassy here in the UK -http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk/eng/lsyw/chivisa/. You will need a Letter of invitation from a company or institution in China or Visa Notification Form issued by an authorized unit in China (Visa notification refers to the form of visa notification issued by the Chinese government departments, companies and social organizations authorized by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. For detailed information, you can consult the foreign affairs office of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government where your host is located ie Guangzhou. You can also apply via the Canton Fair website. You will also need to register for the fair, again can be done through the website.

What to expect at the show

The show is HUGE and covers just about every sector of product that you can think of. The show is made up of booths each representing a factory, trading company or agent. It is impossible to gauge the size of the company just by their booth, don’t judge a book by its cover, some of the smallest booths are inhabited by the largest companies. A few years ago we stopped at a very small booth just showing a handful of products, we now spend around $1.5 million a year with them!!

Take your time and wander around for the first day and identify the useful looking booths and make a note of them to come back to. There is no point spending hours at the first interesting company you come across only to find the same thing 50 meters away but 20% cheaper.

Once you have identified the companies you wish to talk to then go back on day two and establish the following information …..

1. Are they a factory, broker or agent?

2. What port do they ship from? (if you are buying lots of products try to group them in the same area, it is then easier to consolidate)

3. How long have they been in business?

4. What are their MOQ’s like?

5. What are their prices like?

Once you have found someone you are happy with you can either try and do a deal there and then but to be honest it is very difficult as there are hundreds of people around and not everyone has our standard of British manners. People will interrupt you all the time and butt in, it really pees me off and many a time I have shouted at rude people!! It is better to take their contact details and do the negotiations by email once you are home. I can’t guarantee that all companies at the show are legit, you will need to research them carefully but to be honest the Canton Fair is VERY expensive to exhibit at and this tends to discourage most if not all scammers.

For people who are starting out I would suggest going through an agent to begin with, you will have to pay them 5% but they take all the hassle out of doing the transaction. They sort all the paperwork, arrange freight to the shipment port, consolidate with other peoples goods if you are buying in less than container loads. This is especially useful if you are buying a large spread of products. They can also be used to inspect and audit goods before they leave China just to check that there are no ‘surprises’.

Your other option (if you have time) is to arrange with sellers at the show to visit their showrooms after the show, depending on where they are, remember China is huge. Sitting in a nice air conditioned office is a much better way to conduct business.

As a guide here are the main production cities – Shenzhen, Shantou, Ningbo (mainly wooden items), Shanghai, Xiamen and Fujian.

The next step

Once you have established a supplier or group of suppliers you need to go through the red tape……

1. How do I get the goods to my door? – Use a freight forwarder, someone like Cedar Forwarding to handle all your paperwork – shipping costs, freight transport, import duty etc. They will organise everything for you. My advise would be to use sea freight as it is much cheaper than air freight.

2. Does the item conform to EU directives and will it need testing? – this is a real minefield. I only really know about my area of trade – toys but most products will have some kind of regulations attached to it. If you are in any doubt get in touch with a test house who will be able to guide you better. The Northern Test House in Leicester are very good - http://nthleicester.com/

3. Make sure the agent/factory know how to label your goods. It is LAW that all imported goods into the UK carry the importers details – company name and postcode so that if there is ever a problem with the item then it can be traced back to you. If you do not do this you are breaking the law ? also check to see if it require a CE mark or any other safety warning.

4. If the item is electrical then you must sign up and pay for WEEE membership, again if you don’t then expect fines and a huge head ache! - http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk…ste/32084.aspx

5. If the item contains chemicals then it must conform to REACH regulations - http://www.hse.gov.uk/reach/

6. What duty will I have to pay? – Use a calculator like this one - http://www.dutycalculator.com/

Be aware some items like candles and plastic bags now come under new Anti Dumping Regulations and the duty rates are huge!!! - http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsP…yType=document

Once you have done all this then you should be ready to go ahead and arrange to pay for your goods

How should I pay?

Most suppliers will quote for ‘FOB Shanghai’ in other words they will pay for all transport up until the port of shipping – Shanghai. You can go down the CIF route (cost,insurance & freight) but expect to pay a premium for it.

In most cases, especially if it is an initial purchase, China suppliers will rarely offer “net terms”, for example, “net 30″ (the buyer pays 100 percent of the value 30 days after receiving the goods).

Keep in mind that for the Chinese factory, net 30 terms really mean 120 days of project finance — 30 days to buy the material, 30 days to process and produce, 30 days to ship (to North America or Europe) and 30 more days to wait for payment. It is certainly possible to achieve net terms for payment to China, but it will probably be easier for you to move to better terms with your supplier after both sides have established a working relationship and mutual trust. Be prepared not to have net terms during the initial phases of the relationship.

Don’t be surprised if a supplier asks for 100 percent payment in advance. But also realize this is negotiable, just as you wouldn’t necessarily accept the first offer of price without a negotiation. I have found that “30-40-30″ terms are often an acceptable middle ground on payment terms, fair to both parties.

Under 30-40-30 terms, the initial 30 percent of the PO value is paid up front as a deposit. This allows the supplier to buy materials and lock in the price, which can be especially important if you have a long lead time or deal in materials that face great price fluctuations, such as metals. The second payment, the 40 percent, occurs at shipping upon confirmation of quality. The final 30 percent is paid upon receipt and inspection at the final destination. Let’s look at this 30-40-30 from both the seller’s and buyer’s perspectives to find why it is an acceptable middle ground.

Sell
ers worry the buyer will default on payment, so getting 70 percent (30+40) before the goods leave port limits their exposure. Since the average factory in China makes between 10 and 30 percent mark-up, the 70 percent covers at least the majority of the supplier’s internal costs, meaning even if the buyer defaults it won’t leave the supplier out of pocket.

Buyers’ biggest concern is that the goods will have quality issues or not arrive at all. By holding out on the final 30 percent until delivery, the buyer retains some leverage if quality problems require re-work or replacement parts. It is also important to remember that the 40 percent is not paid until after the goods are inspected in China, so quality confirmation must be a key part of the payment process. This is where an agent can be useful. Ask for pictures or samples of the goods before they are shipped.

Once the goods arrive expect a short delay at customs while they inspect the goods and check that everything is in order.

And thats it!!

There is a lot of good Christian business opportunities for us to take advantage of if we know what we are looking for. By starting a Christian home based internet business you will find that it is an excellent way for spreading the word by means of using the internet as a vehicle to get the word out to many.

As a result of using the internet as a tool, we now have this great opportunity to reach out to millions of people in all places and start wining them over to Gods perfect love. In this article, we are going to share some information on Christian business opportunities. You will discover that there are excellent “work at home” business ideas to start a home based business.

The best way for those of you who are looking for a work at home business idea and want to make an income on the internet is to locate tutorials with quality information that will guide you through to having your very own successful business. Reading quality tutorials to get a good understanding of how to start your business, is your foundation to the road of success.

If it is your desire to have a successful business you must be willing to read and learn plus put some effort into it. By applying effort and taking in knowledge, you will discover that it is a lot easier to come up with a good business plan, rather than to not have knowledge and hope that every thing will just fall into place. It just doesn’t work that way.

Have you ever come across sites that have these get rich quick programs that will tell you everything will fall right in to place? They say you are going to make a numerous amount of money over night. They even go as far as to say you don’t need any knowledge or understanding of how to start a home based business and they’re going to take care of every thing for you. The truth is, the only one that they’re going to take care of is their self and at the same time they’re getting rich by misleading you.

Do not let yourself be misled by the marketing sites that say you can get rich over night. The fact is you can make money online and make a good living by means of the internet, but it is not going to be over night. It is going to take some time and patience to start a successful business and you have to be willing to work at it.

The internet is the best place that anyone can start a home based business in the world to day at a very low cost and at the same time make a good living at it. It is just the right time to start one. Ecommerce is like a young strong oak tree still in it‘s prime. It just keeps growing stronger and larger, and if you want to grow with it, then now is the time to jump on and grow. Ecommerce is a great way to make money online and there is plenty of it to make.

If you’re looking for ideas on how to start a Christian home based internet business and be successful, then here are some excellent ideas. If these don’t appeal to you, I am sure they will spark some ideas for starting your own Christian business.

Start a Christian bookstore. An online bookstore is a great way to make money and the best part about having a bookstore is having a business that you feel good about knowing that the products you are selling are helping people in their spiritual lives, not to mention spreading the word which is another bonus.

Make money online with affiliate programs through starting your own affiliate web site by joining some good affiliate programs. A great number of people find that when they start an internet business, starting out with an affiliate web site and joining affiliate programs is the less expensive way to start. At the same time, they have an excellent opportunity to take in knowledge of how marketing works.

Start an online store using a drop ship supplier. Ecommerce is growing larger and larger as each year goes by. All you would need is a wholesale supplier who will drop ship products that you want to sell in your internet store, a low cost web site and a merchant account.

Start your own online auction. If you are into auctions and want to make money on EBay or thinking about starting an online career as an auction seller then you will find that Ebay is the place for you. There are over 1.3 million people making an income selling on Ebay full or part time. There are billions made on EBay every year.

As you can see, there are Christian business opportunities out there for anyone who wants to start a work from home business. All you have to do is use your imagination, put forth some effort and watch your dreams come true.

You can’t learn to ride a bike without… well, a bike. Can you?

International business involves cross cultural communication. It is the inherent nature of the business.

To develop good cross cultural communication skills you need foreign communication exposure. With people. Live.

Cultural skills are fairly easy to develop. But you can’t pick them up reading books. You need hands on practice. Most people only need the desire to communicate with other cultures and some practice to put them on the right track.

But good cross cultural communication skills are not easy to develop if you are an online business without much direct contact with your foreign clients.

If all the cross cultural communication you are getting is through emails or order requests, this is how you are going to pick up the skills. There is simply not enough cultural interaction to actually learn with.

But what can you do if you want to get more international sales? Is there anything you can do to help your online business communicate better with your international prospects and clients?

Well you still need to learn from exposure. But you can laser focus your efforts and make progress.

First, you need to identify the three basic components of cultural communication:

International Communication

International Communication can include all aspects of international communication.

But online, it all begins with adapting your own communication for international audiences.

Make the effort to adapt your all of your communication to speak to all international visitors as well as your domestic market.

Simply make a concentrated effort not to cut out your international visitors by ignoring them.

International communication at this level is more about awareness and being universally polite in written communication. It is is the small details.

Multicultural Communication

Multicultural Communication is when your communication speaks effectively across a wide scope of cultures.

For example you can use International English to target the international English-speaking world.

Multicultural Communication may not be the best solution for your domestic market. Your domestic market might have a very strong sales message that would be weakened by communication aimed at multicultural markets.

You may or may not decide on creating two specific communication strategies: one for your domestic market and one for a wide international market.

This is often obvious to implement in non-English speaking countries. Their local communication in their native language, and their international communication in English for wide multicultural audiences.

It can be an interesting option for American companies, for example, to use International English for a wide international marketing campaign.

This could be an initial option. But this needs to be evaluated carefully. Most international marketing is aimed at specific cultures and countries once the markets are identified.

Cross Cultural Communication

Cross Cultural Communication is about targeting your communication to one particular culture.

This step in international communication requires more specific market knowledge. Your message is totally adapted to one specific cultural environment.

It can be used for effective target marketing in a specific country or ethnic group for example.

The bad news for online businesses is that you really do need some cultural exposure to get it right.

The good news?

Online businesses have the advantage of being able to test, track and analyze statistics. This will help in tweaking cross cultural communication.

If you have identified a country with a large enough market, creating cross cultural communication and working extensively with the statistics will probably be worth the time and effort.

Build On International Exposure

By focusing on each of the three types of cultural communication, you will be able to identify what you are currently doing. You will see where you need to improve international communication.

Use any contact with your international prospects and clients to see what you can do to improve the area you are weakest at.

The more exposure you get with your international markets, the more you will see how you need to adapt your communication. And practice is all it takes.

Your cultural communication skills will improve with time. And before you know it your skills will become as automatic as knowing how to ride a bike.

Are you committed to speeding up your international sales cycles?

Learn how to combine cross-cultural marketing tools and international sales strategies for faster sales.

Join us on the International Sales Road Map

Would you like to develop your international business?

Are you a beginner at international sales and marketing?

Read the Beginners Guide Discover Your International Business