Last week we loaded a new video on sourcing from China to the home page. The previous video was done by a professional actor; we decided to make the change because our customers seem to relate to and want to know the real people they’re working with, as opposed to an actor talking about the business.
At the beginning you’ll see me talking about a time several years ago when I went to assess an organization in China that professed to be a large manufacturer of automotive parts. They had a convincing website, with pictures of CNC machinery in an industrial factory; the English was even decent. In the end it turned out that they weren’t a company at all – it was someone in an apartment building, and was clearly a scam.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a rare occurrence. Just today we received a call from someone who had sent money to an entity in China who they thought was a company, only to get burned. As I mention in the video, it’s critical that you know who you’re dealing when sourcing product from China; the only way to do this is to have boots on the ground, which, we do, or go there and visit them. If you visit them it would be best to have at least a basic understanding of the nuances of the Chinese business culture – along with someone you know.
So here’s the new video: