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For factories, quality is somewhat double-edged sword. On one hand they would like to provide the best product possible to their customers, however doing so increases their cost. If they try to “cut corners” and deliver product that does not quite stand up to the scrutiny of demanding customers, they can reduce their initial cost, however they stand to lose customers in the long run by doing so.  What are the factories supposed to do? My view is higher cost of improved quality is well worth the benefits you can received in the long-term.  Manufacturers need to look at the tradeoff between cost and benefit of quality from the long-term and comprehensive perspective. Sure, aiming for higher quality will add to the cost in the short-term. You can even lose some money in the beginning. But you need to broaden the horizon and consider all other aspects of the business and…

Inspiration is the easiest part of starting a business. The hard part? Putting in the hours and preparation for launching a new product or service. Creating a plan and roadmap are essential to staying on task. Here are 6 steps that should not be overlooked. 1. Planning Your Product Strategy Before you start investing into a product design, you need to have a product strategy in place. How will you market your product? Will it be sold in stores or online? What features are most important? You need to define the goals of your product. You need to have a clear understanding of what your product does for customers, and how it will grow your company. Start by answering these questions before you think about product features and marketing strategies. Or, better yet, allow your prospects to answer them for you. Survey potential customers to find out which product features and…

When you’ve made all the right moves, like identifying a consumer need, finding a reliable supplier, and creating an Amazon listing, it can be frustrating when the sales don’t come pouring in as you had hoped. The fact is, you could have the greatest product in the world but if people can’t find it, they can’t buy it. The key to being a strong seller on Amazon is to create an optimized product listing. While the inner workings of Amazon’s search algorithm remain a bit of a mystery, there are some steps you can take that will make your listing more likely to show up in a customer search. Here are 6 tips that can improve your listing, increase your sales, and boost your chances for a page one ranking: 1) Streamline Your Title How exactly you write your title will depend on the product and its listing category but…

Globally sourcing your company’s products can improve your productivity, efficiency and bottom line, but sometimes language barriers can get in the way. From simple miscommunications to cultural gaffes, language barriers can cause international business relationships to grind to a halt. It’s important to have a strategy in place to mitigate language issues before they cause serious problems. So, here’s a closer look at strategies that can help overcome language barriers with your global sourcing partners: 1. Translate all critical documents into the local language. Before embarking on a business partnership, it’s important to consider the basic documents that will outline and guide the relationship. Examples of critical documents include legal contracts, sourcing guidelines, company and background information, and operating agreements. Translate these documents into the local language to ensure that both members of a partnership get off to a good start. It gives everyone involved a clear frame of reference. Any point of…

Below are some of the common mistakes many exporters make, as well as ways in which you should avoid them. 1. Expanding to too large of a geographic area Every country has its unique personality, and those personalities are comprised from millions of people in that country. However, every country is comprised of smaller communities, whether they’re states, provinces, villages, towns, and neighborhoods. Each of these subsets represent a microcosm of the whole. Failure to understand that each region of a country has its own tastes and needs is a surefire way to exporting failure. 2. Selecting the Wrong Overseas Partners and Distributors Just as you need to be careful not to grow too quickly and too “generically” when first starting out your export business, it is critical to your future and continued success that you find overseas partners and distributors that align with your company’s goals and values. This is…

The best defense against quality defects is prevention. And the most crucial time to prevent product defects is when beginning your sourcing journey, as you filter potential suppliers. Let’s look at the various steps you can take at the start of your relationship with a new supplier to limit your chances of finding unacceptable quality defects later. 1. How to prevent product defects when negotiating with suppliers? Nearly every importer has had to deal with product defects in their shipments at one time or another. Defects are an inescapable reality of manufacturing—no factory is perfect of the time. But that doesn’t mean you should resign yourself to poor quality products from your suppliers. Preventing a quality defect when first beginning the supplier relationship is almost always far easier and cheaper than trying to correct it after it appears. When it comes to factories’ production capabilities in Asia, not all factories are…

When you’re manufacturing in China, it’s easy to turn your attention away from suppliers and settle into complacency. But the eventual consequence is often product returns, due to what’s called quality fade. From critical issues to small and innocuous ones, quality fade can lead to problems in any importer’s supply chain. What is “quality fade”? Quality fade is a gradual decline in product quality over time. In most cases, for any given product, customers aren’t likely to notice a small decline in quality from one shipment to the next. But when comparing units over a longer stretch of time, like from one year to the next, the drop in quality is more obvious. Many experienced importers have their own horror stories about frustrating instances of quality fade. Maybe you’re a long-time dress shoe importer who starts receiving more and more reports of your shoes creasing or showing other signs of wear…

As an importer, quality issues with your product can be the downfall of your business, even if you have a great product idea, a competitive marketing strategy and an enthusiastic customer base. They can lead to product returns, product recalls, bad product reviews and a damaged reputation for your brand. Any of these issues can lead customers to look to your competitors for a similar product instead of buying from you. 1. Omitting quality expectations from supplier negotiations Would you wait until Christmas Eve to tell your friend you expect them to cook the main course for a Christmas dinner for 10 people? Probably not. So why should you wait to tell your factory about your quality standards until production is already underway for an order of hundreds or even thousands of units? The most successful importers outline their quality standards in the negotiation phase when they’re choosing suppliers. This…