A Different Sourcing Company

Our core ethos, the reason we go to work each day, is to help global SME source products from the top manufacturers in China.  This is not easy.

• Finding the best manufacturers is difficult– There are millions of manufacturers in China, and less than one percent of them can be the best factories.  We need a complex system to find these particular manufacturers.
• Not all manufacturers will work with SMEs– Customers choose suppliers; suppliers choose customers.  This is a two-way street.  The decision for a manufacturer to work with an SME depends on a variety of factors.  The Supplier Perception blog helps us understand the value of a business from a top supplier point of view.
• SMEs have no understanding of the top manufacturers – Many overseas buyers do not have the experience necessary to work with top manufacturers.  The buyers believe their standard negotiation techniques will suffice with these manufacturers.  This never works out well for the buyer.

We want to do the best for our customers.  This next section will give you some idea of what we mean.

Which customers are we unable to serve?

Dishonest customer

Integrity is number one for us because trust is the biggest cost in a transation.  Any clients who attempt to swindle or not follow through with agreed steps are immediately dropped with zero explanation.

 

End consumer

We are not looking at single customers looking to buy products.  The same can be said of top manufacturers – although there are exceptions.  If you are only looking for a few things for yourself or friends, Sourcing Nova is not the right choice.  Consider a Taobao agent instead.

 

Buyers who are unable to pay on time

Paying bills on time is a must.  Top manufacturers did not get there by waiting on people to pay their bills.  Owing money means we are not as valuable as other buyers.  We want to be considered in the top group of buyers as this will give our customers a better experience.

 

Buyers targeting the mid-to-low-end consumer market

If price is an issue, buyers will find cheap goods.  Cheap goods lead to after-sales issues.  Sourcing Nova will not buy over stock that others do not want.  Leftovers is not part of our business model.

• Values influence daily behaviors  – Our goal is sourcing from top manufacturers.  The same ones who provide world-class brands.  This means a chance of higher prices over other manufacturers, and this is because the manufacturer has positioned itself to the mid to high-end customer base.  Your buying values need to be in line with the manufacturer’s selling values.
• Daily behaviors influence values – Sourcing cheap goods mean we become a magnet for low quality manufacturers while the better manufacturers back away from us.

 

Buyers who may not comply with Chinese law

China has very strict laws on certain things – pornography, gambling, drugs and guns are highly prohibited.  Any products related to any of these are on our blacklist of products.

Sourcing Nova are not legal specialists.  We cannot, and will not, determine the line of legal and illegal.  If there is any inkling we have of a product being illegal, we will refuse purchase.

 

Customers who infringe intellectual property rights

We will not answer requests for counterfeit products with a polite answer.  Please do not ask about violating copyrights.

 

Who are our target customers?

Customers targeting the mid-to-high-end market

The high-qualty suppliers in China are committed to the mid-to-high-end market and customer.  Better suppliers will work with us if our customers are aligned in a similar way.

Consider: The mid-to-high-end products have fewer quality problems, and this means fewer after-sals complaints.  Our focus on the mid-to-high-end products mean we get our fair share of compliments.  This makes our customers happier, and our work is better for it.

 

Clients who are able to solve their funding problems on their own

Our mission is to help customers find the highest-end manufacturer.  The manufacturer’s mission is to ensure product quality and on-time delivery.  The buyer’s mission is to pay promptly and fully.

The basis of China’s manufacturing industry is this: Laggards have few orders but will do what they can to win orders, up to and including delayed payments.  The better manufacturers do not have to concern themselves with orders.  They have plenty of customers already, and this gives them negotiation power.

Financing is the responsibility of the buyer and their financial institution – not the manufacturer.

Customers who cannot empathize

If you are into wishful thinking – stop.  Now.  Some buyers will want a lower MOQ, and this will not always happen.  The MOQ is determined by the business model and the MOQ of the upstream supply chain.

Wholesalers and distributors with low MOQ have back stock in inventory.  Manufacturers with a higher MOQ do not have back stock.  How is this possible?  The manufacturers use what they need in raw materials.  If the manufacturer has a raw material MOQ for 100 products and you want only 20, do not expect the manufacturer to accept your order.

Empathy helps buyers recognize constraints and decision-making processes from the perspective of the manufacturer.