China – advanced thinking to maintain economic leadership

Since the 80’s China have been working hard to become the #1 manufacturing source of the world almost in every industry. The hard-working manpower, government-lead competitive business culture, vast natural resources and other factors, have contributed greatly to China’s economical progress. From the traditional and conservative society of the era preceded the year 1911 to a society which advance the fastest in our modern days, especially in the tier 1 cities. No doubt that China have a clear statement to the world, we won’t stop until we will lead the world in ALL parameters.
As a company operating in Asia and in mainland China for over 10 years, we have witnessed this stormy culture surprising us over and again with new and exciting changes, actually we are living it as every day brings new opportunities in China, new ideas, new solutions.

Operation services –

No doubt that in the past 20 years internet have made a huge advance and transferred our world into digital, the range of options grows fast, accessibility is easier and even one without special knowledge in internet or computers can make a good use of it easily. As a result the communication between people around the globe became easier, it bring everyone together and help to create a better dialog than before. With that said, although reaching out to overseas individual or company is now easier, yet it’s not always that we can overcome the cultural gaps caused by several understandable reasons, and everyone who conducts international business will tell you that the cultural background has a great impact on methods and ideologies business is based upon. Here in INSIDEPROS we base our client’s operation management on many years of Asia operations experience, analyzing the strength and weaknesses of the chosen “partners” in China, Japan, HK and other Asian countries, understanding the cultural nuances and navigating towards a stable, safe and successful business. When we come to the bottom of it, there’s nothing like a close, face-to-face, frequent and responsible management strategy.

Trading –

As mentioned above, the globalization process helps us to make purchases on-line almost effortlessly, China is a great country to get engaged with for such purchasing methods. When we are buying items for personal use, in low quantity and price, that indeed will be the right approach to minimize extra costs. When it comes to a professional operation, which requires a strict supervision to manage the sourcing, quality control, purchasing, production lead times, close communication with the factory, delivery schedule and much more. For that you need a good on-ground ally so you could be free to manage your operation peacefully.

When considering to operate in or with China one should do his homework and set his expectations with the right proportions. When the Chinese side tells you everything is clear and will be processed according to your expectations it’s definitely not the time to lay back, relax and wait for your goods, not even close. I often hear on cases were a foreign company contacts a mainland based Chinese company via “Alibaba” or “Made in China” platforms, they described an easy communication in English, fast response, everything sound perfect. They proceeded and made a direct order and then one of the following happened:

1-They had to pay 100% of the total fee in advance
2-The original delivery date plan was delayed
3-They received the products which were not 100% as they ordered
4-Qty was wrong
5-Goods were damaged
Etc…

Of course most of the above might happen anyway even when you take all precautions, however you can minimize the risk significantly to almost zero when using the services of a professional operations management provider.
Above are just some ideas to help you understand business in China better. Whether you agree or disagree with the content or if you have more questions, please feel free to contact us any time for some more eye-opening consulting and know more about how we can help your business to succeed in China.

Shlomo Siluk

The writer is the establisher and operation manager of INSIDEPROS in China. Dedicating his time to grow a healthy and helpful business for INSIDEPROS clients and to his family