Finding the best supplier for your business

No matter what business you have, chances are you will need some resources, whether you’re manufacturing your own products, selling a huge range of electronics or offering services, you’re probably going to need some products or resources, be it raw materials, electrical components, finished products, services or just stationary. Finding the right partner isn’t always easy so here are a few things to consider when looking for one.

Finding potential suppliers

Assuming you’ve decided what product you need, the first thing that’s required is to locate some potential suppliers.

Take a look online, searching for your desired product, WebPages like Amazon and eBay can be helpful as well as wholesalers like Chinavasion, you could even visit trade fairs where a range of suppliers expose their latest products. If you’re struggling to find the product you want you could also try checking on Alibaba. Many Chinese factories list their products on here.

Choosing the Supplier

Next up you need to choose the supplier whose right for you, this is a lot easier said than done.  You’ll need to start asking them questions, check to see if they have all the business licenses, conform to international standards’ and certifications and determine what sort of reputation, capacity and experience they have. After all, you don’t want to be sold a lemon.

Client references.

Any reputable supplier should be able to offer you client testimonials and references, but don’t just leave it there, be sure to follow up on these and make sure they haven’t glossed over any issues.

Business licensing.

You need to be sure that any company you do business with is legally set up and properly licensed conforming to all the required trade laws or you could be opening yourself up to future legal action that could embroil your company in costly law suits or tarnish your good reputation and standing.

Manufacturing and staffing.

Be sure you understand the exporter’s relationship with the manufacturer.  Do they manufacture the product themselves, are they simply a supplier and if so do they get paid by the manufacturer. Ensure that they are working for you, with your best interests at heart.

Factory experience.

Ensure the factory has experience manufacturing the kind of product you want. Cost is not the only consideration, ensuring the factory has previous experience can be a good indicator of the quality of work you will receive.

Product samples.

The company should be able to provide samples to you of the products you will be purchasing so that you can get a good idea of the quality and workmanship giving you a better idea of what you will get. Even if it’s a new product you can ask for samples of similar products to see how well the products are finished, or ask for samples of materials etc.

Challenges

Remember that businesses in China are not governed by the same cultural and custom norms as you find in the west. This can require a different approach to negotiating and Chinese businesses tend to be more focused on building good relationships ‘Guanxi’ rather than rushing into a deal.

This can make building new relationships and forging partnerships very time-consuming but it needn’t be. Companies like Chinavasion, with 10 years experience supporting successful business in sourcing and quality control have built a network of trusted manufacturers ready to meet your needs. This puts Chinavasion in the ideal position to be your one stop shop for sourcing electronics from China, and we’re more than happy to help you navigate the challenges of exporting from China.