If you have been toying with the idea of working with a third-party Asian sourcing company but you haven’t quite made up your mind yet, we urge you to give this article a read. When you hear about the following advantages that you will be able to leverage by doing so, the decision will be an easy one! Here’s what you need to know…
1. Expert assistance
Outsourcing vital administrative tasks to third-party experts is a viable approach to many aspects of your business and Asian product sourcing is no different. Just as you would outsource your accounting requirements to a specialist, having an experienced product sourcing agency take care of your overseas sourcing needs is an excellent approach.
2. Leverage an existing network
When you work with an established sourcing agency you will be tapping into their existing network of manufacturers and suppliers. Naturally, to branch into the Asian market without any prior knowledge, background, or experience, you will be starting from scratch. However, with a third-party Asian sourcing company representing you, you’ll be able to hit the ground running and start working your way through a long list of potential prospects immediately.
3. Overcome language barrier / cultural etiquette
One of the biggest hurdles when sourcing products from overseas is the language barrier – particularly in Asian countries such as China. While you may certainly be able to find ways to overcome this if you were to decide to forgo using an Asian sourcing company, having a partner with multi-lingual staff who are fluent both in the language and all of the necessary cultural and business etiquette in your country of choice will grant you a huge competitive advantage.
4. Save precious time and resources
Unless you have the time to manage your business and handle all of your product sourcing requirements on top by yourself, you’re going to need to create an in-house department to take care of it for you. This means hiring and training staff, paying salaries and benefits, and ultimately investing a lot of precious time and resources into establishing something that could easily be passed on to a reputable China sourcing company with the foundation in place already.
5. Secure cost-saving partnerships
When you are tapping into the Asian market without representation, again, you’ll be starting from scratch. This means you will have to spend a great deal of time working your way through as many prospective manufacturers and suppliers as possible until you have a few solid prospects lined up. Either way, without any experience or knowledge of the market, finding the perfect cost-saving partnerships will be no easy task.
With a reputable sourcing agency representing you on the other hand, they will be far better positioned to hook you up with and negotiate cost-saving partnerships. Their experienced, multi-lingual staff will be well-verse I in negotiating, particularly in their specialisation market – thus providing an attractive edge over your competitors.
6. Enjoy full-service benefits such as logistics & supply chain management
Any Asian sourcing company worth their salt will offer a variety of additional services in addition to simply finding suitable suppliers and helping you secure an attractive deal. Other services may include negotiating terms and conditions, including contract preparation, and overseeing the fulfilment of said agreements as well as handling the logistics process from start to finish.
If logistics and supply chain management is something that you are unfamiliar with, mastering the process of moving your newly acquired products from Asia to your warehouses in your resident country will be a steep learning curve. Why go to all of that extra effort when you can have the specialists take care of everything for you instead?
7. Product quality control
Unless you have a physical presence in the country, product testing and quality control can be tricky. Do you want to fly some of your employees over just to go over some products? Or alternatively, are you prepared to roll the dice and put your faith in your new-found supplier by ordering the products blind?
Both options are an unnecessary expense / risk – particularly when you can simply partner with an Asian sourcing company that has a physical office in the country of interest who can send their product quality control experts over on your behalf.
So, not only will you they be negotiating the best deals on your behalf, but they can also ensure that you are buying the highest quality products, for less. This will significantly minimise your risk and bring you the peace of mind you need to focus on your business while your partner agency takes care of the rest.
8. Site inspection and auditing
Another vital aspect of Asian product sourcing is ensuring that the manufacturers and suppliers you partner with meet the required international standards (e.g., ISO), – both in production quality and site management. Having boots on the ground means that your partner agency can carry out all of the necessary site inspections and auditing so that you can guarantee that anyone you decide to do business with is above board, dedicated to health & safety, and shares the same moral standards and values as you.
9. Minimise risk and take your business to the next level
Tackling a foreign market and trying to secure the very best trade deals absent the proper specialist representation is an unnecessary risk. You might think that you’d be saving yourself money, but in truth, you’ll only be putting yourself at greater risk of running into unnecessary complications.
By working with a product sourcing agency in Asia, you’ll be significantly reducing the risk of failure, whilst simultaneously taking your business to the next level. The cost-saving potential is gargantuan and not to be snuffed at!
10. Focus on what you do best
This ties in rather closely with saving time and resources; hiring a product sourcing Agency in Asia will enable you to put all of these time-consuming tasks out of your mind and instead focus all of your energies into doing what you do best!
Imagine the potential? You’ll be bringing in cheaper, higher-quality products with very little input required on your part and you can use all of the extra time and money saved to invest in growing your business? It’s a no brainer!
Conclusion – Is it really worth it?
To conclude, is it really worth hiring an Asian sourcing company? Absolutely it is. Yes, you must do your due-diligence and spend time shopping around before settling on a partner, but so long as you find the most reputable and reliable agency with a track record for success and plenty of social proof to boot, you really can’t go wrong!
