25) Hello : 你好

Most of the manufacturers are always willing to work with your business. Since, your business is their business as well, and the business relationship that you will built up with your manufacturers is vital for the creation and life of your company. However, most of the manufacturers are, relatively, large manufacturers or depending on your national scale, larger than many companies, at least much larger than mine.

In the beginning I tried to be “picky” and “choose” the manufacturers I sort of “liked”. All the contact was done by e-mail and different types of messengers. The results were confusing:

1) Many of those manufacturers didn't reply me

2) Some of them replied me a couple of months later

3) Some of them were more concerned in “model, quantity, NOW!”

4) The manufacturers that replied me immediately and finally

5) The “optimal manufacturers”.

The ones who never replied me back: I have No idea, but in my opinion their web page had something to do. Old web pages, not updated, perhaps not really taken in consideration as a part of the business, as a whole, and who knows, maybe fake companies, or companies that went bankruptcy, etc. Maybe they have already too much work so they are not accepting new clients or maybe they are not interested in small companies. Who knows!

The companies that replied me very late: It seems that Internet might not be a vital part of their business, also the lack of people who can replied in a foreign language, maybe too many clients, or too much production. It is in deed hard to know exactly the reasons of such late replies. However, we exchanged some information regarding services, sampling, prices, costs, etc. I really got to know different people working in different fields, some had very little to do with my business or some had nothing to do with my project, but nevertheless a good experience in terms of business language and inter cultural communication.

The companies interested in business NOW: Yes, they are probably very hard working people and indeed all the stories about multicultural communication were sort of useless, since basically everything was “what?”, “how much?”, “how many?”, “when?”, “where?”. Life is simple. Unfortunately, for low budget companies, it's a bit difficult to fit in that schema, they are willing to do business with you but they won't be waiting for you forever and it is expected some seriousness, something I interpreted like “come back with us when you have the money”. Real world, Real businesses :D

The manufacturers who replied me immediately: Many manufacturers and many different way of exchanging information about the products, services, prices, costs, pros and cons, and in general, very valuable information. It is definitely a whole blog to write about interacting with manufacturers. Not all of those manufacturers could work or fit in my project, nevertheless the experienced I gained while getting to know their companies, their values, their services and products was, and still is, extremely priceless. I reached no further than the sales department, but the professionalism and willingness to work are unspeakable.

The optimal manufacturers: How do you know who is your optimal manufacturer if all the negotiations have been through Internet? It is hard to say the precisely formula. A mixture between knowledge, theory, experience, service, general information and specific information and “instinct” are some of the key factors.

You choose the people and organisation you are going to work so a good feeling (instinct) is a must. Obviously you will gather as much information, by all means, as possible before making a decision. Consult with your friends, relatives, religious leader, google, wikipedia, chats, facebook, etc. I'll certainly keep posting more information of the manufacturers as my relationship with them is starting.

Advices: Be polite, be open, be helpful (you never know what kind of pressure is having the other person on the other side of the screen), be nice, and if you have the time, waist a bit of it in going further to other things even if they are not related to your business. You'll learn, a lot.

I found a lot a hard working people on the other side of the screen, they were all very respectful, helpful and nice and I tried to be as nice as possible with all of them. It paid me back in great friendships not only businesses.

Do thing as in their time, even if it means starting your day at 3.00 am. If you happens to work in their evenings, be EXTREMELY nice and ZERO pressures from your side. Think that you just want to get out of your work at 18.00 and you have no option but to be there plus having someone asking you for detailed information, it's basically playing the needle and balloon game.

I can't really advice “contact as many manufacturers as possible”, since it's a good experience and exchange of information, but stick to a geographical area. If all the manufacturers are far away from each other, even if the business relation is great, it just won't work.

Dealing with large manufacturers implies large MOQ (Minimum Order Quantities) so be aware that this will be, as a small company, the biggest challenge. Manufacturers can make exceptions, but then accept the compromise that they are helping you = you have to pay back the favour.

Smile... smile...