Made in China Podcast

In this episode, Rico sits down with one of his good friends, Michael Michelini, as they talk about building an online presence on social media and Mike starting a 3-month program on how to navigate business during the pandemic. They also had a funny exchange of the stigma if you’re a foreigner that has travel history from China. They also talk about how the pandemic affected Mike, personally.

Some important points:

• Mike talks about Alpha Rock Capital, Getting verified pages on Social Media, Becoming a Public Figure

• Mike on “Coronavirus Coaching” 3-month Program, Navigating factory difficulties during the pandemic

• What would SFA do if factories don’t re-open in May, working with part-time employees in China

• Residency situations in other countries as a foreigner, being away from the family with a crucial situation

• Quarantine situations in China, Media and Customs in China, being stuck in the Philippines

• After the pandemic, what to consider/think moving forward in the following years

In this episode, Rico and ChinaMike catch you up with the COVID-19 transactions they face at this point. With them is their most trusted Operations Manager, Immigen Lam. They discuss how crazy it was when they got back to business since February’s lockdown in China and how this crisis gave them growth.

Topics:

• Getting back to business in China, foreign trade companies selling masks, and Chinese government policies

• Profitable Mask Business

• The Challenges of people not able to understand Foreign Trade and Sourcing Process

• Difficulties in this line of business during a crisis, best practices for shipping goods in this pandemic

• SFA Growth, Working with people on different timezones, Remote work as a normal working set up for SFA

In a previous video, Rico talks about navigating the madness in import-export policies. In this episode, Rico and ChinaMike catch you up with the climate of shipping medical supplies. They discuss the challenges they face in this line of business and how they felt doing this for weeks but it felt like a month — must be the quarantine, boys.

Some important points:

• Difference between US and Europe requirements

• Factory climate, their current capacity, and certifications

• US Customs, holding shipments, and taxes

• Client’s trust and processing orders

• Shipping best practices

The COVID-19 crisIs has created a huge shortage of protective supplies all over the world which has lead to panic buying by inexperienced buyers, who are unfamiliar with the Asian market and unable to identify the red flags that can occur during deals.

Rico Ngoma tries to clarify some of the ethical questions that arise when sourcing goods to supply people in need, the dilemma of profiting off a crisis, and how to add a social agenda when potentially profiting. Below you find some highlighted minutes for you to navigate the interview. Watch the video if you are curious about the sourcing process behind the protective supplies that are necessary to fight the pandemic.

Some important points:

• Source Find Asia’s product focus on this crisis

• importance of ‘guan xi’, keeping promises and building trust

• Shortage of protective supplies

• The ethical questions arising when ‘profiting’ on a crises

• Transparency in the supply chain

• Questions regarding the work conditions in the factories supplying the goods

• How to get in contact and setting up sourcing channels

In this episode, Rico and Nick launched an episode straight from the cozy couch of their apartment. An apartment that misses some fixtures, like literally. They talk about their lockdown experiences on day 17 of their quarantine, business climates from sourcing and manufacturing standpoint, routines for quarantine, and cheers for the positivity.

Some important points:

- Coming to the Philippines

- How Coronavirus Affected Businesses

- Manufacturing Climate

- Lockdown in the Philippines

- Living in BGC, Taguig

- Crisis Opportunist in this COVID-19 Pandemic

- Routines to keep you motivated in quarantine

In this episode, Rico calls one of his mentors, Andy Church. It has been two years since Andy has been in this podcast. This episode reunites them as Rico jots down notes from his sensei as they talk about working remotely, past experiences, Coronavirus, expanding out of China and more.

Topics:

• Remote Work, going 100% remote

• Importance of getting the work done

• Business in Southeast Asia countries other than China

• Challenges on lacking knowledge of the industry

• Andy’s experience in Southeast Asian Countries

• Establishing a relationship with a client and factories

• Expansion outside of China

• Strategic Partnerships in strategic places

In this episode, Rico and Mike talk about getting involved on the demand of Protective Medical supplies on a global scale. They both recognize the following: the importance of helping people, putting up content to educate people, the process and some forecasts.

In this podcast, Rico and ChinaMike talk about:

• Helping people and getting involved

• Orders of Medical Supplies SFA handles

• The vetting process of the factories

• Restrictions implemented to the factories by the Chinese Gov’t

• Transparency in Sourcing, the rapid changes of quotations

• Educating everybody involved in sourcing and factories

• Qingming Festival, Price Hikes

• Updates, Business Climate for the next 2 weeks

In this episode, Rico and Mike talk about getting involved in the demand of Protective Medical supplies on a global scale. They both recognize the following: the importance of helping people, putting up content to educate people, the process and some forecasts.

Topics:

• Helping people and getting involved

• Orders of Medical Supplies SFA handles

• The vetting process of the factories 

• Restrictions implemented to the factories by the Chinese government

• Transparency in sourcing, the rapid changes of quotations

• Educating everybody involved in sourcing and factories 

• Qingming Festival, Price Hikes

• Updates, Business Climate for the next 2 weeks