Made in China Podcast

ChinaMike & Rico, took a break from the holiday festivities to break down how they've hired, fired and managed employees in a foreign country. They touched on:

• The best ways to attract star employees that suit your business
   
• Why having a "higher education" isn't always a positive sign in the recruitment process
   
• If the younger Chinese generation is beginning to admire the "startup culture"
   
• Whether or not you have to micro-manage all your employees
   
• ChinaMike's horror story on what can go wrong when you give too much trust and what red flags to look out for
   
• The importance systemizing and automation, when managing a company in China
   
• The apps and strategies that the Source Find Asia team uses to automate and work remotely 

In this episode we answer your questions regarding everything from sourcing, manufacturing, logistics and trading. Be prepared for some knowledge bombs as Rico and Mike get on a trans-Pacific call to address some of the following:

• Getting your Chinese factory to provide you a warranty, particularly for electronic products

• The best way to communicate with your supplier after they’ve done something wrong

• How to go about structuring your pricing if you’re getting started in sourcing business

• Dealing with traders vs. manufacturers and how much more the traders actually mark up the products

• The 3 cardinal rules you need to know before you start importing to, or from, Asia

In this episode we interview Russell Smith, a long-term expat in China who currently designs websites and does online marketing for Chinese manufacturers. Here’s what’s on tap:

• How he got started in China and why sourcing is not for everyone

• How he transitioned into providing services to Chinese companies

• The staggering differences between forming Chinese vs. Western business relationships

• How Russell managed to break into a network of hundreds factory owners and how he’s built his reputation with them from scratch

• The one brunch with his Chinese contacts that resulted in landing 3 contracts simultaneously

This time the script is flipped and it’s Mike & Rico who are being interviewed by fellow entrepreneurial friends Carl Nickel and Gary Hones, all based in Guangzhou, China. Tune in for a lot of knowledge bombs on sourcing:

• The essential things you need to find out before ever attempting to source a product

• How to significantly cut down on time explaining the design to a factory

• Testing your products before your suppliers actually produces them

• The number one thing that will mitigate risks related to your order

In this episode we interview a digital nomad, best-selling author and creator of the blog Light Way of Thinking, Noam Lightstone. Including topics like:

• How he realized he couldn’t work for anybody after graduating in Biomedical Mechanical Engineering with a Master’s degree

• His impressions after visiting China and why that country is not for everyone

• The process of moving from Canada to Saigon, Vietnam and landing a job

China has been THE place for crowdfunding entrepreneurs designing and manufacturing their products. This time we get Luke Francis of Morveau Watches to sit on the hot chair and pick his brains about the whole process of creating, launching and successfully funding an Indiegogo campaign as well as what followed after that. Tune in to hear about:

• How he solely created a very successful campaign despite never having it done before

• How he maximized the funding and passed the goal of $20,000 all the way to over $85,000

• How Richard Branson inspired him to get out of his cushy 9-5 job

• The unexpected challenge of communicating with 600 backers

• Saving thousands of dollars in the process by outsourcing jobs on Upwork