Looking for Export , but how to Export ? Is this the question which hovers the most in the mind of every person looking to venture beyond boundaries of one’s country .Ofcourse, this was also the problem of Mr Nath , the marketing head of a corporate which wanted that they should also start export as their product is of very high standard .Whereas, inferior products than their products have good command in international market.
This made him to see me as to how to go for it .Before that they had no experience of international trade. The over confidence about their product with ignorance about international market was biggest challenge for me to make him understand that it is not always better product which can be exported but a lot matters which if does not exist , then transaction cannot be completed.
Anyhow, the gentleman agreed to give up the thought that only quality matters but various factors dominate an international business.
The factors which need to be understood for international business are :
a) Piloting with proper product – Even if one is manufacturing various products say three products and have very good market share in all of the three products , then too , the proper product has to be identified .
Here, one will say that ok , the theory is fine , but how to conclude that it is a proper product , then the answer has to be found by the person dealing in the products as he is the best judge in that case .Because, such person can only understand the minor aspects of any change if demanded or compelled in international market
b) Finding Proper Market - Every market has only one golden rule which is demand and supply compliment each other. The proper product should also get the most proper market. Since, merely because everything can be bought and sold in a market , any market cannot be said to be proper market.
Say, if ink pen has high demand in Russia and has very good potential , but it is being tried to be sold to USA which has least takers , then such market cannot be said to be proper market for ink pen.
This simple analogy if understood by an exporter at an early date , it can bring wonders for him as success of any international business is dependant upon proper market
The very next question which arises is that how to find out as to which is the best potential market. This question has solution on studying the following :
i) Research on customers behaviour in different countries
ii) Data on demand of a particular products in a particular country
iii) Export import data of the targeted countries
These all will give a strong signal that which country is having best potential for one’s product.
c) Product Specification in potential market- the very next step which comes as most important factor is identifying and matching the specification of demanded products and successfully implying in your potential product before it can be explored for exporting .
The product specification has to be considered in following important terms :
i) Segment usage
ii) Packing
iii) Warranty and after sales service
iv) Pricing
v) Pattern, shape ,size, color etc
On understanding the above factors, a exporter can have confidence to place the product in the potential market.
Hope , lot of unsolved puzzles are solved and many more will be in future as well. In the following sessions , we shall be highlighting about other crucial factors so that the fear of how to and shall I export will permanently vanish from the minds of manufacturers, exporters, trades, suppliers of the world including India.
The author is business editor with www.made-from-india.com, a world class B2b Portal especially meant for promoting business of SME’s .
Labels: B2B Suppliers, B2b Business, B2b E-commerce
Gone are the days when one has to send communication through letters, fax or by other modes , today is the world of hi tech communicating modes say e-mail, sms, mms etc.
New media of internet has dominated the business as well, so is the high time when online exhibition should replace the offline exhibition.Since, online exhibition has following benefits :
a) No travelling
b) deep reach
c) less cost
d) more profit
e) 24 hrs live
f) no international boundary
g) more ROI
h) more exposure
in the history of b2b portals of the world including india , the online exhibition is for the first time introduced by www.made-from-india.com which is going to see not only area specific exhibitions but also industry specific exhibitions.
The first phase of exhibition is to start from 14 Decemeber 2008 and will last upto 31th January 2009 in which prominent exhibitors of indian industrial belts i.eAhmedabad, Aurangabad , Rajkot, Mumbai, Surat and vadodara will be highlighted.
During second phase, from 15the February 2009 to 31st March 2009,industry specific exhibitions will be for cotton, pharmaceutical, plastics, chemicals etc. This will also highlight some prominent manufacturers from entire world.Since,industry specific will be international exhibition.
This exhibition is going to be a great boon for manufacturer, exporters, importers, traders etc of entire world.
For participating in international exhibitions on cotton,plastics,chemicals, pharmaceuticals etc , one can contact on info@made-from-india.com .For further , querries , one can visit
Before one understand this mystery , three factors are to be known for revealing the mathematics of any market players :
a) Demand and Supply
b) Quality at competitive rate
c) Growth for survival in tough competition
I remember , last Saturday I got a call from a senior president of a MNC , saying that I am looking for new market but cant make as to where shall I go for and especially when the management is insisting for fast set up of new supply chain in new markets but I am afraid with global melt down of economy , since , it has broken the backbone of every company irrespective of country.
I started to deal the situation with certain things which I am just reiterating so that some one can use it as to why new markets are required . New Markets can be set up by adopting any of the ways as is practiced by the global players :
a) Setting up a subsidiary unit
b) Making up channel sales force
c) Making business associates
d) Making assignment based agents
e) Generating continous leads for business deals
People may choose as per their best economy , nature of business and longetivity of business interest. But, the gentleman was sounding over enthusiastic and even said ,…….yes , Mr Becker , I know this all but my problem is still as such and repeated it as well for times .This made me to finally ask him to accompany me over tea which longed to dinner.
In our first sitting , he had a very long brain storming session and he was only interested to know an answer to why ? instead of knowing how to do it so , let us name it “Why Session” Why Session New Market means more business and new business as well. In other words means more profit and revenue irrespective of its sustainability .
Again the same question cropped as to why new market , ofcourse ! for this I am paid for and companies make business out of such advises.
a) What is the meaning of new market ?
b) How to explore new market ?
c) Which market will be the best new market ?
All the aforesaid questions have simple answer as discussed below. It can be understood by simple formula of demand and supply. Where there is demand which is sustainable and with better prospects will be considered as new market . The new market can be within the territory of one’s country or may even cross the barrier of international market. If demand is more in a new market , then it is always advisable for exploring a new market . The market can be explored with better pricing with best quality , since the golden rule is quality should always command the pricing factor and pricing factor always follow quality factor . Since, both are incomplete without each other and compliment vice versa.
As already said , the new market could be explored with new subsidiary , joint venture, partnerships, business associates, deployment of work force or even without substantial investment by way of continous generation of business leads , may be a B2b platform or b2b portal can get business leads for you like www.made-from-india.com ,which I recently saw and seems to be a promising one for global traders and exporters.
Exploring new markets can be even by way of launching your product in unexplored areas of one’s country and even exporting the product to a particular country where best demand is there . The result will be more demand will always give better pricing factor. Ofcourse, such markets will be the best market to be explored since business is done for profit and the market which can give more profit will always be the best market whether it is new and unknown as well. Say , a ball pen has the best quality over the existing ball pens in its segment and usage, but unless not being sold in better market will always get less revenue over inferior ball pens which are in best market where the demand is more for ball pens and for quality .
After listening such simple things , the gentleman said , Mr Becker even I knew this but you made me understand the simple analogy and now I am sure to give some promising result to my management. We shall be discussing other aspects of other sessions in due course of time , meanwhile , simply understand the fact that business is for profit and it is always dominated by demand and supply .
The author is business editor with www.made-from-india.com
Labels: B2b Business, B2B Portal News India
International Business is a Click away
The universe is small in front of speed and world of internet. Dont you believe ? through surfing, the unreachable can be surpassed at the speed of thought. The world is at reach with your laptop/pc, provided with internet connection. Khudos to business to business (b2b) portals, even in vacation , business seems to be fun.
Gone are the days , when one need to do endless correspondences and struggling to settle with a buyer and if buyer found , to settle in other terms was almost impossible job.Now , everything is transparent and at the reach of a businessman , afterall , time optimized signifies , time saved for more business , which always means money by way of profit.
Is any one really interested in travelling and wasting precious time of life in struggling for a buyer or take pleasure in finding buyer at ease .If no, then its high time to enter the game of e-commerce at clicks away.
Business to Business Portal For Business of new Age
A b2b portal is simply a magical wand for business in new age of e-commerce. If it comes to wonders in business , then it can be one . www.made-from-india.com matches the magic in business by its services for offers of buy and sell, lead on demand , SEO, 12 pages website with 12times more exposure to search engines and better Alexa ranking as well as virtual office.
It provides , all leads/offers from both buyer and sellers of manufactured goods and services without any hurdle . Genuineness always comes packed with every such information of products of Indian manufacturers, suppliers,exporters which is required by businessmen of India as well as traders form every part of the world.
In a b2b portal , a member can have spacious showroom to display their products and services , as the case may be, and to get maximum business offers round the clock by their virtual office , which is the most unique feature and never before offered by any single b2b portal of the world for years.
Virtual office is revolutionary tool to face the competition and outgo competitors, with all information constantly stored , even when office of a businessman is not working at woo hours.The virtual office has evolved after research and development in business needs for a b2b ,over two decades, so as to maximize the benefits of Indian manufacturers,suppliers,exporters and importers , beside similar generic of the world.
With the aid of virtual office one can manage the affairs of business be it procurement of raw materials, market their product in its own country , exporting , recruitment i.e manpower , finances and can even plan out its inventory and look for business services to run the show.
Benefits of Business to Business (B2b ) platform :
a) Viability
b) accessibility
c) time saving
d) better and more options of buyers and sellers
e) virtual office , a revolution in business i.e global power
f) presence in internet world through best SEO
g) brand creation, brand awareness, brand make over.
h) Business for 24hrs X 7 days for 365 days
i) Wider reach
j) Exploring untapped market
k) Boundaryless communication
l) Unlimited business via unlimited business querries/leads/offers
m) Quicker response
n) Business without travel
o) Better negotiation powers i.e buying power
p) Better price for final goods i.e selling power
q) Do business in your terms and conditions
r) Launching your products at zero cost
s) Enhanced profits , more turnover
t) Decreased expenses, more Profits i.e controlling the economy of business.
u) Buyers of your product can be from any part of the world which is not possible if not present in B2b platform
v) Show your products and potential to world and world will respect your product and demand it in turn.
w) It connects buyers and sellers at ease and business occurs at a blink.
x) online exhibition wonder which cannot be matched even by offline exhibition, one such online b2b exhibition which is going to be of world class is going to be held from 14 december 2008 to 31st march on various industries and focusing various locations on www.made-from-india.com
So, can any one really miss the jet of success , when this jet is available for all. But at the same , one has to be careful so that the profit in business sustain even if b2b platform way is adopted for carrying out business.
Exhibition is one of the glamorous media for exploring business branding and finding new avenues of expansion as well.
I remember the days during 2003, when I was working in one automobile accessory parts manufacturing company and the company was very aggressive in media participation. The entire emphasis was on Exhibition .
Those days were very hectic. Before, the exhibition was to start long brain storm sessions with technical team and reporting to top brass for strategy for the specific exhibition was normal for almost every week. Also, at times, had to complete all formalities of visa and et all , so that I can safely land in international territory for new international territory of business for the company.
With the completion of new exhibition , the tension of attending the another one was on the chart and again the same cycle .The same type of preparations and activities were at par with daily sops of channels .
Once, I had to make a last minute visit to Nairobi for an international exhibition. I alongwith my team reached in late night , unfortunately the hotel denied to honour their commitment of booking and the very next day , we were also supposed to look fresh so that visitors can be attended in a sophisticated manner. The night was very long by the time we settled for some roof for our head .
All such experiences taught me one lesson that attending an exhibition successfully requires preparation for every phase :
a) Tracking exhibition on regular basis.
b) Choosing and getting a stall booked.
c) Pre-preparation for attending an exhibition including accommodation and other reservations.
d) Making stuffs for distribution and packing it for transportation .
e) Study of participants of a particular exhibition.
f) Reaching in advance .
g) Attending the days of exhibition and explaining to visitors.
h) Compiling all data’s of probable’s and packing on completion of exhibition.
i) Reporting on exhibition to management and action plan .
Over twenty five years of experience in attending exhibition and trade events , I always wish that if I had some alternative to attending an exhibition. Since offline exhibitions are very expensive, time consuming, requires intense travelling, devotion of entire days during exhibition, limited reach to the visitors and participants of exhibition and requires extensive preparation.
Finally, I got online B2b exhibition not only as an alternative but is more effective and advantageous than offline exhibition. Really , want to know how , then pl read it very carefully:
a) No international Boundary – Online exhibition has deepest reach and penetration since any person at any point of time and from any part of the world can see the exhibitors products and services . No international boundary exist for the visitors who want to go for online exhibition, whereas, offline exhibition always have a barrier of international boundary. Since, entire world is for business and b2b portals just make it happen.
b) No Travelling – Neither the exhibitor need to travel to a place to show their products or service nor a visitor need to travel to see the products or services of the exhibitors.
c) Very Less Cost - The cost for travelling , lodging and boarding, cost of distribution stuff and manpower gets reduced to almost 5% .It is very cost effective since , costing is the need of the hour especially when entire world is pointing on costing.
d) No Time Limitation – Convenience is the other name of online exhibition since there is no restriction of time for visiting online exhibition. Any person can visit such exhibition at any time of day or night and see and find the products and services of his/her need. This is not possible with offline exhibition. With such innovative online B2b exhibition people don’t have to plan out time ,out of busy schedule to visit upto the place of offline exhibition but as per their convenience , it can be explored .
e) Maximum ROI- Business world always care for return on investment i.e profit , for them online exhibition always have maximum ROI in return .Since, not only it is cost effective and reaches maximum mass and targeted genuine audience but also more people can participate in exhibition.
f) Better Communication – On finding a particular exhibitor, a visitor can immediately contact him/her by email or call as entire details are available . It makes communication more effective and fast as well.
g) Maximum Exhibition can be Attended- One can attend atleast 5 online exhibitions at the cost of 1 offline exhibition. Moreover, frequency of participation also increases without much preparation and no need to settle again after visiting one exhibition before preparing for participating the other one.
h) Tension free- The term tension can include any and everything which is associated with offline exhibition . Whereas, online b2b exhibition is totally tension free and blended with latest technology to improve the chances of success.
The list of advantages are more and more …….just think once again , but I really wish it had been in existence atleast ten years back as well.
The author is an exhibition advisor to www.made-from-india.com
Labels: B2b E-commerce, b2b trade show, online exhibition
Tracking the condition and status of a company's assets just got easier with the new upgrade from RedPrairie Corp., an optimization company. The E2e Supply Chain Execution suite is now integrated with asset management capabilities of the company's standalone Mobile Resource Management solutuion. "Integrated visibility and control over the movement of inventory and assets across today’s complex global supply networks can be slow, costly, and very challenging. In the past, inventory and the assets used to ship them were tracked in two separate systems, which made closed-loop tracking of assets very difficult. With the new release, customers can manage this combined movement through a single process, driving greater efficiency, improved visibility and stronger control over supply chain operations," said Tom Kozenski, vice president product strategy The system supports the use of RFID, 2-D barcodes and other AIDC technologies to track inventory and assets within the distribution center, as well as outside of it, such as in trailer yards, in-transit, at customer sites, or even within a retailer’s store network. Both serialized and non-serialized assets can be tracked at each location. The enhanced system also allows the ability to track asset movement to and from suppliers and repair depots. Source-industryweek.com
Do the terms -- value added, superior customer value, or value chain -- make you want to throw something since you have heard the terms so much? Let's face it, you have been trying to improve revenue and profitability by creating superior value for your customers, improving effectiveness and efficiency and improving supplier relationships for years. You have spent countless hours getting managers trained in lean and six sigma processes, implementing enterprise and customer relationship management systems, and executing initiatives to improve innovation, capture voice of the customer data and integrate information systems. You have spent millions of dollars in cash, time and effort. Yet, the pressure from global competitors seems to be increasing rather than declining and you often find yourself still being beat up on price. What in the world is going on here? The problem is movement. You probably thought that "moving value" was about how you can move value through the supply chain, managing its creation and delivery. But, it also means that value perceptions are moving throughout the supply chain; the target is constantly in flux. We will deal with both aspects of value movement in this article and leave you with five tips on how you might adapt your approach to managing them. Value management begins with understanding that value is in the eye of the "customer" and not inherent in any product, service, or system. The "customer" is the next person in a work cell, the next process in the factory, the next business unit to whom you deliver, the immediate paying customer be it another business unit or an external firm and the subsequent downstream organizations and consumers through to the final end-user. In a true relationship mindset, world-class companies often think of their suppliers also as customers; how can I better service my suppliers and suppliers' suppliers? As such, every link in the "value stream" within your "four walls" and outside constitutes a supplier-customer relationship. Each decision maker is willing to make certain sacrifices in terms of monetary and non-monetary costs to obtain desired benefits. The more positive is that tradeoff between benefits and sacrifices, the more value both parties receive, driving customer satisfaction, commitment and recommendations to others. A significant amount of research states that all customers value functional benefits, relational benefits, service benefits, and brand reputation (quality, consistency) -- and they evaluate each distinctly. Customers also evaluate both the monetary and non-monetary sacrifices (e.g., difficulty of doing business with a vendor, retailer, supplier) that they must make to obtain those benefits. As a result, we should exert effort on those activities that either improve the opportunity for an immediate or downstream customer to experience an improved, very specific, desired benefit and/or experience less of a sacrifice to obtain those benefits. Moving value means constantly improving the value perceptions immediate and downstream customers perceive they are getting. In exchange, customers "pay" suppliers more in terms of price, volume, share of business, and share of mind, improving the value that suppliers receive from customers all the way back through the supply chain. Moving value recognizes the fact that most of what and how customers make value judgments is out of the control of marketers/suppliers/brand managers. Customers constantly are bombarded with buying-related information. As customers, regardless of definition, go about living their lives, they are constantly refining their interpretations about the value of specific products, services, and relationships. Since brand managers/suppliers have little influence on this valuing process, they are forced to be constantly vigilant to the changes in what specific customers value and why. It is nothing short of an entirely different way of looking at customers and supply chain relationships. So your task is two-fold, to continuously improve the value equation at every stage of the value stream by improving benefits and reducing sacrifices while also recognizing that the target you are shooting at is constantly changing. I have five tips to help you think about influencing and recognizing value movement throughout the supply chain. Value must be experienced at each and every step of the supply chain within and outside of your organization. Your targets are moving too quickly in today's global business environment. You must constantly move the value bar higher at every link you can influence and keep up with changes that you cannot influence but to which you must respond -- all ahead of the competition. Daniel J. Flint, Ph.D., is the Proffitt's, Inc. Professor of Marketing and director of the marketing Ph.D. program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He has an engineering degree from Annapolis, an MSA from Central Michigan University, and a Ph.D. in marketing and logistics from the University of Tennessee. Flint's expertise is in customer value management, specifically helping firms gain deeper insights to their customers' changing value perceptions, and logistics innovation. Source-industryweek.com
