Little investment and good relationship within your industry always brings fortune in China!

Ujwal Jha, Managing Director Qingdao Narayan

Company Profile:
www.narayanbs.biz

Who are your clients? Local and foreign distributors of different products. Western small and big industries.
What is your mission? Make money through bringing the world closer to China and assist manufacturers to produce their products through Chinese manufacturer.
What problem do you resolve? Contacting right people, quality and meeting deadline, efficient teamwork are the main aspects to look into.

What kind of problems between Western companies and Chinese manufacturers do you see?

I wont put it this way. The problems that we tackle generally depends on what you are working on rather who you are working with. However there are few problems that I assume most of companies face in China. Chinese do not like to say NO and if you do not understand when they said no, you would be in problem. Meeting deadline is a huge problem if you do not have a good supplier. Suppliers hesitate to tell you they need a week time to dispatch your goods or may send you substandard.
There is a lack of feedback. My company checks ensures everything in order to maintain the quality and timeline. If something goes wrong, you might even know unless you ask if there is a problem.

How a Western company can find a reliable Chinese supplier?

Do not look for it if you are not in China. If you do not have a contact or representative office in China and wish to import or get your product manufactured…. I would say do not try. Its just matter of time when but you would mess up your business. There are of course good companies here but they do not need new customers, they are too busy to take a new project in hand.

What is necessary for TOP managers of western companies for start-up business with China?

It would be great if they know Mandarin and know at least a bit of Chinese culture. People here are very friendly but it is better to know the culture and show some respect. Top management staffs should also know how to be a boss. This is a required skill to get your work done. Very formal and friendly management may have problem controlling and managing the team unless the boss acts like a boss.

What are the risks while working with a Chinese manufacturers and with what they are related?

Again it depends on what you are working on rather who you are working with. All these depends on nature of work. Quality is a huge issue. It is very easy for companies to ignore few mistakes and let it go if you are not around to ensure things.
Cost control…. if you do not have any representative office / person for day to day operation and keep in touch with your supplier, I can bet you will get into a problem. Chinese companies do not like to do paper work, so if they need one information they want right away, if you do not give them the answer, they would stop working on your project. Even if you have paid things get messed up.

Importing goods from China or working with Chinese manufacturer or setting up a factory…. just paying money and signing papers wont work in Chinese market.

What kind of advice could you give to Western companies: how to effectively sell Chinese products?

The best advice I can give is do not say it is Chinese. You can say its made in China but if you say it is a Chinese product…. its hard. My suggestion is create your own brand through Chinese manufacturing support and use your own brand, design, cover etc to assure your buyer it is only made in China but its made under Foreign management, it would give you an advantage.

How usually do you prefer to conduct negotiations?

We do not have to negotiate that often with our regular suppliers. They know us and they are fairly reliable. We have to go though several sets of negotiations if we have a new project.

Here it counts who do you deal with rather what are you working on. Some suppliers are very honest and support your business and understands what you need. New suppliers always have some ticks that you have to be careful with.

Who usually makes main decisions? International sale manager or director of the company?

The boss does. And if the top guy is out of station, the manger wont be of much help. If you ask something which is different than their daily business activities, the manger wont take any decision. Even if you offer a better deal but expect it in a different way…. Manger would do nothing, would wait to hear from the boss. Most of managers do not negotiate with their boss to close the deal. The workers are only a listener….. not always though.

Could you tell us a short interesting story from your experience, which shows difference of the Chinese and Western business culture?

There are so many…..
No paperwork
Even if they understand you need it fast, they wont if they have a bigger order in hand. They wont tell how long they need and keep you in dark.

What would you like to tell to our audience?

If you want to do business with China, visit the country. Meet people and see if you can deal the way it is. You cant change things here, you will have to adopt the way it is.

What are you think about it? Please  leave a response in comment….