Strategic Partnership

Combination of online, email, phone and face to face. I think it needs balance and each connection has their own style and preference. I do have a newsletter too which touches base with my client list.

Be unique and be human when you reach out. Connect - find something that you both can relate to *as humans* as a conversation starter. 

I'm sure we're all too familiar with people trying to sell on Linkedin... *insert generic compliment about your business* *insert my product/business* *insert let's chat about me me me*. 

The main issue with doing business in Asia is the lack of "Rule of Law". It's a bit wild west. There are of course exceptions to this, but short term gain is the main focus. It is seasonal thinking. This was a shock to me at first, as business academics like Hofstede propose long term thinking as dominant in Asian cultures. My observations and discussions with other operators is that this is the opposite, that many will sacrifice long term gain for a quick buck.

To do business one needs a trusted agent based on location. China is big. To check that the shipment is the right quality. They have a range of quality levels. One really needs due diligence at all times.

Contracts are only effective against the foreigner, they mean little to Chinese and Vietnamese. Relationships, or more importantly consequences of bad behaviour are more important. Without a fair judiciary system, the law is not really an option.

Of course there are so many opportunities in Asia and China. As Western Countries have been crippled by austerity measures, reducing consumer spending it's really the best place for business. It's exciting too. Just the other day I met the Viet Kieu mention by Obama in his speech. He has sold his business in Silicon Valley to start one in Vietnam. Most markets are immature and crave a more sophisticated approach. Currently the trend is to move manufacturing out of China to Vietnam, due to costs. Samsung just build their largest factory, Microsoft is doing the same. With all the trade agreements (FTA-EU, TPP, AEC) and growth of the middle class, the ASEAN area shows more promise.

For Australians, no one knows business in China more than Justin Richardson (https://cn.linkedin.com/in/justinrichardsonchina). He has been there for 18 years and speaks fluent Mandarin. Someone I have know since the 90s. I also follow Winston as he have some honest videos on living in Shenzhen. Like this one https://youtu.be/FXXQnyWRSSg

I am based in Northern Vietnam and regularly visit China.

BNI takes a lot of commitment in time and brain power to keep up with, so the rewards need to be worth the effort.

It doesn't work well for all businesses, so it is best to speak to others that are in BNI that run a similar business to yours.

If can work, BNI can teach you a lot of relationship marketing strategies which can be applied for broader business purposes.

Consider BNI part of a broader business plan, and is worth joining even for a year or two if it gels with you and your business.

I have experienced in past that partnerships only work when the partners have different and defined roles to perform in the organisation. This reduces the chances of any arguments. If every partner tries to work on similar tasks then work becomes very hard. Thus partners need to be patient, has business acumen and be able to understand extent of their roles as well,

I hate networking events. I find them massive time-wasters. 

I'm not fond of networking either but I can see its merits. For me, in personal and work life, I like to be intentional. If there's no point to the relationship, then I won't pursue it. Whether that's a short term or long term objective, I need one before I build a relationship. Be that objective, simply be that we share similar interests in business or similar values.... or something more tangible. 

As for how? Through any medium available! If I can find their email address, phone number, social media profiles.. and then through coffee/food. 

There are three separate and somewhat generic answers required here, I think. Because of course, it depends on who you are, what your business is and what your short & long-term goals are. Having qualified my answer, here's what is important to me.1. The most important qualities needed in a business partner are a personality or temperament that fits with yours; non-duplication of skills, meaning look for someone with a different and complementary skill-set, not a clone of yourself 2. The most important quality in an employee is enthusiasm. Skills can be taught, but passion cannot 3. In a service provider, value is paramount. The right solution at the right price. That doesn't mean cheap, it means the closest match of budget to expectation.

Hi Wendy

You need several tools to work this out.

1. What is that industry and channels business model - for a given retail price, what are the margins required by the retailer, the group(in the case of a franchise or banner group) and the wholesaler. Based on your costs, what margin do you need to make. In many cases the retail price will need to be 4 or 5 times the cost of a product to have enough margin for all levels in a distribution channel, and leave enough for you to market and sell it too.

For example - in the pharmacy channel, most retailers will want their stores to make 50% plus in markup/33% margin, at wholesale there may be 9-15% for head office, and you may be paying 15-20% for sales people to sell it in to individual stores. On top of that there will be other % for promotions, investment in catalogues, promotion periods, % for damaged stock, stock returns etc etc. You really have to look carefully into all the elements and know what a particular banner will want from you before you can decide if you can afford to do it.

Knowing all of this you can then start to calculate what RRP will help everyone in the channel make money.

2. Buyers - with most retailers there will be a head office buyer(in the case of groups) or a store buyer(in the case of single store retailers) and you need to find out from them a number of things including a) do they stock that type of product b) when do they make decisions on their ranges c) what do they expect in a presentation from you d) what support do they expect from you in marketing and other areas.

Hope this helps

Hunter