Marketing scheme

Nowadays, there is a new way to market your goods. I learned this from one of my customers just recently.

Well, most retailers or customers just want to buy from direct manufacturers, if possible. For one, it is because it is cheaper (of course) and also because they can quality check their order even before it is sent from the factory. Buying from a distributor is fine too because they would have done the QC for you and also, bulk buying has allowed the distributor to get the goods at low prices. What if you are not a manufacturer or a distributor but a trader? How do you convince the buyer to sign the deal with? The answer is to lie!

This trick is not easy. Firstly, you have to have a willing factory owner who can relinquish the ownership to you for a moment when the buyer arrives to check the condition of the factory. You claim that the factory is yours. This way the buyer would be confident to buy from you, confident enough that you will not be charging too high prices (prices that have passed through many hands and from which, high percentage of commission has been drawn upon).

There are many flaws to this game. For one, what is the customers find out about it one day? The factory's and your reputation would be tarnished. Then, since the goods have changed hands for more than 1 time, what about the price? Will it be competitive enough? Who is responsible if problems arises? The factory or the trader who lies?

I, myself, do not do this. I think things, especially that being a trader is already a complex issue, should be kept simple, but, for daring souls out there, they might resort to such methods.

Introduction

5 months into my first job after graduation, I would like to introduce my company. We sell anything under the sun(well, only those from Taiwan and China, really) to Indonesia mainly, since it is where I am located.

Well, you might ask(or I insist that you ask, anyway) what kind of things I am selling right now? For a starter, I sell supplies for all kinds of footwear; machines, spare parts and etc.

I learned that footwear is an interesting industry. Old types and including some contemporary ones require a combination of different materials and processes. Every detail is carefully man made and even polished and has to go through quality checks at the end of it. It is one of the things where it has to be hand made.

As time goes by, making shoes and sandals has become simplified. There are injection machines to make PVC shoes and sandals. The cost too become so much cheaper if you can reach mass market at the start of the race, otherwise, you cannot get your capital back. It is amazing at how much the footwear industry in revolutionizing at this moment. Customers call me up to see if we sell new machines, similar to those they saw at China.

Once the race starts, there is only one way to go and that is forward.