Warning: Graphic Content – The Horror Story Of Our First Import

Warning: Graphic Content The Horror Story Of Our First Import
We know how it feels, we’ve been there.
 
In 2014 we launched our first line of products; the illusive stringer vest. After weeks of searching on Alibaba we found a supplier, ordered a sample and paid the 30% deposit to get started with production. 5,000 stringers and all of our cash on the line.
 
Fast forward 60 days…. it was time to pay the remaining 70%, excitement was brewing, we were one step closer to launching our own company! Until, the invoice we received for the 70% final payment. The original manufacturers details had been replaced by a totally new company in a different city.
 
How could this be? We jumped on Skype to our thus far helpful sales representative.
 
“Hi Dan and Marc, no problem I just changed company, it is normal, the quality is the same”.
 
Holy shit, now what do we do? We’ve paid 30% and invested 2 months developing these products.
 
“Let’s do it”
 
Through over optimism and naivety we paid, gulp.
 
Fast forward another 35 days, it was delivery day. At 10am an articulated lorry reversed its way down the narrow road to our house much to the annoyance of the neighbours.
 
Another element we were naive to, “I’m sorry, you don’t have a forklift?!”  After unloading each box one by one which incurred an additional charge for the driver’s time, we tore open a box to inspect the goods that we’d invested our life savings in.
 
“Why is this box filled with green stringers?” Marc proclaimed.
 
“Maybe they’ve made extra in a new colour for us to test?!” Dan responded.
 
We were optimistic folks back in 2014…
 
Unfortunately, Dan was wrong.
 
Our order consisted of core colours we thought would be consistent sellers: Black, Charcoal Grey and White. The 2,000 charcoal grey we ordered had been subtly substituted for green. No matter how many times we checked under different lights, the fact remained.
 
We were the proud owners of 2,000 green stringer vests.
 
At this point we knew our approach had to change, a hit and hope method would not allow us to build a business.
 
Over the past 4 years, we’ve made every mistake there is to make. We have learnt from those mistakes and are proud to say we have now helped over 300 brands launch their products to market.
 
We have decided to develop an importing blueprint in the form of an online course. A step by step visual guide with all the necessary resources to give you the best possible chance of nailing a successful import each and every time.
 
This blueprint is made with those learnings in mind, tried and tested methods and rules to follow.
 
The guide we wish we had four years ago.
 
Stay tuned for more posts detailing what you can expect to find within the blueprint, more of our own horror stories and information as to how and when you can get your hands on the course.

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