I am Ashish Monga, founder of IMEX Sourcing Services. I am also a partner at DeckHook & run the Guangzhou Chapter of Hardware Massive.

I came to China six years ago to start my importing services company. I’d been on the other side of the business, living in the UK. I was importing and selling products online which I’d imported from China and India.

This experience prompted me to start my company so I could address many of the issues and obstacles I’d encountered as an importer. I’ve put together a fully bilingual Chinese team with years of experience in sourcing, factory manufacturing, and international business. We serve customers worldwide, from early-stage FBA sellers to multinationals with six-figure, multiple-container sourcing budgets.

I’ve had an amazing experience here in China, a country bursting with opportunities. My business has given me and my team the chance to work with interesting clients from all corners of the world.

Boredom? Not in this market. Never. We may be sourcing world-class kayaks on Monday, working with a startup company developing new technology products on Tuesday, and helping a builder source fittings for a 50-story office building in New York on Wednesday.

I’ve traveled throughout China visiting factories. It presents a perfect opportunity to study their processes and build relationships. I’ve come to understand their challenges and help them understand my clients as well.

It’s a give-and-take interaction that ultimately helps both sides understand each other’s needs. Ultimately, it’s about improving communications and building relationships so everyone wins. China runs & thrives on relationships or “Guanxi” as it’s called here. 

This travel and deep dive into Chinese manufacturing and business practices have prompted me to build my company on systems and processes that help my clients minimize costs, manage risk, maximize quality & maximize the use of their time in “high-value” activities.

This enables them to take advantage of China’s massive export potential while streamlining and improving their supply chain.

Clients tell me stories & share their issues either during our interactions on the projects we work on or during the consultation work I do. I also read online about the many pitfalls importers face when doing business in China & find the same issues repeat over & over. Perhaps you face the same problems: corruption, quality and ethics, transparency and honesty, and scams and fraud.

You’re not alone. Anyone wanting to succeed in China has to deal with these potential issues. But once you figure out how to maneuver through this minefield, you open the door to unlimited business opportunities.

That’s the reason I started this blog. I want to share the lessons and experiences I, and my clients, have learned in dealing with Chinese factories, and importing and exporting generally from China. I will tell you about my successes – and failures.

Above all, I want to show you what’s worked and is working, and what we are doing today. Have a read about the processes and practices I have developed to deal with the unique, and not-so-unique, challenges China presents.

This business feeds my passion for e-commerce, and I learn new things every day. A very large majority of our clients are e-commerce sellers. I’ll share with you the many lessons and successful strategies I’ve learned along the way, especially as it pertains to importing from China.

Even though most of the information and advice here is specific to China, you can easily apply it to most other low-cost, manufacturing-based, developing countries.

Please share your experiences and give me your feedback on what I write. You can do so via the comments on this blog. Another great place for us to connect is on Facebook or Linkedin.

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