"Made in the USA"

How can you support local manufacturing and still utilize the savings of sourcing overseas?

We all feel different emotions when we see a "made in USA" sticker or tag on a product that you are purchasing. Being the son of hard working American factory worker, I understand how important the jobs are to these men and women.
Many companies that we discuss the benefits of sourcing overseas, always are hesitant to take away jobs from fellow Americans. There are ways to utilize American made products and integrate products into your program from overseas as well. One key opportunity that we mention is that the product can be put into a package that is made in Asia and can save them up to 30%. So you can still proudly say that the product is made in the USA, and still save with the packaging from another country.

We would love to hear some of your ideas and success stories on your process of combining importing and domestic manufacturing. 

Entrepreneurial Spirit at Work

Living in the USA, we often want to think sometimes that we rule the market on being an entrepreneur. After my recent trip to Asia, I was reminded that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well all over the world.

• Is being a successful entrepreneur creating your company and then selling it for millions or billions to Yahoo or Amazon?
• Is being a successful entrepreneur having your company going public?
• Is it having a full board of directors?
• Is it having a 45-page business plan that outlines your next five, ten and twenty years of the company’s future?

Or can a successful entrepreneur be making enough money to live well, have a good customer base, provide for your kids, keep a decent house and enjoy your life/business?

As my wife and business partner were walking the markets in Asia, I always enjoyed the small shops selling anything from fresh fish, corn, shish kabobs and coconut drinks. They had a full business plan in place: marketing, knowing their target market, advertising, negotiating for top margins and customer service.

Here are some of the highlights of their “small business”
1. They had their usual location every night.
2. Had just a one to four person staff with one leading the team.
3. They offered either a verbal or written menu.
4. They had an advertiser out trying to get people to come to their food establishment.
5. They had their pricing in place, with a little room for negotiation.
6. They had their tables set up and brought the product to you.
7. Reaffirmed the sale and followed up after we were done.

This is a great lesson for business owners who are looking for sourcing or importing. It’s a normal reaction to reach out for the largest companies to find a product or service overseas. The only glitch is that the largest companies also come with the largest payroll, property tax, overhead expense and large rolls of red tape to break through.

Contact us to learn ways to get around the largest and get to the best. http://www.bigfootimports.com

China bust? No Way

Well if there were any of you that were thinking that China is on a downward spiral; think again. The following article can be found in the New York Times.

China Becomes World’s No. 1 Exporter, Passing Germany

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Germany as the world’s top exporter after China’s December exports jumped 17.7 percent for their first increase in 14 months, data showed Sunday. Exports for the last month of 2009 were $130.7 billion, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

That raised total 2009 exports to $1.2 trillion, ahead of the 816 billion euros ($1.17 trillion) for Germany forecast by its foreign trade organization, BGA.

China’s new status is largely symbolic, but it reflects the ability of its resilient, low-cost manufacturers to keep selling abroad despite a slump in global consumer demand as a result of the financial crisis. December’s rebound was an “important turning point” for exporters, a customs agency economist, Huang Guohua, said on the government television network CCTV.

“We can say that China’s export enterprises have completely emerged from their all-time low in exports.”

Stronger foreign sales of Chinese goods could help to drive the country’s recovery after demand plunged in 2008, forcing thousands of factories to close and throwing millions of laborers out of work. Helped by a 4 trillion renminbi ($586 billion) stimulus package, China’s economic expansion accelerated to 8.9 percent for the third quarter of 2009.

The government says full-year growth should be 8.3 percent.

Economists and Germany’s national chamber of commerce said earlier that the country was likely to lose its longtime crown as top exporter. China is best known as a supplier of shoes, toys, furniture and other low-tech goods, while Germany exports machinery and other higher-value products.

China surpassed the United States as the biggest auto market in 2009 and is on track to replace Japan as the world’s second-largest economy soon.

China passed Germany as the third-largest economy in 2007.

Even though China overtook Germany as top exporter, the customs agency said total 2009 Chinese trade fell 13.9 percent from 2008.

China is going to be largest economic force in the future and I believe that the best option for American business' is to embrace this fact and utilize what the Chinese can do to help us all make more profit and reinvest it into American innovation that will allow us to be a powerhouse in all new areas in the future.

Cardboard Packaging = Big Savings

Buy my packaging overseas???

"I buy my cardboard packaging locally because it's not cost effective for me to get it overseas". We had this quote from a customer of ours that wanted to save money on their packaging but didn't think it could be accomplished. My partners and I at Bigfoot Imports starting sourcing in China to see if we could find a quality product and competitive pricing. As it turned out, we were able to find an excellent source for our customers cardboard packaging and save them 20-30% compared to their current prices.

Our customer was so excited that they wanted us to create a customized gift box that could be used for a Christmas promotion in retail stores. We were able to take their ideas and create exactly what she was envisioning.



So at this point, you might be wondering; "What would the process be for us to get quotes and have our packaging made"?

First- Provide us with the original artwork for the packaging. Usually an Adobe AI file is the best option, but sometimes a PDF or JPEG can work as well.

Second- Decide on your quantity for production. For any company to save money on having the packaging made overseas, you would need to order at least one 40' container. If you are looking less than that, then locally is still your best bet.

Third- We will have a sample made for you and ship it to you for your approval. If everything passes your quality test, then we will begin production.

Fourth- Production usually takes 20-30 days depending on the time of year. Starting in September through Christmas is always the busiest time for most manufacturers.

Fifth- Shipping to your door

Sixth- Be very happy with the excellent quality and savings that your company has just achieved by an alternate form of manufacturing.


Don't feel intimidated if you haven't had product made overseas yet, this is your opportunity to add significant margin to your sales by adding 20-30% of savings just on your packaging.

Please feel free to ask us any questions that you have about this process either through this blog or through our website at bigfootimports.com.

Maersk Signals A Slow Recovery

A.P. Moller-Maersk AS reported a hefty loss for the first nine months of the year, a sign that shipping will recover at a slower pace than trade as an excessive shipbuilding spree continues to take its toll.

Copenhagen-based Maersk said Thursday it lost $778 million for the period. Maersk, the world's biggest shipping company by volume, posted a profit of $3.5 billion a year earlier. Analysts had forecast roughly a $700 million loss.

Maersk expects to lose $1 billion this year.

"This is a worse development in the container market than we expected," said Jacob Pedersen, an analyst with Denmark's Sydbank AS.

Revenue from Maersk's oil and gas units are expected to stay flat from last year.

Shipping usually tracks trade closely because 90% of goods are moved on the seas, but that's not the case today.

Trade is recovering: The International Monetary Fund expects a 2.5% increase next year after an 11.9% drop in 2009. But shipping revenue is expected to lag behind because of deflated prices charged for moving containers.

Maersk's prices have fallen 32% on average from last year as volume fell just 3%, said Maersk Chief Executive Nils Smedegaard Andersen.

The industry's average price of moving a 40-foot container on the world's 42 main shipping routes was $2,040 in September, down 17% from a year earlier, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd., a London-based consulting firm.

Maersk's ills are emblematic of an industry that bet heavily on the trade boom early this decade. Companies ordered so many vessels that shipyards still have to deliver the equivalent of 40% of the world's current fleet, according to analysts.

"There's just no way the market can absorb all that," said Drewry analyst Philip Damas. "People are losing serious money in the container business right now."

Maersk and other carriers have responded by laying off staff, steaming slower, circumnavigating the expensive Suez Canal and docking some ships while canceling orders for others.

But that's not enough. Mr. Andersen said he expects that "the container market and the tanker market—the shipping industry in general—will remain under pressure in 2010."

Even recent price increases will be cold comfort. "Rates are edging back up, but they are still below the entry level of 2009," he said, and aren't rising faster than fuel costs.

Sydbank's Mr. Pedersen said it will take time for the effects of rate increases to trickle down to the bottom line. "Shipping companies often secure contracts months in advance."

Maersk isn't the only carrier experiencing major difficulties. Neptune Orient Lines Ltd., the world's fifth-biggest container carrier, projected a loss of $636 million this year. German container port operator HHLA AG said Thursday its 2009 container revenue would fall 30%.

Shipping of dry-bulk goods, such as wheat and coal, is faring better than of containers and oil tankers. The Baltic Dry Index is up more than fourfold from a year ago.