September 7th, 2009 by jrec
There is far too much talk and not enough action about international environmental issues. Governments talk about climate change and their intentions are probably very good, but we are simply not seeing them deliver on their promises. Two years ago, a UK client wanted to purchase some water storage units for their business, and their requirement was for units that were made in the UK from UK recycled plastic. They searched the Internet for suitable products and found them on a government website: ‘water butts made from UK recycled plastic’ seemed to fit the bill, but we decided to find out where the UK plastic was actually recycled.
We found that the plastic was indeed collected from locations across the UK, but then shipped across to China where it was converted into plastic water storage units that were then shipped back to be sold in the UK. We challenged the government organisation on the true ethics of the situation, and it they justified themselves because ‘otherwise the containers coming from China would return empty’. Would it not have been better to convert the UK plastic in a UK factory, which would be both kinder to the environment in terms of transport fuel usage and simultaneously create employment? Then those ‘empty’ containers could be shipped to China full of UK made plastic water butts to sell into that important and rapidly growing economy. Or is that just naive?
Tags: Add new tag, Ethics
Posted in Ethics and Standards | No Comments »
September 2nd, 2009 by jrec
If you create something, make sure you protect it. A teenage girl once had a great idea to make skirts out of neck ties donated by her father, family and friends. She wore the prototype with pride while walking through a favourite shopping arcade. On her next visit one week later, she saw ‘tie skirts’ being sold for £35 each. A salutory lesson, that taught her not to reveal new product ideas without first protecting the design.
Many are under the misapprehension that Intellectual Property Protection is expensive and only really benefits the lawyers. There are many things that you can do to achieve limited protection at little or no cost. There are also instances where the amount you pay a lawyer to protect your property will benefit you significantly in the long term. You can obtain a good summary of the various intellectual property rights at http://www.virtuosolegal.com/ip.htm If you created it, protect it!
Posted in Intellectual Property Rights | No Comments »
August 17th, 2009 by jrec
There are a number of world time zone maps and clocks available online. Exportaid uses a number, including http://www.worldtimezone.com/ and http://www.worldtravelguide.net/clock/ to constantly remind us of the time differences between our UK base and the rest of the world. We plan our communications with associates and clients in different countries so that everyone knows in advance when they need to be available.
Russia covers seven time zones, North America six, Africa four, and Australia three. So not only does communication need to be planned but also your travel. Most importantly, you need to know when and where your customers will be available to meet with you. By understanding their timetables and the cultural issues that may impact on that timetable, you can save yourself a lot of time and money.
Posted in Logistics | No Comments »
August 11th, 2009 by jrec
The Internet is a fantastic business tool, but it can never replace face to face contact. It has enabled Exportaid to work with individuals and companies in many different countries at very low cost, both to our company and our customers. It has helped significantly in the development of The Export Network (TEN), of which Exportaid is one of 18 associate companies spanning 12 different countries.
We have utilised most of the technologies that are now available. Possibly the greatest breakthrough in communication technology has been the development of live video. This has enabled face to face communication with minimal need to travel. There are still limitations with the free live video services, most of which only support two individuals talking to each other, but technology is moving faster than we can control it and we expect that free conference video technology will not be too far away. While nothing will replace doing business around a table in the same room, video can be a good second best.
Posted in Communication | No Comments »
July 27th, 2009 by jrec
It doesn’t seem to matter how much you try and improve your services on the Internet. There will always be someone out there who thinks it is riotously funny to try and wreck your good work! Scamming and spamming appears to be an entrenched global problem that we can do little about, and even spending a few seconds deleting it may seem like an imposition. However, there are places where you can report scams, so save the following websites into your favourites:
Bank email scams: http://www.banksafeonline.org.uk/report_scam.html
Notification of the latest scams: http://www.millersmiles.co.uk/
Reporting Phishing: http://www.antiphishing.org/report_phishing.html
There are many more out there, so if you want to find more just type ‘phishing scam’ or a similar phrase into your search engine and it will give you more options. Collectively we can make a difference. One thing is for sure, if we do nothing about unwanted and/or offensive email, the problem will not go away.
Posted in Frauds & Scams | No Comments »
July 23rd, 2009 by jrec
Nobody is quite sure whether the current global downturn has reached its lowest point, or how long it will last. Businesses are adapting in many ways to the crisis in order to minimise risk, so it is logical that payment terms are being tightened until those green shoots we keep hearing about start to strengthen. In spite of what the media would have us believe, there are plenty of good news stories out there with some businesses enjoying their best years ever!
There has certainly been an increase in the use of Letters of Credit (LC) recently, so there is a need for a greater understanding as to how they work. LCs are one of the more secure ways of ensuring payment, as they represent a written undertaking from a buyer’s bank to a seller’s bank to pay an amount that has been agreed for goods or services. It is the responsibility of the buyer and seller to agree the terms on which the LC should be based, and for the seller to comply with the agreed documentary requirements. Because LCs can be both costly and complex, we advise that the buyer and seller should agree a simple template for each LC before the buyer approaches their bank (the ‘Opening’ or ‘Issuing’ Bank). It will save you both time and money!
Tags: Documentation
Posted in Documentation | No Comments »
July 13th, 2009 by jrec
…then it probably is! The Internet can be a great place to do business, but it is also the media most commonly used by fraudsters, spammers and scammers. Internet fraud is widespread and takes many forms: advanced fee fraud (also referred to as 419 fraud) is probably one of the most common. 419 scams tend to originate from West Africa, but that is not always the case so be vigilant.
The ‘hook’ that fraudsters often use is the promise of a substantial advanced payment (in excess of 70% of the contract value), with the balance payable on delivery of goods. Typically, you will be told that the advanced payment will be advised via SWIFT message through an internationally recognised bank (often using the good name of the Western Union Bank), and you will be asked to ship the goods on receipt of a copy of that message ‘from the bank’. However, as SWIFT messages can also be copied you should always check with your bank that they have been notified of the SWIFT transfer into your account. Exportaid is often notified of instances where goods have been shipped against fraudulent SWIFT messages. By then it is too late. So if a deal sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!
Tags: Add new tag, Frauds and Scams
Posted in Frauds & Scams | 1 Comment »
July 6th, 2009 by jrec
After many years online, we simply do not know how many online business directories share our contact information, but we do know that the numbers probably run into the hundreds. Most of them are of little value, and the probability of winning any real business through a directory registration is likely to be similar to the probability of winning a National Lottery.
However, to use a football saying, ” if you don’t shoot, you won’t score goals”, so our advice is to register with directories which offer some kind of human-human contact option, or which declare full contact details including a verifiable street address. Directories will inevitably share your details with their partner network, and their partners will do the same. Let the directories do the work for you, because monitoring their effectiveness will steal much of the time that you need to spend building your business through other more conventional activities.
Posted in Online Business | No Comments »
June 29th, 2009 by jrec
Like any business activity, international trading achieves the best results when the preparation is right. One of the main things we have learned from operating our free ExportAnswer email reply system is that too many companies do not give adequate preparation time when shipping their products across the world.
For example, if you are shipping regular quantities of product by air, road, or sea, you should know what each unit weighs, how many will fit into a box, how many boxes will a standard pallet hold, and how many pallets will fit into a container. This is basic stuff, and we have worked with companies where there has been too much reliance on guesswork. If the weights and dimensions of the product shipped do not match the weights and dimensions on your documentation, then you are likely to incur delays at the receiving port, possible Customs and demurrage charges, and you will be late delivering to your customers.
Tags: Logistics
Posted in Logistics | No Comments »
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