I took the vlog camera with me to the factory to keep myself active on the video blogs, ha! Luciano and I are working on Excalibur Brothers brand using the Blimp Method (Brand Licensing Improved) with the Global From Asia community. We have a very patient and amazing franchisee group with all the China lockdowns and delays to get these …
Speaking On Going B2B To D2C at the Benelux Chamber Event in Shenzhen, China
With Shenzhen opening up a bit, finally time to get out and network and speak. Well funny thing – this event was scheduled to happen in March but got pushed back due to the lockdowns (in 2022!) I was invited by Bob to speak at the Belgium, Luxembourg, Dutch Chamber event at Brass house bar in Futian, China on Friday …
Back to Business in Shenzhen
After an overnight adventure landing and settling in to Shenzhen, we settled in a bit and then hit the ground running! Today I took the vlog camera out with me to some business meetings to give you a little sneak behind the scenes on “what does Mike actually do”? Anyone who is in the know knows that Shenzhen is the …
Developing A Leader’s Focus (BBSCI)
The journey of life never ends. This blog was used to be titled “Happiness in Pursuit: It isn’t where you are, it is where you want to go, and getting there”. We will never be “done”. There will always be something else to do. We need to accept that and live life. For me, I am often thinking of what …
Top Tip For Sourcing From Factories
“Be the expert for your product.” That was an important tip that Rico Ngoma gave when we talked about sourcing from factories. It’s true, a lot of entrepreneurs rely on the factories for expertise on their products when they should be the first and foremost experts when it comes to their own products. One must conduct research on how a …
Stay on Top Of Your Relationships with MonicaHQ
In a world where account shutdowns and data lockouts seem to happen more and more on these social networks, we need to really be more aware of “owning our own data”. We also can’t help but be responsible for others’ data as well, especially for our friends and other relationships. For years, since the late 1990s, I had been finding …
2020 Year In Review, 2021 “Plans”
Time for the 2020 Year End Review and 2021 Plan. High res image of Mike and Maggie What a year it has been. Year 2020, I almost want to call the inflection point of “AC/BC” (After COVID, Before COVID). And, next year to not be 2021, but to be “1 AC”. Chatting to a friend about our meeting in Spain …
The Question: Scale or Sell An Ecommerce Business
We all wonder, when building up a business, what is the end goal? Build it for the rest of our lives, or part ways with our “baby”. It is true, a business, a brand, become part of our identity. For the first E-commerce Gladiator business, we decided to sell. We also believe the future owner has more funds and more …
Why we still MUST buy from Chinese factories
With the many sourcing challenges being faced by entrepreneurs, many are wondering if there is a need to look for factories other than in China. There were identified contenders but nothing seems to offer as much as Chinese factories can. What do you think this is? Are you thinking of moving to another factory source? Before you do, check out …
Speaking at the East x West Online Seller Conference
East x West, Asia’s Premier Online Conference for Amazon Sellers will be holding its regular gathering of Amazon product owners, sellers and marketers on April 25, 2020. The entire conference will be done virtually by streaming all the live sessions direct to your device. You will have the opportunity to ask speakers questions live as well as participate during the …
Speaking at Work From Home Initiative Online Forum
The Free Online Forum last April 20, 2020, hosted by Work From Home Initiative was a very informative and productive one. We discussed the topic, Post-Pandemic: Defining and Preparing for the New Normal. Really learned a lot from this forum. Here are some grabs: Work From Home Initiative will be hosting a Free Online Forum with the topic, Post-Pandemic: Defining …
Speaking at Global Sources Virtual Summit
The Global Sources Virtual Summit last April 21 – 22, 2020 was a success! The discussion on how to OPTIMIZE YOUR SOURCING in the current uncertain time was indeed insightful. In the summit, we also talked about sourcing masks and other medical devices. So timely and valuable. Here are some of my colleagues in the summit: I’m honored to share …
Back on The Move – Visiting a Hazmat Suit Factory in Wife’s Hometown
Less than a week from being released from quarantine, and back on the move. But to be honest, not able to leave the province (like a US state) so easily due to the quarantine process and health check in each province. So we are sticking to finding and visiting factories in the “neighborhood”. We’re lucky to have Wendy’s network and …
Featured on Fulfillment Bridge for our Loadpipe Group Buy From Factory Startup
Have not been so overworked in a while – I love the pressure. From pressure and hard work comes value and assistance to the rest of the world. During the last couple weeks of building out Loadpipe.com group buy from factory direct website, we’ve linked up with Fulfillment Bridge on their mask trading shipping service. They mentioned us on their …