Okorie Benedict

My candid advice: Before you rush to China in a bid to start a business, go to the big markets in Nigeria. Markets like Balogun, Trade Fair, Onitsha Main Market, etc. and check the prices of the things you are going to buy and ship from China. Then see if that trip to China is really worth it. China is the land of MOQ. When I say MOQ, I mean MOQs running into tens of thousands. I priced a particular bottle in China, and the MOQ was 10,000 pieces. The company was going to produce them for me at the rate of ₦200 each. Meanwhile, for an MOQ of 2,000 pieces, those same bottles were ₦650 each. So, I opted to buy 2,000 pieces. Guess what? By the time the bottles got to Nigeria and I paid for shipping and clearing, they amounted to ₦1,100 each. Now let me tell you the more interesting part. I entered the market in Nigeria and saw bottle suppliers selling those same bottles for ₦950 each. Meanwhile, I had tied down my money for four months, waiting for my shipment to arrive from China, only to stroll into the market and realise I had wasted my money and my time. I could have bought those bottles in Nigeria and turned over that money ten times within those four months. I learned a hard lesson. China is also the land of dup£s. They can do you the "more you look, the less you see." Except they know you are a customer who buys in hundreds of millions from them, they won't be scared to lose you. You cannot be running your business with ₦20 million and people's pre-order money and hope to compete with the big importers in the market who are running the same business with over ₦500 million, people who open 40ft containers every two months. The item that China will give to you for ₦5,000, China will give to them for ₦500 and still add hundreds of extras on top to entice them to keep coming back. You can't go to ordinary stores in China to pick items and expect to make a profit. You need serious millions to access the actual manufacturers. Some of them will tell you to send them $100,000 before they can produce for you. Do you have it? 🤔 But guess what... Igbo traders in the market can make that transfer without blinking. I will always advise that before you go to China and start stressing yourself buying market for people there, it is better to enter the big markets in Nigeria, patiently go round the market, even if it takes one week and look for importers you can buy from to resell or even dropship from. It will save you the stress, cost you less money, and you may even make more profit than spending hundreds of thousands on a visa, paying exorbitant flight tickets to China, staying in hotels, spending money on food and drinks, only to buy an item for ₦5,000 in China that suppliers will give to you in Nigeria for ₦4,500. My own is to give you people my candid advice. It's now left for you to take it or leave it. But hey... don't let me deter you from going to dropship in China. © Lolo Nneka Obani