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I see many people coming up with
ideas of what the product could be.

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But if you don't have
traffic, you have nothing.

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So what you need is to find a place
where you can actually sell your

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product and you may need a quite clear.

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Idea about that.

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The same is when you have a webpage.

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You need to know how to get the traffic
there, because just having a webpage.

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Just because you have
it, that doesn't help.

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Welcome to the e-Commerce podcast
with me, your host, Matt Edmundson.

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The E-Commerce podcast is all
about helping you deliver.

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E-commerce.

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Wow.

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And to help us do just that.

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I am chatting with today's guest,
Sebastian Herz, from Zignify about

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how to source products worldwide
and save millions, which is a

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pretty bold claim, isn't it?

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So I'm looking forward to this
conversation, but before Sebastian

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and I dive into our conversation,
uh, let me share with you

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some, uh, of my podcast picks.

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Uh, if you're, uh, if you're, uh, in
the UK and, um, You're of a certain age,

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you'll, you'll laugh at that statement.

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Anyway, uh, podcast picks
as, uh, here, check it out.

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How to make the most of your EU
expansion strategy with Andy Hooper.

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That was a great conversation that
Andy and I had about, uh, going

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from the UK into the EU or from any
other country, actually into EU and.

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Uh, expanding out and seeing what you
can do there, you can access our podcast

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picks, uh, and also our entire podcast.

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Uh, start that sentence again and our
entire archive of podcast episodes for

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free on our website, ecommercepodcast.net.

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Plus, if you are there, why not sign up
for our newsletter, uh, which we send

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out to you, uh, with our podcast pick
along with the notes and links from

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today's conversation with Sebastian.

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They all get delivered straight to
your inbox, totally free at no cost to

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you, which is pretty amazing, isn't it?

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Now, if you are struggling to grow
your e-commerce business or if you feel

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like you're constantly spinning all
these wheels, juggling, uh, all these

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plates as they like to say and trying
to figure out what to focus on next.

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Well, let me tell you, I have been there
and I know how frustrating it can be, and

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that's why we created, uh, the e-commerce
cohort and we're stoked to say that the

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e-commerce cohort sponsors this show.

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E-commerce cohort helps yeah
e-com businesses like yours

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deliver an exceptional customer
experience that drives results.

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And to help you get started, we are
super excited to tell you about a

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00:02:37,886 --> 00:02:43,706
brand new free resource, uh, which
you can get called E-commerce Cycles.

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It's a mini course which walks you
through our proven framework for building

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a successful e-commerce business.

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We'll show you the spec, the
specific steps, uh, we take

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in our own e-com businesses.

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If you've ever wondered actually,
what does Matt do behind closed doors?

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Well, we take you through it,
uh, and you can see exactly

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what we do and how we not only.

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Uh, take these principles
about how we implement them.

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And the good news, like I
say, is this course is free.

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It's like a little mini course.

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It won't take too long, uh, but it
does give you some good insights

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and really, really helpful if
you run an e-commerce business.

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So go check it out.

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Uh, you can watch that right now.

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No email, no money, nothing.

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Just watch it ecommercecycles.com.

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Uh, that's ecommercecycles.com
to access this free training.

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And get started today, it's
time to start delivering

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e-commerce wow to your customers.

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With the help, of course,
of e-commerce cohort.

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Get going.

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See how you get on.

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Let me know.

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I'm really curious.

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Genuinely.

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Now.

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Let's put that to one side
and let's chat with Sebastian.

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Now, Sebastian Hertz is an e-commerce
expert with a wealth of experience

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dating back to 2014, which in digital
years is a really long time ago now.

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He has successfully launched two brands
that are now available in popular

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retail outlets such as Kaufland,
Globus, and a whole bunch of others.

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He has sold over 500 thousand products
across various platforms, including

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Amazon, Shopify, and retail outlets.

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Sebastian not only helps other sellers
source high quality products, but also

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guides them through, uh, the process
of reaching wider audiences, including

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TV shopping and big box retail.

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Oh, yes.

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That's a heck of an intro, isn't it?

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Sebastian, welcome to the show, man.

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Great to have you on the podcast.

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Looking forward to this conversation.

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Uh, how are you doing?

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Thank you so much Matt.

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Uh, you probably see me
smiling the whole time.

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And what an energy you're
bringing here to the table.

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That is, that is insane.

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And you hear all the podcasts all
the time, you know, and it sounds

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so, of course, recorded, but you're
bringing in, I can prove it here.

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You can bring it in life.

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With all of that energy, I'm blown away.

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I'm such a, you're such a sweetheart.

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You're such a sweetheart.

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No, no.

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It's, it's, it's, uh, it's very kind
of you to say, so, uh, Sebastian

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and, um, you know, we try not to be
boring, uh, because I, I, you know,

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why would you, anyway, enough about me.

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Let's talk about you now.

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Um, whereabouts in the world are you?

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What's your accent?

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What, what, uh, where are
we hailing from today?

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Yeah, I'll, I'll try to stop smiling.

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Um, that is actually from Germany here
right now, the east part of Germany.

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Um, a city called Leipzig.

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It is, ah, um, between Munich and Berlin.

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Mm-hmm.

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Eastern part.

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That's where I'm sending best
greetings from right now.

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Very good, very good.

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So, It says here in my notes, right?

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Um, cuz Sadaf, who's a show producer,
she puts questions together and one of

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the, the one of the things that we like
to think about is the opening question.

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What's the very first question
you're gonna ask somebody?

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Uh, and the, the general thing that
Sadaf and I talk about a lot about

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this is, well, the opening question
has obviously got to put you at

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ease cuz you're on the podcast.

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Uh, and it's also got to
hook in the listener, right?

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So they've gotta go.

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This is a great question and
I'm, I'm drawn in from the start.

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So, This first question really
intrigues me, uh, and it's, and

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this is what Sadaf has written.

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Uh, so maybe you can explain this.

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Some call you the connector.

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What's the story behind that?

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Oh, good one.

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Um, thanks Sadaf for what, what an
intro, um, in the, well, I guess it

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all dates back to, yeah, I started
originally in 2014 and I think I've

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learned a lot of course on my own along
the way, and now I'm very, happy of

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connecting people with the next solution.

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So for the e-commerce, area, at least I
think in Germany, some people know that.

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I know some people who may help
with the next, hurdle to jump with

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the next challenge that's, ahead.

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And I'm, super happy.

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Wants to get, you know,
beyond the sourcing.

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Once you have a product,
you, didn't win anything.

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But you need all the additional solutions,
whether it is the pictures, the SEO

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listings, whether it's the outreach
or getting into big box retail and or

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for example, getting into podcasts.

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So Matt, maybe I'll send some, some
brands soon your way and I guess to

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help, uh, people, you know, solve,
solve the next, the next riddle.

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No, it's brilliant.

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It's interesting, isn't it, uh, Sebastian
that, um, you've been called the

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connector because like you, one of the
things you, I mean, one of the beautiful

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things about podcasting is you get to
meet some incredible people from around

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the world and you end up spending a lot
of your week when you talk to somebody

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going, oh, talk to this person and talk
to that person, and, and connecting

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them in and, and bridging those gaps.

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And it's just really interesting to
see what happens as a result of that.

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Um, okay, so I now understand.

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Um, that you are the connector.

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So tell me a little bit about your story.

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How did you end up at Zignify,
you started in 2014, you've

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sold half a million products.

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What's the sort of the, the, the,
the quick version of that story?

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I think originally my way was not
set into the e-commerce industry.

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I went to university for electrical
engineering and industrial

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automation and stayed with,

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uh, of course you did.

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Of course you did.

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Of course.

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Why?

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Because I'm German.

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All every German is an engineer.

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No.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I like that.

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Very good.

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But the industrial automation was not
necessary or was not meant for e-commerce.

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It was for the big oil and gas
plants out there for chemical,

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pharmaceutical, food and beverage
production as well as automotive.

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And, uh, I stayed with that for 12 years,
but then later on decided, Hey, I'm, I'm,

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I'm putting so much effort into work.

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Why not build your own business?

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And that's actually when, uh,
I used to live in China or used

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to live in Asia for six years.

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Okay.

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And, uh, when the time in China
came to an end, I said, Hey, I'm,

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I'm, I'm right here at the source.

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Why don't I start my own business?

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And back then was listening to, uh,
Scott Volkers, the amazing seller.

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Mm-hmm.

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And found out a way, how can I
sell own self-made products or

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white label products on Amazon?

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And this is how it just took off.

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Um, I had the first brand bought.

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We went on a world travel work
from the motorcycle, 242 days on a

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travel, moving from Singapore all
the way back home to Germany, working

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full-time and having everywhere, better
internet than anywhere in Germany.

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Um, believe me, it's uh, yeah, yeah.

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Gobi Desert.

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You have great internet,
even in a deepest storm.

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So it depends, of course, where you are.

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And then it, uh, developed into,
you know, starting a second brand.

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And my wife, or my better half,
she's been in sourcing for 18 years

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and, uh, she's been sourcing for
a lot of big companies back then.

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And people just started asking us
like, Hey, I mean you're doing the

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00:10:00,206 --> 00:10:03,056
sourcing for your own products, can't
you do that for other brands as well?

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And that's pretty much
how it just took off.

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Um, till to the day we have, well,
two sales people right now, we've

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never really made a paid advertising.

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00:10:13,511 --> 00:10:14,171
Yeah, post.

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00:10:14,711 --> 00:10:18,311
Um, and it just spread like through the
word of mouth of doing sourcing, and

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00:10:18,311 --> 00:10:22,121
this is fantastic where we're right now,
actually two years later with global

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00:10:22,121 --> 00:10:26,411
product sourcing Zignify global product
sourcing, and we've helped a few thousand,

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00:10:26,501 --> 00:10:31,871
um, sellers getting their own brands
ready from the idea all the way through to

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getting, um, the products ready for sale.

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Okay.

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00:10:34,871 --> 00:10:38,951
So that was the journey of
exploring it on your own, needing

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00:10:38,951 --> 00:10:40,421
it for yourself, and then.

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00:10:41,066 --> 00:10:44,306
The word spreads if you do a good service.

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00:10:44,516 --> 00:10:44,846
Mm-hmm.

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00:10:44,996 --> 00:10:50,006
And I think somehow the way has now
found us, you and me here on the podcast.

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00:10:50,006 --> 00:10:51,386
So thank you very much for having me.

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00:10:51,926 --> 00:10:53,006
No, no, it's great that you're here.

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00:10:53,066 --> 00:10:55,946
And it's interesting listening to
you talk about that because I, I'm

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00:10:55,946 --> 00:11:00,326
a firm, I, my experience is the
better you get at doing something.

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The more people ask you for help, right?

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00:11:02,876 --> 00:11:02,966
Yeah.

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00:11:03,206 --> 00:11:07,436
And it's, um, the better I got at doing
e-commerce for my own businesses, the more

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00:11:07,526 --> 00:11:09,596
other people were asking me to help them.

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00:11:09,926 --> 00:11:11,756
And so I still do e-com.

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Um, but then we started doing the
coaching and then we started doing the

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00:11:15,121 --> 00:11:16,676
courses and all this sort of thing.

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00:11:16,676 --> 00:11:19,736
It all came, it wasn't like
we'd started out to do that.

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00:11:20,096 --> 00:11:23,096
It just sort of, sort of came out of
what we were doing that actually a lot of

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00:11:23,096 --> 00:11:25,016
people going, oh, you seem to be alright.

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00:11:25,016 --> 00:11:25,886
How can you help us?

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00:11:26,516 --> 00:11:30,641
So I'm curious, um, Sebastian, the
people that come to you then, Uh,

233
00:11:30,641 --> 00:11:37,451
about products, are they, um, are
they companies that are already doing

234
00:11:37,451 --> 00:11:42,401
something that have got budgets or
are they, um, entrepreneurs or even

235
00:11:42,401 --> 00:11:44,171
people who are looking to get started?

236
00:11:44,171 --> 00:11:45,101
They're not even entrepreneur.

237
00:11:45,106 --> 00:11:46,961
They're like, you know, sitting
around the kitchen table trying

238
00:11:46,961 --> 00:11:48,431
to think, what can I sell online?

239
00:11:49,151 --> 00:11:51,821
Um, or do you get like a
mixture of, of clients?

240
00:11:52,751 --> 00:11:55,661
It is by now, for sure, a mixture
in the very, very beginning.

241
00:11:55,661 --> 00:11:59,606
It's mostly, you know, You surround
yourself with like-minded people, and

242
00:11:59,606 --> 00:12:03,596
those are either the ones who start
their own brand, who wanna start a,

243
00:12:03,626 --> 00:12:07,586
uh, a product business with physical
products or tangible products.

244
00:12:08,006 --> 00:12:12,896
Um, talking about like, not, not apps
or, um, any courses, but literally

245
00:12:12,896 --> 00:12:17,336
things that you can buy, for example,
on Amazon or any workshops, um,

246
00:12:17,396 --> 00:12:19,016
and that you can order to home.

247
00:12:19,406 --> 00:12:23,126
So yes, it is, uh, the ones who
start in the very, very beginning

248
00:12:23,126 --> 00:12:25,826
because you need some help with
how do I find manufacturers?

249
00:12:25,826 --> 00:12:27,566
How do I negotiate the prices?

250
00:12:27,836 --> 00:12:28,946
Where do I find them?

251
00:12:28,946 --> 00:12:32,336
Either in China or other
Asian countries or the uk?

252
00:12:32,336 --> 00:12:37,616
A lot of it in, uh, in, uh, Europe
to shorten the delivery ways and have

253
00:12:37,616 --> 00:12:39,986
lower delivery costs plus shorter times.

254
00:12:39,986 --> 00:12:44,006
Also, sometimes in production and
or of course, marketing aspects

255
00:12:44,006 --> 00:12:47,606
of saying, Hey, I have some USPs
made in Europe, or made in the uk.

256
00:12:48,341 --> 00:12:52,811
Um, as well as for American sellers than
quite often in Mexico or South America.

257
00:12:53,561 --> 00:12:57,311
So we have the smallest ones who
are in the very beginning, and

258
00:12:57,311 --> 00:13:01,181
I'm super, super happy to, to
even teach them in the beginning.

259
00:13:01,421 --> 00:13:02,981
This is how you do your
sourcing on your own.

260
00:13:02,981 --> 00:13:06,911
And once you're ready and you understand,
hey, I don't want to spend my time on

261
00:13:06,911 --> 00:13:10,841
sourcing, but focusing on how do I grow my
business in terms of sales and marketing,

262
00:13:12,401 --> 00:13:16,901
that then they would be, uh, ready to come
and do sourcing with an external partner.

263
00:13:17,181 --> 00:13:17,581
Mm-hmm.

264
00:13:17,666 --> 00:13:22,931
Or, you know, I myself did one of
the biggest and longest mistakes I

265
00:13:22,931 --> 00:13:27,881
think ever, of doing your product
pictures for the first 5, 6, 7 years

266
00:13:27,911 --> 00:13:30,551
all on your own because you think,
oh, I need to take money here in

267
00:13:30,551 --> 00:13:32,711
the, in the product, uh, images.

268
00:13:32,711 --> 00:13:34,751
But, uh, what they look like in the end.

269
00:13:35,516 --> 00:13:40,586
Any professional photographer will
make a lot better images than I do.

270
00:13:42,686 --> 00:13:43,916
There's a lesson there, isn't there?

271
00:13:43,916 --> 00:13:45,626
Give it to the people
that know, know the best.

272
00:13:46,076 --> 00:13:46,706
So I'm curious.

273
00:13:46,706 --> 00:13:46,946
Right.

274
00:13:46,951 --> 00:13:51,686
And, and, and I was having this
conversation with my, um, my son.

275
00:13:51,686 --> 00:13:53,936
So my son's, um, at university.

276
00:13:53,936 --> 00:13:53,966
Okay.

277
00:13:55,961 --> 00:13:58,331
He's doing, um, theoretical physics.

278
00:13:58,511 --> 00:14:00,851
I still don't really know what
that means if I'm honest with

279
00:14:00,851 --> 00:14:02,951
you, Sebastian, but that's what
he's doing and all power to him.

280
00:14:03,561 --> 00:14:06,401
And he said to me, he said, dad, I
want to start an online business.

281
00:14:06,401 --> 00:14:10,061
I wanna do an ecom business to
substitute, you know, uh, to to

282
00:14:10,061 --> 00:14:12,371
create some income while I'm at uni.

283
00:14:12,376 --> 00:14:13,601
What do you think I should sell?

284
00:14:13,606 --> 00:14:15,701
And we had some conversations about that.

285
00:14:16,301 --> 00:14:17,561
So I'm kind of curious, right?

286
00:14:17,561 --> 00:14:19,091
Let's start with somebody like that.

287
00:14:19,091 --> 00:14:20,591
So Josh is my son.

288
00:14:21,251 --> 00:14:22,361
Josh comes to you.

289
00:14:23,186 --> 00:14:26,576
So, Sebastian, listen, I want, I'm, I
wanna start an online business part-time.

290
00:14:27,206 --> 00:14:30,266
How do I go about sourcing a
product, a great product to sell?

291
00:14:30,596 --> 00:14:34,916
Um, what sort of conversation
would you have with Josh?

292
00:14:36,086 --> 00:14:38,906
I mean, first of all, I'd probably
give him my hats off to Josh because

293
00:14:38,906 --> 00:14:40,826
of studying, uh, theoretical physics.

294
00:14:40,831 --> 00:14:45,406
I mean, that's probably willing
to go the hard way and learn

295
00:14:45,546 --> 00:14:47,666
the hard way, which is awesome.

296
00:14:47,876 --> 00:14:48,416
Why?

297
00:14:48,776 --> 00:14:50,936
Because I personally believe
it makes very good sense.

298
00:14:50,936 --> 00:14:51,866
It may be slower.

299
00:14:52,241 --> 00:14:56,621
Um, instead of going, you know, with
big money and just spend it all on the

300
00:14:56,621 --> 00:15:01,301
experts immediately, but you will learn so
much deeper, all the ways long that will

301
00:15:01,301 --> 00:15:03,221
be needed in order to build a business.

302
00:15:03,371 --> 00:15:08,321
So it sounds like, at least from whatever
he studies, whether I'm right or not, um,

303
00:15:08,561 --> 00:15:12,911
and I guess he may not be a lazy bum, but
that he's willing to learn those things.

304
00:15:12,971 --> 00:15:13,121
Mm-hmm.

305
00:15:13,361 --> 00:15:16,931
So one of my suggestions will of
course be, I mean, first figure out

306
00:15:17,051 --> 00:15:18,851
what would you like of course to do?

307
00:15:18,911 --> 00:15:21,431
Are you a person who's
plain profit driven?

308
00:15:21,761 --> 00:15:26,411
To say, do you want to analyze the market,
first of all and see where is potential?

309
00:15:26,411 --> 00:15:27,761
How big are the niches?

310
00:15:27,821 --> 00:15:31,661
You know, for example, if you go on
amazon.co uk and you use tools like

311
00:15:32,021 --> 00:15:36,641
Analyze or Helium 10 or several of the
other tools, and you analyze how deep

312
00:15:36,641 --> 00:15:39,821
the niche is, how, how big the market
is, how much money you can make on there,

313
00:15:39,881 --> 00:15:44,501
or is he a person to find out he would
like to build something from the heart?

314
00:15:44,921 --> 00:15:49,901
My very first brand was something I
was excited about small size wallets.

315
00:15:50,111 --> 00:15:55,141
I was excited about protecting,
banking cards and, privacy protection.

316
00:15:55,481 --> 00:15:58,331
So you really stand behind it and
you put a lot of effort in there

317
00:15:58,331 --> 00:16:02,341
and a lot of hard blood, or you
do a lot of things from the heart.

318
00:16:02,971 --> 00:16:06,101
so that would be one of the
first decisions where you

319
00:16:06,106 --> 00:16:07,511
would want to go plain profit.

320
00:16:08,141 --> 00:16:14,306
Or do you build a brand with, something
behind it and the willing, to hustle?

321
00:16:14,801 --> 00:16:15,041
Mm.

322
00:16:15,311 --> 00:16:16,331
Once you decided that.

323
00:16:17,021 --> 00:16:19,571
Um, you would probably wanna see
where do you wanna get the products

324
00:16:19,571 --> 00:16:22,391
from and, and how big do you
think of going in the beginning?

325
00:16:23,321 --> 00:16:26,291
Do you wanna learn in the beginning
on your own, how you do the sourcing?

326
00:16:26,291 --> 00:16:30,941
So how to find whatever, 30 to 60
potential producers, how to contact

327
00:16:30,946 --> 00:16:34,631
the producers, how to get the prices,
how to go through all of those things.

328
00:16:35,021 --> 00:16:39,311
Um, compare them, list them down,
and yes, take the hours of effort.

329
00:16:39,761 --> 00:16:43,091
Or are you a person who says,
Nope, I would like to focus on

330
00:16:43,096 --> 00:16:44,591
sales and marketing immediately.

331
00:16:44,831 --> 00:16:46,511
Let's make sure we get a good product.

332
00:16:47,006 --> 00:16:52,226
So those are the the ways I think that
would decide towards, go with an external

333
00:16:52,226 --> 00:16:53,906
one or learn it first of all, on your own.

334
00:16:56,306 --> 00:16:57,716
That's really interesting and, and.

335
00:16:58,676 --> 00:17:02,096
If he, I'm just trying to think
questions that Josh would ask.

336
00:17:02,096 --> 00:17:04,076
Cause I think it's just really interesting
if people listening to the show and

337
00:17:04,076 --> 00:17:06,476
going, oh, I'm thinking of starting
to do something, and here's this guy

338
00:17:06,476 --> 00:17:08,126
who's, who's gonna help me get products.

339
00:17:09,146 --> 00:17:13,436
What sort of, um, niches and products
are doing well at the moment?

340
00:17:13,436 --> 00:17:15,986
Is it as simple as, as asking
that question, Sebastian?

341
00:17:15,986 --> 00:17:19,076
Or is it a lot more complex or nuanced?

342
00:17:19,796 --> 00:17:21,836
I mean, the bigger the niches,
the more competitors of

343
00:17:21,836 --> 00:17:22,796
course you will have in there.

344
00:17:23,096 --> 00:17:23,276
Mm-hmm.

345
00:17:23,516 --> 00:17:25,436
Um, for sure.

346
00:17:25,676 --> 00:17:27,656
Usually we say like,
what is the thing that.

347
00:17:28,121 --> 00:17:33,041
People give a lot of money, or parents
give a lot of money to it's products

348
00:17:33,041 --> 00:17:34,511
for the babies or for their children.

349
00:17:34,871 --> 00:17:34,991
Yeah.

350
00:17:34,991 --> 00:17:37,061
And what do they give you more money for?

351
00:17:37,961 --> 00:17:38,741
They're pets.

352
00:17:39,461 --> 00:17:43,301
So the baby niche and the pet industry
of course is one where there's a

353
00:17:43,301 --> 00:17:46,721
lot of competition going on, but
there's also huge money to make.

354
00:17:46,841 --> 00:17:46,901
Yeah.

355
00:17:47,021 --> 00:17:49,091
Cause there's a lot of,
there's a lot of demands.

356
00:17:49,301 --> 00:17:52,721
So one of the things for sure, for Josh
also to ask in the beginning is like, I

357
00:17:52,721 --> 00:17:57,611
mean, I see many people coming up with
ideas of having probably good ideas of.

358
00:17:58,181 --> 00:17:59,291
What the product could be.

359
00:17:59,291 --> 00:18:01,541
But then thinking it's
like, where do you sell it?

360
00:18:02,021 --> 00:18:04,361
It's the same as, I mean,
everybody right now probably,

361
00:18:04,366 --> 00:18:05,951
hopefully knows you have a webpage.

362
00:18:05,956 --> 00:18:10,211
It can cost 10,000, $20,000 or anything.

363
00:18:10,351 --> 00:18:12,221
but if you don't have
traffic, you have nothing.

364
00:18:12,941 --> 00:18:17,051
So what you need is to find a place
where you can actually sell your

365
00:18:17,051 --> 00:18:19,601
product and you may need a quite clear.

366
00:18:19,961 --> 00:18:20,801
Idea about that.

367
00:18:20,801 --> 00:18:22,871
The same is when you have a webpage.

368
00:18:22,871 --> 00:18:25,901
You need to know how to get the traffic
there, because just having a webpage.

369
00:18:26,411 --> 00:18:29,471
how many pages are being
run on a WordPress?

370
00:18:29,621 --> 00:18:31,031
Is it 60 million?

371
00:18:31,561 --> 00:18:32,661
It's Crazy.

372
00:18:32,911 --> 00:18:34,121
There's hundreds of millions Now.

373
00:18:34,121 --> 00:18:35,051
Is it 800 million?

374
00:18:35,051 --> 00:18:35,771
I can't remember.

375
00:18:35,771 --> 00:18:37,961
It was a big, old number when I saw it.

376
00:18:38,531 --> 00:18:39,301
It's a big number.

377
00:18:39,621 --> 00:18:42,251
And how do you get the people
to be interested in your store?

378
00:18:42,281 --> 00:18:44,431
Just because you have
it, that doesn't help.

379
00:18:44,891 --> 00:18:47,981
You do need to, of course, have
the idea as well, where to sell it.

380
00:18:48,531 --> 00:18:54,986
So when it comes to finding niches
on markets, I mean you may as well

381
00:18:56,036 --> 00:18:59,636
know the deeper you go into the
niches, the higher you could, for

382
00:18:59,636 --> 00:19:01,046
example, charge for a product.

383
00:19:01,406 --> 00:19:03,866
If you're taking a normal pillow
for a side sleeper, you know,

384
00:19:03,866 --> 00:19:07,256
you're put it in like 19 pounds
and you're selling it on Amazon.

385
00:19:07,256 --> 00:19:11,816
If you're putting a side pillow, it's
like a side sleeper pillow and you

386
00:19:11,816 --> 00:19:17,966
make this for some medical use or some,
um, orthopedic treatment use, all of a

387
00:19:17,966 --> 00:19:19,796
sudden you can charge a lot higher money.

388
00:19:19,796 --> 00:19:22,796
The market may be much smaller
because not everybody wants to have

389
00:19:22,796 --> 00:19:25,796
a side, or everybody may want to
have a side sleeper pillow, but the

390
00:19:25,796 --> 00:19:30,266
demand of the market of saying, Hey,
I need this for orthopedic reasons.

391
00:19:30,266 --> 00:19:30,356
Mm-hmm.

392
00:19:30,596 --> 00:19:36,716
Or I need this after, um, physiotherapy,
then there will be less people.

393
00:19:36,746 --> 00:19:40,286
But maybe you charge 79 euros and if you
do all of this done together with some

394
00:19:40,286 --> 00:19:45,416
medical great, whatever, you may find a
very small niche, but very high price.

395
00:19:45,876 --> 00:19:46,366
Yeah.

396
00:19:46,371 --> 00:19:50,546
So all of those things should go
into the factor of what do you want

397
00:19:50,546 --> 00:19:52,046
to build and where will you sell it?

398
00:19:52,856 --> 00:19:59,276
So big niches, the bigger the niche,
the more competitors you will have.

399
00:19:59,276 --> 00:20:01,586
The smaller the niche, the higher
prices you could charge, but

400
00:20:01,586 --> 00:20:02,666
the less competitors you have.

401
00:20:03,236 --> 00:20:06,806
But maybe the harder it is to get into
the niche because you may need a lot

402
00:20:06,806 --> 00:20:09,116
of more certificates for your products.

403
00:20:09,296 --> 00:20:12,956
Yeah, so that all depends on how
serious do you mean business?

404
00:20:13,256 --> 00:20:13,496
Hmm.

405
00:20:13,826 --> 00:20:14,516
No, this is good.

406
00:20:14,516 --> 00:20:15,266
Those are all good points.

407
00:20:15,326 --> 00:20:19,226
And actually as I'm, as I'm, as I
normally do, Sebastian, uh, just

408
00:20:19,226 --> 00:20:22,526
to prove, I, I take copious amounts
of notes whenever I talk to people.

409
00:20:23,156 --> 00:20:26,336
Um, always wanting to learn
and it helps me keep, keep

410
00:20:26,336 --> 00:20:27,536
my my train of thought going.

411
00:20:27,596 --> 00:20:32,231
Um, and one of the things that
I've just sort of, Listening to you

412
00:20:32,231 --> 00:20:35,351
talk is, I've got a, a chat called
Norm Farrar in the back of my head.

413
00:20:35,351 --> 00:20:39,031
I dunno if you've come across Norm,
the Lunch with Norm podcast, uh, Norm.

414
00:20:39,031 --> 00:20:39,991
Norm, yeah.

415
00:20:39,991 --> 00:20:40,231
Norm.

416
00:20:40,231 --> 00:20:40,791
Great guy.

417
00:20:42,421 --> 00:20:42,911
Yeah.

418
00:20:42,916 --> 00:20:43,091
Yeah.

419
00:20:43,421 --> 00:20:44,171
He's great guy, isn't he?

420
00:20:44,171 --> 00:20:44,381
Norm?

421
00:20:44,861 --> 00:20:49,571
And, um, he, um, he came on the podcast, I
think we've traded podcasts several times.

422
00:20:49,571 --> 00:20:52,991
He's been on our mine and I've been on
his, and he's just a great guy and I've

423
00:20:52,991 --> 00:20:54,491
got him going in the back of my head.

424
00:20:54,491 --> 00:20:56,651
You can take an ordinary
product and then just, you know,

425
00:20:56,696 --> 00:20:58,196
Improve it and make it better.

426
00:20:58,676 --> 00:21:01,556
Um, and that's, that's kind
of, that was his strategy.

427
00:21:01,556 --> 00:21:04,436
And I'm, I'm sort of coupling
these things together, so.

428
00:21:04,466 --> 00:21:04,766
Okay.

429
00:21:04,766 --> 00:21:12,536
So what happens, um, Sebastian, if, uh,
it's not Josh coming to you, um, but

430
00:21:12,541 --> 00:21:17,306
it's, say me and I've got an e-commerce
business, I'm already trading online.

431
00:21:17,726 --> 00:21:24,056
Um, how do you help companies like us,
for example, uh, improve our products?

432
00:21:24,146 --> 00:21:26,996
Um, Is the process the same?

433
00:21:26,996 --> 00:21:30,056
Is it the same questions, or is there some
other things that I need to think about?

434
00:21:31,346 --> 00:21:35,726
I mean, for, um, existing brands, what we
do quite often is of course, finding, um,

435
00:21:35,756 --> 00:21:39,776
additional products that can be sourced
and that can be sold, whether those

436
00:21:39,781 --> 00:21:43,406
products should, for example, still be
in China, or the question is, do we wanna

437
00:21:43,411 --> 00:21:47,636
switch it over, for example, to get away
from China, both for price as well as time

438
00:21:47,636 --> 00:21:50,756
reasons, and or also for marketing USPs.

439
00:21:51,176 --> 00:21:55,646
And one of the additional things that we
very often do for existing brands is we

440
00:21:55,646 --> 00:21:57,536
go in and we look at the best sellers.

441
00:21:57,776 --> 00:21:57,866
Mm-hmm.

442
00:21:58,106 --> 00:22:03,836
And we reinforce the best sellers where,
what you said in the opening, what was

443
00:22:03,836 --> 00:22:08,816
quite blunt and direct is, uh, yes,
this may turn into saving millions of

444
00:22:08,816 --> 00:22:10,976
dollars, for example, of best sellers buy.

445
00:22:11,036 --> 00:22:11,126
Mm-hmm.

446
00:22:11,366 --> 00:22:15,626
Let's say if you have a product
that, uh, That, uh, one single one.

447
00:22:15,986 --> 00:22:18,896
We have a good example, a
German guy selling in the US.

448
00:22:18,896 --> 00:22:22,656
He's not even selling on Amazon, but
super successful over a Shopify's store.

449
00:22:23,356 --> 00:22:27,456
let's say they're having some
beauty accessories and, we found

450
00:22:27,476 --> 00:22:29,306
a new supplier outside of China.

451
00:22:29,606 --> 00:22:35,126
US has 27% import, uh, anti
anti-dumping taxes on this very product.

452
00:22:35,636 --> 00:22:37,916
And, uh, we found the product $1 cheaper.

453
00:22:38,666 --> 00:22:43,046
And now he's selling this product for
500 thou about 500,000 times a year.

454
00:22:43,496 --> 00:22:47,636
Wow, that's half a million of
dollar of straight savings on

455
00:22:47,636 --> 00:22:48,866
the product purchasing cost.

456
00:22:49,046 --> 00:22:49,376
Yeah.

457
00:22:49,436 --> 00:22:54,026
Plus it's another 27% of the
import tax of whatever order.

458
00:22:54,626 --> 00:23:00,356
Um, then is, and then at the same time,
he has about 15 products or so by now.

459
00:23:00,361 --> 00:23:06,956
So you can imagine the potential of
saving, um, money on your best sellers

460
00:23:06,956 --> 00:23:11,576
or the, the top sellers, for example,
with the demand of course, of finding.

461
00:23:12,551 --> 00:23:16,421
Um, quality of same or better level.

462
00:23:16,961 --> 00:23:17,051
Mm-hmm.

463
00:23:18,041 --> 00:23:20,381
And those are just in, let's
put this in air quotes.

464
00:23:20,386 --> 00:23:24,821
Uh, the smaller sellers we do sourcing
as well as for some of the biggest

465
00:23:24,821 --> 00:23:27,701
aggregators we do sourcing for.

466
00:23:27,701 --> 00:23:28,451
Can I say that?

467
00:23:29,541 --> 00:23:30,111
I don't know.

468
00:23:31,511 --> 00:23:37,181
One of the biggest marketplaces
for their own brands, uh, and for

469
00:23:37,631 --> 00:23:41,831
the big box retailers in their own
product or in their production.

470
00:23:42,491 --> 00:23:48,881
So whether they sell online or they
sell in the stores, there is for the

471
00:23:48,941 --> 00:23:50,741
big ones, for the established ones.

472
00:23:51,041 --> 00:23:53,111
Possibility to extend your portfolio.

473
00:23:53,201 --> 00:23:53,471
Yeah.

474
00:23:53,501 --> 00:23:56,321
Get more products, increase
your revenue, and at the same

475
00:23:56,321 --> 00:23:57,551
time, you may know the same.

476
00:23:58,226 --> 00:24:00,826
And the real money is made
in purchasing, not in sales.

477
00:24:01,056 --> 00:24:05,636
I'm adding, brackets in there, not
only in sales, of course money's

478
00:24:05,676 --> 00:24:09,536
made, in sales but if you directly
add the source, save money in

479
00:24:09,536 --> 00:24:11,096
there, you have bottom line savings.

480
00:24:11,156 --> 00:24:11,876
And that's

481
00:24:11,996 --> 00:24:12,746
Oh, massively.

482
00:24:13,186 --> 00:24:13,676
Yeah.

483
00:24:13,681 --> 00:24:13,796
Yeah.

484
00:24:13,801 --> 00:24:14,366
Massively.

485
00:24:14,366 --> 00:24:17,276
So, and I, I mean, I can
testify to that, right?

486
00:24:17,276 --> 00:24:20,156
You are always fighting to, to
lower your manufacturing costs,

487
00:24:20,886 --> 00:24:22,886
um, or your, uh, purchasing costs.

488
00:24:23,156 --> 00:24:26,876
So, One of the things that intrigues
me, Sebastian, you've mentioned

489
00:24:26,876 --> 00:24:29,786
it a couple of times, is obviously
sourcing products in China.

490
00:24:29,816 --> 00:24:33,026
Now I'm sitting here, right
as an e-comm entrepreneur, and

491
00:24:33,026 --> 00:24:35,726
I'm going, yeah, I can see.

492
00:24:36,206 --> 00:24:40,556
I get that if I want to buy in a
product, um, and I'm just looking

493
00:24:40,556 --> 00:24:44,846
on my desk and so I'm just gonna
pick a random product I have here.

494
00:24:45,206 --> 00:24:47,006
Um, Apollo Creed, right?

495
00:24:47,186 --> 00:24:50,036
Uh, just a little doll
thing of Apollo Creed.

496
00:24:50,036 --> 00:24:52,016
If you're a Rocky fan, you'll
know what I'm talking about.

497
00:24:52,016 --> 00:24:53,456
If you're not, you won't
have a clue, that's fine.

498
00:24:54,056 --> 00:24:56,546
Um, but I have this on my desk, right?

499
00:24:56,551 --> 00:24:58,586
And if I, I'm sort of sitting
here thinking, well, I could sell

500
00:24:58,586 --> 00:25:00,116
these or maybe I do sell them.

501
00:25:00,836 --> 00:25:04,406
Um, and I, I need to sort of go out
and look for different manufacturers.

502
00:25:04,736 --> 00:25:10,256
I get why I'm gonna come to you because
I'm going, the world is massive.

503
00:25:10,631 --> 00:25:13,541
And there are so many people out
there that can help me that I

504
00:25:13,541 --> 00:25:15,161
just don't know where to begin.

505
00:25:15,161 --> 00:25:20,081
And this has always been, um, the problem
that we've had is we've got bigger in

506
00:25:20,441 --> 00:25:25,181
our sales as our businesses have grown,
it's finding the suppliers that can help

507
00:25:25,181 --> 00:25:29,501
you in a way that you, you, you really
need to work with a supplier, right?

508
00:25:29,501 --> 00:25:34,211
So I get why I'm gonna come to you as
an agent, and I get actually why Josh

509
00:25:34,211 --> 00:25:37,091
is gonna come to you and say, Hey, uh,
Sebastian, you know, you need to help me.

510
00:25:37,091 --> 00:25:37,871
I wanna get started.

511
00:25:39,491 --> 00:25:44,351
You've mentioned a couple of times
though, um, China, um, and e and you even

512
00:25:44,356 --> 00:25:48,611
mentioned sourcing products, maybe now
outside of China, now in the state of

513
00:25:48,611 --> 00:25:52,991
the world as it currently is, who knows
what it'll be like when the podcast airs.

514
00:25:53,621 --> 00:25:58,991
Um, I'm curious, has there been a
move of manufacturers to try and

515
00:25:58,991 --> 00:26:01,061
find products outside of China?

516
00:26:01,061 --> 00:26:03,251
Are people nervous about China right now?

517
00:26:04,751 --> 00:26:08,051
Yeah, I mean, we're still at the moment.

518
00:26:08,636 --> 00:26:11,426
Let's, let's cut the short, try
to build the story, but I'm, I'm

519
00:26:11,426 --> 00:26:13,136
ending up at where I wanna end.

520
00:26:13,736 --> 00:26:18,086
Um, it's actually by now we sell
about 50% of our projects are

521
00:26:18,086 --> 00:26:19,466
still sourcing inside China.

522
00:26:19,726 --> 00:26:20,216
Okay.

523
00:26:20,336 --> 00:26:24,626
A couple years ago, we were about
10% outside of China a couple years

524
00:26:24,626 --> 00:26:26,216
ago, mean literally, two years ago.

525
00:26:27,026 --> 00:26:29,816
Um, what happened over the last years?

526
00:26:29,816 --> 00:26:33,146
I mean, you've seen, you've seen it
through Corona, you've seen it through,

527
00:26:33,146 --> 00:26:36,926
uh, uh, lockdowns in companies,
lockdowns in full cities in China.

528
00:26:37,451 --> 00:26:41,771
We had the sewer canal problem, we
had massive increase in container

529
00:26:41,771 --> 00:26:43,031
prices, all of those things.

530
00:26:43,601 --> 00:26:49,961
So this is what, um, actually, and
the price for shipping, the time for

531
00:26:49,966 --> 00:26:55,151
shipping, the delay in the production,
um, due to lockdown factories and

532
00:26:55,151 --> 00:26:56,681
the full order books and so on.

533
00:26:56,981 --> 00:27:01,991
Those were the main reasons why
people moved a lot away from China.

534
00:27:01,991 --> 00:27:05,021
And what I'm, to be honest,
personally missing is always for me.

535
00:27:05,021 --> 00:27:06,581
Point number four is the marketing.

536
00:27:07,166 --> 00:27:11,936
The additional USPs that you had when
you sell a product where you can say

537
00:27:12,116 --> 00:27:16,556
like, my second brand that we have is a
cosmetics brand, it's made in Germany.

538
00:27:16,916 --> 00:27:17,036
Mm-hmm.

539
00:27:17,281 --> 00:27:19,736
So in every time I'm going out
there, I can say, Hey, you know what?

540
00:27:19,741 --> 00:27:22,946
Compared to all of the other products
out there, we are made in Germany.

541
00:27:23,246 --> 00:27:23,306
Yeah.

542
00:27:23,311 --> 00:27:26,246
By the way, we're still cheap than
the other ones, the premium brands.

543
00:27:26,636 --> 00:27:28,756
Um, but.

544
00:27:29,186 --> 00:27:34,076
Yes, it has moved from, we used to have
10% of our projects outside of China.

545
00:27:34,466 --> 00:27:38,096
China grew massively, but the rest
of the world just overtook it, right?

546
00:27:38,096 --> 00:27:43,736
So now we're about 50% of the orders,
um, that we have outside of China.

547
00:27:44,276 --> 00:27:47,366
So in a lot of it, for the US
sellers, we do Mexico, for uk, we

548
00:27:47,366 --> 00:27:49,226
do a lot of, in UK or in Europe.

549
00:27:49,616 --> 00:27:52,646
Um, Turkey as well has gone a lot.

550
00:27:52,676 --> 00:27:56,726
Africa is coming more and more South
America, more for the Americans.

551
00:27:57,266 --> 00:27:59,906
Um, but also other Asian countries.

552
00:27:59,906 --> 00:28:04,946
We even have customers in the US who big
fat print on their not made in China.

553
00:28:05,096 --> 00:28:05,546
Yeah.

554
00:28:05,906 --> 00:28:10,106
Um, that's what they put on some of the
products to distinguish the difference

555
00:28:10,256 --> 00:28:13,646
from their products compared to all
of the competition on the market.

556
00:28:14,006 --> 00:28:17,366
Because yes, you do see it that,
especially also during Corona,

557
00:28:17,396 --> 00:28:20,396
so many new brands started
sprouting out of the ground.

558
00:28:20,426 --> 00:28:24,026
Everybody's, uh, trying to get
a piece of the cake and it's

559
00:28:24,026 --> 00:28:25,766
becoming tougher and tougher.

560
00:28:26,276 --> 00:28:29,786
So also one of my hints by now
that I'm putting people towards

561
00:28:29,786 --> 00:28:32,726
to is, or I'll, I'll show it.

562
00:28:32,906 --> 00:28:33,776
Do you have it actually here?

563
00:28:33,866 --> 00:28:34,076
No.

564
00:28:34,076 --> 00:28:37,526
Um, I have, for example, I have like one
of the cards that you put in the wallet.

565
00:28:37,796 --> 00:28:37,886
Mm-hmm.

566
00:28:38,126 --> 00:28:42,266
Um, that protects a, uh,
wallet against RFID theft.

567
00:28:42,806 --> 00:28:45,326
I used to be very early in the
market, but then I used to have

568
00:28:45,326 --> 00:28:48,686
in Germany, 63 direct competitors.

569
00:28:48,926 --> 00:28:50,966
It's a complete me too product.

570
00:28:51,386 --> 00:28:51,506
Wow.

571
00:28:51,506 --> 00:28:56,036
So with this one by now, to be
honest, Don't go into Me too products.

572
00:28:56,546 --> 00:28:58,386
Always differentiate your, product.

573
00:28:58,406 --> 00:29:03,386
And I suggest by now, try to set
yourself off in terms of price to

574
00:29:03,386 --> 00:29:05,426
a higher price to a premium brand.

575
00:29:05,516 --> 00:29:05,696
Yeah.

576
00:29:05,866 --> 00:29:08,966
Because the more competitors you
have, the, the blocker card that

577
00:29:08,966 --> 00:29:10,586
I used to have was 15 euros.

578
00:29:10,796 --> 00:29:11,876
Now we're down to five.

579
00:29:12,206 --> 00:29:14,186
And it's just a race to the bottom.

580
00:29:14,256 --> 00:29:14,736
Yeah.

581
00:29:14,736 --> 00:29:16,346
You have the same affordable product.

582
00:29:16,896 --> 00:29:18,746
Somebody will underbid you
and it may be the Chinese.

583
00:29:19,046 --> 00:29:19,656
Mm-hmm.

584
00:29:19,736 --> 00:29:23,246
And you just keep the race going until you
have something, unless you have a product.

585
00:29:23,606 --> 00:29:27,596
Which is premium, which is different
where you have USPS in there.

586
00:29:27,956 --> 00:29:31,976
Um, and then you can set yourself
off price wise, maybe even yes, three

587
00:29:31,976 --> 00:29:33,596
times the price of the average market.

588
00:29:34,466 --> 00:29:41,666
Um, my personal target, especially for my
second brand, is I don't target at Amazon

589
00:29:41,756 --> 00:29:43,886
ever at all to become a best seller.

590
00:29:44,586 --> 00:29:46,856
Bestseller sounds great.

591
00:29:46,856 --> 00:29:50,666
Sounds like a lot of sales, but if you
have something that is in comparison with

592
00:29:50,671 --> 00:29:55,661
your product, the bestseller will most
of the time be the cheapest, um, product,

593
00:29:56,621 --> 00:29:59,711
but the higher prices you have, the
more money, the more profit you may also

594
00:29:59,711 --> 00:30:04,451
have for marketing where you can place
yourself advertised on spot number one.

595
00:30:04,541 --> 00:30:05,231
Yeah, yeah.

596
00:30:06,761 --> 00:30:09,911
No, that's, that's, um, well, I
mean, going back to the China thing,

597
00:30:09,911 --> 00:30:13,421
I, I like, I, I get that Corona
made everybody wake up to China.

598
00:30:13,421 --> 00:30:15,371
I think also, if I'm honest with you, the.

599
00:30:16,271 --> 00:30:19,541
The war in Ukraine has probably opened
the world up a little bit more to China,

600
00:30:19,541 --> 00:30:22,931
certainly in the States going, we're
just not happy right now with China.

601
00:30:24,161 --> 00:30:28,031
And I can see that people actually, it
is a USP now just to put on there and

602
00:30:28,031 --> 00:30:31,391
say, this product is not made in China.

603
00:30:31,601 --> 00:30:34,031
Um, so it's intriguing that, sorry?

604
00:30:34,931 --> 00:30:38,531
Sorry which still pleased to know you
can really get the very best quality

605
00:30:38,531 --> 00:30:42,911
in China and the uh, I mean we used
to live ourselves many years in Asia.

606
00:30:43,421 --> 00:30:48,746
Um, And we had surround ourself
with expats Back then, I myself

607
00:30:48,746 --> 00:30:51,506
was in the world market leader
for industrial automation.

608
00:30:51,536 --> 00:30:56,696
We had, uh, people in the same house
who worked at Mercedes, at BMW,

609
00:30:57,056 --> 00:30:58,346
at all of the biggest companies.

610
00:30:58,346 --> 00:31:02,186
I mean, you get the greatest product,
the greatest quality from China if

611
00:31:02,191 --> 00:31:03,866
you're willing to pay the price.

612
00:31:03,871 --> 00:31:09,446
And quite often also better quality
than you may easily achieve over here.

613
00:31:09,686 --> 00:31:12,986
It's just a perception in the
customer's mind that made in China.

614
00:31:13,781 --> 00:31:15,101
Is something bad.

615
00:31:15,491 --> 00:31:21,821
Um, maybe to add on here is, um,
the UK used to, I think, was it

616
00:31:21,821 --> 00:31:23,701
after World War I or during World?

617
00:31:23,701 --> 00:31:27,421
World War I, they actually founded
the thing of made in Germany.

618
00:31:27,771 --> 00:31:28,381
Mm-hmm.

619
00:31:28,461 --> 00:31:28,581
Yeah.

620
00:31:28,581 --> 00:31:34,031
And made in Germany used to be a
topic of boycotting German industry.

621
00:31:34,036 --> 00:31:34,181
Yeah.

622
00:31:34,186 --> 00:31:34,331
Yeah.

623
00:31:34,361 --> 00:31:35,831
To saying, this is bad quality.

624
00:31:35,831 --> 00:31:36,761
This is German.

625
00:31:36,761 --> 00:31:38,051
Do not buy from there.

626
00:31:38,261 --> 00:31:38,501
Mm-hmm.

627
00:31:38,741 --> 00:31:42,011
Um, our countrymen, however they've made
it, I can't understand what the quality

628
00:31:42,011 --> 00:31:43,181
at the moment, what they're doing.

629
00:31:43,601 --> 00:31:45,401
But they turned it somehow around.

630
00:31:45,401 --> 00:31:48,641
To say that made in Germany is like
the best thing in the world, which for

631
00:31:48,641 --> 00:31:53,621
sure not necessarily, but you see where
a stigma in a customer's mind Yeah.

632
00:31:53,981 --> 00:31:56,771
May control the whole purchasing behavior.

633
00:31:57,281 --> 00:31:59,711
So made in China, not true.

634
00:32:00,851 --> 00:32:01,061
Yeah.

635
00:32:01,061 --> 00:32:02,111
It's interesting you say that.

636
00:32:02,111 --> 00:32:05,981
So you can still get quality products
in China, I think, I think from my

637
00:32:05,981 --> 00:32:11,216
own point of view, I think it's not so
much the quality that I would doubt cuz

638
00:32:11,216 --> 00:32:14,576
I, I'm fairly sure that, I mean, I've
bought stuff from China, deliberately

639
00:32:14,576 --> 00:32:18,776
from China because it's, the quality's
gonna be good and the price is, is fair.

640
00:32:19,436 --> 00:32:23,906
Um, I'm, I'm a bit of a woodworker,
Sebastian, in my spare time, my, my

641
00:32:23,906 --> 00:32:25,676
hobby, I, I like to get in the wood shop.

642
00:32:26,006 --> 00:32:30,176
And so some of the stuff that you
buy online from the states could

643
00:32:30,176 --> 00:32:33,716
be 30 times higher than the same
product that I could buy from China.

644
00:32:33,716 --> 00:32:38,336
And you're kind of like, There has to be
more to it than made in America for me to

645
00:32:38,336 --> 00:32:39,816
spend 30 times do you know what I mean?

646
00:32:39,871 --> 00:32:40,376
And, and you kind.

647
00:32:40,376 --> 00:32:43,826
And so, but then you get into
the ethics of it, which I

648
00:32:43,826 --> 00:32:45,416
think is a bit of a gray area.

649
00:32:45,446 --> 00:32:49,016
And I'm, I'm like you, I'm intrigued to
see where it goes, because you're right

650
00:32:49,016 --> 00:32:52,736
in England, made in Germany was, we,
we would tell people that just because

651
00:32:52,736 --> 00:32:55,076
you don't, you don't buy products
from Germany, which don't do that.

652
00:32:55,436 --> 00:32:59,786
But of course, in the eighties, in the
nineties, uh, in the nineties, and,

653
00:32:59,936 --> 00:33:05,786
uh, Well, up until 2012, I used to
directly import products manufactured

654
00:33:05,786 --> 00:33:07,256
in Germany and sell 'em in the uk.

655
00:33:07,256 --> 00:33:10,646
And they were always three or four
times the price, but they were

656
00:33:10,646 --> 00:33:13,256
always to the millimeter perfect.

657
00:33:13,646 --> 00:33:17,396
Uh, and that was what you were buying, you
were buying very well engineered products.

658
00:33:18,266 --> 00:33:19,436
And so that was turned around.

659
00:33:20,216 --> 00:33:23,126
So, okay, so I'm, I'm buying products.

660
00:33:23,216 --> 00:33:27,356
Um, I'm, I'm looking at the
sort of the global market.

661
00:33:27,566 --> 00:33:33,686
Um, How do I, how do I make sure
in a, in a, in this global market

662
00:33:33,776 --> 00:33:37,056
that I find a good quality supplier?

663
00:33:37,286 --> 00:33:41,456
I mean, that's one of the things
that sort of scares me is like, h how

664
00:33:41,456 --> 00:33:46,226
do I know that who I'm dealing with
is actually gonna be of any use for

665
00:33:46,231 --> 00:33:47,486
me as a business in the long run?

666
00:33:48,251 --> 00:33:49,871
There's like the pitch possible, right?

667
00:33:49,871 --> 00:33:54,261
It's like go to Zignify.

668
00:33:56,261 --> 00:33:56,381
Yeah.

669
00:33:56,381 --> 00:33:57,581
I open the door for you there.

670
00:33:57,581 --> 00:33:58,121
That's fine.

671
00:33:58,241 --> 00:33:59,381
Uh, you can pay me later.

672
00:34:00,731 --> 00:34:01,331
Straight through.

673
00:34:02,681 --> 00:34:03,701
Can't help myself.

674
00:34:04,241 --> 00:34:08,231
No, I mean, um, just even, I
mean, if you do the sourcing

675
00:34:08,231 --> 00:34:10,321
also on, on your, on your own.

676
00:34:10,721 --> 00:34:14,321
Um, what we usually do when we go, for
example, to China to source products for

677
00:34:14,321 --> 00:34:19,331
anybody, we usually look for about 30
potential producers outside of China.

678
00:34:19,511 --> 00:34:20,531
About 60.

679
00:34:20,771 --> 00:34:21,341
Why?

680
00:34:21,641 --> 00:34:23,471
But once, because they
don't answer that quickly.

681
00:34:23,471 --> 00:34:26,411
They may not, uh, produce anymore
what they show on the webpage.

682
00:34:26,416 --> 00:34:28,121
The webpage may be wrong,
and so on and so on.

683
00:34:28,121 --> 00:34:33,011
Plus, it's more difficult to get answers,
um, or you need to contact them sometimes

684
00:34:33,011 --> 00:34:35,801
five times, six times, sometimes seven
times in order to get a proposal.

685
00:34:36,491 --> 00:34:40,751
But, uh, the major reason why
getting so many proposals is so

686
00:34:40,751 --> 00:34:42,161
that you can compare the prices.

687
00:34:42,371 --> 00:34:42,521
Mm-hmm.

688
00:34:42,761 --> 00:34:46,801
Now you don't want to go into a
market and have like three proposals.

689
00:34:46,806 --> 00:34:48,551
That's what a lot of people teach.

690
00:34:48,581 --> 00:34:49,031
Yes.

691
00:34:49,031 --> 00:34:49,811
Because it's quick.

692
00:34:49,811 --> 00:34:50,081
Yes.

693
00:34:50,121 --> 00:34:51,041
Cause it's easy.

694
00:34:51,311 --> 00:34:55,151
But to be honest, the more proposals
you have, reasonably more proposals,

695
00:34:55,361 --> 00:34:56,561
the better your prices will become.

696
00:34:56,561 --> 00:34:59,681
The more you can compare, the more
you know the real market price.

697
00:35:00,011 --> 00:35:03,881
And you can then go and get
like 2, 3, 4 or five of them

698
00:35:03,886 --> 00:35:05,921
and say, guys, Send me samples.

699
00:35:05,951 --> 00:35:07,391
I wanna look at the samples.

700
00:35:07,751 --> 00:35:14,891
Um, and then you have already
pre-qualified the ones where you say, um,

701
00:35:15,251 --> 00:35:17,351
they, they could be reasonably priced.

702
00:35:17,356 --> 00:35:18,311
So let's get samples.

703
00:35:18,671 --> 00:35:23,171
You will do for sure quality control
on your products, right on the samples.

704
00:35:23,651 --> 00:35:28,211
One of the big things is please also
never, never, never, never make a final

705
00:35:28,211 --> 00:35:32,651
payment to a producer before you have
checked the mass production quality.

706
00:35:32,961 --> 00:35:33,401
Mm-hmm.

707
00:35:33,486 --> 00:35:37,871
You can do a quality inspection in the
middle of a production, fly there, or

708
00:35:37,871 --> 00:35:42,961
send us, you know, if we're there in those
countries, send us there or any other,

709
00:35:43,151 --> 00:35:45,251
uh, sourcing agency that offers that.

710
00:35:45,701 --> 00:35:48,701
Um, do it during the production.

711
00:35:48,761 --> 00:35:50,201
Do it after production.

712
00:35:50,201 --> 00:35:53,641
Do it before final packaging
and final, uh, ship out.

713
00:35:53,921 --> 00:35:57,341
Do it after pallet packing, depending on
how large your pallets of course are, if

714
00:35:57,341 --> 00:35:59,111
you need pallets or just simply boxes.

715
00:35:59,561 --> 00:36:01,661
Um, but do the quality control.

716
00:36:01,961 --> 00:36:03,851
And that's, I mean, I think
that's the answer to the question.

717
00:36:03,851 --> 00:36:05,351
How do you make sure
you get the best ones?

718
00:36:05,651 --> 00:36:05,741
Mm-hmm.

719
00:36:05,981 --> 00:36:09,731
Get as many, talk as many as reasonably
possible, and then check the quality.

720
00:36:10,631 --> 00:36:13,391
And only if the quality is good
in the end, then you do the a

721
00:36:13,391 --> 00:36:14,771
hundred percent the final payment.

722
00:36:14,771 --> 00:36:15,371
Mm-hmm.

723
00:36:15,701 --> 00:36:19,751
Um, longer you in the game, you
may be able to make a payment

724
00:36:19,751 --> 00:36:21,311
then, you know, after delivery.

725
00:36:21,311 --> 00:36:24,311
But most of it will of course
be a hundred percent upfront.

726
00:36:24,311 --> 00:36:31,331
Or if we are within EU or European, um,
Um, um, well, what's the English word?

727
00:36:31,361 --> 00:36:35,291
Like the European, um, business,
business network, but the business union,

728
00:36:35,801 --> 00:36:40,031
um,  economical union, whatever it is.

729
00:36:40,481 --> 00:36:41,811
Um, EEA.

730
00:36:42,761 --> 00:36:43,301
What's it?

731
00:36:43,571 --> 00:36:46,871
It's the EEA, the European
Economic Association.

732
00:36:46,871 --> 00:36:47,861
I think that's what it stands for.

733
00:36:48,371 --> 00:36:48,701
Yeah.

734
00:36:48,791 --> 00:36:49,061
Yep.

735
00:36:49,901 --> 00:36:55,151
Um, and then you may, you know, also
like order and pay after delivery, but

736
00:36:55,151 --> 00:36:56,951
very important is to quality control.

737
00:36:57,221 --> 00:36:57,401
Mm-hmm.

738
00:36:57,641 --> 00:37:01,361
Um, I give you one short reason
why you should also always do

739
00:37:01,361 --> 00:37:02,471
it for the mass production.

740
00:37:02,471 --> 00:37:06,851
You may think that the samples are good
and it's actually one of my, I'm sorry.

741
00:37:06,856 --> 00:37:10,061
It's very sad for, for the
person who was affected, but

742
00:37:10,061 --> 00:37:11,471
it's kind of my favorite story.

743
00:37:12,041 --> 00:37:15,101
He, uh, ordered the
product from a supplier.

744
00:37:15,401 --> 00:37:19,241
Before he came to us and said, all
right, um, sample number two, that's

745
00:37:19,241 --> 00:37:21,071
the one I would like to have place.

746
00:37:21,071 --> 00:37:23,681
The order, everything went
through, production happened,

747
00:37:23,681 --> 00:37:25,241
uh, shipment, all went good.

748
00:37:25,241 --> 00:37:26,501
All through into Germany.

749
00:37:26,501 --> 00:37:29,981
Boom, off into his storage, he
opens the container and sees, oh my

750
00:37:29,986 --> 00:37:33,191
God, that looks very different from
the sample that I wanted to have.

751
00:37:33,221 --> 00:37:35,771
They tried to make the same red,
the same stitching, the same

752
00:37:35,771 --> 00:37:37,811
everything, but what did they do?

753
00:37:39,161 --> 00:37:42,341
And the supplier who wanted to
produce sample number two, Bought

754
00:37:42,341 --> 00:37:45,611
the samples from other companies
and said, look, we can produce it.

755
00:37:46,631 --> 00:37:49,541
And then when they were supposed
to produce it, they tried to do

756
00:37:49,541 --> 00:37:50,921
the best to copy the product.

757
00:37:51,311 --> 00:37:54,941
So you may also find out that
suppliers buy samples from other

758
00:37:54,941 --> 00:37:58,661
companies to pretend that they have.

759
00:37:58,781 --> 00:37:59,391
Mm-hmm.

760
00:37:59,521 --> 00:38:01,481
Uh, they have produced products.

761
00:38:01,661 --> 00:38:04,721
So what you can do is also all the
check, uh, the backgrounds with the

762
00:38:04,721 --> 00:38:06,491
companies, have video calls with them.

763
00:38:06,821 --> 00:38:09,011
Um, you know, get them by surprise.

764
00:38:09,011 --> 00:38:11,591
Whenever you have one of the,
the salespeople in there, it's

765
00:38:11,591 --> 00:38:13,061
like, just ask them randomly.

766
00:38:13,066 --> 00:38:14,711
So, uh, are you in the company right now?

767
00:38:14,711 --> 00:38:15,611
Are you in the factories?

768
00:38:15,611 --> 00:38:16,781
Like, are you the real producer?

769
00:38:16,821 --> 00:38:17,311
Yeah.

770
00:38:17,311 --> 00:38:17,312
Yeah.

771
00:38:17,317 --> 00:38:17,951
Yes, I am.

772
00:38:17,951 --> 00:38:19,301
It's like, okay, what
kind of phone you have?

773
00:38:19,556 --> 00:38:20,186
Why do you ask?

774
00:38:20,186 --> 00:38:20,846
I have an iPhone.

775
00:38:20,916 --> 00:38:21,806
iPhone 13.

776
00:38:21,866 --> 00:38:23,246
All the Chinese usually have an iPhone.

777
00:38:23,756 --> 00:38:24,326
I was like, all right.

778
00:38:24,416 --> 00:38:26,036
Um, I want you to turn
on the camera right now.

779
00:38:26,036 --> 00:38:29,696
I would like to have a walk with you
through the factory, and then you'll see

780
00:38:29,696 --> 00:38:32,996
all of a sudden, oh, them, or this is
an office, there's no production here.

781
00:38:33,001 --> 00:38:33,866
We're a trading company.

782
00:38:33,986 --> 00:38:34,916
Boom out.

783
00:38:35,366 --> 00:38:38,576
Um, do the background checks,
check the legal pages, check if

784
00:38:38,576 --> 00:38:40,436
they are a trading company or not.

785
00:38:40,886 --> 00:38:42,556
Um, are they the real producers?

786
00:38:42,561 --> 00:38:44,126
Have they produced that thing before?

787
00:38:44,126 --> 00:38:45,656
Can you show me the real production?

788
00:38:46,001 --> 00:38:50,081
I wanna, uh, see that you have done
mass production for this very product.

789
00:38:50,081 --> 00:38:52,961
Show me some pictures or show
me the stock that you have left

790
00:38:52,961 --> 00:38:54,371
in your, in your warehouses.

791
00:38:54,701 --> 00:38:58,361
All of those questions that
could turn out into nah.

792
00:38:58,361 --> 00:38:59,801
I would like to see the reality.

793
00:39:00,191 --> 00:39:00,911
Is it true?

794
00:39:00,911 --> 00:39:00,971
Yeah.

795
00:39:02,111 --> 00:39:06,551
Um, yeah, but ask others simply for help.

796
00:39:06,761 --> 00:39:07,571
It helps definitely.

797
00:39:07,931 --> 00:39:10,241
Speaking the local language
from the producers, of course.

798
00:39:11,411 --> 00:39:11,531
Yeah.

799
00:39:11,531 --> 00:39:12,521
I'm so, I'm sure it does.

800
00:39:12,521 --> 00:39:13,061
I'm sure it is.

801
00:39:13,571 --> 00:39:17,231
What are some of, then, Sebastian, what
are some of the common mistakes you see

802
00:39:17,236 --> 00:39:19,151
people making when sourcing products?

803
00:39:19,151 --> 00:39:23,021
Because, um, I mean, you've,
you've given a few examples there.

804
00:39:23,021 --> 00:39:25,541
Like the guy that thought he was
ordering one thing but ordered

805
00:39:25,541 --> 00:39:26,561
something completely different.

806
00:39:26,561 --> 00:39:30,131
But I'm just kinda, what are the common
mistakes that we would make, maybe.

807
00:39:31,091 --> 00:39:34,601
Um, when you in general, not getting
enough proposals, not checking

808
00:39:34,601 --> 00:39:37,541
the quality enough, the quality
control also on the mass production.

809
00:39:37,931 --> 00:39:41,501
And when you wanna source outside
of China, you need to know, um,

810
00:39:41,531 --> 00:39:42,701
you know, China has Alibaba.

811
00:39:43,301 --> 00:39:43,391
Mm-hmm.

812
00:39:43,691 --> 00:39:46,451
So the Chinese, that's what
I usually say they answer.

813
00:39:47,231 --> 00:39:49,211
The salespeople are very driven to sell.

814
00:39:49,706 --> 00:39:52,376
Because they get a base story and
a good commission of every order.

815
00:39:53,066 --> 00:39:57,776
So they're driven to, to answer day and
night on Sundays in Chinese New Year,

816
00:39:57,776 --> 00:39:59,186
all the time, they show, Hey, I'm here.

817
00:39:59,186 --> 00:39:59,756
Hey, I'm there.

818
00:39:59,756 --> 00:40:00,476
Hey, I'm this.

819
00:40:00,986 --> 00:40:03,716
Um, and I usually say the
quality of the answer.

820
00:40:03,716 --> 00:40:07,616
That's a different topic, but they show
they're there and they, they want to sell.

821
00:40:07,966 --> 00:40:11,306
Now, when going outside of China,
there is no Alibaba where you

822
00:40:11,306 --> 00:40:13,136
place you can't find someone.

823
00:40:13,136 --> 00:40:15,566
Alibaba, you have some
other platforms as well.

824
00:40:15,881 --> 00:40:19,391
Where you can get the, um, some
of the suppliers, but many times

825
00:40:19,391 --> 00:40:21,131
you need to call them, email them.

826
00:40:21,431 --> 00:40:24,371
You need a lot more patience, most of us.

827
00:40:24,371 --> 00:40:27,701
And you can probably second that,
that also in the UK if you call some

828
00:40:27,701 --> 00:40:33,371
company to produce whatever, some
metal, uh, shields or do any plastics

829
00:40:33,376 --> 00:40:38,741
or any woodwork, um, um, it may be
difficult to get the quotation from them.

830
00:40:39,056 --> 00:40:39,506
Why?

831
00:40:39,746 --> 00:40:43,166
Because most of them, they are not
as sales driven as the Chinese.

832
00:40:43,166 --> 00:40:48,356
They don't have a salesperson specifically
answering every potential platform.

833
00:40:48,386 --> 00:40:48,626
Yeah.

834
00:40:48,926 --> 00:40:51,956
So what you need to bring outside
of China is more patience.

835
00:40:52,556 --> 00:40:58,496
It may take 5, 6, 7 times of contacting
the same one, um, the same potential

836
00:40:58,906 --> 00:41:00,596
supplier in order to get a proposal.

837
00:41:01,136 --> 00:41:04,376
Because they very often also think
like, well, uh, you can you compare

838
00:41:04,376 --> 00:41:05,966
the prices anyhow only to China.

839
00:41:05,966 --> 00:41:06,026
Yeah.

840
00:41:06,266 --> 00:41:07,556
I will not get the order.

841
00:41:07,886 --> 00:41:11,366
Um, or, or my colleague who's on
vacation right now, we don't check

842
00:41:11,366 --> 00:41:16,436
their email or I'm sick and, or I'm
on vacation or I have Corona and, uh,

843
00:41:16,706 --> 00:41:19,916
well, we are closed because of, uh,
wealth or something like this, you know?

844
00:41:19,946 --> 00:41:20,676
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

845
00:41:22,046 --> 00:41:27,926
Having 2, 3, 4 large customers and not
wanting to deal with the smaller, um,

846
00:41:27,986 --> 00:41:30,716
potential customers who may turn big.

847
00:41:31,196 --> 00:41:36,986
That is something we have really
missed to adapt while China

848
00:41:36,986 --> 00:41:38,426
has just driven that forward.

849
00:41:39,026 --> 00:41:39,356
Wow.

850
00:41:40,856 --> 00:41:42,566
All top tips, Sebastian.

851
00:41:42,571 --> 00:41:45,536
Now I, I guess my final question
on this, cause I'm aware of time,

852
00:41:46,736 --> 00:41:49,016
um, if someone's listening to the
show, they go and this is great.

853
00:41:49,496 --> 00:41:52,556
Um, Sebastian, I'm kind of listening
to you and I'm thinking this is cool.

854
00:41:53,696 --> 00:41:56,546
What are some of the things they
should have in mind when working with

855
00:41:56,546 --> 00:41:58,556
a product supplier like yourself?

856
00:41:58,556 --> 00:42:04,001
Like, um, What are some of the
mistakes you see people make there?

857
00:42:04,001 --> 00:42:08,951
Because I, I get the appeal because
frankly, product sourcing does not

858
00:42:08,951 --> 00:42:10,781
thrill me at all on any kind of level.

859
00:42:10,781 --> 00:42:12,371
So I'm gonna go, I'm
gonna go see Sebastian.

860
00:42:12,371 --> 00:42:12,941
That's awesome.

861
00:42:13,541 --> 00:42:16,271
Um, but how do I know you are
the right person to go talk to?

862
00:42:17,711 --> 00:42:22,421
One of the things I, um, I mean we
grew out of on demand and we want to

863
00:42:22,421 --> 00:42:25,841
do the sourcing the same way as we do
it for ourselves, for our own products.

864
00:42:26,531 --> 00:42:30,191
Um, we want it open, honest,
and 100% transparent.

865
00:42:30,251 --> 00:42:34,331
And that is why when you go, for example,
to sourcing companies, I mean check, do

866
00:42:34,331 --> 00:42:35,861
they get a percentage of the order volume?

867
00:42:36,791 --> 00:42:40,901
So it means if you place an order of
20,000 with them or 50,000 or even

868
00:42:40,901 --> 00:42:45,371
less, do they get a percentage of it
and do they tell you the supplier name?

869
00:42:45,611 --> 00:42:46,781
Most of the times they don't.

870
00:42:47,291 --> 00:42:51,761
I personally don't see a reason if
you order for $500 or $500,000 that

871
00:42:51,761 --> 00:42:53,111
it should cost you anything different.

872
00:42:53,966 --> 00:43:00,656
Um, if I get a 10% whatever on
there, that would be $50 or $50,000.

873
00:43:00,836 --> 00:43:01,106
Hmm.

874
00:43:01,176 --> 00:43:02,246
The work is the same.

875
00:43:02,816 --> 00:43:07,046
Now, if you don't have a chance to know
who is the supplier, you'll never be

876
00:43:07,046 --> 00:43:11,546
able to get in contact with, and all of
the reorders have to be done through the

877
00:43:11,551 --> 00:43:16,586
same sourcing company as well, which then
will ask a sh a smaller percentage, but

878
00:43:16,586 --> 00:43:21,176
a 6%, uh, on $500,000 order is $30,000.

879
00:43:21,471 --> 00:43:21,871
Mm-hmm.

880
00:43:21,956 --> 00:43:24,881
To be honest, it takes about 10
hours of work and 10 hours of

881
00:43:24,881 --> 00:43:27,581
work for $30,000 for a reorder.

882
00:43:28,121 --> 00:43:28,571
Not bad.

883
00:43:28,571 --> 00:43:28,931
Come on.

884
00:43:29,651 --> 00:43:31,151
Yes, we could charge that.

885
00:43:31,211 --> 00:43:34,331
But um, again, ask questions.

886
00:43:34,331 --> 00:43:35,741
Why should you pay a percentage?

887
00:43:35,801 --> 00:43:38,291
Do you get the context
to the real supplier?

888
00:43:38,291 --> 00:43:41,051
So in worst case, you can
take over on your own.

889
00:43:41,051 --> 00:43:46,121
Can you place the reorders on,
uh, by yourself if you want to?

890
00:43:46,211 --> 00:43:48,791
And do you get two, three proposals?

891
00:43:49,076 --> 00:43:53,366
Or is the target to get 30 to 60
potential producers in order to get

892
00:43:53,366 --> 00:43:58,706
the real market overview and make sure
that you get the lowest possible price.

893
00:43:59,396 --> 00:44:04,196
Another question to ask is, um, when you
work with a sourcing company, do they get

894
00:44:04,196 --> 00:44:10,556
a kickback or they do they get a bribe by,
um, one of the, uh, producers And how do

895
00:44:10,556 --> 00:44:12,356
they make sure they don't get any bribes?

896
00:44:12,356 --> 00:44:12,596
Mm-hmm.

897
00:44:12,676 --> 00:44:13,436
Ask those questions.

898
00:44:14,426 --> 00:44:15,986
Ask us those questions as we can.

899
00:44:15,986 --> 00:44:16,916
Doors open for me.

900
00:44:16,916 --> 00:44:17,396
Yeah.

901
00:44:17,406 --> 00:44:18,046
Here we go.

902
00:44:18,326 --> 00:44:20,606
Zignify, answer those questions.

903
00:44:20,906 --> 00:44:24,756
We wanna make low a price as possible.

904
00:44:25,796 --> 00:44:26,036
Thanks.

905
00:44:26,246 --> 00:44:27,446
I think they're really good questions.

906
00:44:27,446 --> 00:44:30,326
I think they're very thought-provoking
questions as well, Sebastian, because

907
00:44:30,326 --> 00:44:35,606
what you're actually saying is demand
transparency, um, in a, in an age, which

908
00:44:35,606 --> 00:44:37,806
wants transparency but rarely gets it.

909
00:44:38,666 --> 00:44:40,286
And I like that.

910
00:44:40,286 --> 00:44:41,126
I like that a lot.

911
00:44:41,186 --> 00:44:46,256
And so, um, if anyone is gonna contact
Zignify, contact Sebastian and say, right

912
00:44:46,256 --> 00:44:50,816
dude, tell me about, tell me about this.

913
00:44:50,821 --> 00:44:51,716
Do you get a bribe?

914
00:44:51,716 --> 00:44:52,676
Do you take a kickback?

915
00:44:52,676 --> 00:44:53,456
Et cetera, et cetera.

916
00:44:53,456 --> 00:44:55,256
That'd be really interesting
to see what you come back with.

917
00:44:55,676 --> 00:44:59,066
Listen, Sebastian, um, I feel like
I'm just getting going with the

918
00:44:59,066 --> 00:45:01,286
conversation, but time has escaped us.

919
00:45:01,556 --> 00:45:02,786
How do people reach you?

920
00:45:02,786 --> 00:45:04,976
How do they get ahold of
you if they want to do that?

921
00:45:06,161 --> 00:45:06,971
Fantastic.

922
00:45:07,031 --> 00:45:08,621
I mean, thanks again for sure.

923
00:45:08,621 --> 00:45:09,731
Here, I think you see it.

924
00:45:09,761 --> 00:45:11,561
Where's my, my finger?

925
00:45:11,811 --> 00:45:15,731
Zignify.Net in the beginning
a Z, or in the end, a Y.

926
00:45:16,131 --> 00:45:21,281
Zignify.Net or, um, you can book
a, a free of charge call in there.

927
00:45:21,281 --> 00:45:24,311
We'll have a 30 minute talk
through your sourcing, look

928
00:45:24,311 --> 00:45:25,761
through your current strategy.

929
00:45:25,781 --> 00:45:26,741
All of that's for free.

930
00:45:27,371 --> 00:45:28,721
Um, but also feel free.

931
00:45:28,726 --> 00:45:31,811
I'm usually active on
LinkedIn, on Facebook a bit.

932
00:45:31,816 --> 00:45:34,241
It's Sebastian the connector Herz.

933
00:45:34,781 --> 00:45:38,771
Um, my transferred there
to the profiles and yeah.

934
00:45:38,771 --> 00:45:41,081
Other than that, I think it's the
simplest thing is really Zignify.net

935
00:45:41,081 --> 00:45:42,141
On that to just book a call.

936
00:45:42,161 --> 00:45:42,431
Yeah.

937
00:45:42,931 --> 00:45:48,956
Just book a call on Zignify.Net,
that's Zed i g n i f y or if you're

938
00:45:48,956 --> 00:45:51,996
outside of the uk, Z I G N I F Y.

939
00:45:52,376 --> 00:45:55,676
I dunno why in the English speaking
language, the English pronounce the,

940
00:45:55,826 --> 00:46:00,446
the, the last letter of the alphabet,
Zed, and the, uh, American English is z.

941
00:46:00,856 --> 00:46:03,676
Who knows, somebody somewhere,
I'm sure can explain that to me.

942
00:46:03,676 --> 00:46:04,456
That's clever than me.

943
00:46:04,846 --> 00:46:09,556
Anyway, we will link to Sebastian's
info in the show notes, which you can

944
00:46:09,556 --> 00:46:13,196
get along for free, along with the
transcript at ecommercepodcast.net.

945
00:46:13,516 --> 00:46:15,766
Uh, and of course, if you're subscribed
to the newsletter, that will be

946
00:46:15,766 --> 00:46:18,436
coming automagically to your inbox.

947
00:46:18,766 --> 00:46:21,176
Uh, Sebastian, listen, it's
been an absolute treat man.

948
00:46:21,176 --> 00:46:23,096
Thank you so much for joining us.

949
00:46:23,356 --> 00:46:27,016
Uh, here on the e-Commerce
podcast, I have lots of notes.

950
00:46:27,286 --> 00:46:30,436
Uh, I have no doubt that we'll be
talking in the future, uh, as we've

951
00:46:30,436 --> 00:46:33,826
got a whole bunch of stuff going on,
but, um, it's been an absolute treat.

952
00:46:33,826 --> 00:46:34,696
Thanks for coming on, man.

953
00:46:34,696 --> 00:46:35,536
Much appreciated.

954
00:46:36,766 --> 00:46:37,516
The same here.

955
00:46:37,516 --> 00:46:39,556
Thank you very much
for having me and Matt.

956
00:46:39,646 --> 00:46:42,236
Keep up that amazing spirit.

957
00:46:42,436 --> 00:46:44,986
I mean, the energy you
put in there is wow.

958
00:46:45,076 --> 00:46:45,876
I'm blown away.

959
00:46:46,391 --> 00:46:47,051
Thank you very much.

960
00:46:47,921 --> 00:46:49,601
He's such a smooth talker, isn't he?

961
00:46:49,811 --> 00:46:53,771
Uh, so Sebastian Hertz
a great conversation.

962
00:46:53,771 --> 00:46:55,571
Sebastian, thanks for
coming on the show, man.

963
00:46:55,811 --> 00:46:59,771
Also, a big shout out to today's
show sponsor, the e-commerce cohort.

964
00:46:59,771 --> 00:47:04,976
Remember to check out their free
online training at ecommercecycles.com.

965
00:47:05,256 --> 00:47:08,196
We've put that together for you
so you can see how we implement

966
00:47:08,196 --> 00:47:09,696
in our own e-com businesses.

967
00:47:10,026 --> 00:47:12,966
Uh, and be sure to follow the
e-commerce podcast wherever you get

968
00:47:12,966 --> 00:47:16,626
your podcast from because we've got
yet more great conversations lined up.

969
00:47:16,686 --> 00:47:19,236
And I don't want you to miss any of them.

970
00:47:19,241 --> 00:47:21,906
And if you're listening to the
audio, you miss Sebastian giving you

971
00:47:21,906 --> 00:47:23,256
a big thumbs up when I said that.

972
00:47:23,761 --> 00:47:26,881
Uh, but before we wrap up today's
episode, lemme just take a moment

973
00:47:26,881 --> 00:47:30,781
to invite you, dear listener,
to become a part of the show.

974
00:47:30,781 --> 00:47:34,561
Now, if you're an e-commerce entrepreneur
or an expert and would like to share

975
00:47:34,566 --> 00:47:38,451
your insights with our audience,
well, we'd love to hear from you or.

976
00:47:39,041 --> 00:47:43,031
Maybe it's not you, maybe it's someone
you know who would make a great guest,

977
00:47:43,031 --> 00:47:45,491
then please do send them our way.

978
00:47:45,881 --> 00:47:49,661
Uh, to be totally transparent, we have got
a massive wait list of people that want to

979
00:47:49,666 --> 00:47:54,191
come on the show, but we are very keen to
start adding, uh, e-commerce entrepreneurs

980
00:47:54,191 --> 00:47:58,661
and those with experience, uh, in
e-commerce across multiple sectors also.

981
00:47:58,661 --> 00:48:03,071
So just head over to our website,
ecommercepodcast.net and get in touch.

982
00:48:03,431 --> 00:48:06,941
Uh, we are always looking for,
Fresh perspectives and new ideas.

983
00:48:06,941 --> 00:48:07,571
So don't be shy.

984
00:48:07,571 --> 00:48:09,911
Whether you are just starting out or
have years of experience under your

985
00:48:09,911 --> 00:48:12,191
belt, we would love to hear from you.

986
00:48:12,251 --> 00:48:13,871
So that's it from me.

987
00:48:14,081 --> 00:48:15,581
Thank you for listening.

988
00:48:15,791 --> 00:48:18,971
Uh, and in case no one has told
you today, let me say this in

989
00:48:18,971 --> 00:48:22,901
case no one has told you yet today
dear listener, you are awesome.

990
00:48:23,291 --> 00:48:25,241
Yes, you are created awesome.

991
00:48:25,241 --> 00:48:27,101
It's just a burden you have to bear.

992
00:48:27,101 --> 00:48:28,541
Sebastian has to bear it.

993
00:48:29,111 --> 00:48:30,101
I have to bear it.

994
00:48:30,986 --> 00:48:31,976
You've gotta bear it too.

995
00:48:32,126 --> 00:48:35,066
Now, the E-Commerce podcast
is produced by Aurion Media.

996
00:48:35,066 --> 00:48:39,476
You can find our entire archive of
episodes on your favorite podcast app.

997
00:48:39,806 --> 00:48:43,486
The team that makes this show
possible is Sadaf Beynon, Estella

998
00:48:43,486 --> 00:48:46,006
Robin and Tayna Hutsuliak.

999
00:48:46,316 --> 00:48:49,286
Uh, our theme song is
written by Josh Edmundson.

1000
00:48:49,496 --> 00:48:52,526
Uh, and as I mentioned, if you would
like to read the show notes, head over

1001
00:48:52,526 --> 00:48:57,956
to the website, ecommercepodcast.net
where you can also sign up for the

1002
00:48:57,956 --> 00:48:59,156
newsletter that I've mentioned.

1003
00:48:59,486 --> 00:49:00,416
That's it from me.

1004
00:49:00,476 --> 00:49:01,766
That's it from Sebastian.

1005
00:49:02,246 --> 00:49:03,356
Have a fantastic week.

1006
00:49:03,356 --> 00:49:04,886
Thank you so much for joining us.

1007
00:49:04,886 --> 00:49:05,786
I'll see you next time.

1008
00:49:06,536 --> 00:49:07,136
Bye for now.