As an investor, I love travelling because gaining arbitrage is simply capitalizing on the difference between varying geographical market prices. Majority of Nigerian investors (both big and small) focus on the China Market – its not a secret that almost 95% of everything you have in your home and office is produced in China – they could be promoted and managed by other countries hence the “Made in US”, “Made in France”, etc, label but the underlying production is always done in the far East Asian countries like China. Thus every tourist visits China for business.
However, I cannot fail to mention the product “quality” perception of China – these perceptions are not really far from the truth however most brands ensure quality assurance and control when producing in these Eastern Asian countries. With this in mind, its not unusual to see a single product with 5 different quality standards categorized A to E with the highest grade being A and the lowest E. The higher the grade, the higher the cost so countries like US, UK and Western Europe with tight quality control only allow products with quality A and B into their respective countries while African countries get more of quality D and E.
As a shoe buff, I never bothered buying shoes from the China flea market until a particular day in Guangzhou; I saw a particular shoe I bought during my short stay in Rome. My first thought was; “this must be a copy” but my eyes were trained to recognize original leather design so I stopped to take a peak. To my surprise, it was the exact Doc Martens – I immediately asked for the price and the lady said; “350 USD”. This was a huge shock to me because everything in China is priced in Yuan not USD. I now really looked at her stall and realized that all her shoes are original leather. I got friendly with her because her English language was excellent for a Chinese. After days of friendliness, she revealed to me that she buys her shoes from Thailand.
“Why Thailand?” Everybody goes to China to buy things to sell in their country but this woman goes to Thailand to sell things in China. I immediately started my research on Thailand. The first thing that got my attention was that all products produced in Thailand meet United States specification. It did not take me long to realize the gold mine that was in Thailand – quality products at give-away prices – this is the dream of every investor. Fast moving products like;
1. Rechargeable Fans, Lamps, etc.
2. Car Vacuum Cleaners and Home Vacuum Cleaners
3. Electronics: Laptops, tablets, Phones, Air Conditioner, Freezers, etc.
4. Wears: Clothes, Shoes, etc.
5. Jewelries, gold, diamond, watches, etc.
6. Toiletries like Herbal Soaps, diapers, tampons, etc.
7. Building Materials
One important product that was intentionally omitted was Rice – Thailand Rice brand is famous for its high quality and rich contents. Anybody interested in Rice business must definitely have a deep pocket. Another interesting thing about Thailand is the vast opportunities available to professional footballers especially those that want to increase their income – they are always looking out for talents especially in football. The country is relatively peaceful thus attracting tourists from all over the world and the weather is a big advantage to Nigerians interested in checking out the country to have fun and business.
What can I say? The advantages are endless; this is why we are organizing a trip to Thailand in January to unearth more products and create network opportunity for serious minded executives who know that their future is not in the company they work with and entrepreneurs who want to take their business to a different level. With a 600K budget (covering 3-months VISA, hotels, transfers, economy plane ticket and feeding), you will be among the 8 delegates on a 2-weeks business exposé to Thailand. Apart from Thailand, the delegates will be visiting two other countries – Laos and Cambodia – to deepen our research.
All interested parties must attend a roundtable seminar for further information on how to get fast moving products from Thailand – Topics that will be discussed include information on how to safely and cheaply import from Thailand with a minimum of 100K, how to get permanent VISA to Thailand, how to recognize quality products and companies in Thailand, etc.
Date: October 15th, 2011
Time: 12pm – 4pm
Seminar Fee: N15, 000
Please, kindly indicate interest by filling out our contact form. Click HERE to access it. Thank you!
*Success in Life is by choice not by chance
