Our Insights

Outsourcing from East Asia is a risky move, evidenced by the experience of Snaigė, Lithuanian manufacturer of household refrigerators, freezers and vertical coolers, but Vilma Noruvienė, the company’s Head of Supply, is confident that the risk is worth taking. “When we initially began working with Asian suppliers, their main advantage was cost. Currently, the price […]

These days nothing is easier than finding what you need in Asia and having it delivered to you: quickly, cheaply and of decent quality. Web is full of Asian manufacturers ready to fulfil any orders you have. Nerijus Kukarėnas, responsible for European clients at PointOne International, shares his insights. I’ve had a number of clients […]

Cross-cultural differences can be significant impediments to successful international projects. Luckily though, these situations can be avoided by having a grasp of the do’s and don’ts of various cultures or at least by ‘playing it safe’. We’ve witnessed countless minor and major cultural mannerisms over our past 30 years in international trade. While many of […]

The internet and technology have made the world smaller. Communication is immediate and affordable. However, email correspondence with an unknown person or an entity does not always tell the tale, and it often leads to quirks and even major misunderstandings with established business partners. Phone calls and video conferences don’t always help here either. Obviously, […]

Thinking of exporting? Then expect the unexpected! Most SMEs attempting to do business in a foreign country have little experience in doing so. Yet we believe the greatest problem in doing business internationally is thinking that the business processes one is familiar with locally will work exactly the same way overseas. They will not, and […]

Choosing one’s overseas sourcing partner: do’s and don’ts Would you place a highly engineered and order to a Chinese source you discover on the internet and choose solely for pricing? Sadly, this was exactly the case we witnessed a few years ago: a US industrial distributor was on the brink of major failure when it […]