Source China recorded a turnover of US$7 million, employing just seven staff at its offices in Shanghai. From the sourcing perspective, Toms has built very strong relationships with a number of suppliers and manufacturers in China. “Where we have found good products, we’ve continued buying from that supplier,” he says, “and we have built up great relationships with a number of companies who in turn have a great relationship with the factories. I wouldn’t say we haven’t had issues; but where we have, we’ve worked with the suppliers to solve the problems, to such an extent that many times suppliers have sent us clients, as they know we can deal with them at a higher level of customer service, and we then promote their products, with our services added.”
Having started the company from scratch and performed every aspect of the work himself—from building the website through to negotiating contracts and managing the logistics—Toms has now handed much of it to his second in command, 29 year old Chinese Helen Han, who works from the office in Shanghai, but has also travelled to meet clients in Kenya and Uganda. “I now spend much more of my time travelling to see clients,” says Toms. “Emails are fantastic, phone calls are great, but spending time with them face-to-face and understanding their business is what I want to do.” This personal touch points directly to the niche Toms has identified in the market. “The Chinese can produce some very good products; but they have weaker customer service, and that’s what
“We have built up great relationships with a number of companies who in turn have a great relationship with the factories” From the customer perspective the growth of the business has happened purely organically: by word of mouth. “My original client, Civicon, introduced me to their business partners and it’s grown from there. I spend a lot of time in Mombasa, which is the gateway into East Africa, and I deal with all the big transporters there. It’s a tight community,” he says. That intimacy is great for business but can also have its downside. “Equally I’m aware that if something does go wrong, then the news will spread like wildfire.” Toms has continuously been expanding the company’s reach—largely by building personal relationships, but also through two strategic partnerships. One of these is with Rodrigo Casadei in Brazil—originally an employee of a valued Brazilian client—who brings considerable industry knowledge and experience as well as impeccable contacts. “Brazil is a huge growth area for us, particularly as it’s gearing up in preparation for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. We will be opening an office in Sao Paulo this year,” he says. “My other partner is Gay Crossley who has a trading company in South Africa and operates from our office in Johannesburg.” South Africa, of course, has been through a massive phase of construction in the build-up to this year’s World Cup.
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I’m aiming at.” Companies attempting to source directly from China find it incredibly difficult to access engineering expertise for the products they are buying, or indeed the spare parts they require. However, having acquired six years’ of experience and knowledge in China with Chinese spare parts, suppliers and engineers, Source China is in a position to be able to provide all. Cranes are a great example of this. The company deals with XCMG cranes located in the city of Xuzhou—the third largest crane manufacturer in the world. “But they supply very limited services for anything they sell outside of China. So I buy either direct from the factory or from the market and supply them to my clients,” he explains. Then if there is a need for it, he can take Chinese engineers to the client to help with training and support. “Two months ago, I took Chinese crane engineers to Angola with me to repair a crane which had fallen over and been damaged. They repaired it in three days and the clients had been working on it for two years. He also provided training on the crane. And because he only spoke Chinese, I translated for them.” Supply of spare parts is also a major part of Source China’s activity. “We put our Source China plates on every single machine we sell,” Toms explains. “These specify the technical details of