- Joined
- Jul 6, 2014
- Messages
- 21
- Location
- from Denton, TX to Suzhou, China
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$270
$270
User Power: 57%
Hey Fastlaners,
Quick background: A few years ago I was living in the U.S. and tried the typical side-hustle route—selling on Amazon and eBay. I moved some inventory, but never built anything with real scale or margins. Basically, I was trading time for dollars in a race to the bottom. I get it now: I was a consumer of platforms, not a producer of value.
Today I’m based in Suzhou, China, about 20 minutes high-speed train from Shanghai. I’m fluent in both English and Mandarin, and I’ve spent the last year building relationships with factory owners and supply-chain contacts across the Yangtze River Delta region (electronics, textiles, packaging, light manufacturing, CNC, etc. You name it).
What I’m trying to do:
I want to flip my past "failure" into an actual value-producing business. Instead of me competing on Amazon, I want to help entrepreneurs and small brands source reliably from China—without the Alibaba roulette, language barriers, or 3 AM WeChat miscommunications.
I’ve set up a landing page at taotradeagent.com, but right now it’s basically a digital business card. I know that’s not enough.
My honest questions for the forum:
Any brutal honesty is welcome.
Thanks,
Tao
Quick background: A few years ago I was living in the U.S. and tried the typical side-hustle route—selling on Amazon and eBay. I moved some inventory, but never built anything with real scale or margins. Basically, I was trading time for dollars in a race to the bottom. I get it now: I was a consumer of platforms, not a producer of value.
Today I’m based in Suzhou, China, about 20 minutes high-speed train from Shanghai. I’m fluent in both English and Mandarin, and I’ve spent the last year building relationships with factory owners and supply-chain contacts across the Yangtze River Delta region (electronics, textiles, packaging, light manufacturing, CNC, etc. You name it).
What I’m trying to do:
I want to flip my past "failure" into an actual value-producing business. Instead of me competing on Amazon, I want to help entrepreneurs and small brands source reliably from China—without the Alibaba roulette, language barriers, or 3 AM WeChat miscommunications.
I’ve set up a landing page at taotradeagent.com, but right now it’s basically a digital business card. I know that’s not enough.
My honest questions for the forum:
- Positioning: Should I market myself as a "China sourcing agent," a "supply chain consultant," or something else entirely? I’m worried "agent" sounds cheap/broker-ish, but "consultant" might sound like I’m charging for advice I haven’t proven yet.
- Monetization model: Is it smarter to charge a flat per-project fee, a percentage of PO value, or a retainer for ongoing clients? I want to align my incentives with the client’s success, not just make a quick intro and disappear.
- Trust & proof: Since I’m new to this side of the table, how do I build credibility fast? Should I document factory visits on LinkedIn/YouTube? Offer a "first order guarantee"? I need a trust shortcut that doesn’t require years of testimonials.
- Client acquisition: My instinct is to target indie DTC brands and Kickstarter-backed founders who are just ready to scale past domestic suppliers. Is that the right beachhead, or am I missing a bigger pain point?
- The website itself: What should taotradeagent.com actually do for me? Right now it’s static. Should it be a lead-gen funnel with a qualification form? A content hub about China manufacturing? A case-study portfolio (once I have cases)?
Any brutal honesty is welcome.
Thanks,
Tao
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