Sofeast’s Business Model

New clients often ask how we make money. They are used to working with service providers who get a cut of all transactions.

The answer is very simple: we get paid based on the time we work.

What Makes Sofeast Unique?

Sofeast is more than just a ‘QC agency’, an ‘engineering firm’, or a ‘sourcing agent’.
We offer you support for your entire production project in China, from vetting a supplier through to shipping. We have the processes, the tools, and the competencies for that.

We screen & qualify suppliers for you

Picking the right supply chain strategy, and selecting the right supplier(s), is paramount. Our project managers and auditors work with you to find a suitable match for your company based on their processes, quality system, experience, and motivations.

We charge for our work, not based on commissions, so we have no incentive to push you into a business relationship.

We help you develop new products

Our team of 25 R&D engineers will help you develop your new electro-mechanical product. We follow a proven process for keeping risks (e.g. quality issues in production, long delays…) under control.

We can make early prototypes in-house, and at one point we involve and qualify component suppliers, and we have strategies to prevent leakage of your IP.

Management of quality assurance, A to Z

You want to involve us to manage QA on some of your productions? We offer integrated programs. Everything can impact quality, from supplier selection to product design and production setup, so all these topics need to be reviewed.

We audit processes and inspect products, to detect risks and issues before it is too late, and we can help troubleshoot if needed.

How we get paid

With Sofeast, there are no surprises:

Flat fee for some services with defined deliverables (e.g. a QC checklist for a relatively simple product is 99 USD; auditing a factory starts at 279 USD)
Price per hour for project management (38 USD, or lower under a retainer)
Price per hour for engineering (45 USD, or lower under a retainer)
Price per man-day of work for inspections (299 USD, with extra expenses if a lot of traveling is involved)

In general, we provide quotations in advance for new clients, except in the case of Quality Assurance solutions clients who are always all provided with them in advance.

For contract manufacturing/packing jobs, we can only give quotations once we know the exact work to be done.

When you work with us, we provide a transparent, streamlined way to work with Chinese suppliers that gives you peace of mind.

Here is a comparison of your main options, when it comes to having local support:

Your employees	Sofeast	Traditional ‘agents’
Cost is based on amount of time spent working	Cost is based on amount of time spent working	Cost is based on 5-15% of transaction amount
Cost is similar whether very busy or not	Cost goes to zero if there is no work	Cost incurred every time products are shipped
About 50% of hires are mistakes	Easy to start and try us (no MOQ)	Often push you to sign on for an entire project
Relatively fixed cost in the mid term	Contract can be stopped with reasonable notice	WIll always try to remain ‘in the middle of things’

Ready to develop your own new product? Click here to see a similar comparison between Sofeast’s R&D team and your other options: Hiring in your own R&D team and delegating it all to a factory.

Comparison of Sofeast's R&D team with other methods

Who we don’t work with

Here are some of the characteristics of companies we can’t help:

They want a whole supply chain, already ready, without any effort. If that’s you, you should work with a trading company (if you buy off-the-shelf products) or an ODM factory (if you want a differentiated, if not unique, product). And most of the information about the supply chain will be theirs, not yours. That can work well in the short term.

They want to pay a percentage of the purchased amount to an “agent”. That’s not our business model. We are very focused on following the right process, as a means to reaching the right objectives. We charge a honest rate for professional services, for those buyers who want to maximize their chances of success.

They are unwilling to understand that dealing with Asian suppliers is different. We can provide advice (much of it free in our blog) on the right approach when buying in China, India, or elsewhere in Asia. But we can’t let a local manufacturer think and work like those in your country. If that’s you, you should buy from resellers in your own country.

They only see us as a last-resort solution. We gets calls from distressed importers every week. ‘If only I had followed the advice in your e-book, rather than trusted that scumbag of a salesperson’, they say. Then they hope we can help them recover their money. With no real contract and a fly-by-night supplier. That’s way too late.

Get help today

Do you need help to get better results from your Chinese suppliers?
Speak with us now. Hit the button below to request a consultation.

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