Where I have been this time... and why I'm famous at Wells Fargo

[Kak]

So in golf and in business you are playing the 'long game'.

I'll show myself out.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

My first offer is my best offer.

Lol I'm going to say that next time I buy a house.

 

[Kak]

Hey Kak,

Question: Being someone who is also under 30, I am curious to your thoughts on allocating your time between growth of your business vs building relationships (both business and personal)? I believe laser sharp focus is key to quick growth and success in business, but for the long term, those relationships, such as the one you were looking to build with the jackass, can prove to be very beneficial.

In your experiences, has the sacrifice been worth it for the long term effects of those relationships?

Moving forward into your 30's, I'm guessing that you may want a family if you don't have one already. Do you see that affecting your focus at all in terms of your businesses?

Good question.

I have been able to have an awesome marriage where we get to spend more time together than an average couple AND an aggressive entrepreneur. Why? Because when I start any business I think scale from the foundation up, scale involving automation, outsourcing, or delegation affords you your time back. You have achieved scale when the difference between a $600 order and a $60,000 order are the numbers and not much else.

I have NEVER subscribed to the no wife, no kids, no family mentality as a necessity to entrepreneurship. That mentality is a bullshit distraction, an action fake for someone who isn't married and an excuse for someone who is.

The beautiful part about all of this is I could easily start another if the opportunity presented itself. I don't really have to work more than a couple of hours a day on average to make this all work. I took 10 days off at the beginning of this month to go skiing. I probably answered 6 phone calls and 10 emails. The businesses kept progressing without me. Yes I travel for work sometimes, I usually offer to bring her. Yes I spend time in the office. So what? I do what needs to be done. My wife and eventually kids will absolutely come before my businesses, but it never becomes a problem because I make the time.

Now as far as business relationships are concerned, I put them in my phone. If I am not willing to reach out and call that individual, they are not a connection. I make a concerted effort to do favors for others, help people with their networking needs, not really expecting anything in return. This makes a difference in the accessibility of your network. If one day you do have a question to ask they will take your call. You aren't just this guy they met, you are the guy that helped them with X, Y or Z.

Personal relationships beyond family... They MUST be with people you respect. I don't waste time developing relationships with people I don't respect. You become like the people you spend the most time around. Choose to spend your time around awesome people, not losers.

 

[Vigilante]

Not sure if this is one of my favorite threads because of the lessons contained within or because I watched this whole thing unfold and can validate 100% of its authenticity.

What you guys don't see is this is just a a little glimpse into the daily life of this high flying entrepreneur. I wish he had time to blog and he never will but if you guys could spend a bit of time with him on the phone regularly you would see this entertainment play out regularly.

I can summarize his life for you very succinctly. He wins.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

Foreshadow

I’m confident that I could articulate and debate pro-business, pro-opportunity and capitalistic stances with the best of them.

I’m passionate about these truths and I wish our country could remember what made us great in the first place. Rugged individualism, innovation, and embracing the freedom to go out there and become successful.

Sadly, I don't have the highest of hopes that these stances have a place in US politics these days.

 

[Kak]

Thanks for the offer.

I recently saw some numbers on solar that made me think I could make someone with cash a lot more cash, I'd need to dig in before I had a solid up/down vote.

I have a hard time with retail ideas, it's all just trinkets on their way to the trash. That being said, I sense a great deal of opporunity in reclaiming those materials for resale as recyclable. Raw materials (plastics, paper, metals) and there is some lost value in throwin out old electronics I'm sure.

Have a good christmas.

Ok here is what I would do on solar.

First of all the purpose of solar is to pull the property as far off of dependency on the grid as possible. In my research, unless you have a capacitor system that runs your home when the sun is not out, it makes more sense to have a 60/40 or 70/30 setup. Basically 60% solar and 40% grid. I understand a lot of people sell energy off of their property, but we are talking mass appeal, not just farmers and semi-entrepreneurial people here. For 90% of people this is so much cheaper and to me looks like a better ROI for a few reasons...

Buying enough panels to run the entire home would require buying enough to not only actively run the home, but to also charge the capacitor system. So you would be buying 120-150% of the load necessity of your home. That means twice as many panels and a very expensive capacitor system. Couple that with the fact that the technology is ever evolving and getting better, you would have to keep upgrading a much larger and more expensive system.

So. If I were a customer, I would want to leave my home partially on the grid so that I can benefit from stable electricity delivery and from a cheaper overall project cost.

Now, due to the fact that your energy bill is a monthly expense... This has interesting financing written all over it.

If it were my business I would go out to put together a package for every 1000kWh they want to pull their home off of the grid. Then the math is easy for your average idiot.

If you are paying 12.5 cents per kWh (which is about average around here) you are paying $125 for every 1000kWh.
To me that means you should be selling your 1000 kWh solar system with payment plans of $120 per month for X number of months until it is paid off then it is obviously free.
Save $5/month now, it's not much, but they are paying toward a bigger goal and saving money doing it.

Basically the financing makes it so that you can basically sell them money from day 1 instead of them coming up with a big chunk of change.

Finally, your could widen your margins FAR beyond a pay up front plan where they are comparing apples to apples... In essence they will be paying you more for the same system and more happy to do it.

My first step I would do is crunch the numbers and find out how much these things cost. From there find a bank that will lend on them far enough out to match these terms. It will help if you can keep the panels under warranty for the duration of the financing. Why? Because then when they are done paying, you need to remember that they will have new income burning a hole in their pocket. I would help them spend that by offering an extended warranty maintenance plan or an additional 1000kWh plan.

Another beautiful part is your marketing in different markets... Find a market that pays $.25 per kWh, charge them $240 per month for the same 1000kWh system.

Also don't call it financing, hide the interest rates in your margins. That implies debt. Call it a payment plan, and only offer systems on the payment plan.

 

[Kak]

Hey guys!

I know I haven’t hit this thread up in a while and I think it is about time to get it going again. I have had some new revelations about life and my entrepreneurial journey.

I’m going to fill the void in the back half of this week because I’ll be traveling and bring everyone up to speed on some of the things I’ve learned between the start of this thread and today. I’m going to continue logging my progress of all of my businesses, ventures and undertakings into the future. Some stuff is too cool not to share. Some stuff is blatant failure. So what? It’s real and it’s as part of entrepreneurship as winning.

As Vigilante said, I should blog, how about here? I’m not sure yet, but I might be requesting a move to the inside because it will let me open up a bit more.

It might start to look more like a book outline.

 

[Kak]

That also makes 2 companies I am famous at. Im sure there is survalence footage of me at UPS.

I have another story Ill unpack for you guys. Simillar theme. Also, if you have any questions for me don't hesitate to ask. Im not some billionaire, but Ive been around the block a bit.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

The barriers to entry for this business are numerous. It's fair for me to say, knowing all the details, that he could post the exact materials and process and yet only large companies could do what he does... and even then they're turning to him to do it as he does it better and cheaper than they do. This business combines wholesale, chemistry, international business, logistics/transportation en masse, dealing with regulatory agencies in multiple countries, and other true trade secrets. It's not easy to break down like :

So to manufacture jeans all I need is raw materials, a factory, and a design? Oh and a national retailer to sell them?

Companies IN this business, USING this material, can't do what he has done. He's not an intermediary - don't get an oversimplified impression. He's changed an entire market on a global basis.



There's not much of a need to really dissect the business model any more, as in part it's irrelevant to the story, and in part because it's not replicatable or immitateable in any other sector that I am aware of. He didn't post this to talk about his commodity or his process. He posted it because of the cycle of overcoming obstacles.

Focus on the substance of the story, not the specifics of the product. For purposes of his message, the product doesn't matter. If you can put curiosity about the product aside, every single person here can learn from the story of tenacity and removing barriers.

@Mikkel

@Vigilante Excellent post you responded for me.

In addition to what Vig has said you need, you also need money and the willingness to wrap it up temporarily and the balls not to kill yourself if things go haywire. When you are dealing with 7 figures in a total order, which is where this will end up, you are dealing with enough money where even a once legitimate businessman could be tempted to cut and run. When you are dealing with figures like this you have to be willing to accept a truth that something could always go wrong and you could be the one left with the bill.

I always do what I can to make sure that isn't the case. I also learned to be even more vigilant.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

Pretty sure @Kak didn't wait for his 15 years of experience




So what can you share from your experience that can help anyone on the forum with this?

There are a lot of people on here that deal with suppliers and b2b customers-- you can add your perspective as an employee of a large firm dealing with this every day.

You hit the nail on the head... People who say you need to pay your dues before you're allowed to be successful are FOS.

The only dues I pay are to my country club.

 

[LightHouse]

I wonder what makes you a cut above the rest as others have said. Is it your morals, drive, knowledge, something else? I am just curious what they see and possibly I can grow in that area.
.

I wanted to say it's really easy to change because most peoples fears hold them back from having a drive and taking risks...

But I actually think some people are born with it then there are most people aren't and spend their whole lives trying to figure out why they can't do it.

If you are inherently lazy, you might never make it. If you can't jump off the bridge without having to have every detail and reassurance, you probably won't make it. If you're not a little crazy and dont feel the drive to do things the unconventional way and challenge the status quo... You will definitely never make it.

 

[Kak]

I am going to go ahead and begin sharing another story. I won't try to put a label on the lesson learned here because there are so dang many I learned from this it would be a disservice to focus on just one.

This story is an extremely tough one to unpack for me. It is the biggest business sacrifice I have ever made. I'm not talking about a few grand here or there like the sourcing deal. I'm not even talking about some guy's 100k. I'm talking about the better part of a million dollars spent. Some investor money and some was my own. I'm talking about hundreds of meetings. Supplier turnover because of no movement. Explaining myself to investors. Continuing to believe in my business through hundreds upon hundreds of naysayers, liars, disinterested decision makers.

I have touched on this project in other threads briefly. A very select few of you know exactly what this is. There are absolutely things I would have done differently knowing what I know today, but I haven't given up and I don't plan to.

The story begins on August second of 2013. Over three whole years ago. I formed a corporation, opened a bank account and dropped the first 100k of investor money in it. My idea was ingenious. My numbers were incredible. I had a solution I was going to sell to the biggest customer in the world. The government.

Not only were the numbers incredible... They were figures that could make me and my investors billionaires, every single year over and over diminishing as I put a complete end to a serious problem we have in this country. Republican, democrat, it didn't matter, it would appeal to either side. I felt like I had the world by the balls and my investors were convinced I did to. Investors chased me down. I didn't even have to look. The idea was that good. Lets just quantify and get on with the story... The problem affected 1.1 million people in Texas the year I filed my formation. Each one of those people would be worth an average of $800 in value to my company, net. Remember, that is just Texas.

 

[Kak]

Legendary stuff. You've raised the water level mark around here.

In one word, how'd you get to this point?

Endurance.

I am positive that will never change and I wouldnt have it any other way.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

Up next. A KAK deal making story. How to make lemonade when life doesn't give you lemons.

 

[Kak]

I have a question for you @Kak. This is kind of similar to @MTF's question, but a bit different.

I am currently building my first business that I really believe will deliver value and be successful. Time will tell whether that is true. However, I recently discovered a very big unmet need in my current day-job industry. I work in pharmaceuticals and there is a big resource that every single pharma company, both big and small rely on. There are only two incumbents in the industry that provide this resource. One owns the market, but is stagnant and delivers a sub par product. The other has tried to unseat the incumbent, had about 20% of the market, but still delivers sub par results. These two companies alone produce ~$5 billion in revenue.

I have the unique opportunity with my current position at my day job to get a lot of research, contacts and advice into the inner workings of this industry. If I were to pursue this lead and build a business, it would very much be eating an elephant bite by bite. I know the excuse of "needing capital" is usually false, but in this case, it would require a significant amount to start. In order to sell this product it would have to be 100% whole, companies will not purchase this product without 100%.


I feel like I have two choices here. Do I put this on the back burner (I see very little chance that these two will get any significant competition in the next few years)? By putting this on the back burner, I can focus on my current business I'm building and use the proceeds to fund the next business.

Or, do I ditch the business and start work on this new idea, going into start up mode, seek investments and give up a significant chunk of my business (and control) to investors?

I don't want to "cheat" on my business. I also have a business partner in my current one that I don't want to leave in the dirt (but I also don't think his skill set would be applicable to bring along to the pharma idea).

This is a very good question and I ride contrary to popular opinion on this forum, however my businesses are ALL built to scale with a very passive setup.

I think having multiple streams of income is a good thing. I currently have 4 businesses and I am working on a 5th.

1. Ecommerce
2. Raw materials sourcing/private label raw material
3. Government Service
4. Another government service company
5. I am running numbers on buying my first business real estate. Apartment complex maybe?

How do I find the time in the day? Strategic partnerships. Resource allocation. A level of passivity.

Look up fixed vs variable cost on investopedia... I like to look at my time like that too. I don't mind a fixed investment of my time, but a variable investment of my time is unacceptable to me.

OK now to address the pharmaceutical deal you are presenting here... I would definitely be sure to figure out the numbers of the competitors. If you came in with a better product at a better price, they also might have the ability to just match you and put you out of business. This is very interesting and game changing in my opinion. And DEFINITELY worth a look and effort. There are VCs that do nothing, but pharma out there. Put together a team, put together a compelling business plan, and go in there to kill it!

In the meantime I see no reason why you can't start the other business. More money is better.

 

[Kak]

Not wise. Just have a lot of scars.

Wear them like a badge of honor. The more scars the more you are equipped to handle. Pain is weakness leaving the body.

I consider Vigilante one of select few wisest people I have ever met in my life. My life would certainly look far different today if it wasn't for his advice and guidance over the years. I am and will be forever appreciative.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

KAK BTW your answer to MJ is nonsensical. It didn't answer the question. Is it a product? A service? Is he repping your existing product?

I apologize.

We already have the technology, the hardware, the software, the infrastructure, the manpower... We are going to set him up with basically our pre-built ecosystem, slightly tweaked, simplified and then lined up at his proposed use. He does the heavy lifting by plugging it to the potential customers nationwide. We make it all work when he sells something (which is like 3 phone calls). The good thing is, he will have their respect enough to make them all take his call. In contrast, none of these people would know who I am or give a crap.

He is going to represent ALL of our interests. The new company and the existing.

@Vigilante you are making me look good. I can assure everyone here it isn't a fairytale, but I certainly have some fun. I wouldn't have gotten where I am without the mental a$$ kickings I have gotten from you over the years.

 

[Kak]

I have some ideas for products to create or things to sell. But I don't have the capital, expertise or confidence to go after it.
As for creating a digital product, I don't have the skills or the idea to pursue that either.

So as of right now I am ok with it. It is something that will generate more income but more importantly give me more free time if it means I can quit my job. I see it as a stepping stone to bigger things.

Maybe I am going about this the wrong way but this is what I believe is in my capacity of what I can do right now.

(I'll get that book)

Sorry if it wasn't the advice you were looking for, but I believe it is more valuable than me just telling you I would give him a portfolio of your work, complement his network of other business owners, and offer to remodel his website at no cost if he can be a reference.

Have you considered that by engaging in web development you might be ensnared in the same problem you find yourself today? A direct trade of time for money with no time to work on anything else? The only way to make more money is to find more work. Essentially you would be both a salesman and a web developer.

I have a few more questions for you:

If you don't have the skills you are looking for, why aren't you trying to get them now?

If you don't have the expertise, why aren't you looking for that expertise now?

If you don't have the capital, why aren't you putting together a compelling investable business model now?

With skills and expertise wouldn't you be more confident?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Bigguns50]

@Kak...thanks for sharing and congratulations on the many positive things that came from your experience. Some of your advice reminds me of my lawyer friend's advice. Basically to cover your a$$...cover your a$$'s a$$ and your a$$'s a$$'s a$$.

 

[Kak]

I certainly got a lot out of the post and thread. Thank you for taking the time.

I wonder what makes you a cut above the rest as others have said. Is it your morals, drive, knowledge, something else? I am just curious what they see and possibly I can grow in that area.

Regardless, great story and I hope to hear your UPS story sometime as well.

The UPS story is on the forum.

I don't consider myself a cut above anything. I am me. I just play my game. Where I land when it is all said and done is where I land. I keep everything on the up and up. I never have to look over my shoulder and never will.

My knowledge... I believe being smart is the willingness not the capacity to learn and so I wring every bit of knowlege that I possibly can out of every situation.

My drive... I am a lifelong entrepreneur and I simply understand that the difference between a big business and a small business is the size of your strategy.

@Kak awesome story, glad to hear you're still hustling like a mad man. But I'm not surprised...

Because let me tell you guys a story about @Kak that has always stuck with me.

Not long after I joined this forum 4 years ago @Kak came through to Hong Kong and I got to meet him in person. We went to trade shows and did normal touristy stuff, then one day when overlooking the Hong Kong skyline we saw some helicopters flying in and out.

He said something along the lines, with a smile and zero doubt in his eyes,

"They make those for a reason you know? It's made for people like us! Just imagine flying like that from one meeting to another"

It blew my mind at the time, because I was such a rookie and had so many mental barriers about success. Not to mention he was so much younger than me, it was crazy motivating.

It all makes sense now, you NEED to think BIG to achieve major success. And with his mindset, I have no doubt he can become a billionaire if he wants.

Nice! That was a great time.

Yep there is a reason companies build private jets, helicopters and yachts. Because people buy them. Why the hell not be one of them?

Round two in Shanghai sometime soon? I have some business to take care of out that way.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Walter Hay]

Supplier no. Customer absolutely several times.

My policy is now to have my a$$ completly covered and have a plan for what Ill do if somehow I still get screwed.

Keep in mind I was using an LOC... Typically considered a secure way to transact business. They didnt give me a single red flag except knowing what I knew, I should have been more skeptical that they could supply the amounts I wanted to buy. Its pretty hard to come by. The fact is that they did everything else perfectly.

Thanks for your great story. Not only because of your persistence and determination, but for me the warning that even if using a "secure" payment method you can still be scammed. On a small scale, people think PayPal is secure, but that's not necessarily so either.

Vigilante's help was so valuable. He not only gave you sound advice about the fact that WF did not have to pay the LOC under the circumstances, but that should alert all members to the fact that you should never believe what employees that you are dealing with tell you. You might expect that bank employees would know the legalities of paying by LOC (I prefer L/C), but even if they do they might not want you to know.

I have written in my AMA, and it is also included in my book that: "....there is still a risk of fraud in using L/C or escrow. If a seller submits forged documents, payment will be made by the bank or escrow company, but you will not receive the goods...." In the light of your experience I will expand on that in the next edition. Fortunately you discovered the fraud in time to exert heroic efforts to prevent the LOC being negotiated.

As a general observation, I have also warned in my AMA about the fact that forgery of documents is endemic in China. No buyer should blindly trust Business Registration Certificates, Quality Inspection Certificates, Standards Compliance Certificates or any others, e.g. Bills of Lading.

Walter

 

[Kak]

so your job was to be the middleman? e.g company a needs product, you find company b that can supply it. you then charge company a, X more and order from company b for Y?

(plus handling logistical issues)

Yep thats all.. Im impressed you were able to simplify it like I have never been able to. Maybe MJ will skip you right ahead to warp speed just for being so brilliant.

Also DM me so I can give you my contact book.

 

[Andy Black]

"Leave thinking about thinking to losers."

"Overcome limiting beliefs by not having them."

Love the brutal honesty @Kak

 

[Kak]

Every time I return to the forum I get blown away by threads like this.

@Kak Often I'll meet someone (i think) who's similar to you and be a little shocked to learn we look at things pretty much the same way. BUT, I have nothing comparable to your success. I think it has to do with which thing we both walk away focused on

If it's possible, could you drop an example of what catches your attention? Sorry to ask about 'teaching me how to think,' I just get lost in the difference of focus.

I can't really put in to words what specifically I look for. If it isn't high velocity it's high margins. If it isn't high margins it's high velocity. If it isnt either of those, it's some interesting tax advantage or investment value. I have put a lot of work into being prudent with my decision making.

I no longer chase non-investment opportunuties unless I believe there is a reasonable chance I will be able to make 3 million dollars in 3 years. Why is this my target? Because it means it needs to have an immediate growth potential. It absolutely must have some kind of route to this number or better or I'm not touching it.

Even before this self imposed target, I was not looking at anything that wasn't infinitely scalable.

Post some opportunities and I will tell you the kind of things I like and the kind of things I don't like about them. I'm happy to help you screen them.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Vigilante]

Pretty sure @Kak didn't wait for his 15 years of experience




So what can you share from your experience that can help anyone on the forum with this?

There are a lot of people on here that deal with suppliers and b2b customers-- you can add your perspective as an employee of a large firm dealing with this every day.

KAK had exactly ZERO experience. Hell... I remember his first deal. He literally didn't even know what the exact commodity was (in scientific terms). All he knew is that he had a buyer/client with cash, and a seller that had the commodity.

I had a boss once (VP/Best Buy) that told me it mattered zero what the industry --- that buying and selling transactions were all the same minus the particular paperwork. The deals flow similarly. Real estate, consumer electronics, energy. You buy at a price, and sell at a price.

 

[Vigilante]

So it's kind of like a franchise deal?

Congrats on the hustle btw

No. nothing like that. Imagine if you invented a rubber duck and you intended to sell them a as shooting targets. Then someone came along and suggested they could sell your rubber duck as a kids bath toy. So you signed a deal with them to let them market your rubber ducks as a bath toy while you kept selling them to a different customer base as a shooting target. Same product, new use.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

You express regret about having to let your lobbyist go because of a lack of funding. How did you find him and ascertain that he was effective in the first place? Lobbying is a pretty unusual job. Were the people you were trying to convince considered in the process (i.e., did you hire an alumni from their college, a brother from their fraternity, someone who used to be an exec at the company they used to work for, etc.)?

Did you have any process in place to make sure your desires were in the minds of the politicians without becoming a nag or a nuisance?

GREAT QUESTION!


First and foremost know your topic. If you are lobbying for something related to healthcare for instance... Your first course of action is to take a look at who is on the healthcare committees in the house and senate.

The committees are the only thing that really matters on an issue, if legislation gets out of a republican run committee in house and senate and republicans are the majority... most of the time it will pass. Likewise on the democrat side. Also note that NOBODY, but the committee reads the fricking bills. They look to the committee leaders and vote with them. It is sad, but it is the reality. Also, unless there is a really well respected member or the chair, the minority party committee members are usually a waste of time.

That said... Political donations are a public record... You can look up the chairs of your committee and find out the companies that have donated the most to their campaigns... The lobbyists that represent these companies have spent some time and effort in those offices on other issues and they are a good bet. Not to mention they have more clout when they have donated more. So essentially you get to ride the coattails of bigger companies a bit.

Remember ALL of this is relationship building, you never want to burn bridges and your lobbyist will get mad if you do.

Now all of this said, I met my first lobbyist at a function for a charity I support and got lucky. But the one I currently have now I found the way I just described. He is much cheaper and we have some other deals worked out but he isnt the same caliber either.


Now to keep from being annoying, you must genuinely seek to make their lives easier by presenting things that solve their problems. Just like B2B... Provide value. Be nice. Be generous when election season rolls around and you'll keep their ear.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Vigilante]

Thanks for your great story. Not only because of your persistence and determination, but for me the warning that even if using a "secure" payment method you can still be scammed. On a small scale, people think PayPal is secure, but that's not necessarily so either.

Vigilante's help was so valuable. He not only gave you sound advice about the fact that WF did not have to pay the LOC under the circumstances, but that should alert all members to the fact that you should never believe what employees that you are dealing with tell you. You might expect that bank employees would know the legalities of paying by LOC (I prefer L/C), but even if they do they might not want you to know.

I have written in my AMA, and it is also included in my book that: "....there is still a risk of fraud in using L/C or escrow. If a seller submits forged documents, payment will be made by the bank or escrow company, but you will not receive the goods...." In the light of your experience I will expand on that in the next edition. Fortunately you discovered the fraud in time to exert heroic efforts to prevent the LOC being negotiated.

As a general observation, I have also warned in my AMA about the fact that forgery of documents is endemic in China. No buyer should blindly trust Business Registration Certificates, Quality Inspection Certificates, Standards Compliance Certificates or any others, e.g. Bills of Lading.

Walter

It is amazing the degree they will go to perpetrate a fraud, even as far as fake "offices" that are remnicient of the movie "boiler room." There have been scams so deep that the perpetrators set up a fake office for the unsuspecting Western visitor, only to dismantle the fake office within hours or days after the visitor made a satisfactory personal visit to the scamming supplier.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

I apologize if I offended you, I did not mean to devalue your work - I was not sure if I was reading the post correctly.

Thank you for the story.

No offense taken at all. I dont care what people think of me. I believe that is very very important.

 

[dave773]

'Some dude on the internet' would not give this type of advice. And his advice is more valuable than anything I could have gotten from all the people I know in real life. Most people don't give a shit what you do in life and they definitely don't give useful advice.

I wasn't aware i needed it but i did. You don't have to like my posts.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Guys, get off the politics. We've all had our side-swipes but now it is veering into a full-fledged tangential discussion.

Back to the topic puhleez.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.