This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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How do you ethically source products made in overseas factories? There are lots of advantages to sourcing a product from overseas and in this day and age, it's not too difficult to learn how to do it. You can just go to Alibaba.com. We've had many case studies featuring lots of people who have successfully navigated those waters. When I say it's not terribly difficult, I mean, you know, when it works well, but there can be some times when it doesn't.
But in addition to like getting it to work well, how can you ethically source products from overseas? How can you know for sure that what you're buying is made under fair working conditions, environmentally safe surroundings, and just, you know, kind of like not destroying the planet or the lives of people who aren't necessarily that well off? I think it's a fair question. It's an important question to ask if you're going to be doing some manufacturing or importing products. It's also a hard one to answer 'cause there are some complexities to it, but I do want to give you as best an answer as possible.
So we're going to hear today from Gary who is thinking about a product. And so he's got some ideas for that, but he just wants to make sure that, you know, there's some fair labor laws associated with it, good working conditions. Let's talk about what he can do. All right, what is maybe outside his control, but what he can do. How do you ethically source products made overseas?
Detailed question and my answer coming right up. [Music]
Hi Chris, this is Gary from Riverside, California. And I've been listening to the show since the beginning. Thanks for all the great content. I'm thinking about creating a product and I'm interested in ethical sourcing.
So the product needs to be assembled from a few basic components. I have concerns about overseas factories. I know it's cheap to get products made in China or elsewhere, but can I make sure there are fair labor laws and good working conditions for the employees? I wanna make money, but not at the expense of someone's welfare. Hey, I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question and I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
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Okay, so let's just start with some bad news perhaps and it'll get better. How can you know for sure with absolute certainty? The honest truth is you can't, it's difficult. Just like a lot of things in life, if you want complete certainty, that's gonna be difficult or impossible. We've seen companies, huge companies like Apple and Nike and the Gap, enormous brands, who've gotten into a lot of trouble when journalists have published exposés about the working conditions of their factories.
And in some cases, the companies were not evil. They just didn't know. Maybe they had been lied to, they had been assured that the situation was better than it was. So they have compliance departments and such, but there are a lot of incentives to produce things cheaply and you don't have complete control over what's happening in another country. It's a big industry, right?
So that said, I also understand why some people may just prefer not to source from these countries and at the same time, often the jobs that the factories in these countries provide are better than any alternatives. So I don't think categorically it's wrong to source from overseas. It can actually be helpful to the people who are working there. Couple things you can do, again, to do the best you can. Number one, you're often working with middlemen when you go through Alibaba and these other platforms or brokers.
So wherever possible, you wanna see photos of the actual factory. You wanna ask how many people work there. The closer you can get to the factory and it will take some prodding, perhaps, that's better. We have had people featured on the show over the years who have flown over to actually meet with the factory and see things for themselves. Second thing you can do is look for vendors with certification, whether it's fair trade or ethical sourcing or something else.
Now, obviously, with certification, in some cases, that can be a racket too, right? There's no standardization for it. We live in a world without borders in terms of commerce. So there's no global authority that just kind of solves everything for us, but it's something. And so I think you can do what you reasonably can.
And then you decide, okay, I'm gonna accept this or I'm not gonna accept it. If you don't accept it, then you're like, I'm not gonna source from overseas. If you have done your diligence and to the best of your knowledge, it seems like things are being run in a fair way and I don't think you should hold back. There's probably more you can do, but I think those are two good steps to start that are not a lot of work, but will be important in providing some reassurance. Listeners, let me know what you think.
If you are working on manufacturing or if you want to, how would you solve this challenge? What have you learned along the way? sidehustleschool.com. We love listener contributions. I always like to revisit things sometimes if I get new information as well.
So feel free to reach out at any time. Also continue to listen. New shows out seven days a week. Side Hustle School, always free. My name's Chris Guillebeau.
This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
