Q: How did you come to start Sourcing Asia?
A: I had a furniture and homewares store in Australia for about four years, I was traveling to Bali every other month sourcing and buying for my shop, doing my own Quality Control on the previous months orders, then overseeing the shipping of that container. I would then head back and unload a container that had arrived, stock the new items in the store then head back to Bali again to do the next container and repeat that over and over. I was so busy working in my business I had no time to work on it. So I figured it was a great opportunity to pair up with a local business partner and start a company doing this. I decided to close my shop when the lease expired and contacted my competitors telling them what my new business plan was, immediately three of my competitors became my first clients as they knew I had a far keener eye for sourcing than they did and they were in the same boat as me, tired from the travel and sourcing work.
Q: Tell me about Andrew?
A: Oh do you have a spare few hours hahaha. In short I have lived here in Bali since 2002 (22years now). I love photography, cooking for others (not for me), a good movie and traveling the world experiencing different cultures and places. Bali is home for me, I am so fortunate to have my life here I absolutely love the culture, the people and this amazing island, but funnily enough I don’t like hot weather. You take the good with the bad right?. People say “oh you are so lucky to be living here” and yes I am, I’m extremely grateful that I have this opportunity in life, but like everywhere, you make of it what you can, it is definitely not a holiday and if I treated it as one I wouldn’t be part of Bali’s most successful sourcing agency.
Q: How hard was it to integrate into a foreign society.
A: I have a fairly easy go lucky attitude and roll with the punches. There has definitely been some very trying moments over the years but the biggest challenge to overcome which I did early in arriving was to learn the local Indonesian language. As my family are from the Netherlands originally I spoke fluent Dutch, and as we know the Dutch colonized Indonesia for many years, the language has about 10,000 loan words that are the same, this was very helpful to me. Speaking Bahasa Indonesia when dealing with suppliers and staff really makes life so much easier and gains you a higher level of respect and understanding in business dealings. I would say I’m about 90% proficient now.
Q: What has made Sourcing Asia the name and success that it is now?
A: Oh that’s easy, my amazing team of staff. Without their hard work, Professional approach and dedication, eye for detail we would never be where we are now as Bali’s leading sourcing companies. Please meet them all below and see the faces behind the names you may have spoken with already.
Production Manager
Made is Balinese and from Abiansemal. He has worked with our company now for Seventeen Years. He started as a photo editor and could not speak any English. He now speaks amazing English and controls all our suppliers placing the orders and managing the quality control team . He is married and has a daughter. He loves wasting his spare time on computer games and being a dad.
Quality Control
Kadek is Balinese and comes from Jembrana. He is our furniture quality control specialist. What he doesn’t know about making sure your furniture is right, isn’t worth knowing. He’s been with the company now for Seventeen Years, is married and has one boy and one girl. He is the handsome one and he loves taking selfies wherever he can get one in. He loves all sports and spending time with the family on weekend outings.
Quality Control
Sri is Balinese from Tabanan and she is married with 1 Daughter. Sri has been with the company 5 years, Her hobbies are singing and dancing Balinese dances. She is part of our quality control team making sure all orders that leave are in good condition.
Quality Control
EKA is Balinese from Tabanan district and is Married, her husband is also from Tabanan. Her hobbies are Balinese Dancing, Eka is part of our Quality control team making sure all orders leave in good condition.
Driver
Kadek is Balinese from Singaraja, Bali. He is married and has a boy and a girl. He has been with the company 8 years and he is just the best driver. He has nerves of steel if you know Bali traffic its quite hair raising and mostly traffic jams and people all over the place. He handles it like a pro never getting frustrated or raising a sweat at some of the crazy road behaviour in Bali.
Office boy
Yogi is Balinese and from the West of the island in the city of Negara . He has been with the company for Five years now and is responsible for making sure our office is clean and tidy, He arranges staff lunches, coffees & teas plus runs around and does pickups from suppliers for special samples and fabrics. He is an integral part of our team that helps all the other cogs work smoothly. Yogi loves Fishing and football and spends hes days off enjoying these.
Accounting
Divia is Balinese from Buleleng in the north of Bali. Divia has been with the company 1 year and her hobbies are. Balinese dancing and Motorbike touring around Bali. She is An important figure in our Accounts Department making sure all suppliers are paid properly and on time.
Accounts Manager
Intan is Javanese and from the city of Surabya . She is the manager of the accounts department, she has been with the company for Five years, Intan is responsible for making sure all our suppliers are paid and cross checks all invoices against your orders, paying our staffs wages and all taxes for the company. Intan loves to travel at every opportunity she loves exploring Indonesia and the variety of foods in different parts of the Archipelago.
Administration
Arik is Balinese, from Denpasar. She is our Administration wizz kid, she has been with the company for 10 years. Arik is responsible for answering the office phone, data entering all your orders into the system and cross checking everything is correct against supplier invoices and then preparing all the invoices for cargo to ensure all is ready for export. She loves baking cakes and biscuits, going to the movies and traveling.
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