Why is international trade so difficult?
International trade seems complicated but not in the way you think
As with many aspects of life, the ways in which we communicate and work with each other has moved into the digital age. We use dedicated software to solve certain problems.
But somehow, international trade continues to operate in the dark ages
Buyers and sellers:
- negotiate international sales orders over countless emails involving many people
- write and rewrite documents on Word because of any number of errors
- track progress with spreadsheets
- agree sales with a handshake or email “Yes” and nothing more
- work on the same order without actually knowing what the other party is doing
And that’s even before we get to building trust around payments!
Have you noticed something here though? What have we not spoken about?
- trade tariffs
- customs regulations
- logistics
- foreign exchange (Fx)
- trade war
- supply and demand
- your deepest darkest fears (okay, we’re kidding!)
The first list contains administrative challenges and the second list business challenges. Most people think that business challenges are the most complicated aspect of international trade.
But, they occur near the end of the international sales process. In fact the real challenges start much earlier. Wouldn’t it be easier to:
- understand what trade tariffs you are subject to if you had total visibility of what is happening with the order and goods ?
- pass customs if you had a log of decisions made around the order ?
- organise logistics if you had all your trade documents in one place ?
- manage your Fx if you had clarity on all payment deadlines ?
- trade in a politically complex world if you could work directly with your trading partner ?
This can actually be solved by software
But, until now, that has been no software tool that has attempted to truly understand and solve the underlying problems of international trade
Tallysticks solves this
Tallysticks improves the process around negotiating, managing and executing international sales orders and allows you to work directly with your trading partner.
By ensuring that both importers and exporters have a shared understanding of what’s going on you, they can save time managing the administrative problems of international trade and focus effort on the the business challenges of international trade.
To learn more about Tallysticks, please visit our website.
FOLLOW US TO BE FIRST IN LINE FOR FUTURE STORIES
Nitesh Srivastava
COO, Tallysticks
Tesh has always wanted to rebuild complex processes. After studying French and German at UCL, he worked for a Technology Accelerator in Berlin and then moved on to improve his understanding of complex, multinational businesses and systems at KPMG.
Tesh coordinates business units at Tallysticks to ensure customer needs are met and that the team is happy and healthy. In other words, he does the heavy lifting in the office. So, it’s no surprise that Tesh also likes lifting heavy weights when away from work. When not lifting, Tesh loves a good debate.
