4 Days Meeting 30 Global Selling Practitioners, I Extracted 15 Insights. 7000-Word Warning

Background: I spent 4 days having in-depth offline exchanges with 4 experts and organized a 26-person offline salon. What did they talk about? Let's get straight to the point.

I. 10+ Years Women's Fashion Veteran

Tina has experienced traditional foreign trade machinery exports, the Aliexpress children's clothing gold rush era, first-batch Shein women's OBM, and continues learning independent sites and Amazon. Her textbook answer: Maintain a beginner's mindset to embrace everything + find your positioning and stick to product barriers.

"Players who've been through many cycles know that with platform competition, most traditional foreign trade players gradually become 'platform fertilizer.'"

Insight 1: Maintain Beginner's Mindset

After saying this, 10,000+ Temu sellers in the audience stood up and applauded (just kidding). I want to share this with new players—many newcomers think the industry is monopolized by big sellers and they have no chance.

Actually, they face even more severe challenges:

• Heavier asset investment
• Harder to pivot
• Unstoppable cash flow needs
• More difficult organizational transformation

Newcomers and new teams have no baggage, fresher learning attitudes, and faster reaction speeds—these are natural advantages. In the relatively emerging global e-commerce industry, you absolutely have your own advantages.

Insight 2: Find Positioning, Stick to Product Barriers

Is 2024-2025 the best window for independent site solopreneurs? My observation: for new players and teams, there's only one real difficulty—correct your mindset, overcome unrealistic daydreams, don't treat global e-commerce as easy money. It can become long-term entrepreneurship, not quick cash.

Everything always returns to the essence of global e-commerce, e-commerce, online retail: selling quality products you create or select to your specific target users.

II. 0-1 Solopreneur, Passion-Driven

Jason is the type of newcomer everyone loves—his background had nothing to do with global e-commerce. A 0-1 beginner, driven by hobbies and lifestyle, discovered pain points and market gaps in a niche scenario, then developed original products based on his real needs.

Even without fully understanding operations and marketing, after half a year of preparation, he launched in Q4 last year. Now goods are shipped to local warehouses in four countries, with steady growth.

Insight 3: Passion-Driven, Real Needs

I really like such authentic peers. From him, you can see that those "absolutely correct" basic principles really work—just many people don't practice and persist.

Insight 4: Equal Access to Production Resources

Regarding execution difficulties, he said:

"Equal access to production resources is the best opportunity for individual entrepreneurship today."

• Worried about capability? AI is advancing—too much work can now be solved by AI.
• Worried about products? Factories are competing—when everyone lacks orders, having production needs makes you king.
• Worried about costs? Everything is competitive—you're in China with the world's best cost-effective supply chain.

Baby, we workers complain about competition, but have you tried thinking from another angle? When everyone complains about competition, smart players realize competition is actually a dividend.

III. Facing Failure, Leading Team to Restart

Ben is currently the overseas operations lead at a Shanghai global e-commerce startup. Unlike many "barbaric tactics" companies, they deeply cultivate a niche product in a niche category.

In this process, Ben accumulated systematic social media SOPs. His words:

"If you let a beginner come in today and follow our SOP, they can get started on day one."

Insight 5: Build Replicable SOPs

Within your basic territory, constantly trial and error, refine positioning, innovate products, and polish product barriers.

I often say many success stories aren't suitable for every newcomer to imitate—they may involve too much luck, coincidence, era-specific factors, or unspoken secrets. But every fresh failure experience is worth examining carefully—after all, these are expensive lessons paid for by others.

Insight 6: Deep Dive into Niche Categories

Don't be greedy for everything. Being professional in one niche is more meaningful than doing ten mediocre products.

IV. Former 0-1 Overseas Operations Lead for Pet Brand

Keke, from an advertising background, always has her own feelings and insights about brands. When the new consumption circle debated "brand vs. sales" years ago, they firmly believed in the power of brands.

Facing increasingly fierce competition in pet supplies domestically and internationally, they found everyone still competing on low prices, cost-effectiveness, and utility. Based on their strengths and positioning, they became more convinced that competing on low prices is meaningless. Only by building brand barriers and establishing different brand-user connections can you sustain and stand firm. Behind brand power must be matching product power and team expertise.

Insight 7: Believe in Brand Power

Don't just compete on low prices—build brand barriers. Brand isn't just logo and packaging, but emotional connection with users.

Insight 8: Product Power is Brand Foundation

Without good product power, brand is a castle in the air. Brand power must be built on strong product power.

More Extracted Insights

Insight 9: 2024-2025 is the Best Window for Independent Site Solopreneurs

Relatively low barriers, relatively low competition—a good time to enter.

Insight 10: Don't Treat Global E-commerce as Quick Money

Correct your mindset, treat it as a long-term career, not speculation.

Insight 11: Sell Quality Products to Specific Users

Return to essence, find your target users, provide what they really need.

Insight 12: AI is a Productivity Multiplier

Use AI tools well—they can compensate for individual capability shortcomings.

Insight 13: Supply Chain is the Biggest Advantage

China has the world's best cost-effective supply chain—this is your core competitiveness.

Insight 14: Competition is Dividend

When everyone complains about competition, smart players realize competition is actually a dividend.

Insight 15: Failure Experience is More Valuable Than Success Stories

Others' failures are expensive lessons—worth studying carefully.

Related Reading

For detailed organization and follow-up thoughts on this offline salon, check out my Global Selling Startup Monthly Share to learn how I completed this high-quality industry exchange event in 4 days.