2020 will go down as one of the most uncertain times in human history. Yet in 2020, I founded Trademo — a US-based SaaS company providing global trade solutions for businesses. There has been no looking back.
How It All Started
My entrepreneurial journey began in 2010 with a startup focused on CRM product solutions for businesses. I co-founded another startup in 2015 which is now one of the leading SMB fintech lenders in India. Over the last decade, I have got the chance to interact with thousands of small business owners and understand their pain points.
The one common trend that I observed during my interaction with businesses was that a lot of them were trying to or already participating in global trade. While some were trying to sell products overseas, others were sourcing products from other countries. Either way, the share of cross-border trade in these businesses was growing.
But the playbook of global trade is very different from domestic trade and businesses face many challenges in managing this transition. Further, global trade itself is becoming more complex due to growing compliance requirements and complexity of supply chains.
Yet not many technology companies, including enterprise software giants, provide global trade solutions for businesses. The major challenges faced by these businesses in global trade are:
- Limited information to locate and analyze opportunities in international markets
- Unavailability of tools to find reliable buyers and suppliers overseas
- Interpreting and complying with foreign regulations
- Complex and changing local government requirements
- Manual processes and disparate systems
- Lack of access to trade finance
The complexity of global trade and the quest for solutions to address challenges faced by SMBs developed our vision for Trademo. Today, our mission is to empower SMBs with innovative products to start, grow, and manage cross-border trade seamlessly. Trademo was founded in June 2020.
Interesting Beginnings
When I started building the team for Trademo, the pandemic had already disrupted businesses across the world and one of the worst affected was global trade. The World Trade Organization predicted global merchandise trade could decline by up to 32 per cent in 2020[1]. For the first time ever, it was expected all regions would see a double-digit decline. Discussions around the pandemic triggering the end of the globalization wave, onshoring, and the nationalization of supply chains got stronger. The environment was gloomy and no one had clarity on the future of global trade.
But I had the belief that many things are not going to change. Consumers would still want low prices, and it would not be viable for companies to charge more just because they want to move manufacturing to less efficient locations. Market forces and competition would still demand companies to improve efficiencies in their supply chains and operations.
In the new normal, businesses would have to make supply chains resilient, without weakening competitiveness. The pandemic had already exposed the huge inefficiencies in global trade and accelerated the priority of digital transformation for all stakeholders. Thus, despite all the negative media and pessimistic views about the future of global trade, my conviction in Trademo grew stronger during the pandemic.
Building the Right Team
With things slowing down due to COVID, I was able to attract great talent far quicker than I had expected.
I am proud that today Trademo is a small team of go-getters, who are committed to a big, global mission. During the last few months, we have grown into a team of 15 members with diverse backgrounds in Global Trade, SaaS, Fintech, Data Science, Design, and Engineering.
Today, we are at a point where I am confident on building a robust global trade platform for businesses. We still have a long way to go, but in the last few months, we have made some incredible progress and are looking forward to picking up the pace.
Our First Product — Trademo Intel
Our first product Trademo Intel is now ready to address the key challenges faced by businesses in global trade. Trademo Intel is a data intelligence platform to help exporters, importers and logistics companies engaged in global trade. It would help them conduct market research, find reliable buyers and suppliers, track competition, and mitigate supply chain risks. Watch out for more insights on how Trademo Intel can help businesses grow and manage global trade seamlessly, in our next blog.
At Trademo, we want to pioneer a new mindset in a sector that saw little innovation in the last century. As nations across the world rise from the aftermath of the pandemic, more than ever before, they will need to trade and collaborate. We will need startups like Trademo to improve resilience in global trade and reduce the risks from future disruptions.
To know about us and our first product, visit our official site at Trademo.com and our blog site.
Source URL: https://www.trademo.com/blog/trademo-simplifying-global-trade-businesses/