Nearshore Sourcing Sprint

Find out whether Colombia actually works for your product — in three weeks, for a fixed fee.

Who this is for

US small and mid-size manufacturers and consumer brands currently sourcing from Asia, who:

• Got burned on lead times, freight swings, or a tariff change and want a second source
• Keep hearing "nearshore" but have no way to evaluate it without burning a quarter and a plane ticket
• Are too small for a Big Four supply-chain consultant and too serious for a Google search

Typical fit: $2M–$50M revenue, one to three product lines, physical goods.

The problem with evaluating nearshoring

Most of what's written about Colombian manufacturing was produced by someone selling software developers. Government portals publish incentives, not costs. Freight quotes assume volumes you don't have. And nobody will answer the one question that actually decides it:

Can a supplier down there make my specific thing, at my volume, at a landed cost that beats what I'm paying now?

Answering that yourself costs about six weeks and a trip. Answering it wrong costs a year.

Tier 1 — Feasibility Brief · $2,500 · 3 weeks

A go / no-go answer with the math shown.

• Landed-cost model for your product — unit cost, freight, duty, insurance, inland transport, compared side by side against your current Asia landed cost. Your numbers, not averages.
• Qualified supplier shortlist — 5–8 Colombian manufacturers matched to your product category, with capacity, certifications, export experience, and contact status.
• Regulatory and duty read — how your HS codes are treated, what the US–Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement does and doesn't cover, free trade zone eligibility where relevant.
• Risk register — the honest list. Customs dwell times, inland freight gaps, capacity ceilings, sector weak spots.
• Written recommendation — go, don't go, or go with conditions. Plain English, with reasoning you can forward to your CFO.

Tier 2 — Sourcing Sprint · $5,000 · 6 weeks

Everything in Tier 1, plus getting you to real quotes.

• Direct supplier outreach in Spanish, on your behalf
• RFQ package built to your spec and issued to the shortlist
• Three or more verified written quotes with terms, MOQs, and lead times normalized to one comparison sheet
• Two supplier intro calls arranged and attended, with interpretation
• Sample coordination — logistics arranged, sample freight at cost

Add-on — In-Country Verification · $1,500 per day · three-day minimum

Boots on the ground. Factory floor visits, capacity verified in person, photos and video of your candidate suppliers' actual production lines, meetings with the freight forwarder and customs broker who would handle your goods.

• $1,500 per working day, three-day minimum
• Travel at cost — flights, lodging, ground transport, itemized and approved before anything is booked. No markup, no padded per diem
• Travel days aren't billed. Getting there is my problem, not your line item
• Interpreter included for every supplier meeting

A typical trip runs three days on the floor — $4,500, plus roughly $1,200–$1,800 in travel you see itemized in advance.

Most of what goes wrong with an overseas supplier is visible in ten minutes on the floor and invisible on a video call.

What this is not

Straight talk, so nobody's disappointed.

• Not a brokerage. No commission on your purchase orders, no markup on supplier pricing, no incentive to steer you anywhere. You pay me. The suppliers don't.
• Not a guaranteed yes. "Colombia isn't right for this product" is a legitimate deliverable, and a meaningful share of the time it's the correct one. You keep the full analysis either way — knowing to stay put is worth the fee.
• Not ongoing management. This is a fixed-scope sprint that ends with a decision and a shortlist. Ongoing support is a separate conversation.
• Not delivery outside Colombia. I'll tell you honestly when Costa Rica, Central America, or Mexico is the better home for your product, and point you in the right direction. I won't pretend I can run the project there.

Founding client terms

I'm taking three founding clients at these rates before pricing goes up.

In exchange for the rate, I ask for a named testimonial and permission to publish an anonymized case study. Your suppliers, volumes, and costs stay confidential — always.

Fair-shake clause: if you read the finished brief and don't find it actionable, tell me why and I'll refund half. I'd rather have the feedback than the money.

How it starts

A 15-minute diagnostic call. No pitch. I ask what you make, what you're paying, and what broke. At the end of it you get a straight answer on whether this is worth your money — including when it isn't.

Email austen@nearshoreexplorer.com to set one up.