Indian Companies are used to, comfortable with, and understanding of their western counterparts. They empathize in how their products must be used in the west and take personal responsibility for quality.

Indians are most concerned with the long-term relationship. They are hard negotiators but at the end of the day if it is at all possible they will not want to let you walk out with out a deal. They value you as a person and as a customer. It is not uncommon to be invited home to a company owners’s house for a family-cooked meal even on the first visit. Nowhere else in the world will you find that kind of hospitality. All of this is done not just to make money, because often the focus is on overall profitability rather than the profits of an individual shipment, but to build long term value.

English is widespread even in small rural areas when it comes to business. This is a critical issue because when your supplier speaks the same language and understands how you operate he is better able to support you and your needs as opposed to only focusing on his needs.

Cultural barriers are breached because many Indian Companies have been marketing to the west for years now and Westerners are common in India and quite welcome. Sharing similar values of Democracy is a tie that binds.

Business Ethics are important in India. While the attitudes towards various behaviors is quite different, at the end of the day Indians understand better how things work in America and are eager to understand your business and your customers. If they are cooperative with you and understand the quality issues, defect rates, and final end users of their products they are going to do their level best to ensure to meet or exceed your demands or tell you upfront they are not able to. Indians do not wish to waste time and face disappointment.

Creativity – hands down the Indians are all about doing more with less, about innovation and research and development. They will make excuses about timeframes as culturally time is not as much of a factor in their culture but when it comes to being able to produce something and do so correctly they will let you know if they can do it or not. The domestic market is so vast and demanding that India is always implementing new ideas to satisfy the hunger of its citizens. Other countries are better at copying whereas India excels at artisanship.

Indian banking and finance is very developed with many international banks present there. Making payments by electronic means is not an issue and is well traceable. There is an open market in India.

It is fairly simple to set up a corporation there or to operate as a foreign entity there. While there is the usual bureaucracy to go through all in all it is well organized and easy to incorporate and FDI is welcomed in many sectors.

Sampling and Research and Development are easy to come by. Other countries will only work with you based on cheap prices and very large volumes. Indians are willing to work with you to develop new products. Education is highly valued there and people put that education to good use in solving problems and creating new products to resolve those problems.

India is less cyclical oriented in its economy. Since domestic consumption is booming India was not hurt by the latest economic downturn. In fact when fewer orders came in for export they just focused more on the domestic market. This is a plus because it creates a stable environment in which to develop business opportunities.