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I am already doing a little business in China. I take practitioners over there to study medicine. I would be interested in this kind of group. Please count me in!
Michael
Posted by Brian Allen, West Seattle, Washington | Aug 09, 2007
Interested in Doing Business in China?
Are you interested in doing business in China? Do you ALREADY do business in China, and want to find other BizNiks who do (or want to)?
I'm just checking the water, to gauge the interest level. If you're interested in having a regular discussion/workshop group about Business with/in China - that you would show up for - please shout out right here.
This may be another idea that presses the "BizPod" model that was circulating a while ago. I think this is a great potential BizPod, as is the Sustainability Pledge group.
I'm posting Syd Fredrickson's recounting of the BizPod idea from the Sustainability Pledge thread (apologies for the x-post):
From a long while back, there was the idea of having shared value/shared goals groups that could focus on their support of each other's businesses and not have the meetings or events they hold be public. Are there a number of you who would be interested to try that?
[Joe Shirley initiated the topic of BizPods here in Seattle; Lara, Dan, myself, and a couple of other people felt drawn to the concept but I never saw it take off. I would like to recontact some of those people who were in on the discussion at that time to get their thoughts on this thread.]
12 Bizniks have posted replies
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Posted by Michael Max, Beijing China | Aug 09, 2007 -
Posted by Rebecca Wood, Lynnwood, Washington | Aug 09, 2007I would LOVE to do business in China or any other over seas country (like the mid east/luxury spa's, boutiques etc).... but my biggest fear is how do you verify that the said business is legit and how to guarantee their payment is good. Seems like there is so much fraud that I have steered away from doing business over seas.
To verify: My definition of doing business in any other country=working with said company to get our products into their retail stores/spas/boutiques. I would not be interested (at this time) of actually traveling to that particular country.
And then there is the language barrier.....
What exactly is your definition of 'doing business in China'?
(time for me is very limited so whether I could come to an event will depend on place and time)
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Posted by Brian Allen, West Seattle, Washington | Aug 09, 2007For the purposes of the group, "Doing Business in China" would mean that you are seriously working on breaking into that market, either directly with folks in China, or their direct representatives in the US or other country.
Ideally, something that eventually requires trips to China, I should think!
The group would support people who are learning about Chinese markets, language, culture, politics, and logistics to the end of doing business in China or with the Chinese wherever they may be around the world.
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Posted by Michael Max, Beijing China | Aug 09, 2007
You mention logistics and it reminds me that I have friends and contacts in China. Too bad they can't make it for this event. Maybe we should do one over there. I'll be there in October.
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Posted by Brian Allen, West Seattle, Washington | Aug 14, 2007
Anyone else interested in business with/in China? Please shout out here!
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Posted by Michael Halligan, San Francisco, California | Aug 15, 2007Brian,
I've got a friend who runs a factory in China building some high-end "Ultrasonic Inspection and Analysis Systems" equipment. The two things I've heard from him are "the chinese way is to always throw more people at the problem" and "the chinese government is very good at keeping your money inside of China.
I'm curious what your experience on this is? I've got a few products I've been thinking about designing, and having the mfg contracted out in China. I've explored the possibilities through contacts I've made on Alibaba and so far it hasn't been very encouraging. Is there a way to do business with the economies of scal that China offers, but in a small way?
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Posted by Brian Allen, West Seattle, Washington | Aug 16, 2007
In a small way, you need a trusted third-party in the middle. Otherwise, you're eaten alive. If you're big, you can own them (as anyone), like Apple, Dell, etc.
You could substitute a few dozen country names for "China" in your comment, however, and it'd be just as true.
I'm not impressed by Alibaba, actually. Go direct for real contacts, and that means starting with friends in large companies here in the US.
To take advantage of economies of scale is to run the generic version of someone else's originally OEM'd hardware.
You may find a maquilladora better suited to your needs (from what it sounds like)...
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Posted by Andrew Friedman, Seattle, Washington | Aug 20, 2007Yo.
So, I want to export alcohol to China, and I have been working on finding a distributor that wants to work with me to export American alcohol to China.
It's an interesting idea, no doubt - the whole China situation.......so I am interested to see what people say about doing business in China.
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Posted by Joe Passalaqua, Seattle, Washington | Oct 26, 2007There are financial tools and commercial mechanisms designed to reduce risk in foreign trade. China is just like any country - heck, you would you just hand the keys to your car to anyone on a street corner?
If you have a product that you want from [insert country name here], or you wish to sell a product to a foreign entitiy, I can sit with you for 30 minutes over coffee and you'll walk away with increased clarity.
Rebecca's comments represent the majority of international deals that fall through based purely on speculation and apprehension. My hat's off to her for articulating it for us to all see how frustrating it can be - to venture into the unknown...or not.
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Posted by Danielle Williams, Portland, Oregon | Oct 26, 2007I would be very interested in this meeting. I have worked for many years in product development and have many friends in China. I live in Portland but would make the trip for this one!
D.
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Posted by Lara Eve Feltin, Seattle, Washington | Oct 29, 2007Biznik Groups (formerly referred to as "BizPods") is under development and we're shooting for a December launch.
Stay tuned!
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Posted by lasom lee, hangzhou, zhejiang China | Jan 02, 2008Hi Brian,
Im an investment consultant in china . I got over 5 years' experiences in assisting some Ruropean guy and canadian to invest in mainland china. I would like to join u and share our mind with each other.
lasom summer.lee618@gmail.com skype:summer.lee99
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