blog hong kong, number one super city.

In the latter half of 2011, we took the decision to explore spreading our commercial risk across more than one economy and selected Hong Kong/China as the candidate.  This decision was partly influenced by the strengthening of ties with a Hong Kong-based client.

 

So, at the end of November and beginning of December 2011, we went on an 8-day UKTI and Creative Sheffield trade mission to Hong Kong, with a great group of companies.

 

6 days of the trip were devoted to exploring opportunities within Hong Kong - meetings with contacts, visits to the World SME Expo and The Hong Kong Forum and getting a 'feel' for the place.  How hard would it be to do business here? What rates could we charge? What were the legal and tax systems like?  How receptive would local businesses be to a Western company working with them? And so on.

 

The other 2 days were spent at a client's manufacturing facility in Foshan, Guangdong province. This coincided with The International Forum of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technology Development, at which our client was positioned as a key supplier of compressors.

 

 

The whole trip highlighted the importance of grasping opportunities, for which we owe Jo Lavan of Creative Sheffield and the guys at UKTI for their support.  

 

There appeared to be a striking difference in attitude to business between England, Hong Kong and China. In England, companies are getting more buoyant but still living under a shadow. There is a 'once bitten…' approach to growth. In Hong Kong, there was a massive energy; the whole place felt alive with prosperity, in a way you don't feel in London.  China had a Nike/Adidas approach to business - Just Do It because Impossible is Nothing.  It was great to 'feel'.

 

The country is maturing its business development cycle far faster than Japan did.  There are huge challenges for the country to tackle, one of which is related to innovation and creating and leading with its own brands. It's a competitive nation; these will come.  We're looking at ways we can help.

 

So, that was the prelude to the year of the dragon. 2012 is about luck and in business you need it in spades. Although cliched, you make your own luck.

 

 

What we'll take from this (hopefully first of many) experience is that you can get bogged down with the here and now, sometimes you need to sweep it aside and revert to the original energy (and naivety) that leads to setting up a business. There are huge opportunities in the East; what's the point in merely talking about them, we all need to Just Do It.