Saturday, November 10, 2012

How To Find A Business Partner in China



I recently spoke with Johnson Choi of Johnson Choi Consulting and iWinery Hong Kong regarding how to build a successful trading business to China.  We`ll have a future podcast for you soon where we talk about this in detail.

Johnson has a very successful Pan-Pacific trading business working with both US-based companies looking to enter China, and, Chinese companies who are interested in exporting and selling their products and services to the US.

He has a unique background that lends well to this type of business - being strategically located in San Francisco and Hawaii and being bilingual in English and Chinese.  He heads the Hong Kong China Hawaii Chamber of commerce  and is an active member of the Asia Pacific Business Community in San Francisco and Hawaii.

I asked Johnson how to find a business partner in China that will lead to future business opportunities for anyone thinking about Asia as part of their portfolio.

Some of the things I gleaned from the meeting and that Johnson advises you should strongly consider are:

Who are you selling to?  Who is your market?

An example of this is when Chambers of Commerce, or, Industry Associations will arrange a "Trade Mission" where a group C-Level execs are wined and dined on a 10-day trip staying at 5-star hotels and speak with Industry Leaders in Asia.  This is always good to make contacts.  However, these same participants come back to the US wanting to sell to the cities they visited on their tour, but, are at a loss to know if their product or services will even sell in that city?

The way to avoid this is to find someone who can prequalify if your product or service will sell before you dump $10,000 - $20,000 on a trip.

Have you done your due diligence?

A very simple concept that leads back to the previous question.  Any person or consultant that promises to take you to Asia and make you millions of dollars in profit, should be able to back up their claims with verifiable testimonials, case studies and references.

The point is that you can save yourself a lot of headache by simply taking the time to read, study and qualify potential business prospects via phone and internet prior to engaging.



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