Beijing Business Blog: Learn to Manage the Dragon

Looking for some insight on being a China entrepreneur or just some additional knowledge on economics and business in China? The Beijing blog "Managing the Dragon" provides information on "business in China - From the ground up". The blog also successfully translates dull businessnews into stories of human interest that can be followed by even the most economic-incompetent. Agenda sat down with Jack Perkowski to find out exactly how to manage that daunting Chinese dragon.

Your blog “Managing the Dragon” has been going for a couple of years now. What inspires you to keep writing?
First of all, I enjoy writing and the challenge of putting into words my thoughts on China and its development. Writing the blog also forces me to stay abreast of major events, whether they are business, political or social in nature, and to learn enough so that I can write intelligently about them. Over the years, I have developed my own views as to how China works, and the blog provides the perfect platform for communicating those views to others. And finally, the blog has proven to be great new business tool for JFP Holdings, the company that I founded last year.

You wrote a book to inform people about doing business in China, but what did you learn during the writing process?
I never appreciated what a major undertaking it is to have a book published until I took up the task in 2006. Despite the effort and commitment required, though, writing Managing the Dragon was one of the most satisfying things I have done. The book was fun to write and it provided a great opportunity to reflect on fifteen years of experience.

Without question, the process taught me how to put into perspective all that I have learned. It forced me to think more broadly about how China works and where it is going, and what it takes to live happily and work successfully here. While I had made many observations and drawn many conclusions over the years, writing the book gave me the opportunity to connect the dots, so to speak, and to form comprehensive views on these subjects. As a result, I now find it much easier to take new events as they occur in China and the world around it and put them into context.

Tell us a little bit about your new venture, JFP Holdings.
Ironically, the global economic crisis was the catalyst for the formation of my new venture. As the world plunged into deep recession in the fall of 2008, I believed that China would be the first to lead the way out, and said as much in the predictions for 2009 which I posted on my blog. I also believed that, when companies and investors from around the world eventually got back to the business of looking for growth, China would be of even greater interest than it had been before the crisis, and I wanted to be set up to help them. Finally, I believed that Chinese companies would increasingly look to expand abroad, and that my experience in both markets would be an important asset for them to draw upon.

JFP Holdings was founded on those basic premises. Quite simply, our goal is to help Western companies get their products and technology into China by working with them to develop appropriate strategies for the Chinese market, to implement those strategies and to gain access to any capital that may be required to fund them. Similarly, we help Chinese companies to expand abroad by helping with strategy, implementation and capital.

What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs looking to make a start in China?
There are a number of suggestions I would make, beginning with the most important advice of all, which is to think very carefully about whether you really want to be an entrepreneur in the first place. I don’t care how great your idea is, it will take an enormous amount of work and persistence to make it a success. There will be countless ups and downs, and there will be times when you will question whether starting your own business was really worth it. To get through those hard times, you will need all of the courage of your convictions that you can muster.

Moreover, being an entrepreneur and working for yourself is addictive, and once you go down that path, it’s difficult to get back into the mainstream job market. However, before taking the entrepreneurial road, you must do a careful assessment of your strengths and weaknesses.

If you believe you have what it takes and are still determined to go ahead, you will need a good idea or concept for your business. Ideally it should be something that is unique and different. Then you will need to develop a well-thought-out strategy. This is perhaps the most important part. A unique product or service and a well-grounded strategy can help you overcome the inevitable mistakes that will be made in execution. If your company has a “me too” product or service, or a strategy that is not well thought out, then your execution had better be flawless, which is nearly impossible, particularly in China.

If at all possible, develop a strategy that doesn’t require a great deal of capital upfront. Once you take one dollar from an investor, you have a boss, so don’t take the step of bringing in investors lightly.

Has the China bus left? Are there no big opportunities left anymore?
Absolutely not! Even though China is now the second largest economy in the world, it is still in the embryonic stage of development. Even a first-time visitor to China can immediately spot numerous product, technology and service “gaps,” each one of which represents a significant business opportunity. These opportunities are available to everyone, Chinese and non-Chinese alike. They exist in areas as diverse as financial services, health care, environmental technology, education, value-added manufacturing and distribution, to name but a few. The opportunities are there -- the trick is to develop and implement a strategy to take advantage of them.

Anything else you’d like to tell our readers?
As China’s economic and political influence continues to grow, I notice a tendency on the part of many to argue that its influence will fade, just as Japan’s economic and political influence waxed and then waned in the 1980s. There is also a tendency to believe that China’s gain is somehow a loss for the United States and the other major countries of the world. I strongly disagree with each of these sentiments.

Therefore, government and business leaders around the world need to consider how to deal with this new reality, and China has to take on the responsibilities that come with the mantle of global leadership.

The unprecedented changes that the world is seeing as China and other under-developed economies, one by one, come into their own is positive for everyone. Adding millions of people around the world into the global economy provides that many more minds to find a cure for AIDS, develop new ways to power the global economy and solve other global problems.

Those of us working in China have the good fortune of being in a position to personally witness the impact, both good and bad, which China’s development is having. To the extent that we can, each in our own way, use our experience to promote a better understanding of what is happening here, we can all play an important role in the transition to the new era that is evolving in this century.