C-Quotient Campus Series Session 4: New Breed of Young Foreign Entrepreneurs in China

The fourth session of C-Quotient Campus Series was held at NUS Central Library. The theme was New Breed of Young Foreign Entrepreneurs in China. Business China invited two such young entrepreneurs to share with the students their experiences in venturing into China and how they came about setting up their businesses.

The first speaker was an American, Mr Benjamin Walters, 35, the founder and president of OSPOP Ltd. OSPOP stands for “One Small Point of Pride”, referring to taking pride in having products “made in china”. Based in China, the company manufactures high quality sneakers for the European and US market.

Mr Walters shared about how his business concept came about. Previously during his frequent travels to China while working for his family petrochemicals business, he realised that many Chinese labourers were wearing the same type of sneakers, called “解放鞋” in Chinese. From there, he was inspired to promote the culture of China through fashion, in the form of these sneakers. He eventually quit his family business and started a sneaker business, OSPOP, manufacturing sneakers inspired by those worn by the Chinese labourers.

Mr Walters was amazed at the sound infrastructure that China had and the resources that the country had to offer, such as the vast land and the rich talent pool. He said that whatever people that you need, you can find them, such as computer designers, visual artist, etc.

Despite vast resources, there are also challenges that one would face when doing business in China. For instance, employees’ loyalty is usually low, resulting in high staff turnover, as people are quick to change jobs, if there is an increase in pay. Mr Walters likened that to short-sightedness, as employees do not realise the growth that they can have within a company.

When venturing into China, Mr Walters emphasized a great deal on soft skills as it would definitely be one’s assets in building relationships with people. He also said that determination played a great part in overcoming challenges.

Lastly, he advised everyone to take the low hanging fruit first, when thinking of setting up a business. He said, “As much as you think about what particular product or services that you want to supply, think what you want to do, what task do you want to start about each and every day, and what excites you about the business.” He also added that one should think from not just a business viewpoint, but also from the perspectives of partners and customers.

The next speaker was Mr See Yong Sheng, 30, a Singaporean who is the Founder and Managing Director of Hanshijie Education and Technology group. He brought up his concern at how Singaporeans were stereotyping the country and hopes to dismiss that perspective. Thus, that formed the basis of him founding Hanshijie Education and Technology group, which anchors itself on a 5-step continuous cycle in getting to know China: Enter China, Know China, Understand China, Love China, Learn China. The company regularly organises students internships in China and exchange programmes for participants to immerse themselves into the Chinese culture and to discover China.

Mr See also said, that survival in China is all in the mindset. Citing a Chinese saying, “不是猛龙不过江, 但猛龙压不着地头蛇。” It means that while one should remain humble while striving to succeed overseas. He added that attitude is the key when doing business and dealing with people.

The floor was then opened for questions. A NUS final-year engineering student, Seah Yin Hwa then asked the speakers, “What advice can you give for Singaporean students who are bad in Chinese, but keen to explore opportunities in China?” Both speakers agreed that students should immerse themselves into the Chinese culture as it forces one to speak, write and understand the language.

The session brought together two foreign entrepreneurs, who having discovered the richness of China, decided to set up base in China and centred their businesses around educating and promoting Chinese culture to the world. Both of the experiences of Mr Walters and Mr See not only provided insight into new forms of businesses in China, but also inspired the students to think beyond the conventional and to explore new opportunities in China.