Never easy hiring – choosing one person who is better than another to work in your company….but man it sucks to tell someone they are no longer fit to work here anymore. It was a bit of racism too, a girl I had working here, 31 years old so she thought she was senior to me and could teach me …
China is Proud
Wow, it really has been insane being in china during the olympics. I am on the other side of the country (south) and still the energy is amazing….they’ve hung Chinese flags all over….the opening ceremony was out of control…..I thought Americans were proud of their country…..seems in China they had something to prove to the world…and I would say the …
Definitely Never a Boring Day in China
Think what really intrigues me about living in China is the normal day to day living….this didn’t seem too strange to me in the car yesterday, but Ivan my friend mentioned “hey take a picture of that car”…and I did Wonder if I’ll ever drive in China…..but this insanity is what I love about it! I thrive on chaos as …
Finding Trusted Partners & Allies in a Foreign Country
I dont want to say being in China is a reason for saying its hard to find trusted partners. But I think its being a foreigner / visitor in a faraway place that makes it complex and hard to know who is out for your best interests, not only their own. I keep hearing these horror stories about being robbed …
Chinese Visa Issues, Boozer sent back to USA
Financial situations , Employee issues My buddy, Andrew Grilli (I nicknamed boozer) spent his last night in China today – and I was able to sneak a quick snapshot of the 10 year China veteran
Step into my office – is it adapting or changing oneself?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOHHGDvz3Mo&hl=en&fs=1] Messing around with adding a watermark to a video for more videos – and used the inside of my office as a test video. Want to make some funny skit videos about the daily findings and business interactions I see here. I remember the high school yearbook signing days – and the notes “never change for anyone, ” never …
Making Sales in China – Talk About Awkward!
man….not only am I a foreigner here…but now I am selling to Chinese…after pushing www.98products.com pretty hard getting some sample orders and small bar orders. I can do it….it is a price first, quality second game – but I can meet or beat most prices. The awkward part comes from my not being able to speak chinese….the customer in China …
i’m finally “back”
I can say this has been the hardest re-adjusting phase i’ve been through since maybe 1st day of high school….it was just a pile of things…came back to china – jet lag, tons of emails, questions, staff member quit while i was gone, congested/sick, and simply overwhelmed. Today definitely cleaned house, refocused, unpacked (yes a week and a half later) …
Company Formation, Accounting, Placing more Bets
met with my part time accountant again today – in China you have to file taxes every month for a business, not yearly like in USA…..so you almost need a full time in-house accountant / bookkeeper for this. I found Ping, on the far right, and Wendy, middle to help me with this. They are sisters and Ping is the …
Packing up in my bedless room!
on the road again…..no home!!! homeless…
Success in Ningbo & Government Made Me Move my Bed!
Today – back from the airport in Ningbo (delayed flight…from 7pm to 2am takeoff…back at 5am!!! is that allowed in USA??) Government came to my home office Friday, when I was in Ningbo and basically said to my staff that was there – “you can’t live in your office…office and house has to separate”….so what do I do….move to the …
Strategy Game Plan – Next 6 Weeks
Sundays are always my strategy evenings…reflecting on the past and looking to the future…..next 6 weeks are going to be jam packed and may as well publish it on the blog to see if I can cram even more!! Earlier this week – interviewing people for Chinese accounting position. Thursday May 22 to Sunday May 25 – NINGBO, China – …
Opening companies in the face of world recession.
Bit scary as I sign contracts, open bank accounts, and wire money all over the world.. It is working – and I believe a company wrestling through the tough times makes it that much stronger. Just scary with payrolls building up….as its adding other people’s livelihood in the picture. Just keep on pushing forward – was going to start brainstorming …
Aftermath of the Earthquake
Where I am from the earthquake – about a 2 hour flight. Sharing some photos that have been going around in China IMs…..its really sad…collections everywhere…watching crowds on the streets surround TVs showing scenes from the aftermath of the earthquake… never take 1 day on this earth for granted….
Earthquake in Cheng Du, China
Thanks for all the emails and notes….I was a few hours southeast so didn’t even “Feel it” amazing how these natural disasters have been popping up….. was in Hong Kong when it happened – taking care of corporate structure, banking, and accounting…. write more later…..buried in emails and to-do lists