I definitely underestimated what it takes to start a business……i figured i had some customers, some cash saved up, the rest would work out…..hahaha, 3 years later (from Shadstone beginning, 6 if you count from newyorkbarstore beginning), the struggle continues…..

This is my countless times in a factory in the Ningbo area (yuyao, ningbo, yong kang – all over Zhejiang province) …..and each time I grow “older and wiser” from AGE, as well as EXPERIENCE. I don’t think money can buy this, and I think it just takes TIME……which in turn uses money. But THIS IS WHY BUSINESSMEN become so old. It takes experience….and money…..and more experience…..I think its the fact that you never give up that gets you there.

So Quiet in this Factory City

I will be 29 on april 2, and like every new years, also on my birthday i reflect where i am, where i have been, and where to go from here….

1 year until 30, man, i still feel, and most of the time, give the impression that i am a kid…..as i have a babyface (thanks dad!) and i still believe i am a little immature with some ways i behave…..but i dont wanna grow up….

“We do not quit playing because we grow old, we grow old because we quit playing.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

I want to be the crazy uncle mike, coming over for family gatherings with my stories from abroad…..the times i was in a situation i didnt know how i could get myself out of it, and that i still made it out alive to tell my nieces + nephews…..kinda like Bilbo from the Hobbit.

But back to the matter at hand….i think being a businessman (or to be politically correct businessman / businesswoman – as it applies to both), you have to just keep on going….there is no such thing as getting rich quick, no matter what those scumbags on the internet or TV tell you at 3am. It takes day in and day out learning – TO DIFFERENTIATE yourself from those around you. To add value to the supply chain….else you are going to just be another middle man waiting to have someone steal your lunch money…..and it takes time to go through that process.