Opening a Kung Fu School in China, what to pay headmaster?

bacon?

Brief rundown on where I'm at.

I'm in China, have been training Kung Fu for the best part of a year. My Sifu(master) is treated pretty badly by the academy, underpaid, overworked.

He'd love to open his own school, and talks about it someday, but he's no money to do so.

I'm looking into opening a school, and having him run it, be the headmaster.

He's by far the best Sifu in the academy, and I would only consider opening a school with him. I'm in very early stages at the moment, working out risk reward, operating a business in China etc... I'm not here to ask for advice on that, if you have "actual" experience, then advice is welcomed.

I'd like advice on what and how to pay him... at the moment he's being paid around $200 a month, working 7 days a week, and 1 weeks holiday a year... even for China, that's pretty bad. I'm in a Smaller wing of the school, and he's running this place.

I'd obviously want to pay more... but I'm thinking some sort of % share of profits would be good, as it offers incentive to see the school grow and do well... this is one of the many reasons why I don't like working for the man.

Anyway, judging by the figues given, what would be a good package? $500 - $800 a month, and an annual percentage of the profits, something between 1 - 5%?

Any suggestions?

caoty

bacon? wrote: »

Brief rundown on where I'm at.

I'm in China, have been training Kung Fu for the best part of a year. My Sifu(master) is treated pretty badly by the academy, underpaid, overworked.

He'd love to open his own school, and talks about it someday, but he's no money to do so.

I'm looking into opening a school, and having him run it, be the headmaster.

He's by far the best Sifu in the academy, and I would only consider opening a school with him. I'm in very early stages at the moment, working out risk reward, operating a business in China etc... I'm not here to ask for advice on that, if you have "actual" experience, then advice is welcomed.

I'd like advice on what and how to pay him... at the moment he's being paid around $200 a month, working 7 days a week, and 1 weeks holiday a year... even for China, that's pretty bad. I'm in a Smaller wing of the school, and he's running this place.

I'd obviously want to pay more... but I'm thinking some sort of % share of profits would be good, as it offers incentive to see the school grow and do well... this is one of the many reasons why I don't like working for the man.

Anyway, judging by the figues given, what would be a good package? $500 - $800 a month, and an annual percentage of the profits, something between 1 - 5%?

Any suggestions?

5000RMB a month plus 10% share of the net after tax profit.

EIREHotspur

I seen this and just had to comment.....this has to be one of the most original stories/ideas for a business on boards.ie.

I would pay him double what he earns now plus 10% at least.

He is providing the raw material=skills to bring people in after all.
His status demands respect and reward.

Bandara

EIREHotspur wrote: »

I seen this and just had to comment.....this has to be one of the most original stories/ideas for a business on boards.ie.

I would pay him double what he earns now plus 10% at least.

He is providing the raw material=skills to bring people in after all.
His status demands respect and reward.

Why would you pay him double?

An increase of 25% on salary would have a very positive effect and would possibly have him more driven than doubling his salary which puts him in a situation where he has more money than he needs etc.

Also the opportunity of someone providing this guy with the school which was completely unobtainable to him before and thus fulfilling his dream to work for himself in his own school is HUGE, I'd imagine he'd snap your hand off to do that even if he stayed on his current salary.

OP, I personally would pay him a bonus each quarter (payable in advance if you wish) for year one and keep him on his current salary, yes reward him by all means but not in the way of a higher salary that unlike in a bonus situation, your never going to be able to reduce it without pissing him off if the school takes off slowly.

Revise the situation after 12 months, he may be a superb teacher but he may not have the skills require to operate the business side.

Good luck.
HT

EIREHotspur

Hammertime wrote: »

Why would you pay him double?

An increase of 25% on salary would have a very positive effect and would possibly have him more driven than doubling his salary which puts him in a situation where he has more money than he needs etc.

Also the opportunity of someone providing this guy with the school which was completely unobtainable to him before and thus fulfilling his dream to work for himself in his own school is HUGE, I'd imagine he'd snap your hand off to do that even if he stayed on his current salary.

OP, I personally would pay him a bonus each quarter (payable in advance if you wish) for year one and keep him on his current salary, yes reward him by all means but not in the way of a higher salary that unlike in a bonus situation, your never going to be able to reduce it without pissing him off if the school takes off slowly.

Revise the situation after 12 months, he may be a superb teacher but he may not have the skills require to operate the business side.

Good luck.
HT

Well because he asked what he should pay him "$500-$800 a month"...double his current would be $400 and would give him great incentive.
If he is the best Teacher at the school then People like him are driven anyway.

DrivingTestTips: Brian

bacon? wrote: »

Brief rundown on where I'm at.

I'm in China, have been training Kung Fu for the best part of a year. My Sifu(master) is treated pretty badly by the academy, underpaid, overworked.

He'd love to open his own school, and talks about it someday, but he's no money to do so.

I'm looking into opening a school, and having him run it, be the headmaster.

He's by far the best Sifu in the academy, and I would only consider opening a school with him. I'm in very early stages at the moment, working out risk reward, operating a business in China etc... I'm not here to ask for advice on that, if you have "actual" experience, then advice is welcomed.

I'd like advice on what and how to pay him... at the moment he's being paid around $200 a month, working 7 days a week, and 1 weeks holiday a year... even for China, that's pretty bad. I'm in a Smaller wing of the school, and he's running this place.

I'd obviously want to pay more... but I'm thinking some sort of % share of profits would be good, as it offers incentive to see the school grow and do well... this is one of the many reasons why I don't like working for the man.

Anyway, judging by the figues given, what would be a good package? $500 - $800 a month, and an annual percentage of the profits, something between 1 - 5%?

Any suggestions?

You know the industry, place, pay average, work, his worth, your money, business setup cost, and running cost. You would also know if he will bring people to your NEW school.

Pay the man what he is worth and get on with it.
Use you head not your heart.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Unless your planning on staying in China to run the business you should be looking to tie his salary to the businesses success, if you only pay him a fixed amount there is little incentive for him to grow your business. If you pay him with small incentives all you need is for someone to offer him a better deal and he'll leave the business, it would fall apart and he'd open next door.

Sounds like your not looking for a staff member but a partner, treat him as such. It sounds like he's bring more than 5% to the table.

Like Hammertime said i'd give him the same salary, an upfront "moving cost" and everytime he meets targets equity & pay ratchets kick in. Structure the deal in a way that the more he makes the more you make too.

Take Brians advice and use your head.

I've been employing people in the philippines the last 4 years. I have a couple of guys who work personally for me doing security and other jobs.
The average salary of one of these types of guys here is about 4000 peso per month - 80 euro or so.
So because these guys were working for me personally I gave them a salary of 8000 peso. Also free accommodation on my construction site.(thinking it would create loyalty, care etc) For someone with 3 kids this is a pretty big difference. I've also helped these guys with medicine when their sick, given the tv's, clothes allsorts of things.

But the lesson I have learned, and it took me about 3 years to learn it is that whenever these guys feel like it they will up and leave and not think twice. Doesnt matter what I give them, there is no loyalty. And they don't care because they are getting extra salary.
I had one guy i told maybe 20 times to do certain things, and he wouldnt do them out of pure laziness. I told him if he didnt start then he could go and work for my contractor instead. So he did, and he went from getting 8000 a month to 4000, doing basically the same stuff. No logic at all. The guy has 3 small kids.

I know the chinese aren't the same type of people, my point is just don't expect anything more because you are paying someone more money.

I would pay the guy the exact same salary he is on now, and then give him a piece of the business. Tell him, he makes it happen and he makes a profit from his share.

Victor

He works too much. Anyone that involved in a business makes the business to dependent on him personally. That means the business is exposed to (a) fraud and/or (b) failure if he become unavailable.

You should consider offering a slight, but real increase in salary, time off and incentive to work (% profit or equity).

For the details, you need to work out what other headmasters are paid and what other benefits they receive.

Taxable

There are many things to consider here:

The posts giving a straight rate and a percentage are not looking at it deeply enough.

Firstly, you need to consider the going rate for those offering classes in China... I can go into any park here (in Beijing) and I can get a free lesson. My last teacher of TaiChi was ranked 7 (in some sort of ranking of that stuff) and was a wonderful teacher. 69 years old retired professor. Never asked for a cent (but we gave him hongbaos - red envelopes anyway).

For this reason - don't change his current base rate... focus more on incentives.

Ask yourself:

- Are you giving him extra cash just because you like the guy?? (you are trying to open a business!)

- Why didn't he walk before? - he could have quit at any time before and got rehired elsewhere at a better rate if he is as good as you say he is.

So clearly there is a marketing issue... He's not good at promoting and disseminating his skills. That's not unusual (and self-promotion would probably be frowned on in the wushu martial arts world anyway).

Setting up a school in the morning and expecting people to come and see your highly-paid shifu wouldn't work - marketing is everything. You will need to spend more on marketing than any other aspect.

You may need him to get out more pushing the classes more... Giving demos, free classes, word-of-mouth things... You need to develop a system where what people put in, they can take out. For example; if people come to the school to specifically see this guy, (and above a certain baseline to cover overheads) if he got 80% of the revenues and the school got 20% - and he did a good deal of the marketing himself, you would both do very well. This is the way that many "agent" systems work.

You need to do a regular break-even analysis with this in mind. Bearing in mind that the greater the salary, the greater the fixed cost... For a start-up, you need to keep the fixed costs as low as possible.

The other issue is the tax / social security system in China and the city you are based in... This is a more complex issue that you'd need to check out further. I have info for that if you need it. Depending on your break-even analysis, you may need to put his salary up to the tax-free threshold and then pay him the rest in a single annual bonus payment.

The key would be transparency between you and him though.

ssbob

Great thread, would be very interested in seeing what you actually decide here, but if it was me I would go and speak to the man and see would he be interested in working with you and what would he want etc........

bacon?

Thanks for the feedback, and positive comments.

I've never run a business before, and understand it's a pretty big learning curve.... especially in China!

@ Taxable, are you in Beijing now? I'm actually here at the moment, but heading tomorrow. I'm talking to this crowd today about company formation in China, http://www.corporationchina.com/

For company formation, legal stuff, virtual office for 1 year, tax service for the year and visa costs it's 30,000RMB, around 3,200EURO.

As for what to pay him, if I go ahead, I think double of what he's on, and a bonus scheme... I'm not sure why he hasn't walked... tbh, he will if he's not paid more... It could be a Chinese thing, I've met a lot of Chinese who are overworked and underpaid, seems quite common here... there's no social welfare, so I guess people are happy, to an extent with what they got.

As far as marketing goes, the majority of new business comes from Google. This is what I do for a living, I make sites that rank in Google. I've checked out the competition, and it wouldn't be too difficult to out rank them... plus, bar one, all the sites are pretty bad... including the academy I'm at... the site has good information, but is put together so badly.

I've done a very rough cost analysis, and the numbers are good, for a school with 3 sifus, and 36 students. I'm using the current schools figures, rent etc... so it will depend on rent etc where the new one would be based.

Taxable

Hi Bacon... Yes, I'm in BJ... This afternoon we're working in the Dongzhimen area - shout if you're around.

Is that company formation quote for a WOFE? The formation fees are one thing - but the key here is the capital requirement. Do you know how much registered capital you'll need for that business in whatever district you'll do it in? (It varies by industry and by district - and for the number of Z-visas you'll need)

We have a couple of good sources for the company formation. It's pretty competitive now - much cheaper than before... But the capital requirement issue is important.

You just need to know how much cash you'll need to pony up... and how much of that you'll never see again (i.e. direct cost).

bacon?

Pm sent iPod about to die

Taxable wrote: »

Hi Bacon... Yes, I'm in BJ... This afternoon we're working in the Dongzhimen area - shout if you're around.

Is that company formation quote for a WOFE? The formation fees are one thing - but the key here is the capital requirement. Do you know how much registered capital you'll need for that business in whatever district you'll do it in? (It varies by industry and by district - and for the number of Z-visas you'll need)

We have a couple of good sources for the company formation. It's pretty competitive now - much cheaper than before... But the capital requirement issue is important.

You just need to know how much cash you'll need to pony up... and how much of that you'll never see again (i.e. direct cost).

bacon?

Big thanks to Taxable, met up with him last night and he gave some great advice.

Cheers dude, and good luck in Beijing yourself.

Taxable

No hassles... Good luck with it!

(Anyone with similar worries, or China-related issues, I'm back in Ireland for a few weeks from next week - looking forward to it!!)

IIsoleeII

Hi， Its nice to see you plan opening a business in China。
But depending on your area， pay rates will vary throughout China。
A 师傅 in a decent school, say in a larger city, similar to 西安，重庆，福州.
I would pay him more, maybe 6000-7000¥ since you are so, being a foreign business man asking your 师傅 to work for you.

Remember, although money is all and good, if he is truely a stict 师傅, he will have a lot of pride, and it would be difficult on his part to work for you as you are his student. Chinese culture is like this. Thats why I would suggest paying him a professers rate.
But if its in the country side, i think 4500-5000¥ is sufficient. And I　ａｓｓｕｍｅ　ｈｅ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｂｅ　ｙｏｕｒ　ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ　ｐａｒｔｎｅｒ／ｍａｎａｇｅｒ？．　Ａｓ　ｙｏｕ　ｕｓｕａｌｌｙ　ｎｅｅｄ　ａ　ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　ｃｉｔｉｚｅｎ　ｔｏ　ｏｐｅｎ　ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ　ｉｎ　Ｃｈｉｎａ．

　ａｌｌ　ｔｈｅ　ｂｅｓｔ～加油！

bacon?

IIsoleeII wrote: »

Hi， Its nice to see you plan opening a business in China。
But depending on your area， pay rates will vary throughout China。
A 师傅 in a decent school, say in a larger city, similar to 西安，重庆，福州.
I would pay him more, maybe 6000-7000¥ since you are so, being a foreign business man asking your 师傅 to work for you.

Remember, although money is all and good, if he is truely a stict 师傅, he will have a lot of pride, and it would be difficult on his part to work for you as you are his student. Chinese culture is like this. Thats why I would suggest paying him a professers rate.
But if its in the country side, i think 4500-5000¥ is sufficient. And I　ａｓｓｕｍｅ　ｈｅ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｂｅ　ｙｏｕｒ　ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ　ｐａｒｔｎｅｒ／ｍａｎａｇｅｒ？．　Ａｓ　ｙｏｕ　ｕｓｕａｌｌｙ　ｎｅｅｄ　ａ　ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　ｃｉｔｉｚｅｎ　ｔｏ　ｏｐｅｎ　ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ　ｉｎ　Ｃｈｉｎａ．

　ａｌｌ　ｔｈｅ　ｂｅｓｔ～加油！

Thanks, I have similar concerns about the "face" thing, me being his student and all... well, all I can do is ask, and see what he says.

Cheers.

ArphaRima

Where are you? (SH, here)

Do you have any Chinese friends you could ask about this in confidence? I would start there.
Also I agree with some of the other views here. Far less important than how much to pay him is how to incentivise him. He will be running a business you own. Whether those incentives take the form of part ownership, bonuses, or salary increases is something you need to decide. But you need to ensure he doesnt set up an entirely new school on your money under your name only to switch once it is successful to his own brand. Promoting loyalty is key.

chillywilly

One of the best thread titles I have seen here in a while! I thought it was going to be a piss-take Good luck with your venture.

bacon?

fluffer wrote: »

Where are you? (SH, here)

Do you have any Chinese friends you could ask about this in confidence? I would start there.
Also I agree with some of the other views here. Far less important than how much to pay him is how to incentivise him. He will be running a business you own. Whether those incentives take the form of part ownership, bonuses, or salary increases is something you need to decide. But you need to ensure he doesnt set up an entirely new school on your money under your name only to switch once it is successful to his own brand. Promoting loyalty is key.

Ye, I have Chinese friends I can ask. I think I'm going to find it hard to find properties to rent online, as they're in rural areas.

I guess I could try estate agents.

bacon?

Update. I talked to my Sifu, and he liked the idea, but said he'd ideally like to open the school on his own, which I understand.

He said that if that's not possible, he'd be happy to do it my way. I told him it would be a commitment for a few years and he could then go off and do his own thing.

If he does manage to get funds together for his own school, I'll help him out... He's an excellent Sifu, but doesn't know the first thing about the internet or marketing. He said I could train for free any time, which is cool.

Sure we'll see what happens.

ssbob

bacon? wrote: »

He said I could train for free any time, which is cool.

First rule of business..........nothing is free to anyone, thats why lots of businesses fail, people expect to get stuff for free after a while.

Aside from that thanks for the update.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

@bacon? Sounds like you could have sold the concept better, why have a small school when you could work together and deliver the value and his dream to a bigger audience. Better to have a small slice of a bigger pie and all that.

I do think he should be a partner, maybe even a majority one though as then it would be his school and the balance of teacher / pupil which would be hard for him to get over would be maintained. You could reserve rights on merchandising, video lessons, supplements etc in which he may have little to no interest in but might have the highest form of leverage.

I mean who wouldn't want to go on a holiday to china and spend a week learning to be a ninja in a real chinese school of the arts... (sign me up anyway).

bacon?

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan wrote: »

@bacon? Sounds like you could have sold the concept better, why have a small school when you could work together and deliver the value and his dream to a bigger audience. Better to have a small slice of a bigger pie and all that.

I do think he should be a partner, maybe even a majority one though as then it would be his school and the balance of teacher / pupil which would be hard for him to get over would be maintained. You could reserve rights on merchandising, video lessons, supplements etc in which he may have little to no interest in but might have the highest form of leverage.

I mean who wouldn't want to go on a holiday to china and spend a week learning to be a ninja in a real chinese school of the arts... (sign me up anyway).

There's no way I'm doing a JV in China. Far too many horror stories, the foreigner really has no protection if the Chinese business partner wants to take over.

I do trust him, but when money is involved, plus... he could be influenced by his wife, family... it's way too risky.

I either own the school as a WOFE (wholly owned foreign enterprise) or nothing.

The important thing is not to let it be known that a foreigner owns the place, there's really no need for people to know this... I just found out the other day that macdonalds own kfc.

He would run it as the headmaster, and be paid better and treated better. I said to him that I'd see this as a stepping stone for him, to his own school... spend a few years with me, and move on.

The school would in essence be a traditional Chinese Kung Fu School... just run and marketed better.

Joe Schmo

bacon? wrote: »

I just found out the other day that macdonalds own kfc.

Just as an FYI, the above is not true. KFC is owned by Yum brands and MacDs is owned by... MacDs. Yum could be a buy just for the success they have had in China with KFC alone.

Great thread by the way, and best of luck in the middle kingdom.

bacon?

Joe Schmo wrote: »

Just as an FYI, the above is not true. KFC is owned by Yum brands and MacDs is owned by... MacDs. Yum could be a buy just for the success they have had in China with KFC alone.

Great thread by the way, and best of luck in the middle kingdom.

ah, my mate was talking $hite... ye, there's around 2 kfc for every macdonalds here... they can't get enough of it... it's even more disgusting here! had to eat it once, one of those emergency eat food situations... all there was...

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

bacon? wrote: »

There's no way I'm doing a JV in China. Far too many horror stories, the foreigner really has no protection if the Chinese business partner wants to take over.

I do trust him, but when money is involved, plus... he could be influenced by his wife, family... it's way too risky.

I either own the school as a WOFE (wholly owned foreign enterprise) or nothing.

The school would in essence be a traditional Chinese Kung Fu School... just run and marketed better.

Fair enough if that is your preference but there are ways to joint venture a WOFE, ie. you own the premises, brand, backend systems and the lesson plans he develops for the business which are licensed back to the partnership while under the umbrella brand. Then he shares ownership in the school in terms of the day to day business.

bacon?

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan wrote: »

Fair enough if that is your preference but there are ways to joint venture a WOFE, ie. you own the premises, brand, backend systems and the lesson plans he develops for the business which are licensed back to the partnership while under the umbrella brand. Then he shares ownership in the school in terms of the day to day business.

Really, do you have anymore info on this?

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Chat to a specialist accountant, sometimes deals like this work out the best when you get creative

Lanaier

bacon? wrote: »

There's no way I'm doing a JV in China. Far too many horror stories, the foreigner really has no protection if the Chinese business partner wants to take over.

I do trust him, but when money is involved, plus... he could be influenced by his wife, family... it's way too risky.

I'm glad you already pointed this out, I was going to mention it and risk seeming bigoted.
I thought it was the elephant in the room.

Every single person I know who has been business partners with a Chinese person here has been stabbed in the back.

Every single one.
I've been here since 2003 and that's a lot of people.

Even if it's to their own detriment it will happen.
It's like the parable of the scorpion and the frog, every time.

It doesn't matter how close you are, how loyal they are or how nice a person they seem.
It will happen.

Not saying they are good or bad, and there are some amazing Chinese people out there (like my wife)...just an observation of a hard to ignore fact.

Good luck.

Lanaier

Lanaier wrote: »

I'm glad you already pointed this out, I was going to mention it and risk seeming bigoted.
I thought it was the elephant in the room.

Every single person I know who has been business partners with a Chinese person here has been stabbed in the back.

Every single one.
I've been here since 2003 and that's a lot of people.

Even if it's to their own detriment it will happen.
It's like the parable of the scorpion and the frog, every time.

It doesn't matter how close you are, how loyal they are or how nice a person they seem.
It will happen.

Not saying they are good or bad, and there are some amazing Chinese people out there (like my wife)...just an observation of a hard to ignore fact.

Good luck.

Yes I would agree COMPLETELY with the above after working for 4 years in Asia. Mentality is totally different, and they don't work with logic

bacon?

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes I would agree COMPLETELY with the above after working for 4 years in Asia. Mentality is totally different, and they don't work with logic

I hear ye, been here close on a year. It's crazy how some of them do business... They'll sacrifice customer service to save a quick buck.

The school I'm in at the moment has terrible business practices. None of the students trust them... they'll try and squeeze as much cash out of you as possible, over charge for some things, pay their staff peanuts, and treat them like crap... In Ireland you'd just sue your boss if they pulled half the stuff they've done here, but, in China, employees don't have any rights.

bacon?

bacon? wrote: »

I hear ye, been here close on a year. It's crazy how some of them do business... They'll sacrifice customer service to save a quick buck.

The school I'm in at the moment has terrible business practices. None of the students trust them... they'll try and squeeze as much cash out of you as possible, over charge for some things, pay their staff peanuts, and treat them like crap... In Ireland you'd just sue your boss if they pulled half the stuff they've done here, but, in China, employees don't have any rights.

On the island Im on at the moment, a new bread shop was opened about 4-5 months ago. Sold french breads, and was a real artisan store which made my life a lot better having nice bread instead of cheap stuff full of sugar!
So anyway, there was a south african guy managing all the sales and distriburtion on commission only, and he had dozens of hotels buying the bread, all the foreigners on the island buying sandwiches with fresh roast beef etc. Great little business just starting to boom.
So then the Filipino owners decided that the sales guy was making too much commission! They didnt like that they were paying him so much commission, when obviously the more comms your paying a sales guy the better for the business as it means he's successful) and so they sacked him, thinking that everyone would still come to them. They changed the ingredients and reduced the quality, and raised the price. They lost all the customers and now serve stale bread and rotten beef.

I told my girlfriend that no matter what the business idea is, no matter how good and how much money it will make, remind me I vowed never to set a company up in this region again!!!

ArphaRima

Every single person I know who has been business partners with a Chinese person here has been stabbed in the back.

Add my good few year's experience in SE Asia and China into the mix with the same stories and you've got a consensus. Be very careful.

bacon?

Hey guys, I hear ye... sure the school I'm in at the moment was started by an English guy and his Sifu... once the money came rolling in, the English guy was pushed out...

This isn't the only story I've heard or even witnessed myself in China. I love it here and the people are generally very nice, but I would no way start a business with one.

I wouldn't even start a business that could be easily cloned, this is also a big problem in China. I saw 2 little crep shops in Qingdao, right next door to each other, identical.

I had my friend ask what was going on, turns out, the origional shop was opened by a French guy with a Chinese partner. The Chinese guy learned the business then opened his own up next door!

I'm near Deng Feng at the moment, went for a walk last night and found a hostel, very out of place. Just opened, the only hostel in Deng Feng.

Was chatting to the owner, really nice girl from the U.S. She said she's partner with 2 other Chinese.... I didn't say anything, but, good luck to her.

Anyway, I still think it's possible to do business in China, just just have to have your wits about you.

The fact that they're customer service is $hite especially when their main customer base is westerners is great news for a budding entrepreneur looking to set up shop here.

ssbob

Deleted User wrote: »

On the island Im on at the moment, a new bread shop was opened about 4-5 months ago. Sold french breads, and was a real artisan store which made my life a lot better having nice bread instead of cheap stuff full of sugar!
So anyway, there was a south african guy managing all the sales and distriburtion on commission only, and he had dozens of hotels buying the bread, all the foreigners on the island buying sandwiches with fresh roast beef etc. Great little business just starting to boom.
So then the Filipino owners decided that the sales guy was making too much commission! They didnt like that they were paying him so much commission, when obviously the more comms your paying a sales guy the better for the business as it means he's successful) and so they sacked him, thinking that everyone would still come to them. They changed the ingredients and reduced the quality, and raised the price. They lost all the customers and now serve stale bread and rotten beef.

I told my girlfriend that no matter what the business idea is, no matter how good and how much money it will make, remind me I vowed never to set a company up in this region again!!!

El Rifle,

What happened the South African? Surely with his contacts he could have set up his own bakery?

ssbob

ssbob wrote: »

El Rifle,

What happened the South African? Surely with his contacts he could have set up his own bakery?

Yep he's in the process of it now. Unfortunately, the filipino owner of the last business was also the chef who knew how to make the bread properly! Im sure they'll figure it out sooner or later!

Jayireland

hi Bacon.how are u ,i do not know where city u are in China,i think u have a good business idea hope we can have a chat,thanks a million i do think u can let ur master to be a partner,but u have to know how to running this kongfu business ,it sound a interesting topic,i am waiting for ur reply,cheers

DubTony

Deleted User wrote: »

Yep he's in the process of it now. Unfortunately, the filipino owner of the last business was also the chef who knew how to make the bread properly! Im sure they'll figure it out sooner or later!

The South African salesman should be able to hire the filipino baker soon. Sorted.

bacon?

DubTony wrote: »

The South African salesman should be able to hire the filipino baker soon. Sorted.

This sound like the start of a joke

bacon?

Jayireland wrote: »

hi Bacon.how are u ,i do not know where city u are in China,i think u have a good business idea hope we can have a chat,thanks a million i do think u can let ur master to be a partner,but u have to know how to running this kongfu business ,it sound a interesting topic,i am waiting for ur reply,cheers

I'm currently training in Shaolin, near Deng Feng.

As for having a partner, too risky, so, would need to be 100% mine or nothing.