More musings on Shenzhen and Business in China

China will kill You

The other day I was walking back from a simple restaurant maybe 7 minutes walk from the factory gate.  It was a good lunch, Hong Kong style, and maybe set me back(or the factory) $5 or so.   Upon reaching the factory, it was time to cross the street in order to actually enter the factory.

The sidewalk was lined with waist to chest high shrubs.  From a foot back of the edge of the sidewalk, I was able to look both ways.  All clear.  It’s easy of course to see the big trucks that so commonly inhabit an industrial park. 

What I didn’t see was the motorcycle.

I stepped off the curb.

Once I’m off the curb, I’m in the street.  While I had done my due diligence, I had once again been outplayed, outwitted, what have you, by the practicalities of living within China itself.  Coming straight for me, not 20 yards away, was a motorcycle.   He wasn’t going that fast of course, but 20 yards is close enough.  

Why did I not see him?

He was travelling the wrong way, in the wrong lane,  in the wrong direction.  The shrubs obscured him.   And to make matters worse once I stepped off the curb, I continued to look the “Right way”, watching as those big cargo trucks came barreling down towards me.   It was only later I turned my head at the last moment to see the guy on the bike whistling towards me. 

He saw me. 

But what if he hadn’t?

(for the umpteenth time, I’m again becomingly increasingly nervous abt bringing my 2 daughters here in the Summer)

Such is life in the Heavenly Kingdom.    I’m fortunate of course.  I don’t have to go to Beijing anymore.  While living in Beijing in the 90’s, the winters were of course bitterly cold.   Our biggest concern was just getting around.  Beijing only had one subway line, and biking in the winter was stupid.  Our biggest concerns were the dust from the Gobi, and the stuff no one could see. The only reminder of the ubiquitous coal was the morning after the first snowfall.  I remember how depressed I was to see that beautiful stuff covered black.   Beijing from what I’ve read seems a lot worse today from only 15 years ago.

Shenzhen has it’s days of course, but none of us in our right minds can complain.

Indeed, I’m very fortunate these days to not live in a part of China that requires massive coal use.  Further, it rains a lot here.  After each rain, the dirt and dust is effectively wiped away for a day or two, and the weather is considerably cooler.   We do have our factories(boy do we), but they are effectively far enough away to not affect those of us in the city.  To get to my factory requires an hour travel by train.  For some reason, that’s far enough away to not bother me, or anyone else back in the city.  Yes, I’m sure there are climatic factors involved as well, but I’ll leave that up to the reader to investigate.

Actually, if Shenzhen only had some culture, ie something to actually SEE on weekends, than I’d damn near be in paradise.  Alas, I’ve been spoiled by life in Hangzhou, Shanghai, etc.  This is why Shanghai despite it’s up and down comparisons to Shenzhen, is still the place to be.  Hands down.  (I’ll chance the pollution)

My VPN these days is working great(knock on wood).  I’m in a Starbucks listening to Xmas Carols….they’ve been playing them since October, and if history is any guide will continue to do so until  after CNY. 

I’m very fortunate to be in the middle of toolup for a rather well known company.  Lucrative opportunity.  Our engineers are a bit more knowledgeable than theirs, and with the reputation of this customer one would think it a major challenge to properly implement the product ontime.  Indeed it is.  However, my current problems do not entirely lie with the customer.  Alas I have suppliers, and they are the pains in my ass, by far.

What is it, with Chinese businessmen?

One supplier, upon hearing how important this product is to properly implement, and after luring him with the carrot of follow up business with similar opportunities should he perform to an acceptable quality level, promptly does what?

Hunker down to nail the timeline?  Nope.

Work to improve his Quality documentation for a customer visit?  Nope.

Rather, upon hearing how vital his participation is in the supply chain, he promptly announces a price increase of 20%!

Now, someone tell me what business book he was reading?

Once I put my heart back in my chest, I had to have my guys explain to him, that no, this wasn’t going to happen.  I’d rather cancel the project(and fire this son of a bitch) than go along with that.   It made me quite happy that not 48 hrs before, I had turned down his bribe of 3% of sales to allow him to keep the biz.  Can you imagine if I hadn’t?   (laowai pay attn. here.  There are actually good economic reasons for NOT taking bribes.  This is one of them.  Won’t be no bribe to receive if the Customer ain’t got no PO for you…because you jacked his price up 20%!)

He hasn’t figured out I’m not an employee of the factory.  Rather, an owner of the company that set the deal up.  What’s the motivation of taking a bribe?

So now I have an overly greedy supplier that correctly assumes that I cannot replace him in the short term.   His tunnel vision has precluded him from thinking that I will work my ass off to replace him by CNY, and even if I don’t, once he ships the product out he’ll be MY BITCH because than I’ll be the one responsible for paying him.   I figure he won’t be in the mood to try and raise his price as long as I owe him money.  If he’s smart though(he is), he’ll try and extract Cash in Advance from me.  Good luck with that though.  My partner factory is at least 20 times larger than he is.  Alas, something tells me this hasn’t played out yet.

My partner factory is also pressuring me to allow the customer to wire him directly.  Me thinks not.  I’ve known this fellow for quite some time.  I’ve made him a lot of money.  As CEO’s go, he’s a swell guy.  Yet he recently took several months to pay me the money I was owed on a previous invoice, for another project.  Not cool.   So I’m working to avoid that scenario again.  This fellow feels once I receive the money, I’ll act like him and hold on to it for cash flow purposes.  Thus being late on paying the supply chain.  (see above….if that happens with the above supplier, I’ll def have issues.  The CEO has told me he won’t be late paying the supplier…we’ll see…..).  Still, he has quite the gall to make the request he has. Yet it’s something quite frankly I just wouldn’t have to worry as much abt if my “partner” in the deal was a Westerner. 

Having one’s business unfortunately takes it’s toll on friendships here.  It seems all my “friends” want a PO from me.  It’s gotten to the point I’m just avoiding some “friends” just to keep from having to explain why I can’t give them any business.  It’s disheartening actually.  I wish we could just play some pool, and hang out, but in China, I’m afraid business is intertwined with every relationship I have.   My friends than  feign anger when I don’t call them up.   What they want isn’t a friendship though, as much as a PO. 

So I just sit at Starbucks and write on my blog instead.