New Enterprise Idea

GoChinese

Hey everyone, any feedback on this idea would be greatly appreciated.
As part of my final year degree, I must come up with a New Enterprise Development idea.

My idea is a Chinese business service that educates Irish small-medium sized businesses on the Chinese language, culture, customs and business mentality.

• The service is differentiated from other language services as it only teaches Chinese, therefore we would be experts in the field.

• The service caters exclusively to businesses and classes are one to one.

• As well as educating clients about business in China, we can create networking opportunites for our client in the Chinese market.

It is an initiative that is hoped to help Irish businesses out of the recession by opening up the Chinese market. It also cuts out the need for interpretation. Becoming fluent in Chinese will be a long term objective for businesses as the Chinese economy is booming.

It could be, but to be honest with you, I do think that the majority of Chinese people do have a general grasp of English (goin from my personal interactions) so it isn't too difficult to interact with one another. It could be a very very tempting idea though for people trying to branch out of Ireland to China, but is the market that open in China and welcoming for Irish and Western ideals?

Nehaxak

I think it's a great idea myself

Just be aware of both Cantonese and Mandarin as the language, I'm not sure which one is spoken the most nor which is preferred among business circles (I was told one was most preferred over the other - something to do with Hong Kong, whichever is spoken the most widely there apparently).

It's the culture, customs and business mentality also that you've mention that plays a big part in dealing with Chinese business directly.

One thing I'd add is to allot some time in regards both the import and export opportunities with China as a whole. It's a huge known market to import from but there's not a lot of info available in regards what the export market to China is like, what they want, how they want it, how to set it up in the first place - if you have a product or service, how best to approach the Chinese market with the idea and become successful with same etc.,

luketitz

This is a fantastic idea, glad someone's thinking outside the box!

Irish entrepreneurs seeking outward FDI or indeed expatriate roles would surely benefit from this service.

Hope it goes well for you, let me know if you're loking for any assistance in getting this business going, as I do have some relevant experience and contacts in both Irish and Asian education fields.

GoChinese

Thank you all for your great feedback. We will take on board everything you have said.

Any other advise/opinions are extremely welcome.

JonathanAnon

From what I'm aware, China doesnt invest here to any huge extent... I know of Irish people that have set up factories in China or subcontracted work to China (i.e. capitalising on the cheap labour).. and as we all know a lot of Chinese people come here to study... but I'm not sure most Irish people would have any NEED to learn their language...

If you were going to set up a serious business, I would carry out a lot of market research before going ahead, as it is a very niche market... You are pretty much restricting yourself to export companies (not that I'm aware of any huge Irish exports to China), multinationals and manufacturing companies... I mean the local butcher, chemist, shop, baker, pub etc would have no need for such services....

Do you actually have to set up the business, or is it just to put the plans in place... Certainly a more useful and practical thesis than mine at least... I had to write software to analyse a photo of the young's slits experiment and calculate the wavelength of the light.. cant say that I've used it since..

BusinessForums

While I think it's a good idea on the surface. Surely the onus is on the suppliers, who are based in China, to learn the customs of the purchasers who will be paying their wages. I as a purchaser would not give a second thought to learning chinese, or their customs. If they want my money they better learn to speak English, not the other way round.

Same goes for their websites, translations, etc. I think a better service would be to find Chinese people who spoke fluent English, people who could act as a mediator and who know a bit about logistics. Who could assist Irish businesses in purchasing from China.

I have re-read your post again, and it seems that you are trying promote Irish products into China. I don't think there is a big market for that, other than alcohol products or agricultrure products. Maybe I am wrong.

GoChinese

BusinessForums wrote: »

While I think it's a good idea on the surface. Surely the onus is on the suppliers, who are based in China, to learn the customs of the purchasers who will be paying their wages. I as a purchaser would not give a second thought to learning chinese, or their customs. If they want my money they better learn to speak English, not the other way round.

Same goes for their websites, translations, etc. I think a better service would be to find Chinese people who spoke fluent English, people who could act as a mediator and who know a bit about logistics. Who could assist Irish businesses in purchasing from China.

I have re-read your post again, and it seems that you are trying promote Irish products into China. I don't think there is a big market for that, other than alcohol products or agricultrure products. Maybe I am wrong.

Thank you very much for your feedback. I have taken your suggestions on board. The service is for Irish businesses who wish to export/source imports from China. Historically, Ireland's indigenous firms are not export orientated, this has been a massive problem for economic growth. This service will hopefully allow companies to build up and strengthen their export capability.

GoChinese

JonathanAnon wrote: »

From what I'm aware, China doesnt invest here to any huge extent... I know of Irish people that have set up factories in China or subcontracted work to China (i.e. capitalising on the cheap labour).. and as we all know a lot of Chinese people come here to study... but I'm not sure most Irish people would have any NEED to learn their language...

If you were going to set up a serious business, I would carry out a lot of market research before going ahead, as it is a very niche market... You are pretty much restricting yourself to export companies (not that I'm aware of any huge Irish exports to China), multinationals and manufacturing companies... I mean the local butcher, chemist, shop, baker, pub etc would have no need for such services....

Do you actually have to set up the business, or is it just to put the plans in place... Certainly a more useful and practical thesis than mine at least... I had to write software to analyse a photo of the young's slits experiment and calculate the wavelength of the light.. cant say that I've used it since..

Thank you very much for your feedback. I do not actually have to set up the business, just carry out all the research involved.