Chinese small business attitude

Small scale but fast moving

THE shopping mall was maybe two years old when I first visited. I would end up working there, at an English school, on the fourth floor. That floor was mostly filled with training centres for adults and children focusing on math, music, art and English. A shopping mall with a floor dedicated to education is a Chinese norm. It was one of the busiest floors in the mall, parents bringing children to class, professionals brushing up on their English or dance skills. On weekends the mall was full of shoppers, during summer extra busy with most people coming indoors to enjoy free air-conditioning.

Spending my free time there and shopping didn’t really interest me. Either the shirts were a misfit on me or things were too expensive. Although I didn’t pay too much attention to anything happening business-wise, the storefronts did become familiar. The colours, slogans and music blaring out of the door to lure customers in was a daily ritual as I made my way to work. I could walk past these businesses with my eyes shut and know what was being sold of my left and right by listening to the music being played - the tunes were never changed and usually repeated after every third song day in, day out.

I finished working there and six months later went back to visit some old colleagues. I had since moved to Shanghai and needed to pick up some stuff I left behind. When I first entered the shopping mall I thought I had landed on Mars. Every store front had changed. Every business was new. In the space of six months 90% of the stores had changed things up in a big way. Either they were selling something completely different or they had reinvented what they were already selling.These small businesses, which in total had been open less than 18 months, had gone through rejuvenation on a mass scale. It got me thinking. What is a Chinese businessman’s approach to business?

Clearly, flexibility is key. Even here in Shanghai, along streets in the French Quarter which I regularly walk, over a 2-3 year period, I have seen plenty of businesses change things up. From a lasagne-themed restaurant transformed into a chocolate-themed restaurant. From a Turkish speciality store to a teahouse. From Irish Bar to upmarket Italian restaurant. Watching this lightning speed of transformation led me to one conclusion. Businesspeople in China don’t look at their shortcomings as negatively or as seriously compared to their western counterparts. Instead they embrace the wave. They retreat with the low tide throwing away what seemed like a golden venture and roll back in with new goods and a new attitude on the high tide. That right there is a huge difference.

The length of time between low and high tide as far as a business is concerned in the West is anyone’s guess (especially if you are one of those window shoppers who regularly stroll by and don’t communicate with store management at all). Here in Shanghai you can bet your top dollar on which day of the week the store will re-open and win big. It usually takes less than a week for carpenters to tear down old decorum, gut the rooms and replace everything with an entirely new concept.

It's all a matter of gambling with ideas and knowing that one day you will hit the jackpot. Back home in Australia, businesspeople would persist with an idea and try to turn the tide, make the swell hit consumers. Wait and make them want whatever goods you got. Here in China you roll with the times and let the punches teach you a fast lesson. Flexibility is your weapon to achieve financial success as far as small businesses are concerned. If you don’t change, don’t expect the potential consumer to either.

The other big thing I see here is the approach to responsibility. Westerners take great pride in standing on their own two feet and generating their own income through a small business venture. For a lot of Australian’s, achieving this standard of independence is a symbol of strong work ethic and determination. You are a sole creator of cash flow and master of your own universe. Of course you have to know your product just like the specialist who made it in order to boost sales. Really what this means is that you almost will never stray and dabble in different industries. You don’t go from corner store grocer to vegan restaurant. Or hairdresser to bottle store. Fear of failure or financial catastrophe drives many Australian business-owners into constant stress and panic. It seems like the end of the world if your idea doesn’t catch on, or people don’t like your coffee, or people don’t like the brand of pasta you use, or the shirts your are selling are a little too-out-there. Here in China, you take take a mental-note and try Option B, or Option C, or Option D. What have you got to lose? Not much compared to the West. It’s only a week between business boom and bust here.