By Yin Yeping
What does the ambitious expat do if he doesn’t come with a nice cozy job all set up, or want to be an English teacher? An increasing number of expats are heading to Beijing with the intention of setting up their own business, but the path to business riches is strewn with potholes. After having the idea, the plan, and the finance to set it up, most foreigners will require, at least at first, a Chinese partner, to help them through cultural and language barriers, to provide investment, and help cut through the red tape on the way to the grand opening. Here’s how three foreign entrepreneurs have got open and stayed open.

The marriage option
Yoo Eun-jung is an owner of Korean restaurant Saveurs de Coréé in Nanluoguxiang. From South Korea, she married her husband Chow Kingtai from Hong Kong before they started the business. Opening in 2006, Zhou handles PR, including dealing with official procedures, training staff, front of house, holding events and dealing with media. Yoo is boss of the kitchen. “My husband can help with public interaction with the locals, [so] things are rather easy,” said Yoo.
Yoo believes from her experience that if you are married to a Chinese citizen, it must make business easier. “It makes the partnership more trustworthy and reliable,” added Zhou. “If you are not a married couple, just ordinary business partners, then the pressure for failing to run the business well could be emphasized,” said Zhou, “yet in our case, we tend to be more casual and easier about business.” As Zhou is from Hong Kong, the local market was also new for him. “Many Hong Kong friends went to an agent to help them with the business registration,” said Zhou, “yet for me, I’d rather learn the procedures for opening a business on my own.”
Befriend a local partner
Gennaro Miele, the general manager of La Pizza China, came to settle in China two years ago to establish his business and still remembers how hard it was at first; language problems were his main concern. Now established in Sanlitun and Solana, Miele feels more comfortable with a Chinese partner to help him and his business get through. “Although I am a professional in making typical Naples pizza, having a Chinese partner makes it easier for me from gaining a license to finding a proper location,” said Miele. “Naples pizza is a new thing to many Chinese; our partners may help me introduce it.”
A big difference between Italy and China is that here, he had to open the restaurant first before getting an official license in the first 6 months. When his property management company postponed connecting his gas supply for weeks, it was his local partners who solved the problem.
Yet finding a good partner is by no means a quick process. Miele prefers to go on instinct. To know the partner including his or her family or social background takes months for him to ensure that this person can be trusted. Partnership also means friendship to him; after all, it will be in the best interest of the business.
Got it alone
Ines Brunn, a German living in Beijing for 6 years, launched her cycle business Natooke in Wudaoying Hutong last year. Brunn perceives that having a local partner is not broadly applicable to her. “It depends on what you do,” she said. “I have been running bicycle companies for 21 years throughout the world and I don’t know what I would need a Chinese partner for.” Brunn says that while 10 years ago an expat may not have been able to open a business by herself, now it’s not an issue. She didn’t do it all alone, however, in the beginning she had the help of an agent. Such agents can be found in many expat neighborhoods. But now Brunn can speak some Chinese and she doesn’t need as much help as before.