Seek guidance
Before Benesch had established its presence abroad, Hill
watched as some clients embarked on a hasty junket to familiarize
themselves with China and vet the possibility of their own expansion.
“They looked at some factories, they talked to some people who
could potentially distribute their product, they came back, and
they didn’t have any idea what to do,” he says. “They were doing it
in a very ad hoc way.”
Those clients’ experiences are by no means the exception. The
decision to expand into foreign territory is, well, foreign territory
for a lot of companies. It’s not something you can simply read up
on or assign an internal task force to accomplish. If you’re serious
about finding success in China’s relationship-driven culture, you
need to tap into the expertise of experienced business leaders who
have already been there.
Or, as Hill puts it: “Before you even think about it, you’ve got to
assemble a team of advisers.”
Finding savvy guides can certainly be challenging, so start simple. Talk to those around you and ask for their advice.
“You should be talking to people you know in the business community who have a presence in China,” Hill says. “You should find
out from them how they’ve gone about doing this.”
You don’t necessarily have to seek guidance from leaders at very similar businesses. Your competitors might be hesitant to share
their experiences, after all. Instead, look to complementary industries for advice. Ask your vendors, peers and trusted confidants.
Your golf partners may not have expanded their companies
abroad, but they may be able to point you toward someone who
has.
If your initial queries have all come back cold, Hill suggests looking toward investment firms for advice.
“There are several groups in this country — private equity groups
are one classification — that specialize in investing in companies
either here or in China,” Hill says. “If I were going to (expand) tomorrow, and I knew nothing about it whatsoever, (I would) talk to those
companies and find out who they’ve used as advisers. Some of them
may be very high-end, and you may not want to use their advisers,
but they can lead you to other advisers as kind of a trail.”
Hill says no matter where you look, don’t rely on self-proclaimed
experts.
“Don’t get on the Internet and start looking at people who claim
that they’re experts on sourcing or manufacturing or who claim
that they have a great relationship with the mayor of this industrial zone,” he says. “The likelihood of that being accurate is probably not that great.”
Your adviser team shouldn’t just comprise outside counsel either.
As with any initiative, you need internal support, as well. Look for
enthusiastic employees who have a genuine interest in the opportunity.
“It requires a serious commitment,” Hill says, adding that if he were
to evaluate the firm’s 300 employees for consideration today, he
would seek people who were passionate, committed and who he
could allow to spend the time to get the project done right.
Whoever you choose, he says to just make sure that they want to
be included in the first place.
“You can’t force people to do stuff,” Hill says. “Anytime you want
somebody to start a business initiative, and you pick somebody to
lead the initiative who’s not passionate about it, it’s a recipe for failure.”