Business truths hurt
After living in Taiwan for almost three decades, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of the way people think and the way business is conducted here.
I run a small import/export enterprise and cannot describe how absolutely frustrating it has gotten dealing with Taiwanese businesspeople lately.
It seems as though they are just not paying attention to what is going on in global markets. Everyone still seems to have the same mindset they had in the boom years of the 1980s and 1990s, when orders were flowing in.
Now it is different. Not only because of Chinese competition, but because markets around the world are in serious trouble: The EU is a basket case, Japan is running on fumes and Australia is having a commodity export breakdown.
In the US, credit has dried up and the majority of consumers are only purchasing essential items. The disposable income US consumers once had is gone.
However, in Taiwan, many businesspeople seem to think there is a global recovery. They think the US$500,000 orders will be back and they do not want to deal with $US5,000 orders from someone like me.
In Taiwan, if I send out 10 business inquires for quotations, I get no responses; zero. If I send an inquiry to China, not only do I get feedback — usually within 30 minutes — but they also follow up the quotation in a few days and for weeks afterward. They are on top of things. They understand every order is valuable as it can lead to bigger sales. However, in Taiwan: nothing.
I know some will say I am wrong, but I am telling you a fact from my own experience and I have been doing this for a long time.
Lastly, and I add this as a public service message, we have had the Internet in Taiwan since 1994. That is more than 20 years. Why on Earth does any business in high-tech Taiwan still use msX.hinet.net or seednet.net for their e-mail address? And why do businesses still not care about the value of a Web site?
The Web sites in Taiwan are a disgrace: broken links, old data, sloppy code, no contact info, etc. Having a schoolchild make your business Web site because it saves on costs just does not cut it. A Web site is the most valuable marketing tool any business has and should be priority No. 1; but no, not in Taiwan.
It is no wonder exports are down more than 8 percent year-on-year as reported a few days ago in the Taipei Times (Export orders fall 8.3% year-on-year, Sept. 22, page 13). Taiwanese just do not make the effort. It is as if they are afraid to use the Internet for trade.
As someone who has always been pro-Taiwan, I would much rather keep my business and income that I contribute to the economy here, but — as you can probably tell — I am at the end of my journey in Taiwan and plan to move my business elsewhere.
Name withheld
Taipei
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