Jul 5, 2021
Doing business in China when you’re from a foreign country could be one of the most confusing yet colorful experiences you could have in life. There’s no black and white on what’s legal and not. It is like a huge gray area with no fixed answers to what exactly is fit for you to do.
Do you want to learn how you can reduce risks you can face while you’re on your journey towards a successful venture? Don’t you have an idea how foreign advisers can help you but is curious on how beautiful they can transform you and your business into?
Ann Sophie De Meester is a director of Acclime China, co-manages the team and focuses on maintaining strong client relationships. Over several years working in China, she has built extensive experience advising foreign companies on tax compliance for various cross-border operations. She specializes in intercompany transactions and compliance, and is fluent in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, English and Chinese (Mandarin).
Art Dicker has over 13 years’ experience in China, predominantly on China and US venture capital financings and cross-border M&A. He has also advised many US technology, manufacturing, and consumer companies on structuring their investments and operations in China. Art is a frequent speaker in both English and Chinese on cross-border investing at top tier Chinese universities and industry conferences, and is the founder and co-host of the China Business Law Podcast.
In this episode, Ann Sophie and Art talks about the risks on doing business in China and how they help clients on reducing such risks through various ways. Here, they share why being too cost-focused and afraid of advisors bring you to the mistakes of your venture, and discusses how powerful a foreign adviser’s help is.
What you will learn from this episode:
“Everyone has a different risk profile, and risk is a moving thing; it’s not clear black and white.”
– Art Dicker
Topics Covered:
02:46 – Art describes their ideal clients.
03:20 – Problem they solve for their clients: Reducing risks in different ways.
04:21 – The typical symptoms: Clients wanting to hear robotic answers through asking yes-or-no questions
05:30 – The mistakes: Clients becoming too cost-focused.
06:38 – Valuable free action: “Don’t be afraid to talk to advisors and leave your assumptions at home.”
07:43 – Valuable Free Resource: Visit their websites and LinkedIn accounts at R&P - China Lawyers, Acclime China, and Ann Sophie De Meester and Art Dicker for free consultations and advices.
08:30 – The most impactful book/concept/program/talk: The Trusted Advisor by David H. Maister
09:36 – Question that they should have been asked: “Why hire us as foreigners to help you with your China problems?”
Key Takeaways:
“Sometimes, clients can be a little too cost-focused, which may be short term is good for their cash flow, but long term can end up costing more. Too focus can be too much cost-focus.” – Ann Sophie De Meester
“I don’t think you should be scared to reach out to an advisor earlier rather than later and assume that you know it’s going to cost you so much. There’s not too much harm in reaching out to someone in the first place to give you a very high level of feedback.” – Art Dicker
“For any advisors out there listening to this, oftentimes professionals like us come across to new clients and talk about how great we are with all the famous cases we’ve done and so forth, but actually, really what the client wants to know is that ‘You’re listening to me and you’re understanding my problem, and you are taking the time to give me something that I can use, and you’re not just giving me a cookie cutter answer.’” – Art Dicker
People / Resources Mentioned:
Ways to Connect with Ann Sophie De Meester:
Ways to Connect with Art Dicker:
Ways to Connect with Howard Whiteson: