Epilogue

When we authors started working on China Entrepreneur, we were not fully aware of the enormous task we were embarking upon. Although we had collaborated on the book China CEO (John Wiley, 2006)—which entailed profiling 20 international top executives successfully heading up multinational companies in China—we did not realize how far our new book would take us. Our original plan was to profile 20 expatriates (non-Chinese) entrepreneurs who had successfully launched a business venture in China.

This simple initial goal lead us on an 18-month journey that took us from Shanghai to Beijing to Chengdu and beyond, during which we interviewed not 25 but 52 China-based entrepreneurs, experts, and country representatives. Through a series of indepth interviews with these veteran China pioneers (captured on video and viewable at www.china-entpreneur.org), we accumulated a vast wealth of first-hand anecdotes, business war stories, success strategies, and tips and techniques for surviving in the world’s highest potential—and therefore highest risk— market.

We listened to their stories and learnt from them, then passed them on to our readers. Some of the stories shared with China Entrepreneur are painful, others are funny, but all are authentic and real advice from real people. After 18 months of struggling to boil down these stories into 9 easy-to-read chapters, we feel grateful for the opportunity to have met 52 fascinating China hands, and to share their stories with you. We hope you will find their stories as rewarding and useful as we did.

Our greatest hope for China Entrepreneur is that the book helps you readers to realize your “China dream”—whether you already operate a business in China, or are planning one day to do business in or with the Middle Kingdom. In case you are still deciding whether to venture into China, we hope China Entrepreneur will convince you to visit and explore this country for yourself. China today must be seen to be believed.

As any true business veteran in this country will tell you, “In China, nothing is easy but anything is possible.” You may not end up exactly where you expected to, but in a market as chaotic, dynamic, vast and exciting as China, taking the journey may be even more valuable than reaching the destination.

In closing, we adapt a few lines from the great poem “Ithaca” by K. Kavafis.

As you set out for China

may your road be a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery . . .

Thank you.
Juan Antonio Fernandez
Laurie Underwood