How Not To Hire a China Consultant

If you Google "China consultants," you will get about 22,900,000 hits.  So, how do you choose from among such a plethora of consultants claiming to be able to help you do business in China?

The short answer is, "Use common sense."  But let us briefly elaborate on that.  Ask the obvious questions and, if possible, ask for evidence backing up any claims.  Some obvious questions include:

• How many times has the consultant been to China?  When was the first time he or she was there?

• How long has the consultant actually had "boots on the ground" in China?

• What businesses in China has the consultant been involved in and in what role?

• Has the consultant ever worked in China?

• Is the consultant or someone in his or her organization fluent in Mandarin Chinese?

• Is the consultant or one or more of his associates or partners originally from China?

• Does the consultant have government, business and personal contacts in China and in the US?

• Has the consultant ever published anything on a Chinese topic?

• Does the consultant have a relevant academic background such as an MBA or courses in international business?

• What US business experience does the consultant have?

• How long has the person been a consultant?

These obvious questions are often unasked or unanswered.  For example, our CEO interviewed a senior manager of a major US brewery about their new joint venture in China.  Our CEO learned that not one person among the brewery management had ever set foot in China, much less checked out their new business partner's brewery.  The US brewery was investing millions of dollars in a venture with a Chinese partner it knew very little about.  And the brewery had no first-hand knowledge of business in China or anything  else about that country except that it's a big market for beer.

We encourage you to ask us the above questions about our organization if you are interested in doing business in China.