Happiness in Pursuit » financial

Opening a Chinese WFOE Company Still a Mystery for Foreigners

Michael Michelini — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 10:59:13 +0000

Even in today’s day and age….culture, language, and administrative issues create roadblocks from doing international business. I am overwhelmed with opportunities and examples of seeing this “margin of error” and always think of ways to solve it and hopefully get my fair financial gain for doing so.

I love getting emails and comments from my blog posts. Lately its been more feedback than ever and I’m trying to keep up! A few days ago, a Hong Kong reader Arthur asked me:

Hi Michael,

I came across your blog and find it very interesting.I’ve always admired foreigners living in China despite of all the challenges they have to deal with.

I am currently based in HK and would like to start a business in China.I learned that you are running business under your WFOE.I would like to inquire about the procedure and process of opening the WFOE.

I have consulted with a few people but was told with different information. It seems difficult to obtain clear cut solid information in this aspect.I would appreciate of any info you may provide.Thanks.

Do you use MSN?

Regards,
Arthur

It is SO TRUE! This is one of the reasons I moved to China in the first place…I was talking to lawyers in USA about China business…either they had no idea, were making it up, or wanted to charge an arm + a leg….I just couldn’t figure it out.

What is a Chinese WFOE?

Ya, its a strange acronym, but commonly known and used in China. Its a 100% foreign owned company, WFOE, Wholly Foreign Owned Entity , some people say WOFE (wholly owned foreign entity), but they mean the same thing. It is essentially allows a foreigner to own and operate a company in China without doing a JV (joint venture) with a Chinese business partner.

Trying to answer this question myself back in 2007, reading online in USA, I decided to take my first trip to China where I tried to learn as much as I could that month in Sept to Oct 2007 to figure out how to do business in China. I was listening to factory owners, talking to foreign companies. I remember meeting Mike Bellamy from Passage Maker and he connected me up with a lawyer. Got her email when I was back in USA…and it was bouncing (some anti-spam on their server…blocking a potential client!) So frustrating from outside China to learn how to do business INSIDE CHINA

Then…I knew that I had to base myself in China in order to figure out all these questions about how to do business here, which led me now to make a presentation on how I experienced doing business in Shenzhen, China and have presented it a few more times, at Startups HK, Startups SZ, and a SYB (start your business) club in Shenzhen It has been a favorite presentation from those listening, and I will have to record it soon.

But let me outline my “non-lawyer” (i.e. use this information at your own risk and don’t blame me if something has changed, as it always changes here) experience:

When thinking about doing business in China, first WHY DO YOU WANT TO DO BUSINESS HERE?

Mainly, having a registered company allows you to do 3 major things:

Hire Chinese staff and give them proper employment benefits – you can write contracts to Chinese citizens and give them a fulltime job. You can hire a Chinese worker without a WFOE (using a representative office) but technically they are not under your contract, but rather Chinese government, and you need to pay the Chinese government agency and then they pay your staff for a fee per worker.
Sell in China (give official tax receipts / fa piao) – sometimes I get emails from foreigners who want to sell in China and get paid in their USA or offshore (non-China) bank. I think maybe now Alipay (Chinese paypal version) allows non-Chinese companies to open an alipay account (I see godaddy accepts alipay now, not sure if they have a registered Chinese company for that). But to officially sell in China, you need to issue Fa Piao or official tax receipts to your customers that they can use to put in the accounting books.
Get a Work Permit in China – sure, you can be employed by a Chinese company that issues you a Chinese work permit but technically then you are doing business in China under another company.

OK, so reading the above you agree that you “qualify” for needing to go through the costs (and headaches) of opening a Chinese company, here are the basic overview of steps I went through in 2008:

Preliminary steps before starting registration

Consult a local Chinese lawyer – I could have done registered a WFOE without a lawyer, but then again, you can do anything yourself, you can buy from a factory without an agent or QC, you can build your own website without a web designer. I think it is money well spent, and depending on the needs and requirements you have, if you are in China with your own Chinese translator, use a Chinese speaking lawyer or an english speaking lawyer, roughly you can put the costs from 10,000rmb to 50,000rmb depending on the complexity of your case, and if you need English or Chinese language help.
Register an offshore company to own the WFOE, do not put in your personal name – I was advised to put the company ownership in a company, rather than my personal name. A Hong Kong company is probably your best bet to do this. That way its more liquid to fund the company (China / Hong Kong relations are very easy), and as an American citizen, maybe there can be some political tension …a Hong Kong company owning the company instead of a direct American citizen…just seems safer to me. That is the advice I received, and that is the advice I would also pass along.

Hopefully you do those 2 steps, they can be skipped, but I do not recommend it….

Defining your company scope – What will your company do? Chinese government doesn’t allow any type of business to be registered as a WFOE. Some, like Chinese internet business is highly regulated and may need to be setup as a Joint Venture

Also, its not like America, where a company can do ANYTHING. It has to be registered as that type of a business, and it must be in the company scope clearly outlined to allow the business to operate in that fashion.
Capital Allocation – how much money will you fund this China business with? Depending on the company scope, I think the minimum for any business is 100,000rmb (at today’s USD/RMB exchange about $15,500usd, at 6.2). My company WFOE is Shadstone Imp & Exp (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. which is registered as a trading company. Consulting companies and trading companies are the lowest capital requirements. If you want to register an IT company.
Which kind of business licenses do you need? – I only applied for an export license. I did not, and still do not have, an import license. Even though my company is called Shadstone Imp & Exp (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. – I didn’t have to get an actual import license. If I wanted to get an import license, I would have to have a registered capital of 300,000 chinese yuan (this is in 2008, I cannot speak for current rates / regulations).
Notary Public from government of investing company – if you are registering the ownership of your business in the name of another business (taking my advise above in putting ownership in a Hong Kong company), then you need to get a Hong Kong notary public to notarize a specific letter. To be honest, I cannot fully remember what it was called, I went through Hong Kong Notary Public in Central district across from HSBC, but it cost me about 5,000HKD in mid-2008.
Bank Letter – The bank of the parent company you are investing from, you need to have that bank issue a letter to prove you are the owner and person you say you are, and that they are aware you are investing in a Chinese WFOE. Didn’t seem like a big deal to HSBC Hong Kong, but still a step I had to go through.
Company audit from parent (investing) company – I believe I was required to have a business license provided from my Hong Kong company. I think I was lucky because I just registered the company, so no audit was needed. I believe I was told that even if I had a current Hong Kong company, I should register a fresh company to own the WFOE to avoid audits and other hassles.
Choose a registered agent – Normally if you are the owner and investor, you will be this person. Some people, for some reason, choose to give this role to someone who may stay in China on their behalf more often, perhaps. Basically, this is the person liable if the company gets in trouble….

Wait a couple months for government processing….

Open a Chinese bank account for the company – I remember this being painful and a hassle, some kinds of letters, using the lawyer’s assistant to go with me to the bank I wanted to open an account with….signing tons of papers.
Fund the company from the parent company – You need to send the money from the bank that you got the bank letter from. You do not need to 100% fully fund the Chinese WFOE at this time. You can do a 50% funding now, and have up to 2 years to fully fund the company. Again, this is off of my memory, and was in summer of 2008…so it may have changed.
Get a receipt you funded the WFOE’s bank account – proof to the Chinese government that you sent in the foreign money to the new Chinese WFOE bank account.
Hand sign a ton of papers, maybe a half a meter high (chopping with Hong Kong company chop too) – I seriously remember my hand hurting after signing paper after paper with the lawyer.
Get issued your company certs – Wait a month or so – get your company chops, business licenses, certificates, binders, folders, documents. So many things to keep track of. And never lose those company chops, those represent YOUR signature.

Those are the main steps I remember. The whole process took me about 6 months, but that also included registering a new Hong Kong company. I believe I started in March 2008 and felt like WFOE registration was fully complete at the end of the summer, maybe July 2008.

But also, after the company is registered, you have to file taxes monthly, not yearly, and also have a yearly tax audit filed. Maybe you can do that by yourself, but unless you are a tax expert in China, you need either a full time accountant in your office, or hire a 3rd party accounting firm.

I use a third party, and monthly can be between 400 to 1000rmb per month, depending on the month. The annual report costs me about 2,500rmb.

So there you go, I just spilled my guts for free. Hope this helps.

My main point is, you can do a decent amount of “business” in China without registering an actual WFOE company. Registering a Chinese business is a real commitment.

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Great Experience At China Merchants Bank! (yes, seriously!)

Michael Michelini — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:37:46 +0000

No, I am not being sarcastic. And no, I did not receive any bribe or Red Envelopes or endorsements to say good things about a Chinese state operated bank!

I was an idiot, when I was paying my Dave Ho monthly rent, I turned back to pass him the cash and walked away from the ATM! In China, the card comes out after the money, and you need to press “confirmed I received the cash, please exit”. Stupid me!!

And I didn’t even realize it until about an hour later yesterday morning (yes, life has been this crazy). Rushing back to the bank, in my broken and limited Chinese I tried to explain (mostly with hand motions to the security guard) that I left my card when I left the ATM.

I found a nice woman working there (in the main blog photo here, of course giving the peace sign!) and she helped me – I had my passports (yes BOTH my passports, as I have an expired / damaged passport that I registered the bank account with, and a new passport) and they had a bit of trouble finding my account number without my knowing my account number…I was calling anyone I could think of that has sent money to my bank account to pass me the number (yes, I know I should keep my account numbers written down someplace…)

Finally the bank teller could find my bank account and saw that the card was captured…which I think is the best option – so they had the card in their back office. Unfortunately I could not get the card until the next business day. I was told to come back the next morning (today) and pick it up.

I was planning to go to Hong Kong bright and early for a couple days, and not having my Chinese bank card, while not the biggest deal since I will be in Hong Kong (for those of you aware, its a different banking and financial system – currency, etc) I was still paranoid not having physical possession of my bank card. So I decided to go to China Merchants Bank first thing in the morning.

Buying my Chinese breakfast (a couple tea eggs and milk yogurt thingie) I entered the bank. The bank admin remembered me and my problem, and helped me get my ticket number to wait for the next available teller. Eating my breakfast, my number was quickly called and the teller received my passports to look up my account.

Rather quickly (I know, I am still in shock!) she wrote down my bank account number and told me to go to the VIP section to wait for my card to be printed out. Grabbing an instant coffee (had to dig in the lower cabinets to find the coffee…all I could see on the counter was tea!) I sat in the plush chairs, popped out my Mac Air, glanced at some Chinese financial news on TV, and sipped on my instant coffee.

Its the simple things in life.

Quicker than expected, I was called up to a VIP booth and signed a couple documents and was given back the original ATM bank card I had used in the past. I was still rather shocked, caffeine was kicking in, and I didn’t want to disrupt the blessing I had received from above that day…and just took my card, smiled and left.

Is this the new China, or have I been here too long?

I just remember complaining all the time…seriously I was thinking I would have to close my account, open a new account, wait 2 weeks, sign a million papers…..

Or ….maybe I am getting used to living here….

But either way, today’s experience was worth blogging about!

We Americans Are A Strange People…Food Stamps Can Now Be Used To Buy Starbucks Coffee

Michael Michelini — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:50:38 +0000

Sometimes my blog posts upset my fellow American readers here….I do have to suggest as many Americans that can find a way to travel abroad to do so…it really opens your eyes to how other people live and makes me appreciate the freedoms and benefits of being an American. Hopefully some of my contradictory posts to an American reader can be seen as a wake up call rather than slander or “Anti-American-ism”. I’m blogging because I care.

You know what I still gotta speak out about how embarassing it is to be overseas in Asia reading some of this news going on in America. Tonight I was scrolling through my facebook feed (yes, needing my VPN, as China blocks access to it no country seems perfect…. sigh) and I saw a friend Paul share the link below about

Paul Denlinger:
Ain’t that great?

Food Stamps Can Now Be Used To Buy Starbucks Coffee And Muffins
http://www.businessinsider.com/foodstamps-can-now-be-used-to-buy-starbucks-cfrappuccinos-and-muffins-2011-12
Companies fighting for a share of the $64 billion in benefits.

Suzette Xu
Wow.. that is nice! But do people who needs food stamps will really go into Starbucks to buy a cup pf middle class coffee? lol…

Paul Denlinger
The US is a very strange country…

Suzette Xu
lol..i think that sentence said it all… I agree for the most part! Maybe they can sell their food stamps for cash. who knows

Paul Denlinger
The funny thing about the US is that it has had its way for so long that most Americans think that they are normal and everyone else is strange

Gerald Zhang-Schmidt
Even when things are just plain crazy…

Alfred Lee Neuman
All program and system can be game. Social safety net are no different. Do we deprive all from getting this social assistant. We know there are waste and abuse in programs . The cost to control the last 5% of waste may take up 50% of your staff time. Today with with bad press like the about , I can guarantee the program will be adjusted before the end of the year. Social program safe lives. This is the cost of being a civil and compassion nation.

Michael Michelini
I gotta blog about this…this is unbelievable…..Starbucks coffee is not a necessity of life people! Its meant for those who have worked hard, studied, and maybe yes “were lucky” but they are privileged to get this non-necessary item

Paul Denlinger
Michael: If you are going to blog about this, you need to blog about how many Americans now rely on food stamps. The numbers living on food stamps has shot up through the roof. You can find the information online.

Reading deeper into this article….the key paragraph is here:

Natalie Brand of FOX 12 in Oregon took a woman receiving food stamps with her to a local Starbucks, inside a Safeway grocery store, and taped her buying a $5.25 Tall Frappuccino and a slice of fresh pumpkin bread with her Oregon Trail benefits card. The Trail card is part of the federal food stamp program.

And listening to Paul’s request that when I do blog this, I show how much more Americans are relying on food stamps now –> It is SAD, and AMAZING statistics, finding an August 4, 2011 CNN article, below we see 45.8 million Americans are on food stamps! The total population is about 300 million…..

That means 45 million out of 300 million total population = 15% of the total population is on food stamps!!!!

The number of Americans using the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — more commonly referred to as food stamps — shot to an all-time high of 45.8 million in May, the USDA reported. That’s up 12% from a year ago, and 34% higher than two years ago.

That is outrageous….breathtaking….and freaking SCARY for me to read.

So I guess if you are Starbucks, or any food related company, as a business you want to get access to this 45.8 million (15% of USA) market group….and therefore you find ways to get access to the food stamp program.

And that is capitalism….trying to maximize profits, not thinking about others, and going to increase the bottom line for your company.

I am sure that the USA government will fix this….its all about checks and balances…but reading the facebook post, article, and comments underneath…overall its freaking me out about the current economic health in America….

Sure, there may be some people thinking “why can’t poor people get the nicer things in life”!!! Get REAL – seriously….food stamps are meant to keep people fed and healthy…not for extravagance….its a “lifeline”. They can use their money they earn elsewhere to get these luxury items – not with other taxpayer’s money.

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How Much Longer Can The Chinese Economy Withstand its Growth?

Michael Michelini — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:24:19 +0000

Tweeted earlier about hearing all these talks of China finally feeling its growth is unstoppable (LA times article)….it talks about 3 main issues for the Chinese economy:

slowing GDP growth – exports are lowering….Chinese factories are struggling to survive, accepting lower margins….the small factories are getting squeezed out. They are thinking of all kinds of ways to differentiate from their competitors. USA and Europe can’t buy big quantities so easily like they used to.
Rising public debt – Chinese are learning how to use credit cards, the younger generation is not saving as much as mom and dad. People are not afraid to buy expensive meals, expensive foreign brands….live the life that they worked so hard for. Government is spending more on infrastructure – high ways, real estate developments….creating jobs and creating excess capacity.
Stubbornly high inflation – man…I have personally been feeling this over and over….labor rates are going up. Minimum wage is going up. I keep seeing restaurant menus tape over their price to increase it. I see basic fruits, vegetables, meats in the grocery store getting marked up again and again. Its real, and its scary.

EVERYONE IN CHINA TALKS ABOUT REAL ESTATE AS ALWAYS THE BEST INVESTMENT…seriously, its more expensive to buy in Shanghai than NYC – that is crazy to me. How can it possibly go up anymore? I remember being in Bronx, NY at a BBQ and hearing people talking about real estate never goes down and I should buy planned real estate developments, sight unseen in Florida condos – I see the same thing in China now….

I don’t want to say “told you so” but Doug just google searched about Chinese economy lowering its GDP and found my blog in 2008 discussing I / Shadstone has to reposition to sell to China….its not an easy transition.

But…as China gets more expensive…Chinese companies will need to invest more to get customers…and that is the position I’m working from.

But I still believe Chinese businesses are holding cash positions…there are still savers in this economy. But I’m not a “buyer” currently…I’m keeping my costs low, and variable in this current position.

If You’re Going to Do Blackhat things – Keep your mouth shut!

Michael Michelini — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 05:25:16 +0000

Its sad in a way, that the illegal business is what always makes the highest profit. Maybe that is also why it does, because its the highest risk (therefore highest reward).

Last week the NY times ran an article about a Brooklyn, NY merchant selling eyewear starting using customer’s negative reviews for his benefit on Google (SEO) to rank at the top.

BUSINESS DAY | November 28, 2010
A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web
By DAVID SEGAL
Vitaly Borker welcomes customer complaints, saying they vault his business higher in Internet search results.

Being that this is right in my daily life- doing SEO and ecommerce in USA, many of my friends sent it over to me last week.

I was going to blog about it, because it was pretty funny, but had a lot of other things to write about. I sent it over to my contacts at Merchant Solutions, LLC asking them if this was really possible? As they underwrite merchant accounts (what accepts customer’s money via credit cards) they always warn me about chargebacks and fraudulent orders in the ecommerce world. Selling online is still difficult….buyer and seller don’t really know each other, and there is that unknown if:

a) the buyer is legit – maybe its a stolen credit card? Maybe its a buyer who is purposely going to say he/she didn’t get it to get their money back or another free product

b) the seller will not send goods – maybe the merchant will send the wrong goods, a knockoff, send it late. Not send it at all.

Amazing this guy was STUPID enough to do an interview with the New York Times. My friend Erik said it this way:

Take home lesson #1:
Negative comments are just as good as positive comments for ranking.

Take home lesson #2: However, in pursuit of those negative comments, don’t threaten people with violence or commit outright fraud.

Take home lesson #3 (and main lesson):
If you are going to wear the black hat, then keep your mouth shut.

As now Vitaly Borker is arrested for this and his name will be blacklisted from all kinds of financial institutions and it will be hard for him to do business on the internet in USA again…..

All kinds of things like this have been around, tactics to inflate your rankings on google and other search engines, or to get more sales. Selling fake products in China has been another.

But also selling fake products from China has been harder these past couple years. I have heard Chinese sellers complaining google adwords shut down their account. ebay is after them. Now even in the google rankings, Google is taking out websites it finds or has been told by authorities is selling fake products. Taking domain names from domain holders for misspellings or variations of registered US trademarks.

And for some reason, Chinese friends of mine think its because America is upset at China they are now blocking all these counterfeit selling sites and taking these domains. COME ON! Really?!? It was only a matter of time, I always told these guys.

And seems now leaving fake reviews is next on the attention list by search engines and authorities. The system will recognize which pages are saying good things about a store or website, and which are saying bad things. And then there is the overall brand – if you google search a webname, and see all kinds of bad reviews….that may be a 2nd search after a first search:

1) First search – designer eyeglasses. Check out a few of the top ranked organic (non-paid) sites.

2) Second search – check up on the domain names, see what others are saying.

Sure, then you may get your site to rank number 1 for the actual product, but as internet shoppers get smarter (And more idiots like this guy go around saying Google puts his scam site on the top), the more people will research the website before putting in their credit card.

Overall this is good, but reading in search engine land article – The Decor My Eyes Fiasco & Local Reviews Tactics, the main idea being:

What should we make of it all, though, now that Google subsequently stated that they’d adjusted their algorithms to penalize evil merchants like Decor My Eyes? I really wish Google had not made a public statement about the issue at all, because they not only rewarded Decor My Eyes a bit by validating that his stratagem had indeed been working, but now many other unethical businessmen must be imagining that they could post false reviews to damage their competition in the rankings!

NOW – competitors can leave negative reviews on other people’s sites without making purchases (or even if they do make a small purchase) to DESTROY their competitor’s RANKINGS – not only rating on the site.

Sure, the system will be for reviewers who look REAL, have reputation, have score in social media, lots of friends or followers.

But what happens when those PEOPLE use it for profit.

Anyway, this really hits me home, because constantly as an internet marketer and ecommerce seller, I am always tempted and pushed by others to do things to make extra money. Its hard to say no, but the consequences if you are caught makes it easier, and seeing this today is good for all of us to think about.

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Positioning Correctly During Changing Economic Times

Michael Michelini — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 05:30:59 +0000

I’m in a bus on the way back from lunch heading to a government office to grab my passport with renewed work permit, then to hong kong….whipping out my laptop writing this entry. This is how I’ve been living my life….writing up blogs, proposals, emails from my mobile phone, from my laptop in transit – in a car, train, bus, subway, plane. On the beach, in a city, next to a farm. It just doesn’t matter…the internet is all over the place, and I “thrive in chaos” as some have said.
Speaking of chaos, I feel the current economy, the transition going on in the world between East and West…..international business, import export, ecommerce…and just business in general is one sloppy crazy shitshow. Sure you can say its management, but when 1 country deals with another country, how organized and managed is that?

Thinking of that wikileaks.com release of so many blunt conversations of world leaders and politicians….that just shows how “calm and orderly” this world is. And if you think things work smoothly in life, then you are WRONG, or just sheltered.
And hey, many people are sheltered….maybe there isn’t anything wrong with that. Not to pick on them, but us Americans do live pretty much in a bubble. It’s taken me a few years living outside to have my eyes opened truly to the global economy and the way things work.

Life isn’t fair. Life doesn’t always go as planned. And that is the way it is, so we have to adapt to it, or just shut up and deal with it.
Maybe this is just because I’m overtired today, had too many coffees and sodas and my mind is wandering….

…but really, THE WORLD IS NOT AN ORDERLY PLACE! Maybe if you deal within 1 domestic country, well, maybe 1 developed 1st world country like America, your life can be orderly. What you order will be what you get. The contracts you sign will be honored and upheld. The phone conversations on the phone will be the same dialogue as in email and on purchase orders and not manipulated.
But for so many people out there, (outside of America , maybe outside of Europe too), that is not how daily life works. Sure, China is developing and getting more mature…but still, orders are double checked before paid, contracts are long and each part is thoroughly read…..only to know that if it goes to the point where it needs to go to court, it’s not worth it unless its big money. Chinese people have dealt with this for generations, and it’s built into their culture, not to trust things for face value, to scrutinize and bargain for everything. Same goes for many parts of the world.

And I’m still no damn expert…it’s almost like the more I learn, the less I know. The world is so big, every economy, every culture is so diverse and independent. And I believe in today’s difficult economic times, in order to survive we have to be “light on our toes” and stay nimble.
I think of the “Lord of War” movie, where Nicolas Cage is so happy that the Cold War is over and the “evil Fing Empire is over”, and he meets his competitor, another “gunrunner” who was making tons of cash during the cold war, doing business between politicians. But with the cold war over, the chaos begins, Russia is being split up, no one knows who is the new leader (as Nicolas Cage put it – because all the politicians will be too busy squabbling who gets the guest resort on the Black Sea) , what the new rules will be. And this is when the next generation of “gunrunner”, Nicolas Cage, takes advantage to dominate the market. He is a “scrapper” who will sell to anyone, do business anywhere, and not be afraid to go where others haven’t gone. And he does just that, he wins during the changes in political and economic times.

Is that is what we need to do in today’s world? The world is changing rather fast in my opinion….and I credit that due to the increased flow of information, technology, communication – lower barriers to entry, less physical presence needed, virtual competitors. This is a time when you have to be a scrapper, do things others think is crazy, and try to get ahead.

This is just life, and this is just business. But to still focus on the right thing, and not just “think generally” like a macroeconomics professor. A couple months ago I was considering NYC as my center, as that was the market I knew, and thought I could boost my sales there…..only to realize I just get pulled back into the China market…even those in New York kept talking to me about China all the time, and it made me realize this is where the action is.
Just keep on truckin.

My Transition to Minimalism + Focusing on Life, not Things

Michael Michelini — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 20:53:13 +0000

Got an email today from Kate who says she’s been following my blog for some time now – nice – thanks for reading! And again, I am a believer on minimalism – after moving around so much, “stuff” isn’t really that valuable, you have to pay to move it, or give it away (wait, I mean try to sell it for like 30% what you originally paid) – so what is the point? I learn to live with what I have, and focus on life, not accumulating things.

Hi Mike,

I recently discovered your blog, and I have become a frequent reader. We recently published an article “30 Best Blogs for Minimalist Living” that dovetails well with your audience. Perhaps you would be interested in sharing with them? Here’s the link to the article if you would like to take a quick look for yourself: (http://constructionmanagementdegree.org/blog/2010/30-best-blogs-for-minimalist-living/ ). You can also simply go to our homepage and check it out there.

Thanks again for the great content, and I hope the article I’ve linked primes your interest.

Regards,
Kate

All these blogs just show you how there is a movement towards this minimalism. And I think back to what started doing it for me….maybe it was when I graduated high school and had to go out to college a few hours from my parent’s house in New Jersey. I tried my best to get everything I could together, had my dad get annoyed by my requirements to try to move all these things, and then realized what a hassle it was. I remember my first roommate, Tony Attie, had come from Lebanon, and only brought a small TV (like 10 inch screen), some CDs, and a suitcase of clothes. He got there before me, and I had a few loads of crap from my pickup outside to bring in. He had told me he packed the night before he left Lebanon and rushed to the airport. At that time I thought he must be insane!

There was another time, I took the train from Manhattan to New Haven, and had met a guy on the train named “bear” (well obviously not his real name, he was nicknamed bear because he tied a stuffed animal bear to his calf) and he was living free too. He had the attention of me and 2 other train passengers about his experiences living all over the place ,doing all kinds of things. I remember my dad came to pick me up at the train station, and I convinced him to let “bear” hitch a ride.
There was the moves from New Jersey to New York, and moving in New York a couple times too. It really started to convert me to minimalism when I left my day job and moved out to Piotr’s apartment in San Diego. I passed over the TV, couch, and whatever other big items to my roommate and good friend Andrew Moran and I think I UPS’d a box to California, taking the rest with me on my flight.
After moving out of San Diego and heading to China end of 2007….jeez, what the heck could I do. I had bought some chairs, tables – I never even bought a bed (Piotr was pretty upset with me for that one, right dude? I know, it wasn’t good for my back!), I think I sold the folding table for 20 bucks and left a box of books for Piotr to hold. I remember chucking clothes in the dumpster (feel guilty, I shoulda given them to the salvation army…) and moving out to China with 2 checked pieces of luggage and a backpack. Checked into a couple different hotels, and Melissa (who I had met in a trade show in Hong Kong in October) met me to look for apartments. Took about one week of living out of hotels, moving from Luo Ho district to Futian District, finally to Nanshan district in Shenzhen to finaly find a suitable place. And there was another guy still living there! I didn’t mind because they let me move in a couple days before my lease started.

The nice thing about China apartments is they COME FURNISHED. I moved about 5 times in 3 years (maybe even more, depends on what you consider moving….) and luckily the Chinese landlords provide bed, couch, TV, and other essentials so all you really need is clothing and bedding and a computer to get going.

Even with furnished apartments, I did accumulate a lot of stuff in China, but mostly for business purposes not for personal – like office furniture and computers.

In China, maybe in USA too, people sometimes see you as an unstable person living this way. That you are not INVESTING enough. I remember girls thinking that I would not remain in China maybe so long because I didn’t make large investments on THINGS. Maybe its also to SHOW MONEY. Hey, I hope I can be successful one day, but buying lots of CRAP isn’t gonna prove to myself that “I made it”. Never understood the logic exactly behind the THINGS = SUCCESS = STABILITY. But I do understand it does TIE YOU DOWN, so maybe local people see that as a reason to feel you will remain in that specific location longer because you have “invested in things”.

Now that I have decided to remain in USA longer, a lot of people have said “what about your stuff back in China”. Sure I have STUFF, but there are also people there to take care of it. Yes, I have clothes and personal things both in China and in Philippines….but hey, I packed for a 2 month trip here, I’ll get by. Actually I have people offering me some furniture as they are moving out of New York, I’ll get by and I will continue to work to remain a minimalist.

I think its easier to “give in” and not be a mimimalist, to just buy things for convenience and not to think about it. Anyway, this is my transition to minimalism, and focusing on life instead of possessions.

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Everyone “fails”, Even Google, Stay Motivated!

Michael Michelini — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:51:14 +0000

As I have said, I don’t believe in people FAILING, I think its part of growing, gaining experience, and finding what we are really meant to be and do with our lives. Losing something might be positive, as they say in China.

Many people only think “small businesses” or startups fail. But while working in Deutsche Bank, there many internal failures – I especially remember the global launch of a new backend system marked “eSpear”….man that was a huge disaster and was eventually rolled back massively.

And an article I read today from search engine land titled Lets Celebrate Google’s Biggest Failures,

Some believe that anything Google touches is golden. Yesterday’s closure of Google Wave is another reminder of how this isn’t so. Below, a summary of important Google products that haven’t made the cut, over time.

Google Wave (May 2009 to August 2010)

Google SearchWiki (November 2008 to March 2010)

Google Audio Ads (January 2006 to February 2009)

Google Video (January 2005 to January 2009) – ended up buying YouTube instead

Dodgeball (May 2005 to January 2009) – could have become like foursquare

Jaiku (October 2007 to January 2009) – could have become like twitter

Google Notebook (May 2006 – January 2009)

Google Catalogs (December 2001 to January 2009)

Google Print Ads (November 2006 to January 2009)

Google Page Creator (April 2006 to August 2008)

Google Answers (April 2002 to November 2006)

And the search engine article goes on about each of these projects and the stories behind them. Thats not my purpose on this blog. My reason for showing this is to make people realize -

IT IS OK TO FAIL!

Do not be afraid to fail! Being afraid to fail will prevent you from taking the risks necessary to do something unique, something great! Digging in my collection of motivational quotes I will share a few here regarding “Failure”:

There is no secrets to success, it is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failures.~Colin Powell

“You’re never a failure until you fail to get up.” -Evel Knievel

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently

“Failure is a prerequisite for great success. If you want to succeed faster, double your rate of failure.” -Brian Tracy

That last one from Brian Tracy is AWESOME. And its so freaking true, just keep getting up again, be the man in the arena! be the warrior. Sure, you’re gonna get dirty, have your critics, but it takes that to achieve success.

And you can also say Google failed in China. Or it exited, being one of the last international internet companies in China. This just shows you how these MAJOR corporations have the same difficulties as the small guys. AND THEY HAVE SO MUCH MONEY.

This should give hope to the startup entrepreneur. you can beat Google if you FOCUS.

But then….focusing means putting EVERYTHING on the line. All energy to one project, that can fail. That is my weakness, to put everything on 1 project for risk of failure. This is why I have a few various projects, but at the same time, having too many projects takes away resources of time and money…….and puts the risks of failure even higher.

Just food for thought here……..MAIN POINT – as a startup, don’t be afraid to fail – even the biggest guys, like Google, fail, but keep on going forward.

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Many Things in China / Philippines Really Aren’t That Cheap….

Michael Michelini — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:50:12 +0000

When I first came to Asia, I assumed EVERYTHING would be cheaper, hey, its made here, right? During the iphone 4 backorder, many of my friends in USA asked me if I could buy it for them directly in Shenzhen, China. But in China, you pay more for electronics – and EVEN the iphone 4 is not available yet. There are tons of things that cost me here in the Philippines than in USA, too.

Here is a list of things I have noticed:

Milk (philippines) – just because of availability here, mostly imported from Europe or Australia.
Electronics (both in China and Philippines) - this one makes you think – WHY ARE ELECTRONICS more expensive in China if they are made there. ok, well there are a bunch of reasons why here that I’ll discuss down below in the “reasons why” section. But yes, electronics (at least the authentic ones) are much more expensive then in USA. My friends in China always stock up on trips back from USA. Hong Kong is also a bit cheaper then China, but many people buy from USA to save the most money….
Authentic Fashion Clothing – Again, I think it was in the USA nightly news, how there are so many Chinese and Europeans buying in shopping malls in USA. Its because USA has the lowest price, and the US dollar is dropping. But its also hard in China to find the REAL brands…..everything is fake so its hard to tell, and the authentic stores in the authentic malls are like 50% higher then in USA.

These are a few of the main items I can think of. Of course the things that are cheaper in China are things like food, travel, and other “generic” things.

Then you may ask, why???? Well there are a few reasons for that:

Taxes (custom fees) – As I said last week about my failed attempt at taking in some products into Philippines, import duties for foreign goods ARE SO HIGH in these countries. Its because they want to encourage people to buy goods from their own country, not foreign countries. And also, because sometimes in the customs offices, there are “Side deals” and other corruption. It just makes taxes and customs fees high, so that when the goods come into the country. the business importing them HAS TO EARN that money back, right? and therefore they have to add that to the price to the end consumer in the store.
Market Size – USA is the biggest consumer in the WORLD. It buys SO much, that therefore its buying price is so low. This lower cost is then passed down from the importing business to the end consumer. Also because of competition between stores, they all want to offer the lowest price, and keep pushing prices lower.
Shipping fees – This is more applicable to the Philippines, but there are so many islands here. And there is so much road traffic. This makes shipping take time and money….which, has to be added to the cost of the end product in the store! I remember Marie in Puerto Galera talking about her friend having to go to 3 islands to get various goods for the house. That cost the guy time and money to pay for all the boats back and forth…..so inefficient….. on the other side of this, in USA, massive container shipments coming from Asia / China drive shipping fees lower, as the shipping route is so popular and common….prices go lower.
Company’s strategy - many large USA or European brands still don’t have a “china strategy”, or are afraid of China from copying, etc. I think that is why Apple delays its launch of its iphone in China, because it wants to try to prevent knockoffs….and also because Apple wants to control its distribution.
Government regulation – I am pretty sure iPhone has to get approval from China to sell the iphone here, and apple has to modify its phone to remove the wifi feature. Other countries also have other regulations, and companies have to adjust and modify their products to fit those country’s demands.

So I hope this shed some light on why NOT EVERYTHING IS SO CHEAP in Asia……people in America always think this (hey, I was one of them), but in actuality, many things are more costly on this side of the world…..

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Creating Fake Barriers To Be Faster, Smarter, with Less!

Michael Michelini — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:36:47 +0000

Its true, many of us are SPOILED with too much time, too many resources, and it makes us LAZY. It makes us INEFFICIENT. We take it for granted, we don’t utilize all that we have around us……

In the article, from the under 30 CEO blog

When they first launch their companies, they will rent a nice office, lease a nice car with their logo on it, print all sorts of fancy letterheads, build a gorgeous website… and they still can’t seem to get off the ground.

When faced with a difficult task, we often use crutches as an excuse not to move forward.

* We’ll tell ourselves that we can’t launch a new product because it isn’t “perfect” yet.
* Or that we can’t approach the media without launching some sort of big expensive publicity stunt.
* Or that we can’t call the CEO of the big company because we don’t know anybody in common.

I put am image of a Spartan, because it really makes me imagine them – sending their kids out into the wild to test them, to be a man, to fight for themselves, figure it out. It prepares them for the future. And its not an accident, the parents wanted to put these “fake constraints” on their child in order to prepare them for the days they would need it.

I pledged a fraternity in college – Delta Tau Delta, and we had a work weekend during the pledging process. I remember being really pissed off and annoyed at having to go through this weekend of no sleep and pointless activities. But one of the older fraternity brothers talked to me and said -

“sure, it may seem stupid now, but think of those days you need to pull an all nighter to get that thesis done, or those days you’re at a client dinner and have to get drunk with them and wake up for work at 6am the next day and go to the office.”

And in a way, life, and business especially, is about SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. And how else to get fit then to practice the hard times, by making fake hard times, right?

I think we all notice that when it comes down to it, whether we are an entrepreneur or work in a company, we’ve been faced with having to get more done with less……here is the best example I can think of -

HALF DAYS for holidays. How come the same amount of work can get done in half the time? People FIND A WAY TO GET IT DONE!! The pressure, the desire to get those tasks done so they can get out of the office and head home.

So the idea of creating FAKE CONSTRAINTS, as I read in the article, is to PRACTICE for when you really have those constraints. Find a way to get more done, faster.

I also remember reading in the book Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris, that CHECKING EMAIL all day is such a waste! We sit there and REACTIVELY wait for work to come to us. Instead of being efficient and getting projects done, we let emails distract us from getting our long term goals and projects get done. The idea here is to make checking email a TASK, not a daily workflow. Check your email 2 times a day. And Tim says not to check it RIGHT WHEN YOU START YOUR DAY. To check it a few hours after we start our daily work. WHY? Because emails distract us for what work we should actually be doing.

Make a TO-DO list for the NEXT day, and come into the office, AND DO THAT FIRST. Then check those “urgent” emails after. Being proactive, organized, and plan your day. Not reactionary.

I think one of the most important constraints to give ourselves is TIME!!!!!! So you have 8 hours a day to get your work done? Give yourself 4! Push it. And keep pushing it.

Another constraint is MONEY. Budgetting (which I hope everyone does) – so you have 1,000 dollars to use on a project – GET IT DONE with 500. Act like you don’t even have 1,000, but only 500. And its gotta be done right, and on time.

I think the most important part of this whole idea is to be able to INTERNALLY PUSH YOURSELF. Set internal goals. Push yourself to get better. Making these “fake constraints” is just really another way of setting goals for yourself to:

DO MORE
DONE FASTER
WITH LESS

Make yourself a LEAN, MEAN, BUSINESS MACHINE.

STARVE YOURSELF, fight to get what you want. Your mama isn’t gonna be there to tuck you in at night tonight, ok! Prepare yourself for those critical times before they come, rather then waiting for those disasters to come. And the best way is to create FAKE constraints to practice.

Awesome idea, and have to live by it to grow. Or wait until shit hits the fan, that also makes us grow….and quick!

Is There Enough Money + Resources In The World Today?

Michael Michelini — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:02:59 +0000

Reading the world news here in the philippines, watching people from the window hustle to make 1 peso (45 pesos to 1 us dollar, so do the math) commission for bringing a customer on the jeepnee (public bus kinda…) while in the news im reading about the first ice cream truck for DOGS thats in the UK!!

The red, white, and blue truck, dubbed ‘K99,’ will dish (and cone) up a variety of pup-friendly flavors like “Dog Eat Hog World,” a concoction of cured leg of pork and chicken. Then there’s the classic “Canine Cookie Crunch,” which is vanilla ice cream topped off with dog biscuits.

The truck will open for a “pet party” in the park.

“The weather has been so hot, we thought dogs deserved a cooling treat as much as anyone else,” said event organizer Sally Bezant.

Why does this world need an ice cream truck for dogs when there are starving people in the world….its amazing…..
Then it keeps making me think about “the world is flat theory”, the re-distribution of wealth….internet and technology breaking down economic, political, geographical, and cultural divides in order to allow all people on earth to have the same opportunities and chances.
Yet, there are still these strange stories…dog ice cream truck…..that still makes my jaw drop…..i guess indirectly this goes back into the economic ecosystem……manufacturing, servicing, etc. But couldnt they come up with other ways to utilize their savings or investment……
Sure, we are all free to make our own decisions with our own money…but i cannot imagine these people are aware of how others live in this world. Wondering if they were more aware, more informed, having experienced how others lived, they would make different choices with their hard earned cash.
Spending time in various parts of the world, usa, europe, asia…..my eyes are so wide open…..my perspective on life will never be the same….no matter where i end up living, or spending the rest of my life, i will appreciate what i have, and not “waste” my money on frivilous things such as a doggy ice cream truck.

To my blog title – IS THERE ENOUGH MONEY IN THE WORLD to support dog ice cream trucks, and feeding starving children that exist now? Is it natural resources? Oil, wood, stone, gold that a country has, or has taken ownership of, that determines which country’s people should have certain amenities? Just really makes me think, and hope, that everyone in life has a fair chance……but right now seems a little unlikely.
My friend ken in new york was chatting to me about this topic, while visiting in china….that he cannot think about it too hard when he spends so much money on “non critical” things back home…..or else it will get to him. He also was joking and said if he were to move to philippines that he wouldnt make money anymore and convert to a humanitarian.
Maybe it is affecting me too…..but it is true, why do we need to buy and own some crazy piece of material….to just enjoy life and experience it. “tread lightly”
Anyway…..just seeing both sides of the spectrum really makes me think, starving kids on the street to ice cream trucks for dogs……and i thought i would reflect

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Living Life as a Minimalist

Michael Michelini — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:28:54 +0000

my buddy James Song thought of me when he got this email and passed it along – I definitely think it fits my current lifestyle and objectives these days. Its about just OWNING what we really need in life. Not to be attached to personal goods.

I took a quick snapshot of me right now, I’m hanging out in flipflops I bought here in the Philippines for $2usd (100 pesos), some cargo shorts I bought with a friend for about $5usd in China – and an old tank top I had in USA. I’m enjoying, I’m relaxed, kicked back. Slinging message on twitter, replying emails, organizing my workflow.

So the email James got goes like this – (NOTE – this is NOT written from me, haha) Well, I never had the chance to buy all this crap here:

Check this out…

I just finished selling (or giving away) all of my personal
possessions.

Not too long ago my life consisted of a massive 6-bedroom
house (with many rooms I never even went into!) and
5 cars. Yes, FIVE cars. I’m a car guy, what can I say.

I had accomplished what many consider to be the
“American Dream.” I had the huge house and all the
toys. The Lamborghini, Ferrari, BMWs, a Rolex
collection, an expensive wardrobe, amazing furniture,
a massive home theater, a 1,000 gallon saltwater
aquarium, the works.

And now I have NONE of it. And I’ll explain why in
a moment…

Here are some “quick facts”…

For the first time in over 20 YEARS…

- I don’t own a car.

- I don’t own any furniture.

- I don’t own a TV.

- I don’t own any books.

- I don’t own a huge closet full of clothes.

AND…

- I don’t have a HOME. Not a house,
or apartment, or anything.

By now you’re probably thinking…

“John, what the hell are you doing!?”

I decided to do all of this because I wanted
to do a new experiment on myself…

It’s a challenge of MINIMALISM.

If you haven’t yet heard about minimalism,
or read anything about it, you should. Not
only can it (I believe) improve the quality
of your life but it can also make your business
a lot more profitable.

Minimalism is essentially focusing only on
the 3-4 most important things in your life
(or business) and ELIMINATING THE REST.

There many opinions on minimalism and how
to apply it, and some approach it differently.
Do some Google searches for “minimalism”
and you’ll find lots of great blogs about it.

It’s really a growing ‘revolution’ of sorts.

I don’t agree with everything he teaches, but a
decent book you can read is “The Power Of Less”
by Leo Babauta; and he’s someone with 6 kids.
That will get you started.

Everyone will have their own take on minimalism.
But I’m willing to bet you can benefit from it.

WHAT I HAVE LEFT…

So you’re probably wondering, if I got rid of
all that stuff, what the heck do I actually have
left? And how will I live?

Here’s a full list of the only things I now own…

- A small 28L backpack (that holds everything below)

- 5 t-shirts (4 short sleeve, 1 long sleeve)
- 1 pair of jeans
- 1 light jacket
- 2 pairs of shorts
- 1 pair of running/trek shoes
- 5 pairs of boxer briefs
- Assorted toiletries
- Clothesline & large ziplock bag (for washing clothes)
- 1 MacBook Pro 15″
- 1 64GB Wifi iPad
- 1 iPhone 4
- 1 Livescribe Pen & small notebook
- My passport & credit cards

THAT’S IT. That’s all the ‘stuff’ I own. ALL OF IT.

It seems like a growing trend. I read more and more about this happening around the world. I like to think back to one of my favorite movies – FIGHT CLUB – resisting resistance, and just letting go! Why do we need this damn corporate job to buy things for a condo to show off to our friends. I have been still even forcing myself to get out of that MATERIALISTIC mindset……where things you own make who you are. I don’t want to associate myself with people who measure others in this way. These people are not worth my time. Let them run that rat race and show off to other rats in the cage. Haha.

Later I think about too many people spend money they don’t have to buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t like – a great quote by Will Smith and I think this gets more and more true, and sadly I seem to think so many people actually do this…

I HATE MOVING. Every time I moved, I realized how much CRAP I would accumulate. Things I used maybe a couple times, wasted time and money buying……but moving makes me realize each time that I have to accumulate less, live lighter, and JUST LIVE LIFE!!!!!

Life isn’t about HOARDING things. When we die, we can’t take those precious possessions with us, right? its about how we live life.

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I’m not crazy – look at apple iphone costs in shenzhen

Michael Michelini — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:30:14 +0000

To support the idea that I’m not the only one leaving shenzhen, china – check out the below news i just read from yahoo finance!! Its what i have been screaming for months and months…

just last week the Chinese Yuan (RMB) was released to rise again from the US dollar – the Chinese government has just unpegged it and allowed it to go…and we all know which way the US DOLLAR is going to go, DOWN…..

IPhone Supply Chain Highlights Rising Costs in China

On Monday July 5, 2010, 8:18 pm EDT

SHENZHEN, China — Last month, while enthusiastic consumers were playing with their new Apple iPhone 4, researchers in Silicon Valley were engaged in something more serious.

They cracked open the phone’s black plastic shell and started analyzing the new model’s components, trying to unmask the identity of Apple’s main suppliers. These “teardown reports” provide a glimpse into a company’s manufacturing.

What the latest analysis shows is that the smallest part of Apple’s costs are here in Shenzhen, where assembly-line workers snap together things like microchips from Germany and Korea, American-made chips that pull in Wi-Fi or cellphone signals, a touch-screen module from Taiwan and more than 100 other components.

But what it does not reveal is that manufacturing in China is about to get far more expensive. Soaring labor costs caused by worker shortages and unrest, a strengthening Chinese currency that makes exports more expensive, and inflation and rising housing costs are all threatening to sharply increase the cost of making devices like notebook computers, digital cameras and smartphones.

Desperate factory owners are already shifting production away from this country’s dominant electronics manufacturing center in Shenzhen toward lower-cost regions far west of here, even deep in China’s mountainous interior.

At the end of June, a manager at Foxconn Technology — one of Apple’s major contract manufacturers — said the company planned to reduce costs by moving hundreds of thousands of workers to other parts of China, including the impoverished Henan Province.

full article here

All those factory suicides here in Shezhen must have been from overtime workers in the factory making those new iphones. Factory strikes, pushing for more salary to pay for increased rent, increased food costs, the list goes on and on. i spend some time on twitter searching for people talking about their backorder from apple.com saying that its currently in shenzhen china – WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT MEANS- that means apple.com is waiting for FOXCONN factory workers to be finished assembling your new iphone 4.

it has amazed me that on the SAME NEWS HEADLINES YOU SEE

RECORD SALES OF THE NEW APPLE IPHONE AND IPAD

CHINESE FACTORY SUICIDES AT FOXCONN

Dont people understand, Shenzhen China is where Foxconn is, and Apple is a major customer of FOXCONN…..

And Foxconn is under HUGE PRESSURE from Apple to get its iphones made FAST, and CHEAP as possible…..

maybe Apple purchasing agents are even threatening that if foxconn cant make its damn iphone faster, and keeps rising its prices – then Apple will have to pull the account and assemble with another contract manufacturer.

What do you think FOXCONN has to do.

MANAGE BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And what is “manage better”

MAKE THOSE iphones FASTER! Work overtime without pay.. ….. “oh, you’re tired, oh, you want to go back to your dorm – well you need to snap that piece SKU 534FEWE to SKU 6D4S2 or we’ll embarrass you in front of all your coworkers and hold your pay”. Something like this is obviously the affect of this economic turmoil.

And yet no one blames Apple…..it only gets praise for how great its phone is. I am POSITIVE they are pushing hard on their supply chain to keep costs down.

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Everyone wants to be a Billionaire – And then What?

Michael Michelini — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 05:45:58 +0000

So many people dream to become rich, multi millionaires. But whats the point…really…..all your problems in life will simply go away?

Another annoying thing is people choose a job based on salary…..I can admit I have done that in the past, working at Deutsche bank, it was one of the highest paying offers, but then again, I didn’t want to do IT work or engineering work. I wanted to learn about business, building businesses. And I wanted to save to get an MBA and/or start a business….which is exactly what I did do with the money I saved from my first and only fulltime job after college. And it was a good choice for me, I learned alot, as well as saved.

BUT MONEY IS A MEANS to get what you want, not the end goal itself. Sure, it is a globally known “Scorecard. “money talks, bullshit walks” is often what we hear. or “put your money where your mouth is”. Money has become a way for us to SHOW OFF, to show people – hey man, I am awesome, I have so much money now.

Health …..everyone always makes me worry about this part…..working too hard to make money….and u cannot get that back….money cannot buy health.

Happiness – sure there are plenty of things we can do in life to make a lot of money, but would that also make us happy. That is the main question. Would you do illegal things, immoral things, DISGUSTING things to make a lot of money?

Young kids in urban areas, would you sell drugs to other poor kids to make a million dollars?
Pretty girls, would you be a porn star, stripper, or prostitute if you could make a million dollars? If it could make you a famous actress?
Chinese business guy – would you sell fake products if it could make you a millionaire? Or sell your customer’s OEM product to someone else without his permission?
Internet guy – would you sell sex toys, viagra, or spam email if it could make you millions?
Wall Street guy – would you cheat a customer out of up-to-date stock news if you could sellout before him? Lie about stock gains, inflate you portfolio?
Government official – would you take bribes from contractors who want you to choose their bid for a new economical zone?

In my life, I have met all of these kinds of people, really…..in all parts of the world….I engage in conversation. I don’t think of myself as better then the person who chooses these careers, but I ask them why. Sometimes they will say they have to make money for their family. They will say they have no other choice. Or they say they will only do some of these things for a few years until they save enough money to enter a legitimate business…….

Sadly, I dont know if I believe them – I think its because you get addicted or caught up in these industries. You get more money, you think you can keep doing it and then leave later. But there will always be some reason for you to stick around longer. And you will find a way to justify it. That the world gave you a bad opportunity and you had no other choice but to lead the life you are in now. You will blame financial conditions, family, or friends who FORCED you to go this direction in life.

There is a good saying I heard in a fraternity National conference for Delta Tau Delta, something like this:

There is no freedom in today’s America. Freedom in America today is FINANCIAL freedom. And financial freedom is the ability to quit your job at any moment, under any circumstances and be able to live under stable conditions with no additional income for at least a few months. If you cannot do this, then you are a SLAVE TO SOCIETY. you are a slave to your job.

If you do not have the financial freedom to quit your job, then if your boss puts you under a situation where you have to do something you are not comfortable with, but you have to do it for fear of losing your income – YOU ARE A SLAVE.

So for me, I would rather not have millions, or billions, and be able to live the life I want to live. I do not want to be a slave to money. I do not want to be a slave to someone else. Its about cash flow, and having some padding for a rainy day. Then you have power and freedom.

There has been a popular song that just came out by Travis McCoy, Billionaire and here are some lyrics below:

I wanna be a billionaire so fricking bad
Buy all of the things I never had
Uh, I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine
Smiling next to Oprah and the Queen

[Chorus]
Oh every time I close my eyes
I see my name in shining lights
A different city every night oh
I swear the world better prepare
For when I’m a billionaire

Here is an video from youtube, it is rather inspirational song and poem.

But if you notice, ITS NOT ABOUT BEING A MILLIONAIRE nowadays, is about being a billionaire…..jeez, talk about big goals. Its admirable. But I guess having millions of dollars nowadays isn’t enough. Its gotta be billions.

For me, its about getting by, doing what we love to do, and not being bound to have to be forced to do something we don’t want to do.

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More Strikes in Chinese Factories Over Higher Wages

Michael Michelini — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:21:32 +0000

Wow, what we have all been saying for years about the growth and development in China is coming true – so quickly. But what is happening is INFLATION. Prices for food, rent, and other basic things are going up so quickly. The Chinese government is still controlling their currency from rising too high to try to keep the export market safe….but still…..wages are going up, and factory workers are striking….

Just read this article:

Toyota is latest car maker hit by strike in China

Toyota says assessing impact of strikes that have hit 2 China-based parts suppliers

Elaine Kurtenbach, AP Business Writer, On Friday June 18, 2010,
SHANGHAI (AP) — Toyota Motor was assessing the impact Friday from strikes that hit two of its China-based parts suppliers, the latest unrest among migrant workers who are the backbone of the country’s industrial sector.

Workers at a plastic parts factory of Toyota Motor Corp. affiliate Toyoda Gosei Co. in the northeastern city of Tianjin went on strike Thursday, forcing the plant’s production line to shut down in the afternoon, said Toyoda Gosei spokesman Tomotaka Ito, at the company’s headquarters in Aichi, Japan.

That walkout followed a one-day strike by workers at another Toyoda Gosei unit and Toyota supplier, Tianjin Star Light Rubber and Plastic Co., which ended Wednesday after the company agreed to review the pay for its 800 workers.

“We are aware of the strike at Tianjin Toyoda Gosei. We are checking its impact on production … and will continue to closely monitor the situation,” said Toyota spokesman Hideaki Homma.

Ito said Toyoda Gosei was still negotiating with workers over their demand for higher wages.

Workers are demanding higher wages. Foxconn has just doubled salary in Shenzhen due to suicides, other factories have been raising salary as well. It is the big factories and companies first….then it will trickle down to smaller companies and factories too.

But people say then, the DOMESTIC market will hold it up. The Chinese consumer will buy more goods and then no longer need to be dependent on the EXPORT market…..but if factories leave to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc …..where is the salary and income going to come from? Sure, there is a developing middle class….but, how sustainable and developed is it?

It is sad, but it is life…..China has been growing so rapidly, amazing…..but lately its grown too much, too fast. Costs are rising…..people need more money to live – therefore pushing up salary. But then, foreign companies have to make a choice, what to do…..