Today, Don from GMtee came by at my office to say hi. I found his blog on the internet and contacted him as he is doing something similar like me here in Hong Kong. He is the owner of the brand “GMtee” and also has his own online shop and eBay shop. They are selling Asian inspired clothes with prints like dragons, Buddhas, Ninjas, famous chinese warriors etc. Don is an expat like me living in Hong Kong, but he came to Hong Kong much earlier than me (ok, he is older too). We met to discuss a possible business collaboration and to get to know each other better.

We came up with some interesting ideas how we can support each other’s business, for example

• promote each other’s online shop in our newsletters to our customers (wholesale/retail)
• exchange banner/link in our online shops
• exchange flyers which we will pack into the parcels for our customers

Furthermore, we could also collaborate manufacturing our own designs at factories in China. He has a very good relationship with a factory who produces high quality t-shirts, sweaters and long sleeve shirts for him. He brought 2 shirts for me to check out the quality. I have to say, the quality is really incredible good (very soft, heavy cotton) and the print is a high quality print as well (thick, soft print). So we could share the MOQ (minimum order quantity) for the t-shirt material.

I think we small business owners should support each other and help where we can. Anyone else interested in a business collaboration with my company? If yes, email me.

I got this cute t-shirt from GMtee

As I mentioned before, I started my own business after finishing my studies in Hong Kong in 2005. Of course, at the beginning I didn’t register my company because I was just doing lots of research to find out what I could sell. I also didn’t earn any money yet, just putting in my own money. In 2007 my business started growing significantly, especially because we started doing wholesale business as well. Therefore, I decided that it is really urgent now to register my own company here. My German friend Philipp recommended an accountant to me who is taking care of such things for a good price. I sent him an email, filled out the paper he sent me (one single page!) and he prepared the documents for registration for me. He sent me the documents by courier, my business partner and me signed everything and sent it back. A few days later I got a call that our company is registered and I should pick up the original documents at his office! Now tell me, isn’t that the easiest and fastest way to open a company? I am really impressed! I even got a set with 2 different company chops, a “pressing thingy” to make a seal (no idea how to call that), a statutory book (man, that looks professional ) and a really cool box with our company name’s on it.

Until now we had an home-office and we also stored all our products in our home aka “warehouse” . But we do get more and more requests from wholesale customers asking if we have a showroom in Hong Kong as they are visiting Hong Kong and want to see our products. I always had to deny and offered them instead to visit them in their hotel and bring a huge (and heavy) suitcase full with samples with us. Additional, our stock is getting bigger and bigger and we run out of space. Hong Kong apartments are already sooo small and not really suitable for fitting in a business with stock.

Therefore, in January ‘08 we started looking for an office with warehouse space so we can set up a showroom, our office and have enough space for storing all our products. We had quite a lot of requirements including:

- 1000-1200 sqf
- reasonable price (what is reasonable in Hong Kong?!?)
- close to the MTR (subway)
- quiet (no machines/factories on the upper/lower floors)
- must have its own toilet (I can’t imagine using the public toilet in these industrial buildings)
- at least 3-4 rooms (”boss”-office, showroom, warehouse, etc.)
- renovated (walls painted, clean floor)

Based on these requirements it was really hard to find a suitable place, but good news everyone:

WE FOUND IT!!!

It is 1,200 sqf big, has 3 rooms (2 “boss”-offices, 1 big room) plus 1 storage room plus a big corridor plus a toilet, reasonably priced, very close to my home (~15 mins by bus plus 5 mins walking) and very close to MTR (~5 mins walking). The offices around it are trading companies, so they are usually not really noisy. The landlord also agreed on painting the walls, cleaning the carpet and the air-conditioners. Furthermore, there is a new big Yoga-studio within 5 mins walking distance Great for working out after work. We met the landlord last Sunday 23.3.08, and we will get the keys this Thursday! That’s quick! So in other words: JUST PERFECT!

We will convert the corridor into a showroom, Alan and I get each one of the “boss”-offices and our future employees will work in the big room. I found a part-time employee (Alan’s brother) already who will start working next week as well.

I will post some photos of our great new office as soon as possible. In the meantime, here is a picture from Google Earth in a bird’s eye view…

picture of our office including surrounding area (shopping mall, yoga studio, bus stop and MTR station)

Anyone, who is visiting Hong Kong and interested in our products is welcome to visit us. Please call for an appointment. Here is the address:

modeS Group Limited
Room E, 10/F
On Fook Industrial Building
41-45 Kwai Fung Street
Kwai Fong
Hong Kong

phone: (+852) 901 869 82

Directions: Here is a map where you can see how to get to our office:

So how did I finally find THE right product?

In summer 2006 I met a german, Philipp, who moved into the block next to us. He also has his own business on eBay, selling electronics like mobile batteries, USB cardreader, MP3 player etc. So we sat together quite often and discussed our ideas. I told him my ideas about selling fashion to Europe and he convinced me to check out Thailand. So we flew together to Bangkok and went for hours and days around Bangkok to find interesting suppliers. I found a few different manufacturers, all selling totally different fashion, so I bought some samples and put them online. Ebay is great for testing new products and see the response if a product could be sold or not. At the end, the products from one manufacturer were successful and we now order from him frequently. He has a huge range of products related to Japan, kawaii style and other cute items. It is a lot of work to find a new product or supplier, running around from company to company, negotiating, buying samples, putting them online and testing them. But in the end, I was successful and found one good supplier for me.

Tenshi Neko bag from Thailand

But that wasn’t enough. I need more suppliers with different products. I wanted to have a bigger collection and variety. So I kept searching in Hong Kong and China for interesting looking fashion. It drove me almost nuts, every time when I went shopping, I just kept looking for suitable products. I couldn’t stop thinking about it anymore. I went to many wholesale markets, trade fairs, wholesale malls, companies my friends recommended etc. Finally, in the beginning of 2007 I found another supplier, a manufacturer from China who is manufacturing garment and accessories with styles like rockabilly, emo, gothic, rock etc. So I ordered some samples, tested them and found out that they sell really well. Now, we order from them very often and our wholesale customers love the items as well.

cool bag with stars from China

But I cannot stop searching for new products. I have to keep searching for the next hot item that could fit into our collection. When I find the next one, you will definitely find it in our shop.

Hi, my name is Sandra Boch and I am the writer of this blog. I am Austrian and live together with my husband Alan Mak in Hong Kong.

This blog is about my company “modeS Group Ltd.” and my experiences with my business. I write about our online shop www.modes4u.com, our business and our products. We sell super cute stationery, fabric, art & craft supply, bags, accessories and more. We have the following brands in our super cute kawaii shop: Tenshi Neko, San-X, Kamio, Crux, Kokka, Cosmo, Michael Miller, Hello Kitty and Q-lia.

I hope you will enjoy reading my blog about my business and my life in Hong Kong.

Thanks,

Sandra

Our Team:

  Sandra Boch, Managing Director

  Alan Mak, IT Manager

  Bianca Kita, Copywriter & PR

  Maggie Ma, Internet Marketing Executive

  Lok Lau, Packing Staff

  Karen Lam, Packing Staff

  Ho Lam, Photographer

Our office and warehouse: