The Entrepreneurs' Organization is a global network of business leaders that aims to help its members grow their companies by sharing advice and experience within a confidential and relaxed setting. Membership is certainly not cheap, but, as our reporter Dominic Swire finds out during a visit to the local Beijing branch, the benefits can be invaluable.
Reporter:
They say it can be lonely at the top. Despite all the advantages of owning your own business, this certainly rings true for the entrepreneur, especially those trying to develop their company in a foreign land.
The Beijing branch of the Entrepreneurs¡¯ Organization, or EO, has been helping businesses in the Chinese capital operate, grow and keep their owners sane for the past two years. This group now has 17 members, all of which own businesses and together account for sales of over 200 million dollars.
Each month the group holds strictly confidential forums in which one member will present recent highs and lows of his business and personal life and elicit advice and help from others present.
¡°It¡¯s a support network, that¡¯s really what it is¡
Sean Huang has been a member of the Beijing branch of EO since its inception. He is the owner of a company that helps health food businesses enter the Chinese market.
¡°Just from a personal perspective, having the input from people from the same background has been critical.¡±
However, membership of EO is not open to anyone. Those wanting to join have to be accepted by every other member, pay a yearly fee of over one thousand dollars and run a company with an annual turnover of at least one million dollars.
Long standing member and founder of Beijing-based Plastered T-Shirts Dominic Johnson-Hill explains the reason behind this exclusivity.
¡°There are many other entrepreneur groups in Beijing that don¡¯t have those kinds of entry requirements but end up being networking events all about sales with everybody trying to do business together. We don¡¯t do business together. We actually try to help each other out. That¡¯s what we do.¡±
For Paul Lepa, co-founder of ecommerce business Redstores.com, membership was certainly worth the price.
¡°Instead of having to fund my own board for my company, I went to EO, which gave me my own personal board that helped me grow my business.¡±
The Beijing group is still small, young and predominately foreign. But this is something Johnson-Hill says they are hoping to change in the near future.
¡°It¡¯s a very new concept to Chinese businessmen to pay annual dues and join these groups where you really open up your heart¡ We hope to grow the Chinese members... that¡¯s the only way you¡¯re going to sustain EO in Beijing.¡±
For Biz China, this is Dominic Swire.
