Recently, I went to a very nice networking dinner. It was a lovely intimate setting: a private dinner with a French chef, fine wines and a relatively small group of about 30 people, mostly entrepreneurs and business owners.
Inevitably, at some point the conversation turned to the topic of the pandemic. In Hong Kong, we live very much separated from the rest of the world in a way. The border with China is still closed (unless you want to put yourself through a 14+7 days quarantine in a government hotel or facility to enter China. Also, people coming from Europe or the US have to go through 2-3 weeks mandatory hotel quarantine upon arrival in Hong Kong.
Over the years, European and American organisations saw China as a growth market, an attractive country to invest in manufacturing facilities or seek partnerships, with Hong Kong as a stable financial center and gateway to China. Now, due to the pandemic as well as policy changes, more and more companies consider doing business with China and Hong Kong to be a hassle and cumbersome and are looking elsewhere, Singapore, Vietnam or alternative areas closer to home. This affects many businesses in Hong Kong and China.
The response to this situation from the business leaders at last night’s event, many of whom have their businesses in Hong Kong or China, has been so interesting. These were some of the reactions:
‘I'm frustrated by this, but there's probably nothing I can do about it’.
‘I am frustrated by this, but it is as it is, so we have to work our way through this? How can we find a solution for it?’
‘Our company’s operations slowed down a lot last year, so we stayed closely connected to our customers and went where they went. We have now opened offices in other regions to serve them from there.’
‘This situation, although challenging at the beginning, caused us to drastically change our strategy. We decided to accelerate on our plans for the future. We have completely upgraded our company’s operations in a way we never thought possible in the next 5 years.’
Such a great example of how different people approach life in different ways:
IT IS NOT WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD, BUT THE WAY WE CHOOSE TO RESPOND TO IT, THAT CREATES OUR REALITY.
Train your mind to think differently and your world will change!
Let’s Lead!
