CCCT 2019 Small Business Event: ‘Hiring in Taiwan’ on 24th April 2019

CCCT 2019 Small Business Event: ‘Hiring in Taiwan’ on 24th April, 2019

Date: 18:30 – 21:00 April 24th, 2019
Venue: Voice Long Play
Address: No. 68, Section 3, Minquan E Rd, Zhongshan District,Taipei, Taiwan 105
Cost: Member NT$ 400; Non member NT$ 500
(Price includes 2 beer Grolsch Beers)

Register for this event here.

We are proud to introduce Daniel Miller of Pagoda Projects Taipei, Solomon Temowo of Playerium, and Mai Bach of Ooh Cha Cha to share their experience on hiring in Taiwan on April 24, 2019 at Voice Long Play.

Speaker Information:

1. Daniel Miller, Manager of Pagoda Projects Taipei: https://pagodaprojects.com/taipei-placements

Pagoda Projects: Taipei (formerly known as InternTaiwan) has been offering paid placement programs for students and graduates since 2017 in Taipei. Students stay for a period of 6-12 Months. We are partnered with Universities in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Canada and we have so far amassed over 60 corporate partners in a variety of industries and sectors, offering over 100 unique placement opportunities. Pagoda Projects: Taipei is a non-profit entity in Taiwan and does not charge agency of partnership fees to corporate partners.

2. Solomon Temowo, CEO: https://www.playerium.com/

Credited in substantial development roles on some of the most illustrious franchises during the past 15 years and spanning several hardware generations such as VR, Playstation, PSP, Gamecube, Xbox, 3DS, Arcade, and mobile.

Playerium was founded by industry veterans with a mission: to reduce the amount of non-creative workflows and processes in development. Through our expertise in automation, procedural asset creation and AI to craft development tools, pipelines, and assets that empower creative professionals to imagine and build amazing gaming experiences.

3. Mai Bach , Co Founder: www.oohchacha.com

Ooh Cha Cha entered the food scene in Taipei as the first health focused, plant-based concept in 2013. As a socially driven company founded by California natives, the mission is to raise awareness of the consequences of our food choices and the power we have as consumers over our health, treatment of all animals and environment. We offer food that is simple, real and whole – no refined white sugar, dairy, eggs, cheese, or palm oil.

Date: 18:30 – 21:00 April 24th, 2019
Venue: Voice Long Play
Address: No. 68, Section 3, Minquan E Rd, Zhongshan District,Taipei, Taiwan 105
Cost: Member NT$ 400; Non member NT$ 500
(Price includes 2 beer Grolsch Beers)

Please be sure to register for this event here.

Contact: Ms. Emily Wu, Managing Director, info@canchamtw.com

Business Luncheon – Brief Introduction to the Labor Standard Act with Eiger Law – Oct 3 2018

Date & Time: Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018; 12pm to 2pm
Venue: Canadian Trade Office in Taipei: 信義區松智路1號6樓 6F, 1 Songzhi Road. Xinyi District, Taipei,

Topic: Hiring in Taiwan with Eiger Law – A Brief Introduction to the Labor Standard Act

Price:
CCCT Members $500
Non-members $800 (Includes lunch and soft drinks)

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TS7tTqDYa0FU415IvgIbd6YDhvTPv3WmTkSZiH5kObc/

Seating is limited to 15 seats with standing room only beyond that. We expect this event to be very popular and to fill up quickly, so be sure to RSVP early to reserve a seat! (Note that people who have not reserved via the Google Form will be asked to leave their seats for those who have reserved.)

The CCCT’s Small Business Committee (SBC) invites you to attend our next presentation and discussion luncheon on October 3, 2018.

Purpose: This is a great way to understand how to start a business in Taiwan and what you need to know about hiring regulations in Taiwan. Our speakers from Eiger Law will be introducing a brief introduction to the Labor Standard Act.

Company: Eigar 
Eiger is a full-service law firm with Asia Pacific and Greater China practice strengths providing counseling and assistance in corporate, commercial, dispute resolution and intellectual property matters. Eiger’s clients range from major multinationals and financial heavyweights through to SMEs across a wide range of industries. Eiger provides clients with creative and practical solutions, communicated clearly, with transparent billing practices.

Speakers: 

Jasmine Shen
Partner
 
Jasmine’s practice encompasses both corporate transactional as well as civil, criminal, and administrative litigation and arbitration. She advises clients on Taiwan law matters, including corporate governance, shareholder relations, mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, employment and labor law, intellectual property protection, antitrust law, family law, bankruptcy, reorganization and general commercial contract matters.
Jasmine has represented clients in litigation and arbitration involving intellectual property rights protection, financial derivatives, corporate reorganization, labor law, family law, construction law, debt collection and general civil, criminal and administrative matters.
 
Admitted to the Bar in 1992

Nathan Snyder
nathan.snyder@eiger.law
Associate

Nathan Snyder is experienced in advising clients on employment, corporate startups, and other corporate matters. He previously served in-house with the bankruptcy department of a major U.S. financial institution.

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TS7tTqDYa0FU415IvgIbd6YDhvTPv3WmTkSZiH5kObc/

2nd Annual Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan

The CCCT’s Small Business Committee (SBC) invites you to attend our 2nd Annual Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan event on Saturday, November 18th from 1:00pm – 4:00pm at Taipei Expo Dome.

English: http://www.enexpopark.taipei/archive.aspx?uid=143
Chinese: http://www.expopark.taipei/archive.aspx?uid=90

Entrance to the event this year will be free!

Our event is part of Business Next magazine’s three-day Meet Taipei Start-up Conference that is held every year. Business Next Magazine has kindly given us the use of their Orange Stage on November 18th to host our 2nd Annual Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan.

We are accepting applications for the event until October, 15th 2017. To register your team to compete you need to fill out and application on our website: https://dragonschambertaiwan.com/

The 1st place prize this year will be $30,000 NT. Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan's Dragons' Chamber Taiwan
This event is modeled after the Canadian TV show, Dragons’ Den.

Taiwan has a vibrant and growing startup scene. However, it is still hard for entrepreneurs to raise the seed money they need to get started. It is even harder if you are a foreign entrepreneur with fewer family around and basically no chance to borrow from the bank.

Dragons’ Chamber will work to bridge the fundraising gap for entrepreneurs who need to raise up to NTD5 million. The initiative takers to this event are experienced foreign entrepreneurs who have lived in Taiwan for many years and who understand the challenges of fundraising.

Are you an entrepreneur ready to enter the Dragon’s Chamber, and make that big pitch for your idea? Then this is for you!

At Dragon’s Chamber Taiwan, the aim is to provide a forum for entrepreneurs to share their business ideas in the hopes of connecting with the right people to help them turn their ideas into a reality.

The event is open to a diverse range of business models, from low-cost technology start-ups, to restaurants, consulting companies, professional services, design, import/export, light manufacturing, or anything else at all – as long as there is a legitimate business plan.

Health And Wellness For You And Your Business

Conscious Entrepreneur and Leadership

with Gabriele Seewald

Friday, April 14th, 2017

7pm to 9pm

Venue: NAKED FOOD, Taipei

No. 22-1, Lane 160, Section 1, Xinsheng South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 100

Cost:

NT$500 for CCCT members (includes dinner)

NT$700 for non-CCCT members (includes dinner)

Register for the event here.

You must register for this event.
No-shows will be charged for this event.

You must give 24 hours notice of cancellation to avoid being charged for this event.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan invites you to attend the following event:

People are working longer hours than ever before with work-related matters increasingly stealing our valuable leisure time. This hectic way of life, for many of us, is an unmitigated negative, and we need to find new ways to be successful while taking care of ourselves and our business.

The more you work, the more stressed you get and the less time you can take for yourself. The less time you take for yourself will reflect in your business.

As you become more stressed out trying to meet the demands of today’s incredibly demanding work culture, it not only starts to affect your own life, but the lives of your colleagues and your clients, and ultimately, your business.

How do we learn to look after ourselves in an increasingly complicated and plugged in world?

Unlock the potential of your own well-being and the well-being of your staff by showing them how to lead a better quality of life through an invigorating session by Gabriele Seewald, High-vibrational food by Naked Food Taipei and an EQ-based networking at NakedFood Taipei’s beautiful organic restaurant in Taipei.

We welcome you to join us and learn.


Conscious Entrepreneur and Leadership with Gabriele Seewald is about bringing awareness to what truly drives you, your decisions, your actions and ultimately the results you create: your thoughts, your feelings and your emotions and how these directly affect your energy (vibrational frequency of your body) and hence the reality you create.

Einstein already said:

Everything is energy. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you will get that reality. This is not philosophy. This is physics.

This means that if you want a healthy, thriving business and organization, you need to be healthy and thriving yourself first and vibrate on that frequency.

We cordially invite you to join us on Friday, April 14th for an evening dinner and presentation to explore, experience and find out more about how conscious entrepreneur and leadership can benefit yourself and your business.

Our invitation includes:

  • High-vibrational Food – the basis for raising your consciousness by raising your vibration – by Taipei’s finest Raw Chef Prashantha Lachanna of NakedFood
  • An interactive session with practical exercises facilitated by Gabriele Seewald, Founder of Rejuvenate – a Taipei-based Consultancy focused on working with Entrepreneurs, Leaders and Teams of Companies on Conscious Entrepreneur and Leadership, sustainable and integrated Well-Being and EQ-Development: Co-Founder and Director of Community Engagement of The Alinea Leadership Academy, a Taipei-based 21st Century Grade 1-12 World School
  • Time for facilitated EQ-based networking – EQ-based networking is the ability we have to use, communicate, recognize, remember, learn from and manage our relationships with other people.

Dinner Menu

*cheese crostini
*jicama ceviche (tapas portion)
*dumplings
*raw almond bread
*a slice of pizza
*brownie


Organizer

Event Partner 

Sustainable and Holistic Well-Being for People, Organizations, Planet


Catering

NAKEDFOOD serves contemporary raw, vegan cuisine with an emphasis on big flavours and playful combinations.

Raw food leaves you feeling energized and invigorated.

Please Register Here for the Event! 

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan: Venture Capital and Angel Investor Workshop

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan

Venture Capital and Angel Investor Workshop:

How to Secure Funding for your Business in Taiwan

www.dragonschambertaiwan.com

Wed March 8, 2017 7:30pm


UPDATE: SOLD OUT as of FEB 21st at 2:50pm.

**Contact info@canchamtw.com if you’d like to be involved in our next Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan workshop.


Location: Enspyre Headquarters, 12F, #181 Fuxing North Road, Taipei City

Tickets: Free

RSVP: Required

Are you interested in learning how to find and land venture capital or angel investor money for your business? Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan, which is hosted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, is an annual start-up competition focusing on foreign entrepreneurs in Taiwan.

The CCCT and its Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan Committee is teaming up with Elias Ek of Enspyre, to present a series of workshops this year that are aimed at helping entrepreneurs navigate the maze of securing funding for their ventures.

For the first workshop in the series, we have invited actual venture capital investors, angel investors, and foreign entrepreneurs who have successfully secured funding from these sources, to come in and discuss the real-world nuts and bolts of finding and securing funding for a business. If you currently have a new business or are planning to start one, you will definitely want to take advantage of this rare opportunity to hear from industry experts and people who have successful landed funding.

Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan's Dragons' Chamber Taiwan

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan Speakers:

Kelvin Sun – Senior Associate at WI Harper Group

WI Harper Group focuses on early- and expansion-stage investments in companies with significant operations in China. The firm invests primarily in information technology, medical technology, healthcare services and clean technology. They seek to invest in technology-driven companies at early, early growth and expansion stages. WI Harper has invested in several companies founded by foreign entrepreneurs in Taiwan.

Nick Budden – Co-Founder of Vectr

Vectr is a free, collaborative, vector graphics editor, for both web & desktop. After traveling the world as a freelancer for 3 years, Nick decided that Taiwan was the right place to create his own company. Armed with funding from US investors, Vectr began building a team in Taiwan. Vectr is a free, collaborative, vector graphics editor, for both web and desktop.

Sean Moss-Pultz – CEO of Bitmark  

Enabling digital ownership of every type of data Moss Pultz has lived in Taiwan for over a decade and is now the CEO of Bitmark. In 2016, Bitmark raised USD1.7 Million from various investors, including WI Harper. The company enables ownership of every type of digital data, be it digital art, personal health location data, or a digital trust of your digital wealth.

Tero Aalltonen – Founder and CEO of Augmenta 

Augmenta develops AR solutions for smart-glasses. Originally from Finland, now based in Taipei, Tero is a serial entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in the high tech industry, having worked in various capacities over the years, from engineering to sales, and from startups to industry heavyweights. Augmenta has already secured two rounds of venture capital funding, and is currently working on a third round of funding.

 

SBN – Common Business Mistakes To Avoid in Taiwan

The CCCT’s Small Business Committee (SBC) invites you to attend our next presentation and discussion night on Friday, January 6th, 2017 at Vinyl Decision.

We will have two foreign speakers, each with extensive business experience in Taiwan, who will talk about the most common pitfalls and mistakes that foreign entrepreneurs encounter when trying to do business in Taiwan.

If you currently have a business in Taiwan, or are thinking about establishing one, you won’t want to miss these valuable insights from these successful foreign entrepreneurs who have already been through it all! There will also be some time for Q&A after their talks.

And, of course, there will be time for everyone to mingle and network.

Our guest panel is:

Solomon Temowo
Founder and CEO of Playerium
Video Game Development Studio
http://www.playerium.com/

Solomon has been credited in key production roles on some of the most celebrated AAA game franchises during the past 12 years. Killzone, Bloodborne, Uncharted, The Last of Us, and Lego Star Wars 2 are among a list of more than 30 production titles that relied on his technical and artistic expertise, combining a total of more than 140 million copies sold/downloaded worldwide.

The results of his work can be found on a wide range of gaming platforms – such as VR, PlayStation, PSP, Xbox, 3DS, Wii, GameCube, Arcade, and Mobile.

Jim Edstein
Founder and Owner of Sports Traders TV
A sports media and sports betting company
http://www.sportstraders.tv/
Founder and Owner of Taiwan Satellite TV
http://www.taiwansatellite.tv/

Jim is a long-term resident of Taiwan with over 30 years of business experience in Taiwan. Having served in the Australian Foreign Service for many years, before working as an education and immigration consultant in Taiwan, Jim is now an expert in satellite and telecommunications businesses in Taiwan and operates a successful satellite-based sports media and sports betting businesses that provides live sports in real time to sports media, sports betting companies, and media rights holders around the globe.

He also own a teleport, hosting content for broadcasters and IPTV source hosting for clients in the USA, UK, Australia, and India


Date & Time: January 6, 2017; 7:30 – 10:00pm
Venue: Vinyl Decision; No.6, Lane 38, Chongde St., Taipei 台北市信義區崇德街38巷6號
Topic: Common Business Mistakes To Avoid in Taiwan

Admission: Members FREE, Non-members $NT100

There will be special prices on local and imported draught and bottled beers, ciders, and red and white wines for CCCT members, who will receive a stamp at the front door to show staff for special drink prices.

Seating is limited to 35, with standing room only beyond that.

We expect this event to be very popular and to fill up quickly, so be sure to RSVP early to reserve a seat! (Note that people who have not reserved via the Google Form will be asked to leave their seats for those who have reserved.)

You must RSVP at: https://goo.gl/forms/7kLhblE4oI7XMCo72

 

Branding and Consulting with Mark Stocker and Richard deVries

Date & Time: Friday, October 21st 8:00-10:00 pm

Venue: DV8 – No. 385 Fuxing South Road Section 2, Taipei, Taiwan / 台北市大安區復興南路二段385號

Topic: Branding and Consulting in Taiwan

Admission: Members FREE, Non-members $NT 100

CCCT members will receive happy hour prices on drinks.

You must RSVP at: https://goo.gl/Q0AUgL

The CCCT’s Small Business Committee (SBC) invites you to attend our next presentation and discussion night on Friday, October 21st 2016 at 8:00pm at DV8. Mark Stocker and Richard deVries will be talking about doing Branding and Consulting in Taiwan.

There will be few presentations for individuals interested in learning more about branding and consulting in Taiwan. Please join us, learn something, contribute something, and meet some cool people.

After presentations from our guest speakers, who are all knowledgeable and successful expat entrepreneurs in their field, there will be a Q&A and open discussion.

Our guest panel is:

Richard deVries, Managing Directorgeber

Geber Brand Consulting

Geber is an international brand consultancy headquartered in Taipei. We put as much emphasis on business strategy as we do on design and visual identity. Our core competencies and specializations are in the areas of brand consulting, digital marketing strategy, production of marketing communication tools, corporate films as well as PR/events and CIS design.

 

ddg

Mark Stocker, Managing & Strategic Director
ddg

Mark is a consultant and strategist with 20 years of experience in brand development, specializing in corporate branding and transitioning OEMs to Branded Business models. He has assisted more than a hundred Taiwan corporations in building global brands, working with clients such as Giant Bicycles, BenQ, Adata, and Cyberlink. In addition to leading his own projects, Mark also oversees all of DDG’s work. He graduated from UCLA with a BS in Economics.

Please note that most of the recent Small Business Committee events have been packed. Please RSVP at: https://goo.gl/Q0AUgL

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan

The CCCT’s Small Business Committee (SBC) invites you to attend our Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan event.

Date & Time: Saturday, November 19th 2:30pm – 4:30pm

The event will be part of the Meet Taipei Start-up Convention at Taipei Expo Dome.

This event will take place on the Pink Stage from 2:30 to 4:30 pm.

Venue: No. 1 Yumen St., Zhongshan District, Taipei City
台北市中山區玉門街1號

Admission: $500 NT – Please sign up at: http://www.accupass.com/go/dragonschambertaiwan OR purchase tickets directly from CCCT Dragons’ Chamber committee members: John Kellenberger, Elias Ek, Josh Yang, Sean M. King, Carrie Kellenberger and Alex Chen-Long.

Contact info@cancham.tw to find out how to reach our committee members for tickets.

Note that tickets are normally NT$1,000. Your ticket gets you into all of the events and presentations on Saturday, November 19th, including Dragons’ Chamber.

Taiwan has a vibrant and growing startup scene. However, it is still hard for entrepreneurs to raise the seed money they need to get started. It is even harder if you are a foreign entrepreneur with fewer family around and basically no chance to borrow from the bank.

Dragons’ Chamber will work to bridge the fundraising gap for entrepreneurs who need to raise up to NTD5 million. The initiative takers to this event are experienced foreign entrepreneurs who have lived in Taiwan for many years and who understand the challenges of fundraising.

Are you an entrepreneur ready to enter the Dragon’s Chamber, and make that big pitch for your idea? Then this is for you!

At Dragon’s Chamber Taiwan, the aim is to provide a forum for entrepreneurs to share their business ideas in the hopes of connecting with the right people to help them turn their ideas into a reality. The event is open to a diverse range of business models, from low-cost technology start-ups, to restaurants, consulting companies, professional services, design, import/export, light manufacturing, or anything else at all – as long as there is a legitimate business plan.

Our Application Submission Deadline to pitch your idea and present to our Dragons is now closed, but you can still join us by coming to watch how the event unfolds.

We have five excellent teams that have been coached, prepped, and are ready to present!

Organized by:

Canadian Chamber of Commerce of Taiwan
CCCT’s Small Business Committee
Elias Ek of Enspyre
Reach To Teach Recruiting
Business Next Magazine

Event Sponsors:

Our event sponsors have kindly donated the following prizes to the three best teams.

  • JusRegal – 50% of business registration for a new company
  • FutureWard – 3 months of co-working space membership (Futureward)
  • Enspyre – 3 months of phone answering service for B2C or $30,000NT gift card for B2B to reach Taiwanese customers

 

Art As A Business In Taipei – August 26th 2016 at 1001 Nights

Date & Time: Friday, August 26th 7:30-9:30pm

Venue: 1001 Nights Taipei – 2 FL, No. 8, Sec. 5, Nanjing East. Rd / 台北市南京東路五段 8 號 – (一千零一夜水煙館) / 台北市南京東路5段8號2F

Topic: Art As A Business In Taipei

Admission: Members FREE, Non-members $NT100

CCCT members will receive special prices on drinks, including Moosehead beer for NT100 to NT150 per bottle.

You must RSVP at https://goo.gl/forms/sQvK2Unq2D6QEiog2

The CCCT’s Small Business Committee (SBC) invites you to attend our next presentation and discussion night on Friday, Aug 26th, 2016 at 7:30pm at 1001 Nights Taipei. We have several guest speakers that will be talking about doing art as a business in Taipei. There will be few short presentations for individuals interested in doing art as a business in Taipei. Please join us, learn something, contribute something, and meet some cool people. After presentations from our guest speakers, who are all knowledgeable and successful expat entrepreneurs in the art field, there will be a Q&A and open discussion.

Our guest panel is:

*Patty Hogan, ColorWolfStudio*Color Wolf Studio

Patty has held exhibitions in Chicago, London, Seoul, Fukuoka and Busan. Gaining international attention, she has been interviewed and covered by various magazines, andis as diverse in her style as her appeal.

 

*Matt King, Crown Ceramics*

Matt is an American ceramic artist whose studio is in Yangmingshan. He received his BFA and MA in ceramics at Minnesota State Art 2University, Mankato. I am interested in making works that are inspired from both organic forms and industrial line. I focus on aesthetics of form and exploration in surface treatment.

My functional pieces range in method of construction; wheel-thrown, hand-built, slipcast, jigged and altered… I explore new shapes and currently prefer to make unique one-offs, but still find joy in making series as well. I simply wish to create utilitarian pieces which people enjoy holding and using. I am available for commissioned/large volume work.


*Zachary Widgren, LALA EATS LALA*Art 3
An avant-garde underground artist hailing from the Smokey Mountains of Knoxville, Tennessee. His art work is deeply detailed, often involving words, symbols, and other hidden imagery throughout the work.
The subtle qualities mixed with his attention to detail make for strange yet strangely seductive work. Zachary has received the UC purchase award, and has been featured in Milk Magazine and Collectif lifestyle magazine.
Please note that most of the recent Small Business Committee events have been packed. Please RSVP at https://goo.gl/forms/sQvK2Unq2D6QEiog2

Working in the Education Industry in Taiwan (Event Recap)

A few weeks ago, the CCCT Small Business Committee had another Taiwan Small Business Network event, aimed at presenting some deep background and top tips for expats interested in starting an education based business.Tribeca Taipei

It was a really successful event, thanks, of course, to our enlightened speakers, and to enthusiastic participation by the attendees. Many thanks to TRIBECA for hosting their second small business event with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan. We truly appreciate your support and patronage!

Our first speaker was Brian Hockertz, CEO of Oh! Study Education Group. Brian is a very long-term Taiwan expat, having worked for the Canadian Trade Office in Taiwan even before Taipei 101 existed! Going from heading the education department at the CTOT, Brian went on to open his own successful educational consultancy for Taiwanese students bound for overseas study, first in Canada, then also in the USA, and now worldwide.Oh Study-2016

Brian shared with us the distillation of his business experience in Taiwan, presented as points of advice:

  1. Respect your core competency. Stay focused and committed to the thing you do best;
  2. Go local, that’s where your market is;
  3. Keep clean books, because your business competitors will try and get you audited, if you actually start making any money;
  4. Standardize your operations as if it were a franchise. That’s called efficiency and it’s much easier to train staff in this kind of system;
  5. Be one of the top 5 companies in Taiwan the world at what you do. Be world class, and you will get customers;
  6. You might very well be copied, so keep innovating.

Thanks Brian for your business bushido!

Carleen's English SchoolNext Carleen Emma, founder and owner of Carleen’s English School, a mid-sized children’s cram school in Neihu, told us about her experiences starting and growing her now-successful business. And, wow! What a story!

Carleen talked about the financial tightrope she walked, the constant struggle with surprise costs and revenue slumps, and the big risk she took when she bought out a larger location. But running her business wasn’t just about money: She also very frankly told us about the tough times when she was teaching classes with her infant daughter strapped to her body, and about the deep connection she had with the local community achieved by protecting and educating their children, listening to their concerns, and being a positive part of the scene day by day, month by month, year by year.

A great origin story with a happy ending!

Thanks Carleen!

Our next presentation was from Bob MacLeod. Bob became a partner with Rick France, who is the founder of ACES. For those of you unfamiliar with the brand, ACES is the top franchise in Taiwan of a business model that was formerly called “hardcore foreign-run buxiban”.Aces English School

The model is of an expat-owned cram school hires (reasonably) bilingual foreign teachers to do very focused and disciplined classes where words and sentence patterns in English are directly translated into Mandarin. Each class has an aggressive pace, and the students’ mothers are often seated at the back of the room, helping to motivate both student and teacher. ACES teachers get quite decent pay if they build up their skills and class size, and stay with the school for many years. There are now 13 branches in Taiwan.

Bob’s talk was mainly about how he came to Taiwan with a strong background in education, looking for an education-based business opportunity. He found out about ACES, and partnered on a new school in Hsintien, which has become a success. Opportunities are out there if you are sharp enough to see them!

Brief takeaway from his starting a business in Taiwan experience: Always overestimate your expenses.

Cheers Bob!

Last but not least, Joel Laughrin, owner of Guidelines International English Academy, and Professional Support Leader, Asia Pacific Cambridge English, gave a great talk. Joel explained the benefits to all stakeholders – parents, teachers, students and schools – of having a professional third-party independent language ability assessment. Especially, of course, when that system comes from Cambridge University, a global leader in EFL.

Takeaway: if you can be involved at an ownership level in a respected global EFL brand in Taiwan, your business will likely have decent growth potential over time. Quality pays off.

Thank you Joel!

We look forward to seeing you at our next event at CODA. We have guest speakers that will be talking about their experience operating your own sporting business in Taiwan. Come and check it out!