Orchestrall and TCBN Put China In Your Business Future

7/28/2010 - Dr. Jason Patent is VP Communications & Marketing at Orchestrall, a China market access firm.  China's growth in the next few years will be from export manufacturing to value added services.  Orchestrall and The China Business Network are presenting a seminar, China Business Toolbox, on September 8, to help introduce companies to the services market in China.   China Business Toolbox helps professionals get the mindset and the map for China market access.  Presenters include Patent and Janet Carmosky, CEO of The China Business Network.  The Toolbox is being paired with a morning session of Health & Green, with executive panels for bio tech, clean tech, and financing.






THE CHINA BUSINESS NETWORK: Jason Patent – you are the Vice President of Communications and Marketing for Orchestrall. Thanks for being with us today.

JASON PATENT: You’re welcome. It’s my pleasure.

TCBN: Here’s the thing. Orchestrall is a China market access firm. So the first thing that comes to my mind is, China’s been open to international markets for more than 30 years already. What are the opportunities for new markets, new access? What is new and exciting now in 2010?

JP: That’s a great question, Janet. You look at the explosive growth China’s experienced over the past 30 years and it’s mostly been focused on manufacturing for export. The big shift – it’s a strategic shift – that the central government in China is focused on executing, is away from an overdependence on export manufacturing towards value added delivery of services. Projections are over the next twenty years an $8 trillion market of services is going to be created in China alone. That’s the size of the current services market in the United States! Think about how many services, the size of the US service market. Imagine over the next twenty years – that’s going to be developed in China. The opportunities are staggering.

TCBN: The US is the world’s largest market for services, so if China’s going to get into that, it will be quite interesting. So what does Orchestrall do for companies starting the process of going into China’s market?

JP: Well, any number of things. It really depends on what a company wants and needs. Anything from our Rapid Registration service, which can get you up and running in 45 days or less, but we think our real “secret sauce” is what we call our Real Time Business Platform. Once you’re up and running, what’s the basis of your operations? Where you find the physical space where you’re going to work? How do you get the infrastructure for your office? Where do you find your people? How do you create the business processes? How do you find your accountants, your reception?

You can do it all yourself, and if you’re able to, more power to you. But the fact is, most companies don’t have the knowledge, resources, and crucial connections to make that happen. Orchestrall can do that all for you. A crucial differentiator for Orchestrall is that we’re not a consulting company. We do offer some consulting services but that’s not where the true value is.

The true value is if you partner with Orchestrall, we’re actually going to execute for you. We don’t just say “go do this, this, and this.” We say “this is what needs to happen and we’re going to make it happen for you” and then we make it happen.

TCBN: So you can look at a company, find out what the key processes are in market access, and provide those outsource services?

JP: Exactly. Simple example: if you want to do business in China you have to have two accountants on staff. Where are you going to find them? You could do it yourself, make a massive investment, and hope that all goes well, or you could dip a toe in the water with Orchestrall and we can find those people for you on a shared services basis. It will significantly reduce your costs and you don’t have to think about it. The value is in the uncoupling of the business from the support services. Things that normally business knock their heads against a brick wall over – you don’t even have to think about. You focus on what you do best and Orchestrall handles the rest.

TCBN: Interesting. It’s always an administrative and regulatory challenge, but because you guys have a lot of government backing you come into the market at a time when the Chinese government is itself working very hard to get a services market off the ground is able to give you guys the ability to take all the regulatory administrative headaches out of it.

JP: Absolutely. Actually, there’s another thing that’s really valuable about those government connections: the Chinese government is so focused on making this service transformation happen that they are providing unbelievable incentives. Cash incentives. For instance, 4500 yuan from the central government is a standard amount that is offered for training. Local and/or provincial governments often match that. The problem is, how do you get access to that?

Again, Orchestrall’s extensive set of connections at all levels of government make it easy for us. Things that are hard for companies to do are easy for Orchestrall – we’re in a position to do that. We have a massive infrastructure in China which is a result of a multimillion dollar investment that Orchestrall has put into China, laying this groundwork that is just sitting here, waiting for western companies to take advantage of.

TCBN: Sounds like a handy thing to tap into. How can people meet you, talk to you, find out about Orchestrall’s offer in China and what they should do to get into the market there?

JP: Well we’ve got this event coming up in Philadelphia September 8 called China Business Toolbox. Essentially, anyone who is interested, who thinks they might want to, any thought about expanding into China to get a piece of the China market, they should come. There’s really no good reason not to. Historically there have been plenty of reasons not to consider China because of the hassles – I could go on forever with all the reasons. They don’t exist anymore.

If you’re interested in China, if you think you might want to give it a try, come to China Business Toolbox. You’ll learn a lot about how to get things done on the ground. The partnership between The China Business Network and Orchestrall is a really nice mix of complementary capabilities and will provide a lot of value for people who come that day.

TCBN: I hope to see you all there. To be fair, Jason and I are working together on China Business Toolbox. It’s at the Cira Center at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, on September 8, as you said. Registration is open, and you can do that at http://chinabusinesstoolboxphila.eventbrite.com.


Dr. Jason Patent is a U.S.-China bridge-builder. He excels at teaching, training, and coaching. After seven years in China, he returned to the U.S. with near-native Mandarin language skills.  See more on his profile>>