Build the Solution to Your Own Problem with Jay Thornhill

Can’t think of a business to start in China? Are you interested in creating a company in China? 

Finding a business idea that ticks with the market is sometimes a hard thing to do. 

Look into the problem you face yourself and find a solution that no one has done yet. 

Jay Thornhill is the Co-Founder and Head of Product Development for Baopals. Baopals (baopals.com) was launched in March 2016 and opened the gates to Taobao, Tmall and JD for non-Chinese. Over 3.7 million products have been purchased on Baopals in 4 years, and the co-founders are the only foreigners ever awarded "Top 10 Up-And-Coming Entrepreneurs" by the Shanghai government. 

In this episode, Jay Thornhill shares how, from his own challenges of dealing with an inconvenient and non-enjoyable shopping experience, he found a solution and made a business out of it. That way, he not only made shopping easy and fun for himself but other non-Chinese people too. 

 

What you will learn from this episode: 

• Find the easy way to navigate Chinese platforms and shop conveniently in China, even if you are non-Chinese 

• Discover where people get what they want, or get their money back and get the same type of response and communication every time from the team behind the platform 
• Find out what you should do if you want to start a business in China so you won’t get bogged down with all the legalities 

 

“Focus on solving a problem that you face personally, and make sure it's a problem that other people haven't solved already. That's when you're really on to something. And don't get bogged down too much in the kind of legality of it and worried about all the formal setup you need.” 

- Jay Thornhill 

 

Topics Covered: 

01:50 - Making it easy for people who don't know how to navigate Chinese platforms to shop in China 

02:32 - Making shopping on Chinese platforms for non-Chinese people easy and enjoyable  

03:52 - How the language gap, communication issues, platform design and user interface cause problems for non-Chinese people in their shopping experience 

05:16 - Why asking somebody else to buy for them on Chinese selling platforms is one mistake non-Chinese people are making 

05:53 - One valuable free action is to discover good products and sellers in China here: https://www.baopals.com/discover/whatshot/products 

07:23 - A book that helped Jay deal with stress, pressure and the emotional roller coaster of having his own business: Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman 

08:19 - What should I do if I want to start my own business in China? 

 

Key Takeaways: 

“First, make sure you have a viable product that people really want and seek out honest feedback and criticism, so that you get on that right track. And then if you need help sorting the rest out later, go to our business services page and get in touch.” - Jay Thornhill 

“I think it's good for people to delve into the sphere of psychology and neuroscience because when the pressure hits and emotions flare up, you might say things or make decisions that you regret. And in business, that can be very costly.” - Jay Thornhill 

“If they want to discover good products and sellers in China, they can do that for free if they go to the Baopals blog, or they follow us on WeChat. And they could check out a section of our site called Discover where they can see what other expats in China are buying and collections they're creating and sharing on the platform.” - Jay Thornhill 

 

Resources: 

• Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman 

 

Ways to Connect with Jay Thornhill:  

• Website: https://www.baopals.com/ 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thornhilljay/ 

 

Ways to Connect with Howard Whiteson: 

• Website: http://www.wealthwithoutborders.net    
• Podcast: https://wealthwithoutborders.net/podcast/  
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardwhiteson