Utilizing Talent in His Team to Build a Logistics Powerhouse with Paul Gao, Founder of Globalebuy Supply Chain Company

Mike: So Paul, it’s a very great company that you built since 2003, you started it 2003. How did it all get started?

Paul: Ok, I started a business for a couple of reasons. The first one is to live and eat better. And then to win honor for my parents. The second one is that I want to earn more pocket money for my wife. The third one is for my children. Give them a positive role model, a positive energy. Another is to be able to do business with like-minded people. It’s also a very perfect and wonderful thing I think. By the way, in order to realize the sense of self-fulfillment and social value. In fact, premier li keqiang has spoken a word called: “The future is only equity investment and entrepreneurship is the way out”

Mike: So to get started, did you have any special experiences did you have some skills that you used to get the business started?

Paul: I met some people I trusted in the process and I helped him and started the business together. But I was cheated by him, but I think it’s all gone. What I need is to move on or to paraphrase Mao Zedong: The world is full of vicissitudes to comfort myself and encourage myself.

Mike: How did you decide which strategy for adding new services and products to your business, how did you get that going?

Paul: Since 1991, I have done an outdoor advertising industry for more than 10 years in Shenzhen. In 2003 I access to cross-border e-commerce eBay accidentally. I insist on doing it until now. In this process, I think I was an e-commerce veteran. In the process of being an e-business veteran, it is true that there have been a lot of setbacks whether it’s people or things or team building management and so on. There are a lot of setbacks but I have also accumulated a lot of experience that I think is my personal experience. In the process, I can definitely give some of our colleagues e-commerce or the people who are going to enter the business and want to do e-commerce give them some inspiration. We have already had three major sectors. One is cross-border e-commerce. So it’s a third-party platform to sell goods. My cross-border e-commerce team has implemented this kind of internal incubation and split partner entrepreneurship mechanism. So far it works well in the last one year. It’s good and I’m sure I’ll stick with it but we will continue to improve these mechanisms. This is first part. The second part is overseas warehousing and I’ve been focusing mostly on Europe. I have a partner over here in Europe mainly in England, France and Germany. And then we’re more likely to give these cross-border e-commerce or these peers some services. But I do provide a service that is in line with planning. The third business segment now is global supply chain. It is more like brand agent and product distribution. Then there is the first vessel service. Then there is the ZhongMao railway which is one of our more important projects. But we are always sticking to and planning to screen our customers and screen our customers’ products. We insist that this is my bottom line. I wouldn’t say that some of my friends said to help me with shipment and take care of me. I don’t think this is what I want to do. The first thing I do is to provide a safe, reliable and stable service. And in the meantime I can get this benefit in return. Then I hope to give that especially biased towards Europe. Expect purchase and selling. We can do and plan a series of such services. Make them more comfortable and trust me with the goods. And then he can get a cost optimization. Thereby saving money and improving efficiency.

Mike: So more on the personal side on what you do? How about habits or hobbies things?

Paul: Well, I don’t really have much hobbies. It’s just that I like to work out. The body is the capital of the revolution. This is the first one. Second, I also like outdoor sports. And like self-driving tour and listening to music, reading. This is a so-called hobby. I think it’s more interesting to accompany children. I have three children, especially in the last few years. I was pushing away some unnecessary social intercourse. I wish I could spend more time with my children. Let them grow up better with parents’ company. I opened a western cafe with a friend in huaqiang north. It’s in the process of decorating now. It should be open after National Day. This style of decoration is Spanish. And then it’s design for foreigners. And attract some of these foreigners. Then make a party here. I hope that because I also in e-commerce business. I hope to provide a place for friends of cross-border e-commerce to have parties.

Mike: All right thank you so much for your time. So what kind of customers or people are you looking to meet nowadays?

Paul: Ok regarding the current demand of our company customers. And I’ve been talking about that a little bit. First, I hope to have more good manufacturers who can go to oversea in China. And then wants to upgrade and transform. And then I want to work with them. To share some good products with consumers all around the world. This is a requirement for my clients. And then I want to provide the friends of China’s cross-border e-commerce a cost-effective service for legal compliance. This is also one of my clients.

Mike: The capital, the money to start?

Paul: Ok actually I personally was born on a farmer family. I graduated from junior high school at the age of 16, 1991. Under the pressure of life, I can’t continue to study in high school. Then I came to Shenzhen. And then the money, it’s also borrowed. Then after I arrived Shenzhen, there are ten yuan left. I went to Shenzhen without any relatives. So I went out looking for a job. The first job was the outdoor advertising industry. It’s the sign, the light box, the neon sign. When I work, I am a diligent worker. After all, the children of peasant families are not afraid of hardship. I am not afraid to suffer losses and learn things quickly. Learn more practice more and then improve my skills quickly. I worked for others for two and a half years and then started my own business. The first startup is also an outdoor advertising industry. I was under the age of 19 while doing the outdoor advertising business. And I keep doing it until 2003. I used to select customers while doing outdoor advertising industry. I cooperate with big companies like Huawei, like the Bank of Communications. They are all my big clients and the PLA Hong Kong Garrison，border force, these companies are one of my clients. But by chance in 2003, I contacted with this cross-border e-commerce company. How did this happen? I made the sign and then I met him. He went to do the eBay. His relatives helped him with his eBay account. Then I helped him do some part-time jobs. I had a room for him at my outdoor advertising company. And then he replied e-mails there every day. I gave him my computer and all the equipment because he had no money. He just replied e-mails there. I didn’t know what he was doing. Then from time to time he asked me to go to huaqiang north to help him for stock and declare goods for several months. Then I found out that he had orders like this every day. It’s ok to work stay at home. Well, I think it’s fun. Then he asked me to do it full-time. Took a part-time job for half a year and then worked full-time. What really attracted me was not how much money he was making. But I think it’s very funny to do eBay. Why? There are two reasons. The first is that the customers don’t know me. But I can get all payment and then I do to stock. Then we would pack and deliver the goods to the customers. I think it’s a very honest deal. The second point is that as long as you have a network, you can work with a computer. I like free myself. I entered the e-commerce industry in this way and then I worked with him for a while. But then there was no cooperation for some reasons. Then I started my own company and worked with overseas friends until now. Then, in the process of management, I also hired professional managers. It’s not that professional managers are bad but they are not very suitable for entrepreneurial companies like us. We don’t have so much money for him. So in July last year, we, the company began to do this internal incubation split partner startup mechanism. There are now four or five such e-commerce subsidiaries. It work good for now. That’s my e-commerce business startup experience.

Mike: You built a quite big company with many workers, team members. It’s great, how do you find and manage? You are online and your workers are here your team.

Paul: I give sufficient trust for the management and my friends. In fact, I am not involve in the finance, logistics and the purchase. I give them enough trust. When it comes to management, I talk to them regarding that. I trust you enough and then you should be trusted. But once you have character misconduct, I must be zero tolerance. Because I think it’s ok to fully stimulate their self-potential and ability. Because I have a low educational background, I can only hire someone who I think can do better than I can in any position. I provide some platforms and resources for them. Support them to serve them well. So now I’m positioning myself that one is what they called ‘seed investment’. It cannot say as angel investment. The second is to provide a platform as their service providers. Then let them perform their dance on the platform. So we had this partnership mechanism before. I danced to them on this stage. But I don’t think my dancing is good. They thought it was ugly, too. Isn’t that? Right now I don’t dance, I give to them to dance. I think they’re pretty good at it now. My company is not a family business. We have no relatives here. Everyone comes from all over the world. In fact, this is very important to them. Because when a company is a family business, in each department, the key position has our own relatives or classmate friend. In fact, for these latecomers, they will find their bottleneck when they come here. This important position is in charge by your people. I’m unlikely to have a chance even if I work harder. Then they’ll start off with a gray one. Or they can’t really inspire their potential. It is not that they are incompetent but that’s their initiative, initiative and enthusiasm will be greatly reduced. My company has employees who have been working with me for more than ten years. Then she has already working in a different place. She had a relationship with her boyfriend in ningbo. In 2010, she told me that she decided to marry her boyfriend. I said no problem, it’s great. She said I’d love to continue to work with the boss. I said it doesn’t matter you go back to Ningbo and I give you a set of computer you give me the address. Then you work at home and do customer service. I am very relieved to trust each other. So it’s been seven years since she started working at home from 2010. Another one working in Thailand is working from home as a customer service too. Because her husband is work for Huawei, they can’t live apart all the time. Then she went to Thailand. That’s how it went from sales to customer service. She has been working at home for four or five years. Recently I heard that she was expecting a child. Congratulations.

Mike: Ok great thank you. Thank you for sharing.