Entrepreneurial Experience in Taiwan - Preface

"Success is 20% hard work and 80% destiny. However, even this 20% of hard work is a gift from above. I am grateful to have been brought to Taiwan, where I was given a second chance at life and a second opportunity to start a business. In 1999, I founded my first web design company in Hong Kong, but due to overexpansion, it went bankrupt within just two years. Later, I established ’WebKing.hk,’ learning from past mistakes and strictly controlling costs. Thanks to divine providence, this company has been operating ever since.

In 2020, I decided to immigrate to Taiwan as an investor. At that time, I naively believed that I could easily replicate the success I had in Hong Kong, but I was proven wrong. Cultural differences caused me many difficulties. Fortunately, I made many friends in Taiwan who shared valuable experiences with me. They taught me that to do business in Taiwan, one must meet market expectations, and prices should not be too low. In Hong Kong, my modest success came from winning clients by lowering prices, but this strategy didn’t work in Taiwan. I had to improve the quality of my products and services.

In 2023, I began using AI to improve the company’s systems, including billing, customer management, website management, and content management systems. A good system can significantly reduce operational costs, thereby generating more profits for the company.

Regarding website content management, the popular WordPress platform actually has many issues: it’s difficult to manage updates, has slow loading speeds, and high-security risks. Over the past few years, many Hong Kong clients have switched from WordPress to our system because our backend is easy to operate, allowing clients to update content themselves, which also greatly reduces our operating costs.

To my surprise, by upgrading our system, the Hong Kong company attracted many new clients, enabling us to survive in a highly competitive market.

When I first arrived in Taiwan, I was shocked to see how excellent the local web design companies were. I was once so stressed while coding that I cried as I worked. My work was already outdated at that time; if the standard of Taiwanese companies was 100, I was probably only at 25.

After several years of effort, I can now rate myself at 90. An unexpected outcome was that my Hong Kong company’s ranking on Google for many golden keywords in web design returned to the first page. Particularly, the key terms "web design" and "web company" have once again ranked first. From 2009 to 2016, we consistently held the top spot, but due to personal issues, our system was not updated, causing our ranking to drop to around seventy. It was Taiwan that helped me regain my previous rankings, which is also a blessing from above. I am thankful to Taiwan and to the heavens.

Now, I am more confident in our new operational model. I believe that, given enough time, the Taiwan company can become as profitable as the one in Hong Kong.

Our payment model is annual. The initial cost of creating a website for clients is the highest, and the main costs afterward are in system maintenance. As long as we continue to manage the company system well, the annual fees from clients will provide a stable cash flow.

Recently, I have started accepting interviews from some Taiwanese media outlets. I’ve realized that running a business in Taiwan requires deep cultivation, unlike the "quick money" approach in Hong Kong. I thank the heavens that I have now learned to enjoy this steady and gradual approach. Learning to do business in Taiwan, learning to live from Taiwanese friends, is different from the survival-focused mindset I had in Hong Kong, where I forgot how to truly live in the moment.

Finally, thank you for taking the time to read my personal story. Whatever the outcome, I will accept it with peace. My friends and my spouse have already considered ourselves as Taiwanese.

Thank you, thank you, and thank you once again!

Wishing you health and happiness!"