Tarchoune was a young foreigner who was interested in doing business in China. His
clients were from remote parts of China with barely any foreign companies operating
there, hence his profound knowledge of the Chinese language definitely aided in his
success as a young manager. He was able to read, write and speak in Chinese, without the
knowledge of the language he wouldn’t have been able to do anything. At the time
everything was in Chinese. He was in charge of translating everything and into English
and reporting it to the head office back in Northern Europe. When doing business in China
not all business document is open to the public, so you had to trust them. Tarchoune did
and he had no problems later on. Tarchoune says that rules were “not written on the wall”
you cannot succeed in a country by just following all the rules in the books. You need to
also understand the culture and follow the cultural rules in that country to succeed. Since
Tarchoune was a young foreigner he was given limited amount of interest, which made
him feel less confident in himself, but still had hope. If someone like Tarchoune were to
enter the Chinese market the best advice would be act like a Chinese and adapt yourself to
the culture and follow the rules even if they are not on the walls. It is important to
exchange and connect with people, this experience taught him patients and the importance
of personal connections. To find local talents set up locations.