The PIE: What are your plans for international expansion?

NP: In the international market there’s not a lot of demand for Chinese just yet. We forsee that there’s going to be a lot more demand in the years to come, but right now it’s pretty competitive and our largest competitor, Manadarin House, has been doing international business since 2004. They have a big head start on us, but I think competition is healthy, because it promotes quality in service for both of our institutions. We expect to catch up to them pretty quickly.

The PIE: Any ideas where you’ll go first?

“Competition is healthy, because it promotes quality in service for both of our institutions”

NP: It’s probably going to be somewhere in Europe like the UK, France or Germany and then, because I’m involved in the company and I have ties to schools in North America, our second step will probably be the US.

The PIE: What advice would you give to someone who wants to expand into the Chinese market?

NP: If you’re a foreigner, and you want to run a language school in China, my advice is “don’t” because you have no idea how convoluted and bureaucratic this system is. It’s all about personal connections and guanxi – which is Chinese for ‘establishing business relations’ and is how the entire system’s wheels are greased.  It’s very cutthroat and they don’t hide the fact that you get business based on how well you bribe people.

If you don’t have a Chinese counterpart who knows the proper people to bribe, you’re never going to get your business off of the ground. If you are interested in doing business in China, in the language sector, I would suggest partnering with an existing Chinese institution and going about it that way. You’re facing a serious battle if you try to go it alone and open up a school in China. If you don’t have inside Chinese support you don’t have a prayer.

“If you are interested in doing business in China, in the language sector, partner with an existing Chinese institution”

The PIE: Have you found a home in Shanghai?

NP: Shanghai is amazing. It’s a city of 23 million people but somehow there is no violent crime. There are a billion different restaurants and nightclubs and things to do, people to meet. Within the first couple of weeks after arriving I realized how awesome the city is and how many opportunities there are. It’s fantastic, so as long as the atmosphere stays like that there’s no place that I’d rather be.