Arriving on foreign soil, where everyone speaks a different language and the tastes, smells and sights are all so unlike anything you are used to, can be a daunting experience. An experience that immediately hits expats on arrival in modern, cosmopolitan Shanghai.

 

Then magnify this feeling if you are starting a business. And more people are starting businesses because Shanghai is hot and its rapid rate of growth makes it a very desirable place to set up shop.

 

Four expats -- from Canada, France, the United States, and Germany -- explain how they started their own unique and successful companies. And an Australian is getting ready to start his own.

 

They are thrilled at the opportunities, while citing regulations as inevitable but not unsurmountable to those with drive, ingenuity and often a Chinese partner.

 

Megan Fischer, fashion designer

 

"I often joke with my friends and say that here you have Shang highs and Shang lows," says Megan Fischer, "but the highs always outweigh the lows."

 

Originally from Canada, Fischer moved to Shanghai from New York where she had been working for Polo Ralph Lauren in corporate sales.

 

That was a year ago. She intended to study Chinese for six months to further her career in fashion marketing.

 

But she started her own label locally last year -- a 12-month miracle. "It is so hot here right now. Coming from New York, I liked the cosmopolitan feel and because everything is so westernized, it was an easier transition."

 

The fashion designer explained how her brand started by chance.

 

"I went to the fabric market and altered a traditional qipao to my own style." It was slit much higher up the sides and scooped open at the neck.

 

She was overwhelmed by the response. Giving out more than 50 business cards in one night, Fisher realized the demand for her designs.

 

"Things just seemed to snowball from that one night. Here I am 12 months later, sitting in my studio with a growing fashion couture business and a new ready-to-wear line. It just shows what you can achieve," she says.

 

Her couture line is Megan Fischer Couture, her ready-to-wear line is Matsu by Megan.

 

Now she holds informal showings of her work. People can come and meet Fischer and see her designs.

 

Fischer calls her style "very eclectic," "Balenciaga meets Marc Jacobs with an Asian flavor." Her designs have appeared in China Vogue and other magazines.

 

She plans to set up an online service and sell the label in big department stores, starting with places like Hong Kong. If that goes well, she hopes to take her label back to New York.

 

Not even a year since she arrived, Fischer says that so far the experience of opening her own business has not been too overwhelming.

 

"The only problem I faced was that retail here is heavily regulated. That is why my studio is not a shop; it is an appointment-only showroom."

 

Attributing the success to a combination of factors, Fischer says, "No one else has so far done what I have and I think I was in the right place at the right time."

 

"My clothes are well made and well cut and are about making whomever they are for look like themselves but 10 times better - their most amazing version of themselves whilst being affordable. Doesn't everyone want that?

 

"I wish I could figure out the exact formula that got me this far as I would keep on using it."

 

For more information, visit www.meganfischer.com

 

Charlie Moretti, films managing director

 

 

"My approach was a lot more speculative," says Charlie Moretti, Bright Shadow Films managing director.

 

Starting his Shanghai-based film production company in 2004, the French producer explains, "I threw myself in at the deep end. Only buying a one-way ticket here, I thought, 'I am at an age when I can take a risk so I may as well do it now in a place that is growing and where there is not yet much competition."

 

Moretti has been invited to be in the "Who's Who" guide to Shanghai and his company is starting to be recognized internationally as a small facilitator to the Chinese movie industry.

 

He sells footage to US filmmakers and organizes China shoots for international clients. He can arrange footage of imperial sagas evocative of the film "Hero" -- or whatever a client desires. He is also working on his own films.

 

"I chose to set up my company here, after spending time in Hong Kong. I saw the potential in China and it was clear Shanghai was to be the next big thing."

 

Moretti has a background in UK films and worked on productions such as "Layer Cake," starring Daniel Craig, the new James Bond. "I always had in my mind that Shanghai is where I would start up my company," he says.

 

Before setting up Bright Shadow Films, Moretti spent one year learning Mandarin, researching the Chinese film industry and selling his project to potential investors.

 

With two documentaries now under his belt and two films in active development, he says, "I am so pleased I took the gamble."

 

"Initially moving out here was a daunting concept as it meant leaving everything behind, but there are so many more opportunities here that I would not have in Europe," Moretti explains.

 

"I saw so much potential with many lavish sets and blockbuster films being made."

 

At the time Moretti moved here, there were no foreign set-up film production companies in China.

 

"It is still forbidden for foreigners to wholly own media companies. However, I got round this by making a strategic partnership in China."

 

The immediate future for Bright Shadow is about keeping the momentum going. "Film-wise, it is about managing to mix Chinese talent with our production and distribution capabilities in the hope of gratifying and promoting further the Chinese movie industry," says Moretti.

 

"I feel very positive about what the company has achieved. It is very exciting to be part of such a diverse culture that makes every day an adventure, reminding me how lucky I am to have chosen Shanghai as my business and my home."

 

For more information, visit www.brightshadowfilms.com.

 

Scott Minoie and Frank Rasche, restaurant managing directors

 

Extraordinary expat stories in Shanghai are everywhere, from blockbuster success to iconic restaurants and well-known favorites.

 

"In Shanghai locals and foreigners really mix and my company seems to bring that together," says Scott Minoie, managing director of the restaurant, Element Fresh.

 

"For me Element Fresh is all about the style of food and service. It has a very international feel to it and we try to relate that to our customers," says Minoie who arrived in Shanghai in 1999 from Boston, the United States.

 

"I came to travel and teach English but fell in love with the city," he says.

 

However, from running a health food bar in a club, Minoie saw that there was nothing mid-range in Western healthy nutritious food. "This is where the idea grew from," he says. "At first I had no money but I spoke to a few customers and they said that they would invest, so its beginning was spontaneous."

 

Minoie has worked his whole life with food. From working with Whole Food Market, a major grocery chain of natural foods, he learned how to prepare foods in a healthy and nutritious way.

 

At the beginning of 2002, business was very informal. "I was swept up in all the excitement and energy of Shanghai, so I didn't have time to worry if it was difficult or not."

 

It was not until 2004 when Element Fresh started expanding that it became more challenging.

 

"The demand for good locations was great so the biggest challenge was to give landlords faith that it would be successful," he says.

 

Joining Minoie in 2004, Frank Rasche, Element Fresh's second managing director, says he and Minoie are friends and will brainstorm ideas.

 

"That's how it started -- two friends start talking and now it is the perfect match of two minds, Scott for food and me for marketing," says Rasche, from Cologne, Germany.

 

"It was a bit surprising how quickly people liked the restaurant and now it has grown to 400 people."

 

Rasche worked for Coca-Cola in London, Taiwan and then Shanghai.

 

"One of the great things here is that everything is new. Many people have confidence and energy but don't think they know it all," he explains. "Employees have a very positive attitude here. So you can really build a relationship with your staff."

 

People here view jobs as careers, not just interludes before or during college, says Rasche.

 

The fourth Element Fresh is set to open on Thursday in Xujiahui. Rasche says restaurants are also planned in Beijing and other places in China, "then maybe the rest of the world."

 

With a word of warning, Rasche says, "But in business you have to be careful not to get too excited and move too fast."

 

For more information, check www.elementfresh.com.

 

Steve Pratley, setting up an organic fabrics business

 

Shanghai is rapidly fostering small business growth with a growing number of small business centers and good networking opportunities, chambers of commerce and support groups.

 

It is often the first stop for business travelers to China, says Australian Steve Pratley who is setting up Eco-Fabrics, an organic fabrics business, still a work in progress.

 

"Everyone knows about this city, whereas smaller places are not as well recognized."

 

Working first in Hong Kong and then moving to Shanghai for a consulting company, Pratley oversaw a UK company that manufactured apparel for the European market.

 

In that job he became interested in developing organic and ecological fabrics.

 

Conventionally grown cotton fibers account for almost half of textiles worldwide. While cotton crops only account for three to five percent of the world's farmlands, cotton crops consume 25 percent of all chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

 

A large percentage of these chemicals remain in cotton when woven or knitted into a product.

 

Increasingly aware of the effects that this industry's chemicals were having on the environment, he says, "I started Eco-Fabrics as an alternative to chemically grown textiles."

 

Now Pratley plans to produce fabrics made from organically grown fibers for the production of garments, accessories and furnishings.

 

"I hope the organic movement in China will begin to educate more people about the effects that chemicals have on the environment and population," he says.

 

He plans to grow organically friendly fibers in China and says people don't realize there's good ecological news in the country.

 

This year Pratley aims to partner with other like-minded organizations to educate people about the importance of organic fibers.

 

People are interested in sourcing certified organic or eco textiles that are produced in a fair-trade environment.

 

This is one of the reasons his business is developing strongly in Shanghai.

 

"It's challenging to gain the confidence of customers when they have never been to China and only read in the press about fair trade issues," he says.

 

"Through connecting with these foreign companies I have had the opportunity to pass on positive news about some of the great changes that are happening in China which often seems to get neglected."

 

For more information, check www.eco-fabrics.com

 

(Shanghai Daily February 5, 2007)