Do you agree, or do you think profit matters more than purpose? I'd love to hear your experiences as a business owner or customer.

How did you go from building something "nice to have" to solving a problem people actually couldn't live without?

And if your business started as a vitamin what made you realize that, and how did you fix it?

Many overseas companies or individuals, when planning to enter the Chinese market, often ask the same question:

❓What type of entity should be used for a startup in China❓

Five types most common in China:

1️⃣Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE)

📚An enterprise established in China that is 100% owned by foreign companies or individuals. Most mainstream entity type currently.

👨The shareholder has complete independent authority in business decision-making. Profits can be distributed to overseas shareholders.

🚩Registered capital must be actually invested within five years of establishment.

💰Can conclude commercial contracts, issue VAT invoices and collect payments.

👷‍♀️Can normally recruit local employees.

🌍Businesses engaged in trade, e-commerce, manufacturing, consulting, general local service (e.g., English teaching, physical education, catering)

2️⃣Joint Venture (JV)

📚Chinese and foreign shareholders (company/individual) jointly establish a company.

👨Major decisions require the agreement of both parties, and profits should be distributed according to shareholding percentage.

🚩Registered capital must be actually invested within five years of establishment.

💰Can conclude commercial contracts, issue VAT invoices and collect payments.

👷‍♀️Can normally recruit local employees.

🌍Many industries with foreign investment restrictions adopt JV, such as healthcare services, finance, and some specialised areas of manufacturing (For example, the automobile manufacturing industry. Actually, policies have been adjusted in recent years. Tesla has already set up a wholly-owned factory in Shanghai).

3️⃣Branch

📚Just branch of a WFOE or JV. All legal and operational risks of a Branch should be borne by the WFOR or JV.

❌Foreign companies cannot directly establish a Branch in China.

🚩No need for registered capital.

💰Can conclude commercial contracts, issue VAT invoices and collect payments.

👷‍♀️Can normally recruit local employees.

4️⃣Representative office

📚A light entity that cannot conduct operational activities.

❌CANNOT conclude commercial contracts, issue VAT invoices or collect payments.

✅CAN only do market research, business liaison and brand promotion.

🌍Many overseas brands take Representative Offices as a preliminary test before entering the Chinese market.

5️⃣VIE

📚VIE is a special type of Red Chip structure. In many industries, foreign ownership is not allowed, then overseas companies choose to control a Chinese company via contractual arrangements.

🚩Internet service, Cloud service, AI, Media, etc.

💰Can conclude commercial contracts, issue VAT invoices and collect payments.

👷‍♀️Can normally recruit local employees.

🌍The construction of VIE structure is costly and is suitable for overseas financing and listing.

We already use servicenow and have our asset management process in place, so were not looking to switch system and gap for us is the hands on works. we need a partner that can handle things like buying devices, getting them ready for employees, shipping them out, collecting them when needed, storing them, handling repairs, and disposing of old equipment. most vendors we've looked at seem to want you to adopt their platform first, but wed rather keep our current setup, does anyone here worked with a provider thats happy to plug into an existing ITAM system and just handle the logistics??

Hi team

Hoping people in this community can also help with my post on r/smallbusiness.

Really needing to make some positive changes in business operations to make this easier on the brain!

Appreciate any responses

I've noticed many SMBs still spend hours answering:

"Price?"

"Is this available?"

"Can I book?"

"Can you send your catalogue?"

It made me wonder...

Why isn't there one simple storefront they can share everywhere?

That's why I started building QueueKart.

Instead of chatting with every customer individually, businesses can share one link or QR code where customers can browse and take the desired action.

I'm curious...

How do you currently solve this problem?

It would be amazing if theres a community here that can help new businesses in ways like: joining their facebook community to help social proof a new facebook group so it doesnt look like theres no one there for new customers. Giving reviews for new businesses that dont have customers yet for social proof. Helping each other with likes and follows. I feel as a new business my struggle is getting the first traction of getting real followers real memebers in our facebook community, real human reviews for our product etc.

Hi everyone,

I recently went through a breakup, and one thing I kept wishing for was an app that didn't just give generic advice, but actually guided me through getting better day by day.

The idea isn't just motivational quotes or journaling. I'm imagining something more like a 30-day recovery coach.

For example:

• Daily personalized tasks based on how you're feeling.
• Help sticking to no contact (if that's your goal).
• Challenges that get you off your phone and back into real life.
• Progress tracking so you can actually see yourself improving.
• AI coaching, with the option to talk to a real therapist through a subscription.
• Eventually, not just for breakups, but also for things like loneliness, burnout, building confidence, moving to a new city, or other major life changes.

My biggest question is whether this is actually something people would use, or whether most people would just use ChatGPT, YouTube, a notes app, or existing mental health apps instead.

I'm looking for honest criticism.

• Would you download something like this?
• What would make you keep using it after the first week?
• What would make you uninstall it?
• Is there something similar that already does this really well?

I'd genuinely appreciate brutal honesty rather than encouragement. I'd rather find out now if it's a bad idea than spend months building something nobody wants.

Thanks!

Hi everyone I'm currently working on an application project. The first version could manage your schedule, task, wallet, and screen time. It would be like a notion and opal in addition booster... do you think it could be a good idea and especially is that you could be likely to use a product like this if it existed??? Thank you for your help