Life
Entrepreneur will get your stuff here
By Eric Jou (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-01 15:15
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Leaving the nest is often a figure of speech for children growing up and leaving home. For William James Heathershaw, this meant flying a long way.
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 Heathershaw came to appreciate China during the 2008 Olympics. |
Armed with a good idea and a support base back home, Heathershaw is the founder Dong-Xi.com, a website that specializes in helping residents in China purchase goods from the US that normally can't be shipped abroad.
Clients would buy and pay for the product directly from US online retailers — and use Dong-Xi.com's address in the US as their shipping destination. They would then inform Dong-Xi.com via its online order form, and Dong-Xi.com will receive the purchase and ship it to China for a fee.
"The ability to pick and shop on whichever website you want, and consolidate packages, makes Dong-Xi unique in China," he said.
"What we're really offering is authenticity."
Heathershaw, who first came to China as a volunteer for the International Broadcasting Center during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, saw opportunities in China then.
After the Games, he went to Shenzhen and spent a couple of months studying Mandarin and the import-export industry.
"China just interests me," said Heathershaw. "I'm from Iowa; I love my home town and the hard-working people there." But China right now is "just an exciting place to be," he says.
Traveling between Beijing and Iowa during the past two years, Heathershaw saw a potential market in providing goods generally unavailable in China.
Whenever he went to the US, he would ask if anyone would need anything. Requests range from electronics to baby supplies.
After doing some research, Heathershaw started the website with the help of business partner Shaun Christiansen.
"I immediately jumped at the idea — and was presented with resistance from nearly every person I shared it with. People questioned the legality, the legitimacy and had almost every argument imaginable against it," said Christiansen. "My mom thought a Chinese SWAT team would bust through the windows and arrest me at any moment.
I imagine William faced similar resistance, but he still persevered."
Christiansen said he's insulated from the difficulties in the United States, but it's "real life" for Heathershaw, who is "getting his hands dirty and personally knowing our customers. I have no idea who they are; it is an abstract concept to me. But not to William."
Living the real life is exactly what Heathershaw is doing. Mingling and helping others mingle and adjust to life in China is one of the many side projects that he partakes in.
Heathershaw hosts and organizes events for Oriented, a professional networking group, and the International Newcomers Network (INN). Heathershaw first got involved with Oriented in 2009 and INN in early 2010.
INN had previously been a resource for people who could come to morning meetings and coffees, but Heathershaw convinced the board to try "INN Night Out" events at local restaurants to bring in more working expats who are new to the capital.
Frederic Baronet, head of legal affairs of Airbus China, is a customer and a friend, having met Heathershaw through the deliveries of some purchases on Dong-Xi.com.
"William is dynamic, trustworthy, and very friendly; he is a very interesting individual who is enthusiastic about China," Baronet said.
Heathershaw has recently added more-intense Chinese lessons to his already packed plate. He was already grounded in the language, an endeavor he undertook after listening to his father's cousin.
"In my second year (of college), I spoke to my dad's cousin," said Heathershaw. "He said ‘If I have one piece of advice for you, it's to learn Chinese.' So I started the next semester and my interest in China grew."
With Halloween kicking off a series of Western holidays, Heathershaw is keeping busy. Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and cyber Monday are looming and Christmas is around the corner, so Heathershaw is preparing for what might be his busiest season.
The four-day weekend after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping period of the year in the US. Before Dong-Xi.com was around, the sales and deals weren't readily accessible to shoppers in China.
His busy life gives Heathershaw opportunities to learn, grow and make friends as China gains strength in the world economy.
"I first came to China for the Olympics with (the University of) Iowa, learned what China was about, the culture, the business, and the people," said Heathershaw. "I found this was the perfect environment because it is constantly in transformation and development."