Your inside connection to China

About Shaeps

Shaeps helps European SMEs whose competitive advantage sits in brand, technology, or industrial know-how to decide whether and how to enter China - before they commit

The problem

Why market entry fails

Most companies do not fail in China because of product quality. They fail because market entry is difficult to execute. Limited local access, weak counterpart verification, premature scaling, and distributor dependency are not exceptional risks - they are the default conditions for any company attempting to operate independently in a complex, relationship-driven market.

The brief

The gap we fill

Large corporates solve these problems with internal teams and large balance sheets. Most SMEs cannot. Shaeps exists to narrow that gap. Our role is not to maximise activity. It is to reduce the cost of being wrong before major commitments are made.

Risk-calibrated entry

Why staged entry

Shaeps follows a staged approach: as means of reducing risk and resource commitment. You establish only the minimum viable presence required to test commercial assumptions in-market - sufficient to sign agreements, engage distributors, and run real commercial conversations. Full entry planning is conducted only once those assumptions are confirmed.

Shaeps' character

What guides our work

Solve for the customer or step aside

Everything is judged by one question: Did it make the customer better off than before? If not, it is decoration. If the customer is confused, we are not done.

Simple wins

If it needs a diagram to explain, it is probably wrong. The moment a system becomes the product, it gets killed. Simplicity is not taste. It is speed.

Consent beats consensus

Consensus is how organisations die politely. We do not wait for everyone to feel comfortable. We move when it is safe enough to try.

Truth is the operating system

We say what is true early enough for it to matter. Not late enough to be polite. Mistakes are normal. Hiding them is not. We fix fast, speak clearly, and move on without theatre.

Start with the question

Opinions are cheap. Answers are expensive. We start with the question, not the conclusion. We do not reverse-engineer certainty to protect ego. If it is not measurable, it is not real.

Stay curious. Stay dangerous

We like people who: challenge politely but relentlessly, change their minds without drama, try things before arguing about them. If nothing breaks, nothing is being pushed hard enough.

Say less. Mean more

We are allergic to performative communication. If it takes 5 pages, it probably hides uncertainty. One page is not a limitation. It is a filter for clarity.

Make value. Protect the downside

Customers pay for outcomes, not effort. So we optimise for outcomes, not effort display. Profit is not greed. It is survival with options. Risk is allowed. Waste is not.

Ownership means finishing, not starting

Starting is easy. Everyone starts. We respect finishers. It stays attached to the problem until the problem is gone. There is no partial credit for intention. We see things through.

In-market capability

Why in-market presence

Most SMEs underestimate how relationship-driven and government-linked China remains. Without local presence, access to serious partners and government bodies becomes limited, and market credibility weakens - not because the product is wrong, but because the commercial infrastructure around it is missing. With 25+ years of China operating experience and extensive government and commercial relationships, Shaeps is well positioned to navigate this complexity.

Commercial alignment

Why no cure, no pay

Conventional advisory monetises process. Shaeps monetise outcomes - because most SMEs attempting China market entry cannot absorb the cost of a failed entry.

Understand no cure, no pay

Fit and focus

Who we work with

Shaeps works with SMEs whose competitive advantage sits in brand, technology, or industrial know-how - typically between 10 and 200 employees.

We are generally not the right partner for businesses with:

poorly differentiated products; or

short time-horizon.

Team leadership

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Niels Boje Lund

CEO Shaeps
Copenhagen

Europe operator
Venture builder
30+years international business

Casper Tollerud

CEO LEEMIAN
Shanghai

China operator
Venture builder
25+ years in-China experience

Some of our investors

Zhongxin
Investment

Nordic venture business entering China

Bluetown

Cultural and industrial sectors

City Construction
(Shanghai)

Content

Dexin Group

Clean tech and life sciences

Hengsheng
Fund

Nordic themed projects and brands

Jinjiang

Cultural and tourism sectors

Rongchuang
Group

Nordic Lifestyle

Zhongchan
Group

Cultural content for industry parks and incubators

Zhong Qi
Group

Technology, industry and cultural content