About Shaeps
The problem
Why market entry fails
Most companies do not fail in China on product quality. They fail on execution:
Little local access, no way to check who they are dealing with, scaling too early, and leaning on one distributor.
These are not unusual risks. For a company operating alone in China, they are the normal conditions.
The brief
The gap we fill
Large companies solve this with their own teams and a big balance sheet. Most SMEs cannot. We close that gap.
You only scale once the market has said yes. Until then we keep your spend small.
Risk-calibrated entry
Why staged entry
Staged entry means setting up only the minimum legal and operating presence needed to test commercial assumptions in the market. The full entry structure is built only once those assumptions are validated.
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
China still runs on relationships, and government sits closer to business than most SMEs expect. Without people on the ground, serious partners and officials are hard to reach.
Your product is not the problem. What is missing is everything around it.
Our Shanghai team has 25 years in China, and the relationships that come with it.
Commercial alignment
Why no cure, no pay
Most advisers charge you for the process. We are paid on the outcome.
An SME cannot absorb the cost of a failed China entry. Neither can we.
Fit and focus
Who we work with
We work with Nordic and European companies of 10 to 200 people. IP-driven companies: your advantage sits in a brand, a technology, or industrial know-how.
This is not for you if:
Team leadership
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