The inspiring successful story of an e-commerce business based in Hong Kong

Two days ago I had dinner with Aurora, a lovely Spanish girl living in Hong Kong who contacted me after coming across my blog. It was a delightful dinner, for she is a very interesting person, and we had much in common. She has been working in the e-commerce field for a long time, so you bet we had much to talk about! One of the most interesting things I learned from her was the story of a successful online shop based in Hong Kong and targeting Europe/US, basically the same business idea as my new online store Frill Me.

This online store is Modes4u, currently specialising in cute stationery from Japan. It was founded in Hong Kong in 2007 by Sandra, an Austrian girl who had very clear she wanted her own business. Basically she started sourcing fashion and accessories from Asia (Thailand, China, Japan), and sold them on her online store as well as eBay. After a while, and when she got a clearer idea of the market needs, she started specialising in cute Japanese items exclusively, and she soon became an official wholesaler for the San-X products (brands such as Rilakkuma) for the European and North-American markets, and then evolved her business from there. You can take a look at her blog, which has been up since 2008, and offers a good view on the whole business process since she set up the company until currently, when she has her own office with warehouse/showroom and about 10 people working for her, including her husband! That's the best part because this is exactly what J and I would love to do, working together in our own business! My parents do the same thing and are really successful so I have no doubt that we will eventually get there as well :)

Sandra, if you happen to read this, know that I'd love to meet up and get to actually know you! You have a fan here :)

PS. Aurora and I will be at the Spanish Chamber's Happy Hour at View 62 by Paco Roncero in Wan Chai tonight from 7pm to 9pm. Do come say hi if you happen to be around!