Business Profile – Gavin Crombie
By Katherine Lea
From dreams of being of surgeon to selling the idea of bacteria remediation for sewage to the Chinese, Gavin Crombie, CEO of IDFGlobal, a company specializing in architectural visulaizations, has travelled wisely and learnt the ropes of doing business in China the hard way.
Born in a small town in the far South Island of New Zealand, Gavin’s dream of becoming a surgeon began in Otago University. But the life of wine, women and song soon distracted him and he went off to tour the world working as a chef in London, and Italy.
“I learnt that the world is a big exciting place and the provincialism of NZ was not all there was to enjoy. “
Returning to New Zealand to establish a business in the 1980s, Gavin’s turned to China when his business collapsed after what he defines as “his worst business decision ever”
“I had always had a fascination with China and believed it was going to become an economic powerhouse”
Starting as a kindergarten teacher in 1994 in Chengdu, Gavin with his wife then moved into business consulting for foreign companies.
“I had zero cash and this was the best way to get involved in business deals.”
After 5 years, a chance meeting with a Sydney architect involved in the design of the Olympics led Gavin to setting up Idrawfast (now IDF Global)– a 3d visualization company.
Over the years IDF Global has grown in leaps and bounds though not without difficulties.
“the biggest difficulty was gaining an understanding of the requirements of western architects and training staff to reach those requirements – our business plan indicated that this would take 2 years – in fact it took 5 years.”
Nonetheless, from a staff of only 2 in 1999, IDF Global now has over 250 staff with 17 sales offices around the world.
In 2005, Gavin published his best selling book on doing business in China.- The Way of the Dragon: A Guide for Australians Doing Business in China – where he explains the rules that govern business in China.
“China business is very relationship based – the relationship is more important than the deal and this is reflected at every level of business – staff relations, supplier relations, banking relations – not just with clients and partners”
Ending up in Chengdu was an accident, but from that time Gavin has never looked back.
“I think that Chengdu is China’s best kept secret and should become the centre of technology companies in China. The lower wages, rents, availability of staff, infrastructure and small city feel of Chengdu makes it an ideal place for foreign companies.”
Though the economic crisis is having an effect on Gavin’s business, he believes that if you work hard and work innovatively it is possible to weather the storm. His two catch words for this time are “survive” and “prosper”.
“Survival means dealing with the economic crisis and. Prosper means developing new avenues of business in other areas.”
For a more detailed view of Gavin’s business see his interview on http://www.advancechengdu.com
BACKGROUND
• Education:. PhD from the University of Life
• Family: Scottish immigrants to New Zealand. Married with 6 kids
• Residence: Chengdu China
INSIGHTS
• Best way to keep competitive edge: Constant improvement in all areas – building a good team and allowing space for the team to come up with ideas. Adopt Level 5 Management techniques – see Good to Great by Jim Collins.
• Personal hero: Winston Churchill
• How do you motivate people? Floggings should continue until morale improves.
• How do you motivate yourself: Constant reading – I aim to read two books a week and have done since age 17.
• Most unique office decor:.Hmmm – good question – one in which
JUDGMENT CALLS
• Best business decision: Coming to China
• Worst business decision: To throw all cash reserves into stock just before the “Great Leather Industry Crash of ’93” in New Zealand resulting in several million dollars in unsalable items and subsequent business collapse.
• Biggest management myth: Corporate Greed is the single biggest myth – recently spectacularly proven Business is life and rates of return should be based on all aspects of richness – quality of life, career opportunity, family opportunity.
• What advice would you have given yourself 10 years ago? Never give up – when you believe in something keep doing it until it happens.
• Word that best describes you: Straightforward
CONFESSIONS
• What keeps you up at night? My Wife
• Pet peeve: Gossiping villagers in Chengdu
• Guilty pleasure:. Ritters Rum and Raisin Chocolate
• First job:. Digging carrots for 10c a box when I was 9
• First choice for a new career:.Writer
TREASURES
• Favorite cause:. Anything that makes children’s lives better
• Favorite book:. Poems of Robert Burns
• Favorite subject in school: Chemistry
• Worst subject in school:. Latin
• Favorite movie: English Patient
• Favorite restaurant: Chengdu Yin Xiang
• What's on your iPod. An incredibly catholic range of music, Chinese lessons, Meditation exercises, comedy skits.
• What do you do to recharge the batteries? Lie on the beach in Phuket