After working in one of the UK's largest companies in Hong Kong for over 5 years until 2005, the idea suddenly popped into my mind to try to open a business.

Deciding to leave the UK company

In this company, I always had to be careful about political issues between employees of other departments, but my department can be said to be quite compact because of the very clear division of labor, so there are rarely conflicts between us. The superiors were also kind to me, and the subordinates were also very cooperative, so working in this company was the most enjoyable time.

However, the chances of promotion and salary increases are very few in a large company like this, especially since our average bosses all want to work until retirement. So I decided to try to start a business that suits my interests, which is related to photography.

Trying to sell photos to publishers in Europe and the United States

I started trying to take photos of the sights in Hong Kong and created a website that made it easier for publishing companies in Europe and the United States to choose photos and make payments online. At that time, they paid quite a high price to buy the rights to a photograph to be used in a book or magazine they published in Europe or the United States.

Results of the business are not as expected

A few months passed, and very few companies bought photos from my website, because at that time most journalists or editorial photographers were still doing the conventional way of sending letters with films/photos to publishing companies, and they were also more trustworthy in this way. Then I tried to make a list of publishing companies and send them proposals one by one.

I also became aware that the competition in this business was very high and most publishing companies at that time did not want to give opportunities to beginners in this business. After the business ran for more than 1 year, I decided to return to the world of work.

A good friend introduced me to work at a United States company in Hong Kong

A friend of mine found out I was looking for a job, so he told me that a U.S. company that manufactures electronics and toys was in need of IT personnel to update all the systems at the Hong Kong branch. I immediately accepted the offer and applied for an IT Engineer position.

In the next article, I will tell you how my process worked in a United States company for almost 10 years.