“晴湖似鏡平，潑眼綠波明。魚隊(duì)行堪數(shù)，鳧雛近不驚。”清人王掞描寫的泛舟常州尚湖的一幕令人神往。然而，相比于寧?kù)o的尚湖，商海就多了幾許波瀾。波瀾壯闊的商海，誰(shuí)人勇立船頭，踏浪弄潮，又可以氣定神閑商海觀瀾？連元章，元豐國(guó)際有限公司董事長(zhǎng)，就是這樣的弄潮兒。商海泛舟30余載，從勇闖海外白手起家，到如今公司的多元化國(guó)際化經(jīng)營(yíng)，一路走來(lái)，他櫛風(fēng)沐雨，也覽盡風(fēng)景。“Lake under the sun shines like a mirror， with glistening waves of green. Fishes swim in rows， baby mallards not awakened by footsteps.” This is a poem written by Wang Shan of the Qing Dynasty depicting the tranquility of the Shang Lake in Changzhou City， East China’s Jiangsu Province. Compared with the calmness of the Shang Lake， the business world is much more billowy. In the sea of business， there are not many helmsmen who could steer the boats safely against growling billows with ease and confidence.Lien Yuanchang， Chairman of Commercial Best Mart S.R.L.， is one of such helmsmen. Mr. Lien started his business overseas from scratch 30 years ago， and is now running an international company with diversified businesses. The past years have seen his great achievements despite countless hardships on the way.勇闖海外Starting overseas from scratch憶往昔，崢嶸歲月稠。回憶起創(chuàng)業(yè)之處的往事，連元章以他平和的語(yǔ)調(diào)向《中國(guó)對(duì)外貿(mào)易》記者娓娓道來(lái)。連元章的第一站是南美的巴拉圭。80年代初，從臺(tái)灣文化大學(xué)新聞系畢業(yè)后，他動(dòng)了去巴拉圭開店的想法。“機(jī)緣是這樣的。當(dāng)時(shí)，我阿姨先到巴拉圭開店，因資金有限，她多是向香港商人半打、一打的拿貨，因?yàn)榱啃〔怀梢?guī)模，生意難做覺得難過(guò)，向我母親哭訴，母親就幫助她從臺(tái)灣出貨到巴拉圭。”1982年，他創(chuàng)立了元豐國(guó)際有限公司(Commercial? Best?Mart?S.R.L.)，妻子負(fù)責(zé)店里業(yè)務(wù)，他則負(fù)責(zé)尋找新的商品。開始是向別人拿貨，后來(lái)自己尋找供貨商，從香港、大陸、日本等地進(jìn)貨，并設(shè)法在美國(guó)設(shè)立發(fā)貨倉(cāng)庫(kù)。創(chuàng)業(yè)之初，進(jìn)口的貨品主要是雨傘、飾品，1982年改為經(jīng)營(yíng)商場(chǎng)后，開始擴(kuò)大產(chǎn)品規(guī)模，進(jìn)口玩具、禮品、文具、家用品等商品。因?yàn)橛X得租賃商場(chǎng)周圍環(huán)境較差，連元章決定自己建商場(chǎng)。如今，他已在巴拉圭擁有5座商場(chǎng)。初來(lái)乍到，生意也并非一帆風(fēng)順。“當(dāng)初由于人生地不熟的原因，不可避免地遭受了一些損失。”連元章回憶道。首先是法律問(wèn)題，由于對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)胤傻牟皇煜ぃ粤撕芏嗫囝^。“當(dāng)?shù)氐墓?huì)力量很強(qiáng)，特別注重保護(hù)工人。律師甚至尋找機(jī)會(huì)利用當(dāng)?shù)氐摹秳诠しā穼?duì)企業(yè)施壓，比如說(shuō)我們公司當(dāng)時(shí)的午休制度允許工人在中午12點(diǎn)至1點(diǎn)之間在公司休息，本以為是善意行為，但這樣也被告。因?yàn)楫?dāng)?shù)胤烧J(rèn)為這本應(yīng)是工作時(shí)間。”In a peaceful tone， Mr. Lien shared his entrepreneurship and life experience with China’s Foreign Trade.Paraguay in South America is the place where Mr. Lien started to do business. He had this idea of opening a store in Paraguay in the beginning of the 1980s after graduation from the Department of Journalism of Chinese Culture University in Taiwan. “At that time， my aunt had a store in Paraguay. But with limited funding， she had to buy only a dozen or half a dozen products at wholesale from Hong Kong businessmen. The small-sized business did not bring much profit. She wept out her difficulty to my mother， who then began to help her source products from Taiwan，” Lien told our reporters.Mr. Lien founded Commercial Best Mart S.R.L. in 1982. At that point， her wife ran the store and he kept looking for new products to sell. He started by buying commodities at wholesale， and later had his own suppliers in Hong Kong， mainland China， Japan and other regions. He managed to set up a shipping warehouse in the United States.At the beginning， Lien mainly dealt in umbrella and ornament. He began to expand the scope of his business to include toys， gifts， stationary， household goods， etc.， in 1982 when he leased a shopping mall. Not liking the bad environment surrounding the mall， he decided to build one of his own. Now， he has five shopping malls in Paraguay.Things did not go smoothly for him as a new comer in Paraguay. “As a total stranger， I suffered some losses，” said Mr. Lien. He suffered losses due to unfamiliarity with local laws. “They have very powerful unions actively protecting the rights of workers. Lawyers would even go through lengths to use local labor law to put pressure on enterprises. For example， my company allowed workers to rest in the company from 12:00am to 1:00pm. But we were sued for this kind action， since local laws stipulate it as working time.”然而吃一塹長(zhǎng)一智，“我們并不認(rèn)為這是對(duì)外來(lái)企業(yè)的歧視，我們要去適應(yīng)當(dāng)?shù)氐纳鐣?huì)環(huán)境與法律，這樣才會(huì)進(jìn)步。”他說(shuō)。當(dāng)?shù)刂伟箔h(huán)境欠佳，為了保護(hù)其公司以及臺(tái)灣旅巴僑胞的安全，他不顧個(gè)人安危，挺身而出，多次奔波于當(dāng)?shù)卣块T，成立小組，保障了公司及僑胞的財(cái)產(chǎn)安全。雖歷經(jīng)磨難，“我的背后有一個(gè)永遠(yuǎn)支持我的賢內(nèi)助，她是我堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的后盾。”連元章不無(wú)幸福地說(shuō)道。“A fall into a pit， a gain in your wit.” “We did not consider that as discrimination against foreign enterprises. Instead， we tried to adapt to the local society and laws. Only by doing this can we develop，” Lien said.The public security environment in Paraguay was not very good. Mr. Lien risked his own safety to negotiate with the local government and set up teams， in order to protect the property and safety of his company and fellow Taiwanese.Despite all the hardships， “I’ve always had a good wife having my back. She has given me the strongest support，” Lien said pleasantly.經(jīng)營(yíng)有道Wise business management連元章的生意在巴拉圭日漸紅火，并開始向周邊鄰近國(guó)家巴西、美國(guó)等地鋪設(shè)。而這些成績(jī)的取得要依賴于他的經(jīng)營(yíng)有方。為此，他榮獲了“海外華人第五屆創(chuàng)業(yè)楷模”稱號(hào)。首先是獨(dú)特的創(chuàng)意。“一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)想法就可以讓我們區(qū)別于別人。”他對(duì)記者表示。他舉例說(shuō)，“剛來(lái)的時(shí)候，我們進(jìn)行貝殼、戒指、雨傘等貿(mào)易。對(duì)貝殼飾以金絲，開始是人工捆綁，后來(lái)改為機(jī)械操作。另外，早在30年前我們就對(duì)雨傘加上花邊進(jìn)行美化，并提供質(zhì)量較好的傘套，而不是那種一次性的。”除經(jīng)營(yíng)商場(chǎng)外，連元章也有意改變?cè)S國(guó)際的經(jīng)營(yíng)模式。以前拿貨是向日本進(jìn)口貨品批發(fā)給別人，或向香港獨(dú)家代理精品在當(dāng)?shù)劁N售。如今，為使商品更加多元化，他開始從大陸、印度尼西亞、越南等地進(jìn)口商品。腳步站穩(wěn)后，便與人合伙投資，與一些臺(tái)商成立國(guó)泰銀行。一方面經(jīng)營(yíng)商場(chǎng)，一方面開店，并在經(jīng)營(yíng)管理上立下基本原則：“我盡量將商場(chǎng)的店面出租，若是自己開店，店內(nèi)銷售的商品會(huì)盡量避免與商場(chǎng)的客戶相同，我會(huì)站在客戶的立場(chǎng)考慮，與他們建立長(zhǎng)久關(guān)系。”With booming business in Paraguay， Mr. Lien began to expand into neighboring nations such as Brazil and the United States. He won the 5th Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurial Role Model Award for his wise business management.He has creative ideas. “A little thought will distinguish us from others，” he told the reporters. For example， he said， “When I just arrived there， we dealt in shells， rings， umbrellas， and etc. We embossed shells with golden wire first by hand and later by machine. And we laced the umbrella to beautify them as early as 30 years ago. We also provided good quality umbrella bags， instead of disposable ones.When operating shopping malls， Lien decided to change the operating pattern of his company. Previously he imported goods from Japan and wholesale to others， or be the sole agent of Hong Kong high-class products and sell locally. In order to diversity his products， he began to import from the Mainland， Indonesia， Vietnam and other places. Having got a firmfoot hold， he and some Taiwan businessmen jointly established the Cathay Bank.Now Mr. Lien runs shopping malls and storesat the same time. With regard to his principle on operation and management， he said， “I try to rent the spaces of the shopping malls. If I have my own store in the mall， I would try to sell different products than those sold by my clients. I would think in the position of my clients， and have long-term cooperation with them.”談及市場(chǎng)策略，他表示，“美國(guó)市場(chǎng)很大，因此元豐國(guó)際在洛杉磯設(shè)立發(fā)貨倉(cāng)庫(kù)。為減少庫(kù)存，現(xiàn)在進(jìn)貨都是少量多樣，貨柜數(shù)量比以前減少許多，以前每年進(jìn)口多達(dá)1000個(gè)貨柜，現(xiàn)在每年100多個(gè)。”目前，家用品占元豐國(guó)際營(yíng)業(yè)額的近六成，其他則是禮品、玩具及計(jì)算機(jī)配件等。連元章逐漸在家用品、大宗玩具方面，樹立了自己的品牌。“由于消費(fèi)者對(duì)商品的樣式、功能等要求不同，通常我們會(huì)等到第二次回單時(shí)，才能判斷商品暢銷與否，并據(jù)此決定是否增加貨品。在目標(biāo)客戶的定位上，我們鎖定中上階層的客戶，因?yàn)樵撾A層利潤(rùn)較高，競(jìng)爭(zhēng)也較小。”他對(duì)記者表示。問(wèn)及元豐國(guó)際的銷售策略，連元章表示，“我們主要是采取‘坐銷’，即坐在店里等待顧客自動(dòng)上門。”“當(dāng)然，我們會(huì)建立完整的客戶檔案，包括他們的聯(lián)系信息、我們與客戶談話中捕捉的訊息等，都會(huì)詳加記錄。我們也會(huì)通過(guò)業(yè)務(wù)員主動(dòng)銷售。以前我們主要參加當(dāng)?shù)卣褂[來(lái)尋找代理商，現(xiàn)在因?yàn)楫a(chǎn)品模式是少量多樣，參展就少了。”他補(bǔ)充道。“少量多樣”的情況下，連元章開始在售后服務(wù)上下功夫。“比如，我們做顯示器，很早就開始注重售后服務(wù)了，我們?cè)诎臀髟O(shè)有多處維修點(diǎn)，顧客可以在巴拉圭買我們的產(chǎn)品，在巴西維修。”談及金融風(fēng)暴，他說(shuō)，“我們并未受大的波及，因?yàn)槲覀冑Y金周轉(zhuǎn)主要以現(xiàn)金模式，但當(dāng)?shù)厥袌?chǎng)疲軟對(duì)我們還是有些影響，回到1986-1994年的黃金時(shí)代有困難。”此外，給工人以充分的信任。元豐國(guó)際開始時(shí)員工不多，干部以華人為主。他認(rèn)為，元豐國(guó)際能有今天，是靠大家一起合作打拼取得的。因此，他對(duì)工人關(guān)愛有加，平時(shí)并不過(guò)多過(guò)問(wèn)公司的業(yè)務(wù)，而是放心交給工人。“現(xiàn)在很多責(zé)任人跟著我已經(jīng)30年了，這得益于相互的信任，信任可以達(dá)成雙贏。”在他的公司，連續(xù)工作3年以上的工人，就有機(jī)會(huì)獲得提拔，并得到獎(jiǎng)金或分到100多平米的公寓房，以資鼓勵(lì)。Asked about his marketing strategy， Lien said， “The U.S. market is large， so Commercial Best Mart S.R.L. established a shipping warehouse in Los Angeles. To reduce inventory， we stock a great variety of products， each in a small amount. The number of containers was reduced to over 100 per yea from the previously over 1000.”Home products now account for nearly 60% of his company’s turnover. The rest was taken by gifts， toys， computer accessories， etc. The company has gradually established recognized brands of home products and wholesale toys.“As consumers have different requirements for the style and function of commodities， we have to wait until the second-time order to know whether a product sells good or not， and decide whether to increase the inventory of it. We target middle- and upper-class customers， as profit is high and competition is less fierce in that stratum，” Lien told the reporters.Asked about his sales strategy， Mr. Lien said， “We use the strategy of ‘Sit-and-Sell’ –sitting in the store， and waiting for the customers to come.”“We of course have customer profiles， including their contact information， and the information we captured in conversation with them. We also sell actively. We used to attend local exhibitions to find sales agents. But now we have a wide variety of products， each in a small amount， so we participate in shows less often，” he added.Mr. Lien attached great importance to after-sales service.“We have been emphasizing after-sales service since very early. For example， we have many maintenance points in Brazil for the monitors we sell. Customers can buy our monitors in Paraguay and get them repaired in Brazil.”Talking about the financial turmoil， Lien said， “We have not been affected， as our capital turnover is mainly in the form of cash. But weak demand in the local market has some impact on us. It is difficult to repeat the success in the golden years from 1986 to 1994.”Mr. Lien fully trusts its staff. It didn’t have many staff at the beginning. Most of the management was Chinese. Mr. Lien believed that the company’s success should be attributed to the hard work of its employees. Therefore， he takes good care of his employees. He doesn’t make all the decisions in the company， but give full trust to his staff. “Many of my staff has worked with me for 30 years， thanks to mutual trust and win-win collaboration.”Anyone who has worked for more than three years in his company is offered the opportunity to be promoted， and given bonuses or an apartment of over 100 sqm.熱心公益Enthusiastic in public good身在巴拉圭，他不僅關(guān)注的是如何擴(kuò)大自己的貿(mào)易，更加關(guān)注的是如何回饋當(dāng)?shù)厣鐣?huì)。他的公司雇傭了很多當(dāng)?shù)毓と耍磕甓紩?huì)給當(dāng)?shù)刎毨巳菏┮跃葷?jì)。In Paraguay， Mr. Lien did not only focus on expanding his business， but also on contributing to the local community. His company hires a large number of local workers， and gives aids to poor people every year.“開始是找市政府做，但市政府管理無(wú)方，后來(lái)我們找到主教，這樣就能確保救濟(jì)物資到達(dá)真正需要的人手上。多的時(shí)候，我們救濟(jì)的對(duì)象達(dá)5000戶家庭。”他介紹說(shuō)。另外，當(dāng)?shù)蒯t(yī)療水平薄弱，他看在眼里，決定開辦醫(yī)院，委托當(dāng)?shù)氐尼t(yī)療部門接管，給病人提供免費(fèi)醫(yī)療。“當(dāng)時(shí)，我們從臺(tái)灣進(jìn)口了3000個(gè)育兒箱。10年前用過(guò)育兒箱的第一個(gè)嬰兒現(xiàn)在茁壯成長(zhǎng)，她的母親很是感動(dòng)，我們也很高興。”教育方面，連元章結(jié)合當(dāng)?shù)氐膬S商力量對(duì)巴拉圭亞松森大學(xué)進(jìn)行捐贈(zèng)，設(shè)置獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，以協(xié)助當(dāng)?shù)刎毨W(xué)子就學(xué)。不僅對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)厝绱耍瑢?duì)于僑胞，連元章也關(guān)愛有加。他善用臺(tái)灣資源，協(xié)助當(dāng)?shù)貎S商改善企業(yè)經(jīng)營(yíng)狀況并實(shí)現(xiàn)轉(zhuǎn)型。為使旅巴僑商突破經(jīng)營(yíng)瓶頸，他在投資環(huán)境評(píng)估、僑商經(jīng)營(yíng)項(xiàng)目、現(xiàn)狀及困境等方面，積極與僑務(wù)委員研究解決方案。為協(xié)助僑商解決資金融通問(wèn)題，他返臺(tái)四處奔走協(xié)調(diào)，促使臺(tái)灣中國(guó)信托商業(yè)銀行在巴拉圭設(shè)立分行，提供僑胞融資服務(wù)。當(dāng)時(shí)旅巴的僑胞漸多，子女教育成為困擾僑胞的重要問(wèn)題。于是，為解決該問(wèn)題并傳承中華文化教育，他主動(dòng)規(guī)劃并結(jié)合當(dāng)?shù)貎S商力量捐款成立巴拉圭東方市第一所華人學(xué)校“中山僑校”，造福當(dāng)?shù)貎S商子弟。20年來(lái)他自費(fèi)贊助由臺(tái)灣運(yùn)送相關(guān)教材書籍，供東方市中山僑校、后來(lái)的亞松森中正僑校等學(xué)校使用。此外，為關(guān)懷返臺(tái)就學(xué)的僑商子弟，他定期捐贈(zèng)獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金資助大專院校在學(xué)僑生、返臺(tái)升學(xué)的海外僑校的教師子弟等。“First we worked with the municipal government. But they didn’t have good management. So we asked the Bishop to give our relief supplies to those in need. Our aids once reached as many as 5000 families，” he said.Having noticed the backwardness of medical care in Paraguay， Mr. Lien built a hospital， which was taken over by the local Health Department and provides free medical care to the patient. “We imported 3000 baby boxes from Taiwan ten years ago. The first baby to use the box ten years ago is now very healthy. Her mother was very thankful. We are very happy to see that.”Besides， Mr. Lien， together with other Chinese businessmen， made donations to Asuncion University of Paraguay， to set up scholarships for students from financiallystricken families.Lien is also caring of oversea Chinese. Making good use of Taiwan resources， Lien helped Chinese businessmen in Paraguay improve their business operation and realize business transformation. In order to help Chinese companies in Paraguay break through operation bottlenecks， he actively sought solutions with Commissioners of Overseas Affairs in such aspects as investment climate assessment， businesses， situations and difficulties of Chinese companies in Paraguay. In order to help overseas Chinese businessmen resolving financial problems， he made great efforts to get Chinatrust Commercial Bank set up a branch in Paraguay to provide financing service to overseas Chinese.With more and more Chinese settling down in Paraguay， the education of their children became a major problem. In order to address the problem and to pass on the Chinese culture， Mr. Lien proposed and built Zhongshan Chinese School， the first Chinese school in Ciudad del Este City of Paraguay， with funding from himself and other Chinese businessmen there. For 20 years， he has been sending free books from Taiwan to this school， which was renamed Zhongzheng School of Asuncion， and some other schools in Paraguay.In addition， he donates scholarships on a regular basis to overseas Chinese who return to study in Taiwan junior colleges and for children of Chinese teachers working overseas who come back to Taiwan to go to college.內(nèi)地布局Presence in mainland China中國(guó)大陸經(jīng)濟(jì)的迅速發(fā)展，連元章看在眼里，急在心里。雖遠(yuǎn)在海外，他始終關(guān)注著大陸的發(fā)展，并竭力尋找投資機(jī)會(huì)，做出自己的貢獻(xiàn)，他覺得這是一種“召喚”。Even though Mr. Lien has been living overseas， he has paid close attention to the rapid economic development in mainland China. He feels obliged to seek investment opportunities here and make some contributions.“我們?cè)诋惖仄创蚨嗄辏幌雴未颡?dú)斗，就想把我們的資金、經(jīng)驗(yàn)帶回去，共謀發(fā)展。”他深情地說(shuō)道。2010年兩岸簽署經(jīng)濟(jì)合作框架協(xié)議（ECFA）之后，兩岸經(jīng)貿(mào)合作迎來(lái)新的歷史機(jī)遇。連元章是ECFA及馬英九政府的積極支持者。他表示，兩岸經(jīng)貿(mào)合作，攜手共贏，是臺(tái)商的共同心愿。去年，他覺得回大陸投資的時(shí)機(jī)已經(jīng)成熟，開始在內(nèi)地布局。記者采訪之時(shí)，正逢他在北京受邀參加中華全國(guó)臺(tái)灣同胞聯(lián)誼會(huì)(簡(jiǎn)稱全國(guó)臺(tái)聯(lián))舉行的“臺(tái)商回國(guó)投資考察”活動(dòng)。之前，據(jù)他介紹，已在北京考察了商務(wù)旅館、餐廳等項(xiàng)目，在上海已入股格林豪泰連鎖酒店，其寶貝豆（Baby?Doll）餐廳業(yè)已入住寧波商業(yè)中心，近期正在洽談長(zhǎng)白山的礦泉水生產(chǎn)項(xiàng)目。“我們比較關(guān)注連鎖經(jīng)營(yíng)模式，今后我們也將開辦商務(wù)旅館、餐廳等服務(wù)業(yè)的定向培訓(xùn)活動(dòng)，助力于內(nèi)地的人才培養(yǎng)以及經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展。”一個(gè)小插曲是他讓女兒在內(nèi)地做北京大學(xué)的交換生，“這樣她才會(huì)更好地熟悉中國(guó)，以利將來(lái)在商業(yè)上有所發(fā)展。”目前，內(nèi)地企業(yè)“走出去”的呼聲漸高。“對(duì)于去海外投資的企業(yè)來(lái)說(shuō)，這是好事，但它們需要熟悉當(dāng)?shù)氐姆桑嘧稍兺⑸虆f(xié)會(huì)等避免無(wú)謂損失，另外，深耕海外要以夷制夷，因?yàn)楫?dāng)?shù)厝吮容^了解本土市場(chǎng)。”他對(duì)記者表示。如今，身為世界臺(tái)灣商會(huì)聯(lián)合總會(huì)名譽(yù)總會(huì)長(zhǎng)、全球華商經(jīng)貿(mào)學(xué)員聯(lián)誼總會(huì)名譽(yù)總會(huì)長(zhǎng)的連元章，希冀新一輪的發(fā)展。“未來(lái)，希望在內(nèi)地繼續(xù)深耕飲食業(yè)、服務(wù)業(yè)方面的連鎖行業(yè)，樹立自有品牌。”他憧憬道。“We have been working for many years overseas. But we don’t want to be alone. We would like to bring our capital and experience back to our motherland and seek common development，” he said emotionally.The signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in 2010 ushered in new historical opportunities for economic and trade cooperation across the straits. Mr. Lien is an active supporter of ECFA and the Ma Ying-jeou administration. He said win-win economic and trade cooperation between the two sides is the common aspiration of Taiwan businessmen.He believed time was right for investment in the Mainland last year， and started to work on it. The interview was conducted when Mr. Lien was in Beijng on the Overseas Taiwan Businessmen Investment Tour held by the AllChina Federation of Taiwan Compatriots. Mr. Lien said he visited business hotels， restaurants and other projects. He has purchased stakes in Greentree Inn hotel chain in Shanghai. His Baby Doll restaurant has been admitted to the Ningbo Business Center. He is now looking at a mineral water production project in Changbai Mountain.“We are more interested in the model of chain operation. In the future we will also offer special training for business hotels， restaurants and other service industries， to help train personnel and promote economic development in the Mainland.”Lien’s daughter is studying in Peking University as an exchange student. “A better knowledge of China will be helpful to her as a businesswoman in the future.”Now the Chinese government encourages domestic enterprises to go global. “This is a good thing for Chinese enterprises investing overseas. But they need to be familiar with local laws， and have frequent consultation with fellow Chinese enterprises， chambers of commerce， and industrial associations， so as to avoid unnecessary losses. They should also hire local people who have a better understanding of the local market，” Lien told the reporters.As honorary president of the World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce， honorary president of the World Federation of Chinese Traders Alumni， Lien Yuanchang is expecting a new wave of development. He expressed his hope to establish his own brands in the catering and service industries in the Mainland in the future.
