For UQ graduate James O’Donnell, the best thing about being his own boss is the freedom to shape the direction of his company.
As the Managing Director of AustAsiaCo, James, who is from Paddington in Brisbane, is responsible for providing services for companies that want to import goods to or export goods from China.
“Everything I studied at UQ has helped me to develop my whole company – the Chinese language, culture, history, business law, management skills, communication, marketing, Web page development, programming, applications, networking and general knowledge,” he said.
After graduating in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in the Chinese language, James took the opportunity to see the world. He knew that living in a Chinese speaking country would help him become more fluent in the language.
“China is an ambiguous market and it takes experience and cultural knowledge to tackle it,” he said.
After graduating, James lived and worked in Taiwan for two-and-a-half years, teaching English and doing freelance translating work.
On his return to Brisbane he worked for an import/export company. The company required a fluent Chinese speaker to export from China and Australia to the South Pacific. James used his cultural and language experience to work closely with Australian exporters based in Brisbane.
After taking leave, James travelled to China and to do some research. He looked at some different ideas on how to structure the company and how he could assist Australian companies to trade safely in such a complex market. He met with suppliers and found someone who was interested in working with his new company plan.
He found that what Australian companies needed was an organisation that could help them source safe and reliable suppliers and produce products according to Australian standards.
The company is now trading in Brisbane as an Australian Chinese business consultancy group. In China the company liaises with manufacturers to design products made according to Australian standards.
“Australians like the advantage of our company as we do not buy and sell products – we sell our services,” he said.
“The customer receives all the information from us and knows exactly who the manufacturer is and how much they are paying.
“After establishing a strong supply chain we can then follow through the whole shipping process.
“The main advantage is that the customer’s supply chain is secured and we can do the work load in one fifth of the time required. Many companies fail and end up loosing a lot of money in trying it themselves”.
Media: For more information, contact James O’Donnell (telephone 0448 848 617, email James@AustAsiaCo.com.au) or Chris Saxby at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2479, email c.saxby@uq.edu.au).
For high resolution images, contact Diana Lilley (07 3365 2753, d.lilley@uq.edu.au).
