As a Taiwanese migrant, Nelson Wang is not your typical Auckland-based accountant.
The Managing Director of NumberWise moved from Taiwan to New Zealand with his family when he was 14 years old.
“It was a big culture shock. We didn’t speak any English, and we had a lot of things to learn and adapt to. Also, starting a business is hard enough, let alone the cultures and languages and that whole environment included. It’s a lot to take in.”
However, Nelson always knew he’d get into business, and he started an accounting degree at Auckland University as soon as he could. He worked at Ernst and young for his first few years in the workforce, before branching out and starting his own practice in 2007. And that’s when things really started going gangbusters.
According to recent research by Xero, word of mouth is king in the accounting and bookkeeping industry. Referrals from family and colleagues is the most method to find an accountant or bookkeeper, with more than half of the survey respondents in New Zealand (59%) relying on word of mouth.
That’s exactly what Nelson experienced when he first started his company
“Before I started by company, I had been helping a lot of my friends and family with their accounts on the side. When they heard I had started my own practice, they started coming to me officially and referring others, and this is how I grew.”
With most of his clientele being Chinese both in New Zealand and overseas, Nelson started shifting from his focus on local and small businesses within Auckland to serving the Chinese/Asian community. With his Taiwanese cultural background, Nelson’s clients felt more at ease with the way he did business.
“I believe one of the most important values I have as a migrant is a global mindset. Different languages, different cultures. It’s the same philosophy I apply to life in general and business; to be a bit more open-minded, and find out where the opportunities are.
“You’ve got to understand their culture. The way Chinese people do business is very different to the Western style of doing things. Chinese people don’t like talking about money straight away, so it’s more about giving rather than taking.
“For example, they don’t like paying consultancy fees for the first few meetings – that’s a big no no in Chinese culture. So we had to come up with other ways of charging for the time. We also had to really build that trust from the start to convince them to keep coming to see us. The first few meetings is all about understanding the client. We’d spend a good few hours really showing them how we’d be good for their business.
“We start building that trust in Shanghai before clients even arrive in New Zealand. It works like a consultancy desk for international clients. Staff from a top law firm in Shanghai that we have a close relationship with meet the clients initially: the fact that we we have someone there helps build that extra layer of trust.”
While Nelson classes himself and his business as conservative by nature, he’s wary of some of the stereotypes in accounting and bookkeeping and works hard to bring a fresh approach to the industry.
“While we’re still quite traditional in how we work with our clients, we make sure to use technology and tools that makes life easier for them and us. For example, we use social media tools like WeChat (a predominantly-Chinese cross-platform instant messaging service with over 700 million users) to keep in touch with our clients. We’re always looking for ideas and ways to make things different.
“Sometimes when I’m at a social event and tell people what I do, I get the “oh, you’re an accountant”… and it’s a conversation stopper! But I like explaining to them how we help to grow businesses. There are no more boundaries. You can really grow and expand your business globally now using Xero. The data is immediately visible for the whole global operation, whether you’re China-based or your headquarters are in New Zealand. The actual value that creates is exponential.”