Home furnishings specialist Catherine Eve found Hong Kong one of the easiest places in the world to set up a company

Director and founder of INSIDE, a home furnishings company that uses only natural materials, she began with a small space in Princes Building in the Central business district and now owns three freestanding shops and a warehouse.
 
Formerly with British textile designer Zika Ascher and Liberty of London, Ms Eve decided to make her home in Hong Kong in 1990. She worked for a local retailer to learn about the market here.

"I found there was tremendous opportunity in the area of quality home furnishings. In the UK we had furnishing designers doing wonderful things. But here there were only the department stores and IKEA. And in the 90s Hong Kong people were paying much more attention to the way their homes were decorated and really hungering for more quality products.
 
"I also found that Hong Kong is a fantastic place to do business," Ms Eve continued. "It is one of the easiest places in the world to set up a company. Communications are so good, and corporate registration so easy, you can do it in a day."

Quality trade fairs boost sales

She added that trade fairs and exhibitions in Hong Kong are very helpful to her business. "We have shown twice in the Houseware Fair organised by the Trade Development Council and on each occasion they gave us wonderful exposure. The city is so dynamic and it is very economical to succeed in business here because it is almost all based on word of mouth. If your product is good, the word spreads around very quickly."
 
In 1997 Eve tested the market by obtaining department store concessions to sell her contemporary furnishing and lifestyle products. She found the products, all sourced from Asia, handmade in natural fabrics in muted colours, sold very well, so she took a small space on the second floor of the Princes Building to open the first INSIDE shop.

Within two months the landlord offered her a bigger space at an attractive rate. 

INSIDE now also has shops in Repulse Bay and Discovery Bay and a warehouse and showroom in Ap Lei Chau.  All the fabrics are sourced in Asia, mainly India, and the products are made up in a carefully chosen selection of factories in South East Asia.
 
Ms Eve has an in-house designer but co-ordinates the range herself. With a staff of 10 in Hong Kong, she also has an office in Delhi with a staff of nine.  She plans to establish franchises in other countries and to expand the retail business within South East Asia using her base in Hong Kong.   

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INSIDE