Dew-Point founder Frank Adick leveraged Hong Kong's high concentration of MNCs to grow his training and management consultancy internationally

Frank Adick, managing director and founder of training and management consulting firm Dew-Point International Ltd, says he would never have found the same level of success if he had not set up his business in Hong Kong. More than 30 years later, the German management consultant is happy to call Hong Kong home. 

"I was born in a small farming community in North West Germany where the nearest big city is Muenster. I went to Australia in 1966 to work and later joined a consultancy firm. Five years later, I wanted to strike out on my own but I was faced with a dilemma. It meant I had to be in competition with my former firm and I thought that would be unethical.

Friends from Sydney advised me to look into the Asian markets. Hong Kong came up tops out of all the countries I looked at. The Philippines and Singapore were economically behind Hong Kong; Taiwan, Korea and Japan were not possible because of language issues.

There was one snag - I had never been to Hong Kong. Undaunted, I came here in 1972 and after intense market intelligence where I talked with the big "hongs" such as Jardines and Hutchison, multinational corporations, German companies and financial institutions, I set up my consultancy business in July 1973. I took the plunge as everyone I talked to gave me the idea that Hong Kong was going places. 

Innovative step

It was a giant step forward. Hong Kong in the 70s was not ready to accept consultants in the field of organisational development, and most companies did not see a need for an outside consultant. 

Hong Kong in 1972 did not have the Cross Harbour Tunnel and many people still used rickshaws for transporting goods and themselves. The Star Ferry stopped at midnight and you had to take a small boat called a wallah-wallah to cross Victoria Harbour.

The only entry work for me at that time was in sales training and customer service. It was not my intention to offer these services but when you are starting up, you take what jobs there are. Three years later, I brought in consultants from all over the world as I needed a branded name to promote to my clients.

I'm very glad that my company is so strong in sales training and customer service. Fast forward 30 years later, my clients have expanded into the Chinese mainland and they are anxious for us to train their China staff in sales, marketing and customer services.

Ideal location

Hong Kong has been good for our business. It's a great base for multinational corporations and a lot of companies are very receptive to new ideas. We have now 14 full-time staff in Hong Kong and 25 consultants with whom we work.

In 2004, we were the first registered training and consultancy business to get a Cepa (Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) licence to operate a wholly-owned office in China. We set up in Shenzhen and our consultants travel there on a project basis to provide training and consultancy services for our clients. 

Our volume of business in China is growing significantly as companies realise they must provide better work systems and training to retain their staff, and the staff themselves realise they must have training for self advancement.

Our company is not industry driven, we work across the board and our clients are in services, financial, trading, manufacturing, transportation, Government and multinational corporations .

Attractive lifestyle

Hong Kong is a fantastic place. I met my wife here in 1973 and she's now my business partner. She builds up the Asian consultant network while I concentrate on our international consulting partners. I have been here longer than any other place, so I call Hong Kong home. Germany now means a nice visit especially in summer and to keep in contact with my relatives.

One of the things that attracted me to Hong Kong is the warm weather; I hate the cold. You can get anything you want whether it's good services or good food. In general, Hong Kong people are friendly and easy to get along with.

I think Hong Kong is going in the right direction. In 1997 after the handover, a lot of people were very apprehensive but I was very optimistic. Time has proven me right. "

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Dew-Point International Ltd