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《110-1_GHRM528》21 Oct. The Guest Lecture: Mr. Elias Ek “How to start a business in Taiwan?”

On the 21st of October 2021, Mr Elias Ek, the General Manager of Enspyre offered a guest lecture for the students of Business Ethics & Social Responsibility, Organizational Politics, and Entrepreneurship & Human Resource Management taught by Professor Ryan Brading. Dr Ryan wanted students not only to think precisely but to learn from others. He said, "Learning to think from different aspects is the core value of the guest lecture."

Mr Elias Ek is not only an entrepreneur but also a writer of "How To Start A Business in Taiwan?". He has stayed in Taiwan for over 20 years. In 2002, he established Enspyre, the telemarketing company with his friends from the United States and Europe. At the same time, he is also the senior "Angel Investor" in the Taiwan Dragon Chamber, which supports foreign entrepreneurs. He fully realized that there were a lot of difficulties for foreigners to deal with in Taiwan. Especially for the bank issue, he said, "Banks hate foreigners!!!" Therefore, he wanted to help as much as possible.

Before the lecture started, Mr Elias said, "Questions are welcomed. Please ask me any questions you want to get from me." As foreign supervisors, students were curious about managing their Taiwanese employees. Mr Elias said, "I always take employees as my family and encourage them to talk to me if they have problems or suggestions." He thought having a conversation was the best way to manage his company. That's why he wanted students to ask him a lot of questions.

Mr Elias is from Sweden, and he started his first business when he was 15 years old. He came up with bread delivery by bike because he knew every family needed bread for breakfast, so he found the opportunity. After he came to Taiwan, he built a website with his friends. He had to do customer service by answering the phone. At the same time, since he also had another job to do, he sometimes lost the call from customers. Therefore, he came up with an idea, "What if someone is answering the calls for me, it would be more convenient and efficient, right?" He said, "when we find a problem, we have to solve it." Mr Elias thought there should be someone like him who needed the answering service; that is why he started Enspyre.

In the middle of the lecture, he asked the students whether to fire the loyal employee and why it was all because of her hardworking attitude. "Of course not!!!" some students directly responded. However, Mr Elias fired her eventually. He said, "she is one of my favorite employees in the company, but I have to let her go." He was concerned that she didn't get a good quality of life, still single at that moment because she always dug too much in work. The turnout was good; she got her life back, which Mr Elias wanted.

At the end of the lecture, Mr Elias encouraged students to attend the 2021 entrepreneur exhibition; he hoped students could learn from other entrepreneurs. Learn from their stories; it might inspire you to have your own business or other career choices. His passion and persistence touched everyone; The students found the guest lecture enriching and inspiring. After the lecture, a group photo was snapped to commemorate the event.

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