An option that works for migrants
Once way to build a new life in this country is to create your own employment. Anuja Nadkarni reports.
Sean Zhao migrated to New Zealand in 2001 as a student.
Within a decade he was the country’s biggest 2 Degrees dealer, owning and operating six stores across the country.
He’s one of the many successful migrant stories, swimming against a tide of negative tales from migrants who moved to New Zealand and struggled to find work, and fit in.
Zhao did what so many migrants do; he created his own employment. In 2016 he sold his stores and set up his own business, Pay Plus, an integrated payment service that offers Chinese tourists and students the ability to pay through Alipay and WeChat Pay.
‘‘It was around 2015 when WeChat and Alipay decided they wanted to take their payment method overseas. At that time I thought it would be a great opportunity to bring this product into New Zealand,’’ Zhao said.
A report on migrant businesses by Inland Revenue in 2014 found Chinese and Indian business owners felt they were being treated ‘‘differently’’ because of their ethnicity, and reported lower levels of life satisfaction than their UK and Australian migrant business owners.
But Zhao said this wasn’t the case for him.
‘‘I’ve always seen myself as a New Zealander, not any different from the locals,’’ he said.
He said his biggest challenge was not fitting in, but educating people about his business.
Mobile payment services WeChat Pay and Alipay have become so popular in China, some retailers don’t accept cash or credit cards.
And overseas, several Chinese credit cards require separate terminals to process payments.
Both WeChat Pay and Alipay use an app linked to a user’s bank account. At the point of sale, shoppers scan a QR code, put in their code and the money comes out of their account.
Pay Plus has six employees and about 700 merchants. By the end of the month it will have also secured the business of jewellery company Pandora and Auckland department store Smith & Caughey’s.
The Auckland-based entrepreneur is one of many migrants plying their trade in the City of Sails.
ANZ business banking data shows migrants in Auckland and Wellington are charging into the business of small business. Its Asian business banking customer segment has grown 89 per cent since 2013 in Auckland alone.
In Auckland, the most common migrant businesses are in hospitality, small labour businesses or home de´cor businesses, ANZ data shows.
According to the bank Hamilton also saw a spike in businesses owned by migrants, because of its proximity to Auckland, and lower living costs.
Alex Dong, founder of printing company Happy Moose, left behind China – where he was working for Microsoft and setting up the country’s largest blogging service – and found a simpler life in Dunedin.
Although it was hard to move to New Zealand, the entrepreneur was determined to make the country his home.
Dong said he did not have any plans to grow the business, he wanted a simpler life.
‘‘There is definitely a downside of working in a small city. But we chose New Zealand because for its lifestyle, not because it’s the best country to start up a business.
‘‘It’s not going to be a high growth, unicorn business.
‘‘I want to be able to go home and have dinner with my daughter and walk her to school every day.
‘‘I’m not interested in spending an hour or two hours commuting everyday. But in saying that, this wasn’t an easy decision either.’’
‘‘I want to be able to go home and have dinner with my daughter and walk her to school every day.’’ Alex Dong, founder of printing company Happy Moose