BEIJING, May 13 -- Charles Merkle, a Swiss national, came to Shanghai in 1995 with little money and no job. All he had was a skill he thought was in demand.

    Merkle, who is now 51, has since founded a thriving marketing consulting firm, CBC Marketing Research, which is seeking to raise about 12 million Swiss francs (11.44 million U.S. dollars) in Berne, Switzerland, by listing its Swiss subsidiary, CBC Schweiz AG.

    To be sure, CBC, with a turnover of around 5 million Swiss Francs in 2007, is small even by SME standards. But to Merkle and thousands of foreign entrepreneurs, China is a land of opportunity not only for multinational behemoths such as GE or ABB, but also for young talents from around the world.

    Merkle said the capital he is seeking could help finance his company to expand through mergers and acquisitions. This, in turn, would enable the company to achieve its goal of broadening its customer base to include more domestic enterprises, which are keen to move up the value chain by establishing their own marketing expertise.

    The company plans to issue 210,000 shares at around 60 Swiss francs. It has submitted its listing proposal to the Berne Exchange and is currently undergoing the auditing process, Merkle told China Daily.

    "We plan to use the proceeds (from the IPO) for acquisition purposes," he said.

    Merkle said the bulk of CBC's turnover comes from China. The company, he said, achieved a profit margin of 15 percent in 2007 and expects a 10-20 margin in the coming years.

    When Merkle started out, the best he could hope for was to have three clients in the first year. His first client was a referral from the Swiss consulate in Shanghai. His company has since provided consultancy services to some of the biggest names in the global corporate community. Among its past and present clients are HP, Ericsson, Motorola, Intel, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, LG, Kohler and Nestle.

    His company has branched out to Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Berne and Mumbai, with 100 employees worldwide.

    The toughest challenge to his consultancy business is to build up a team with the right qualifications. In China, it's not so much a matter of qualification as of language. Finding qualified people in China is not hard, Merkle said. But finding those with adequate English-language skills and international work experience has proved to be difficult.

    "To have a good and stable core team is the main achievement on the road to success," he said.

    The company's biggest strength in marketing research lies in automobile industry, offering services in tracking and brand image study, advertisement and product test, consumer segmentation and car clinic.

    Merkle said he has learned from experience that branding is of paramount importance to marketing in the Chinese market. Contrary to popular belief, "being cheap is not a big advantage in China", he said.

    (Source: China Daily)