Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
A trip to China made the difference to Frank Abange’s business, Fabelos Imports at Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis.
The trip in March was the required capstone to his degree, a global-focused MBA that is offered at Saint Mary’s University in the Twin Cities. His is the first graduating class.
“I’ve had the idea of bringing distant cultures closer to home,” says Abange (pronounced a-BONG-gay). Fabelos Imports sells African masks, ceramics, vases, jewelry, wooden sculptures from Bali and Indonesia, and musical instruments.
The focus of the program was “teaching you how to do business with a global mindset,” he says, “looking at the world as one global marketplace.” He’s from Cameroon, and came to the United States in 1999.
His trip to China in the spring led to contacts. “My very first day was nothing like I’ve experienced before. It’s a developed world with a lot of culture and influence. When you get in there, you feel like you’ve traveled.”
He met with students at universities in China, and went to a trade fair where he took a business card. He e-mailed the person he met, but there was a language barrier. He found a shipping agent in California who became the intermediary.
The other hurdle was paying for the goods. A local banker insisted on a letter of credit, but the Chinese company demanded cash.
“I didn’t know who I’m dealing with,” he says. But reassured by his shipping agent that it was OK, he wired the money. “It’s interesting for you to make the decision to wire money,” he says.
Abange used savings and a loan from the Neighborhood Development Corp. to start Fabelos Imports. His next goal is to sell to Fortune 500 companies, “to put products in their workplace to represent the cultures in their work force,” he says.
Frank Abange, Fabelos Imports: 612.872.8252; fr*********@************ts.com; www.fabelosimports.com. Saint Mary’s University: www.smumn.edu
