Today we’d like to introduce you to Julian Teeling.
Julian, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was previously the Director of Global Sourcing for a Fortune 500 company and began coming to China in the late 80’s. In 1995, my son took an internship with an associate of mine in S. China, and quickly learned the language and gained knowledge of local customs and business culture.
I then took an early retirement and in 1998 founded Gabrian International Ltd, a sourcing company, with my sons and former colleagues.
Initially our focus was introducing American and European manufacturers to our network of Chinese suppliers and we have now expanded our business to include Indian manufacturers mostly in the aluminum extrusion and die casting sectors.
As with any start up business, we experienced the usual growing pains but thanks to our strong relationships with both our customers and suppliers, we were able to weather various economic storms and continue to grow to the point where we now employ over 30 people in our offices in Dover, China and India.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Our first hurdle to overcome was the reluctance of North American manufacturers to consider Chinese companies due to a perception that goods manufactured in China were of a vastly inferior quality. Another challenge we had to overcome was the Asian economic crisis that began in 1998 and placed a heavy financial burden on our supply chain.
The SARS outbreak in 2003 slowed our momentum greatly as it made it extremely difficult to attract new customers to visit our facilities in China and Hong Kong. The global recession of 2008 significantly affected both our supplier and customer base and more recently the rise of global protectionism is a challenge we will have to face in the future.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Gabrian International – what should we know?
Gabrian International Ltd is a partner in a printed circuit board factory in Zhuahi China and we also represent a group of manufacturers in the contract manufacturing, machining and magnetics sectors. Our facilities in India concentrate on aluminum extrusion and die cast products.
The area of international sourcing has undergone significant changes over the past decade and it has become an increasingly difficult business model as many manufacturers are looking to go direct to Asian factories. However, through all the challenges we have faced over the past two decades we have managed to weather all these storms. This is primarily due to the strong relationships we have fostered with both customer and suppliers. Our commitment to customer service, quality control and on time delivery, coupled our intimate knowledge of the business culture in the in both Asia and North America has allowed us not just grow, but thrive in an increasingly competitive market
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Our staff are the unsung heroes of our company. Without a strong, loyal and dedicated team working together, any company’s prospects for survival are slim and we certainly are no exception to that rule. As managers, one needs to provide a stable, yet challenging environment for your staff to grow and I think we have been quite successful in accomplishing that goal.
Contact Info:
- Address: Gabrian International Ltd
466 Central Ave, Unit 1
Dover, NH
03820 - Website: www.gabrian.com
- Phone: 603-749-1995
- Email: jteeling@gabrian.com
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