For the past two weeks, I’ve been doing needs assessment surveys from the local Chamber of Commerce businesses. My Mongolian language isn’t good enough to talk about business concepts, so my counterpart acted as my translator. I met with both small- and medium-sized businesses. Each interview, on average, took 1-2 hours to complete. I asked questions about all aspects of the business, including human resource mgmt, marketing, finances, pricing, supply chain mgmt, etc… I will give you a summary of the results and interesting tidbits.
However, first I’ll tell you how I got to taking the surveys. During the first two months of being at site, the main goal, according to Peace Corps, is to become acquainted with the community, and get your life set up. Work was slow, as I expected it to be because of the cultural adjustment period. The workplace must get accustomed to you and you must get accustomed to them. Because there wasn’t much going on at work, I threw myself into getting to know the community.
After two months of networking, I was ready to get some things accomplished. My workplace didn’t seem to have any work to give me and didn’t have a work plan set out. Therefore, I started training the business professors at the Science and Technology University. The business professors sought me out for my help. They want to learn business English and American business concepts. As soon as my workplace heard that I was training the business professors, my director wanted to hear all of my ideas about how to improve the Chamber of Commerce. I guess I know what to do the next time it is slow at work = volunteer somewhere else, then the Chamber of Commerce will have work for me to do. 
Or maybe that was just coincidence.
It is important for me to survey the Mongolian businesses. It would be unwise to come to Mongolia and place all of my American expectations on the businesses. That’s the reason I wanted to do a needs assessment survey. The survey had to be done in person, in an interview form, because my director advised that Mongolians would not return a physical printed survey.
My counterpart and I interviewed many types of businesses, such as food stores, bread factories, milk factories, driving schools, hardware stores, hotels, restaurants, construction companies, old person facilities, eye glasses factories, pharmacies, car washes, heating companies, animal hide distributors, the technical university, photograph developers, and clothing stores. All of the businesses we surveyed are Chamber of Commerce members.
One of the purposes of the survey was to find ways to improve the CoC’s benefits package. This year, the number of members has dropped from in the 80s to in the 60s number range. One problem, as found through the survey, is that the members have no idea what the Chamber of Commerce offers! The only thing the members could cite was that the Chamber of Commerce organized the trade fair and a Holiday party. I asked for suggestions about how the CoC can help improve each business. Most businesses responded with the need for new technology information, such as trade fair dates, equipment upgrades, and factory improvements. The members also said they needed training in business knowledge, mostly marketing and management - my majors!
The Mongolian distrust and dislike for Chinese products has leaked into the business arena. Ugh. The business people that wanted an upgrade in factory equipment didn’t want anything from China. They want factory equipment and technology from Europe. Yet, they want equipment that is not expensive. I try to tell them that mostly all equipment or part of every equipment is made in China. It’s not that it is made in China that’s bad – it is the fact that you buy from shitty Chinese companies. The business people could buy from good Chinese companies, but choose to buy from companies that don’t sell quality products. I try to tell them that you can’t stereotype an entire country for having bad goods. I’ve learned that I can’t keep telling Mongolians this, because most don’t understand it. Maybe my goal should be to convert my co-workers first.
The survey showed me that many Mongolians have multiple, unrelated businesses. A bread factory and a hotel. A food store and a car wash. A hotel and construction company. A raw hide distributor that also sells school books. It is quite interesting to see the combinations.
One reason for the diversity, I think, is because of the extreme seasons. Many companies focus on one business for a particular season. Many things cannot be done during the very, very cold months, Nov-Feb. Some things can be done cheaper during the summer months. Many of the factories have to stop producing for the winter months. The construction companies don’t make new buildings during the winter. The milk factory switches from using fresh milk in the summer to powdered milk in the winter. There are many examples of seasonal differences within business practice here.
Most of the raw materials come from Ulaanbaater or Ereen City, China. Some of the raw materials come from Russia. Most of the business people in my city travel, themselves, to UB or China to get the goods to sell in their stores. The owners go at least once a month, if not three times, to get goods to sell in their shops. A couple of the owners put orders in to the distributor companies and have the goods delivered to Arvaikheer.
In terms of human resources, many of the smaller companies employ their family members. If the smaller companies hire outside the family, they look at things like a person’s community reputation, their age, and how many people in a family that person must support. The medium-sized companies give a test to potential employees. Many of the smaller companies said that their workforce was unskilled, but that the owners didn’t have time to train the employees.
I learned many things from the surveys that just made my eyes pop out of my head and think, “OMG! Did you just say that?!” Each time that happened I made a note for the training classes that I’ll be teaching. I’ve learned that most business owners have not gone to business school, and some of them haven’t attended university.
This month I’ll be starting a year long training course focusing on marketing, management, finance, and basic business skills. At the end of the year, I will have a business plan writing session. The target market of the trainings is business owners and managers. I’ve learned that many business owners know very little about business. The trainings will teach the owners about business concepts and how to apply them to their business. After each training the students will get homework and have to apply their new knowledge to their business.
The survey information truly verified the need for the business training classes. The business owners seemed very interested in the training course when I told them about it during the interviews. I’ve had random business owners come up to me on the street and tell me how excited they are about the trainings. I’m very excited that this has caused a positive spark within the community.
There is much more information that I gathered from the surveys, but too much to write here. Do you have any specific questions about the businesses of Arvaikheer?
In other news, I made pizza last night in a toaster oven. It turned out alright, but not like American pizza. I’m over bronchitis! And… I can’t think of much else. The weather is getting colder… meaning I’m a fire-building and wood-chopping pro! Some days I wear five layers of clothing. If you want to send me a birthday card, you should probably send it around now. Check out my contact page for my address.
