Business Failures: Asians — American Indians

Keys to Profitable Business Ventures with Specific Ethnicities

After many years of trial and error in business relationships with Southwestern U.S. American Indians and Asians living in America, this article is geared toward Americans that are somewhat inept in this area. By this I mean, most U.S. born Americans do not truly understand the deep cultural origins that will help them access successful business relationships with many Asians and American Indians. You see, all ethnic groups (particularly these 2 groups) do not think like the average ‘money and success centered’ American. Although career and money are important to everyone, some ethnicities have their priorities elsewhere (such as religion or family). I’m sure there are other ethnic groups (e.g., Ukrainians) that have similar business and family values, but I’ll focus on the areas that I’m most familiar with.

Note: There are always exceptions to the rule, as any group of people will have subversive elements. Thus, remember that these are my general observations because not every person from The East (which includes the country of India) or an American Indian Tribe is this ideal. We all must strive toward the below mentioned guidelines however, particularly in respect to financial success, relationship building and friendly fruitful conversations.

U.S. born Americans need to understand how important it is to be patient and show respect by spending time getting to know clients on a personal level, before jumping into trying to promote something. If you are only interested in advancing your agenda, your product, or yourself, certain ethnic groups will see right through you and see your offering as not beneficial at all to them. Needless to say, you will not get very far in business, nor remain prosperous if your methods are selfish, arrogant, or self-promoting. Providing an important life benefit for someone, without the embellishing hype and lies, is what a smart Asian/Indian consumer looks for. Asking them about their family, their homeland, and how they have achieved success; are good conversational starting points. I’ve seen Americans, on far too many occasions, that just don’t seem to “get it”; and the importance of putting the interest of others before their own greed. A forceful “hard sell” of your product, religious beliefs, financial services, or political bias is a sure-fire way to get the proverbial “door slammed in your face.”