Big-firm headhunter enjoys new life as business owner

With nearly 20 years' experience at multinational firms, Bi Lin left the relative safety of her company last year and started up her own business, resolved to test her ideas amid tense market competition.

Bi used to be the general manager of a global headhunting company's operation in Shanghai. Crowned as the "godmother of multi-millionyuan consultants", she was the first local general manager of the company in China. However, as time went by, the problems of large multinational companies started to emerge, which led her to think about starting her own company.

In the very early days, working at a global headquarters was empowering enough that Bi and her team could do what they thought was right for the Chinese market. But as the Chinese branch grew bigger, the global management team played an ever-greater role in the Chinese office's decision-making process.