A Breath of Fresh Air - IQAir Owner Mike Murphy on Business in BJ

American Mike Murphy was born and raised in the pristine highlands of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. After being “bit by the travel bug” in 1996, he traveled for four years through 35 countries before going back to school, getting married and moving to Beijing with his wife in 2002.

Today, Murphy owns Villa Lifestyles and IQAir, suppliers of barbecue grills, outdoor furniture and top-of-the-line air purifiers. His is a self-made business through and through, and one that is distinctively unique in Beijing, so we asked him a few questions about how he started his business, the IQAir purifier and his plans for the future.

What brought you to Beijing and what prompted you to start Villa Lifestyles?
In 2000, after traveling extensively, I sold off my landscaping business and moved to Vancouver, Canada, to go back to school. I met and married my Chinese wife in 2002. A year and a half later, she was seven months pregnant and we moved to Beijing to start our family.

We arrived with very little money and no job prospects. Our first apartment cost us RMB 1,000 and had a pipe in the ceiling that dripped enough water to call it a “shower.” Starbucks was a once-a-month treat. My first year was miserable as I learned to adapt. My employment consisted of as many hours as I could scrape together tutoring English for Korean students in Wangjing. We survived, but with a new baby, the stakes got much higher.

In November of 2004, we came up with the idea of selling Christmas trees. We sourced some nice-looking trees and fate put us in the parking lot of Pinnacle Plaza. From day one, it was apparent that we were onto something, but as Christmas Day approached I began to realize just how short-lived our venture would be. I had collected a stack of business cards and befriended a number of customers. I knew if the expat community needed Christmas trees, surely there were other things they must need. I spent the last week marketing the people and the resounding need was decent barbecues.

How did you develop the business in the first few years?
I used the Christmas tree money we had earned and borrowed a bit more to purchase our first order of barbecues. I was now a retail guy, and my “start-up” business consisted of a small tent, a lawn chair and an inventory of 40 barbecues in the parking lot of Pinnacle Plaza.

By summer’s end, we had added trampolines and the “Mosquito Magnet” and had learned enough to know that we could keep going. We took our earnings and opened up our first Villa Lifestyles store in Tianzhu, where we were able to add new product lines, including the IQAir air purifiers.

Who are your typical customers?
Our business was initially driven by Shunyi-based expats, but as time goes by we have seen an increase in our sales to local residents. Obviously, we are dealing with people in the higher income brackets.

We all know how useful air purifiers can be in Beijing. What are the advantages of the IQAir purifiers that you sell?
IQAir has been the number one-rated air purifier on the market for close to ten years. There are no compromises with any part of the machine. Most mass-marketed products are not built for the extreme pollution we face in Beijing and their stated claims of efficiency can never be sustained. With IQAir, you’re guaranteed to capture no less than 99.97 percent of airborne particulates, with zero loss in efficiency over time – in fact, the efficiency actually increases with use.

As a father of two young children, I run three IQAir machines in our home. On days when the smog is so thick that you can’t see down the block, nothing beats the feeling of knowing your kids are safe and healthy in a clean environment.

What do you most enjoy about running your business in Beijing and about life here in general?
The best thing about running a business here is the people. Our customers are from all over the world, and each of them has their own story to tell. I love the fact that we are able to make a difference in their lives by bringing them those things that they want and need. Beijing is a great city and I couldn’t think of any place I would rather live at this point in time.

What are some of the challenges you face? What’s your take on the current economic climate and its effects on your business?
My biggest challenge now is time. When you grow a business, it has a way of taking over your life. There are so many great ideas that come along, and you really need to know when to say enough is enough. As your business grows, you have to take on people to help support your effort. Each day is spent either being a teacher to new staff or being a student trying to learn about the next step in the process.

This past year has been especially trying, as we have had to deal with the departure of a number of expats. We have had to cut a number of expenses and revise our plans for growth.

What opportunities lie ahead for your businesses? Where would you like to be in five years?
We continue to explore new markets and new ideas for products. Like so many other companies out there, we’re looking to expand further into the local retail sector. In five years’ time, I’d like to see our company fully matured, having established our brands, and being able to do what we do now, but at a much less frantic pace.

Have you considered expanding beyond Shanghai and Beijing?
We already have. We opened a new Villa Lifestyles in Shenzhen two months ago. The economy has slowed us down some, but we would like to be able to open our own stores or partner with others in each of the second-tier cities.

What would you do if you weren’t running your current businesses?
As an entrepreneur, you never really know what you’ll be doing. We are opportunity-driven, so every day has an equal chance of presenting itself with a new idea. If I had a choice, I think that anything with the ability to connect with people would be ideal. If I ever really make it big-time, I’d probably find myself being a writer.

You sell plenty of barbecues, but do you grill? What’s your favorite thing to throw on the barbecue?
I’m by no means a serious cook, but I do like to grill up steaks, burgers and barbecued chicken.

Finally, what are some of your favorite places to wine, dine and play around Beijing? Wine?
Dine? Play? I’ve yet to find the time to do any of those things. You’re more likely to find me holed up in a nice foot massage place than out on the town. When I do get a break, I’m far more inclined to load up the family and head for a holiday as far away from work as I can get.

For more on Villa Lifestyles and IQAir, see www.villalifestyles.cn and www.iqair.com