Tommy Li was a designer and brand consultant renowned for his black humour and bold visual impact. With business spanning Hong Kong, China, Macau, Japan, and Italy, Tommy Li was one of the few Hong Kong designers to have entered the international market. In his ten years of experience as a design staff member, Li learned that getting the right clients was the key to a successful design consultancy business. Therefore, Li set up his own company to have full freedom in choosing his own clients, and his strategic selection of clients brought him great success. Consequently, he became a famous Hong Kong designer and brand consultant with reputable local and overseas clients. With international firms many times bigger than Li’s firm entering China, Li saw mounting competitive pressure. Was his stardom an adequate defence against firms composed of multidisciplinary teams that had innovation-driven design thinking and processes? Was scale a critical issue in staying competitive? Was proximity to the market an important advantage?<br><br><br><br>The brand consulting industry also faced intense competition from international business consultancies, advertising, and public relations agencies. Each camp used a different approach to target the same group of brand-conscious clients. Could Li cope with these challenges?

William Cheung owned an apparel wholesaler and a boutique shop that sold his clothing designs in Hong Kong. After attending a fashion exhibition in France, he realized his products were lacking compared to European brands. This experience motivated him to improve his jeans designs, and he soon registered “Koyo” as an independent company. He went on to become the first Hong Kong designer embraced by the French department store Galeries Lafayette. While Cheung had had commendable success, including many franchises in mainland China, he faced challenges related to expansion and funding as Koyo Jeans strove for international success.

William Cheung entered the fashion industry in a different manner than Vivienne Tam and Shanghai Tang. He started by working for a modest wholesaler known for its garment and apparel industries. He sharpened his design instincts by creating hit apparel items for the wholesale company. To ensure business, he needed to learn about the entire supply chain, from acquiring raw materials to manufacturing, sales and delivery. The business was flourishing but was not immune to the shortcomings of creative businesses. While working on hitting the mass market and ensuring a large output, Cheung also tested his creativity by opening his own boutique shop. After initial success, he needed to source trendy but affordable fashions to feed customer demand. Chance brought him to South Korea, and together with a local designer, they made a name for themselves and decided to attend an exhibition in Paris. Unfortunately, the experience brought them nothing but despair. Their products and image were not on par with other European brands. By that time, Cheung's boss had sold the wholesale business and the manufacturing plant to him. The setback in Paris caused him to rethink his business. He decided to focus on product innovation and brand-building, and with much effort gained the recognition of Galeries Lafayette - a Parisian department store famous for trendsetting. This case shows how Cheung, in moving his company forward, was able to overcome the weaknesses of being an apparel wholesaler and a fashion retailer. It affords a discussion of how Cheung was able to exploit and grow the wholesale business and move into branding and franchising. Research related to creative industry and ambidexterity is also covered in the case. While Cheung's success was commendable, he faced a number of challenges as Koyo Jeans strove for international success.

Tommy Li was a designer and brand consultant renowned for his black humour and bold visual impact. With business spanning Hong Kong, China, Macau, Japan and Italy, he was one of the few Hong Kong designers to have entered the international market. In his ten years of experience as a design staff member, Li learned that "getting the right client is the key to a successful design consultancy business." Therefore, Li set up his own company to have full freedom in choosing his own clients, and his "choosing clients strategically" philosophy brought him great success. Consequently, he became a famous Hong Kong designer and brand consultant with reputable local and overseas clients. With international firms many times bigger than Li's firm entering China, Li saw mounting competitive pressure. Was Li's stardom an adequate defence against firms composed of multidisciplinary teams equipped with innovation-driven design thinking and processes? Was scale a critical issue in staying competitive? Was proximity to the market an important advantage?<br><br>The brand consulting industry also faced intense competition from international business consultancies, advertising and public relations agencies. Each camp used a different approach to target the same group of brand-conscious clients. Could Li cope with these challenges?<br><br>The case was developed to teach designers and design entrepreneurs. It is also suitable for MBA and other executive classes on entrepreneurship and creative business. This case is intended to achieve the following objectives: 1) study how strategic thinking guided Li to develop his design business despite changing market conditions 2) understand how path dependence and dynamic capabilities explain Li's success and challenges in a changing business environment 3) discuss the best approach to grow a design business - building methodology and processes or becoming a star in new markets.

The case illustrates the intriguing development path of a famous design entrepreneur in Hong Kong, who was not trained formally as a designer but managed to build an entrepreneurial career out of his hobby of collecting designer toys. This case is suitable for teaching MBA and senior undergraduate students about resources acquisition at the startup, development and expansion stages in an entrepreneurship course. It can also be utilized in product development and innovation management courses for business, engineering and design school students.

The case illustrates the intriguing development path of a famous design entrepreneur in Hong Kong, who was not trained formally as a designer but managed to build an entrepreneurial career out of his hobby of collecting designer toys. This case is suitable for teaching MBA and senior undergraduate students about resources acquisition at the startup, development and expansion stages in an entrepreneurship course. It can also be utilized in product development and innovation management courses for business, engineering and design school students.

This case describes how two Hong Kong product designers chose their respective paths and achieved design excellence and celebrity status. The case is suitable for teaching MBA and senior undergraduate students the value of design entrepreneurship in professional services. It is useful for courses in entrepreneurship and innovation management in business and engineering schools. Human resources management or organizational behaviour classes may also use this case for discussion on career paths. Given the design context, it will be very informative for students or executives from the design industry.

This case describes how two Hong Kong product designers chose their respective paths and achieved design excellence and celebrity status. The case is suitable for teaching MBA and senior undergraduate students the value of design entrepreneurship in professional services. It is useful for courses in entrepreneurship and innovation management in business and engineering schools. Human resources management or organizational behaviour classes may also use this case for discussion on career paths. Given the design context, it will be very informative for students or executives from the design industry.