By Canadian Immigrant Magazine |
Yu Wang made his way to Canada on his own at the age of 17 in 2003, landing in Toronto to complete his pre-university credits. He completed these within six months, and decided to head to Winnipeg for university.
By Canadian Immigrant Magazine |
Yu Wang made his way to Canada on his own at the age of 17 in 2003, landing in Toronto to complete his pre-university credits. He completed these within six months, and decided to head to Winnipeg for university.
Wang, who later took on the more English-sounding first name of Fisher, studied applied mathematics, a subject that became central to the business he would eventually create.
Starting with a simple website while still in university, Wang began getting the attention of Winnipeggers of Chinese background. It took about five years for Wang to get his Canadian status in order to be able to officially open his business, IDO Media.
“We connect local business to the Asian customer market in Canada,” says Wang. “I currently have seven staff, plus me.”
He started by selling banner ad space on his content website (Chinesepost.ca), and then started offering services such as like graphic design, printing, event planning and website creation.
“I started by hiring a full-time designer and full-time developer,” says Wang. “We now close the gap Canadian companies have when trying to sell to the Asian population. They use my service. I translate and brand their materials.”
Today, he has added additional digital services, including everything from social media and video production, effectively becoming a full-service media agency for Canadian businesses trying to reach Asian consumers.
Based on his own immigration experience, Wang also created a 210-page guidebook for newcomers from Asia about everything you need to know to settle in Manitoba, from living to working to entertainment.
“We have a lot of people in China reading our information and they are planning to buy a house, a car and to do a lot of deals prior to their departure to Canada,” says Wang.
“The most important thing I discovered in my 13 years in Winnipeg is the cultural differences. Many people don’t see this as an issue, but I see it as a main issue.”
Wang is happy that he can help guide Asian newcomers as they make their way into Canadian life, in addition to connecting local Canadian companies to this growing demographic.
“Our company offers a depth and diversity of experience so we can deliver unique and effective solutions with the best results.”