E Club members met at Boston Web Power’s office in Woburn on May 1, 2015. All four co-founders were present. E Club member Xiaoyan Huang shared their start up story.

Boston Web Power went into business in 2009, offering website development and marketing services to local small businesses, mainly Chinese. In the first 2-3 years, tremendous time and efforts were spent visiting Chinese businesses, building relationship, persuading them to sign up for a website and a listing on their Chinese Business Directory a2zbizonline.com. But prices were low because Chinese businesses did not see the value of online marketing. Nevertheless, Boston Web Power persevered and the directory has now grown to include over 300 businesses. A web portal WanJiaWeb.com was created in 2013 to provide more content such as news and events, columns, hot deals etc, to serve the local Chinese community. It has begun to attract businesses to place display ads, bringing a new source of revenue for Boston Web Power. Recently, Boston Web Power has also ventured into WeChat community building. All these efforts have helped to build reputation and influence for the company within the Chinese business community. Since 2013, Boston Web Power has settled into a modern office in Woburn. Clients now come to them through referrals. Their main source of revenue remains website development. Although they can charge more reasonable prices now, they are looking for ways to improve profitability.

Discussion followed around issues on business model, possible revenue channels, and government funding opportunities.

After the meetup, E Club members toured Boston Web Power’s office.