Hard Truths from the Construction Business In my early twenties, before moving...

Hard Truths from the Construction Business

In my early twenties, before moving to Portugal, I ran a construction company specializing in kitchen and bathroom renovations. Like any young entrepreneur, I was eager to learn, so I sought advice from the old-timers in the industry—guys who had been in the game for decades and had seen it all.

One of the first pieces of advice I got was blunt:

“If an Indian calls you for a quote, just hang up.”

At first, I was taken aback. It sounded harsh, even unfair. But the more jobs I took, the more I saw the pattern. In construction, especially renovations, you work with a variety of people, and over time, you start to notice that behavior isn’t random—it follows predictable trends. Call them stereotypes if you want, but in business, ignoring patterns will cost you money.

The reality was that nearly every time I took on an Indian client, it followed the same script: endless haggling, last-minute changes, trying to squeeze extra work for free, and—worst of all—delayed or partial payments. I tried to treat each new client as a fresh case, believing that surely this time would be different. But the truth is, when you’re right 99% of the time, it stops making sense to ignore the pattern. You either adjust, or you go broke.

On the other hand, working with Chinese clients was a completely different experience. They were always polite, highly organized, and straightforward. I would come in, take my measurements, state my price—and that was it. No haggling, no last-minute changes, no games.

In fact, one time, I quoted a price for a job, and the client looked at me and said:

“Isn’t that a bit low?”

Surprised, I increased the price slightly. He nodded in approval and explained:

“I’m paying for quality, not looking for a discount. If I tell my friends I paid more, they’ll respect that I got something good.”

Every single time I worked with a Chinese client, they paid in cash, in a sealed envelope, with the exact amount. No arguments. No stress. Just a clean, professional transaction.

Now, I’m not saying these observations apply universally to every individual, but in the circles I operated in, the patterns were too strong to ignore. When you deal with people daily in business, you don’t have the luxury of pretending everyone is the same. Stereotypes exist for a reason—they are often generalized truths, shaped by reality, not ideology.

And reality doesn’t care about how we wish things were. It simply is.