Self-made entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship is a matter of brainpower and willpower. It not only requires the ability to manage one's own business, but also requires the courage to move forward in the face of setbacks. The following are articles related to self-made entrepreneurs that I have compiled for you.

Wang Bufan, born in the 1980s in Wuxi: from university entrepreneurship to CEO of a multi-million enterprise CEO. At the age of 30, he founded Wuxi Huaxi Cultural Industry Co., Ltd. and Extraordinary Quality Network Technology Co., Ltd. Last year, the company launched "Yingyu Bao", which is a film and television entertainment crowdfunding platform that has truly filled the domestic gap and will also be used in film and television financing, post-production, and publicity in my country. Distribution and other links have brought a new force to the film and television industry.

If you want to extract keywords for Wang Bufan, "become famous at a young age", "four times entrepreneur", "CEO of a multi-million enterprise", "distinguished lecturer of Tsinghua University", "post-80s generation" may be necessary An essential part. Today, this young man born in the 1980s, who just turned 30 this year, not only manages a company worth tens of millions of dollars, but is also a special lecturer at Tsinghua University and Zhejiang University, giving lectures to CEOs many years older than him every year. But what is rarely known is that behind the aura of becoming famous at a young age, Wang Bufan’s entrepreneurial path was quite tortuous. In his own words, his entrepreneurial experience was like a fried dough stick. He suffered a lot before he could succeed. Mature.

College period: I started my own business in my sophomore year and became a famous figure in Jiangnan University

If you were studying at Jiangnan University around 2004, you must have heard of "New Force College Student Travel Agency"? name. That year, Wang Bufan, who was a sophomore at Jiangsu University, founded Jiangsu's first travel agency for college students and received sponsorship and support from Jiangsu Liantong Wuxi Branch, which became a sensation. In just two years, he has achieved impressive results from starting from scratch to organizing college student tours with more than 100,000 people.

According to Wang Bufan’s recollection, at its peak, just one product, Hangzhou One-Day Tour, could dispatch 7 or 8 buses in one day on weekends. ?Unfortunately, one of our buses collided in a highway service area. Although no casualties were caused, it still attracted the attention of the school. In the end, due to safety considerations, my first business venture was terminated. . ?

Eight years before graduation: Summarizing the experience of entrepreneurial failure and returning to college to recharge

Although he failed as a travel agency, this short entrepreneurial experience made him find that he had buried it in his heart entrepreneurial dream. After graduation, he did not accept the path of studying abroad that his family had already arranged. Instead, he chose to start a business again. He first opened a media company and then an e-commerce company, but they both ended in failure.

However, these failures gave him valuable entrepreneurial experience. After his third entrepreneurial failure, his biggest conclusion was that the company was poorly managed and financial controls were not strict. After realizing his shortcomings, he picked up books again and passed the national postgraduate examination after half a year of review and entered Xiamen. I am continuing my studies in the MBA program at the university and plan to start my own business after recharging my batteries.

Someone asked me before, why are you still thinking about starting a business after you have failed three times? My answer is that the road to entrepreneurship is bound to be full of thorns. Someone also asked me if I had any regrets after starting a business. I said that I was actually quite lucky. Before Jack Ma succeeded, he failed eight times in starting a business. Now I have only completed three-eighths of it. ?Wang Bufan said with a smile.

Today: Establishing a film and television entertainment crowdfunding platform and receiving another 20 million investment

After graduating from graduate school, Wang Bufan, who was in his thirties, once again had the idea of ????starting a business. This time, He has his sights set on crowdfunding.

What is crowdfunding? Generally speaking, crowdfunding is to gather the power (funds) of many people through the Internet to complete something that could not be completed by one person or a few people.

For example, a person wants to manufacture a new product and needs a start-up capital of 100,000 yuan, but is unable to borrow money from a bank without collateral. At this time, he can initiate crowdfunding online. If 10,000 people support him, then As long as each person comes up with 10 yuan, he can raise enough start-up capital. Compared with traditional financing models, crowdfunding not only provides entrepreneurs with more financing methods, but also greatly lowers the investment threshold, giving ordinary people the opportunity to participate.

? In recent years, crowdfunding, which originated in the United States, has gradually taken root in China. I found that there is still no crowdfunding platform for film and television entertainment in China, so after more than half a year of hard work, my team and I developed a crowdfunding platform focusing on film and television, "Yingyubao". According to Wang Bufan, since the film and television entertainment crowdfunding platform Yingyubao was officially launched on October 1 last year, it has attracted the attention of many investment companies and has reached strategic cooperation with many well-known domestic film and television companies. In addition to the 5 million angel investment received from Huaxi Village shares in the early stage, a new investment of 20 million in Series A jointly invested by a number of well-known investment companies has also been completed. The valuation of Yingyubao has exceeded 75 million.

When a movie encounters crowdfunding, it is not just the marketing methods and financing methods that are changed. Its entire industry chain will be reorganized, and its thinking model will also be dismantled and rebuilt. ?Wang Bufan said that crowdfunding will change the film industry in all aspects, among which helping film producers obtain market verification in advance is a very important one. ?Movies are not like other industrial products, which can be reworked if they are not done well. Movies are formed once, and success or failure is already determined. But crowdfunding can play a role in market validation. ?

Risk: Crowdfunding is a "double-edged sword", how to avoid investment risks

Crowdfunding is an effective means for entrepreneurs to raise funds in a short period of time. Very popular among young people. However, everything has two sides. Although crowdfunding has made many people’s entrepreneurial dreams a reality, crowdfunding itself also faces risks.

Whether you want to obtain a small amount of funds through product pre-orders or a large amount of funds by transferring equity, you will encounter many unexpected challenges in the process of preparing a crowdfunding project. At the 2014 Tin Merchants New Thinking Summit recently held by the Municipal Youth Chamber of Commerce, Dai Saiying, the founder of "Three Dads", shared with everyone the "Fifth Code" behind the creation of the crowdfunding myth. ?Nowadays, many people who have just started a business think that crowdfunding can allow them to easily obtain funds to start a business. However, crowdfunding requires entrepreneurs to do a lot of homework, and entrepreneurs also need to have a solid support network to successfully complete their crowdfunding goals. ?

For investors, when operating a crowdfunding project, does the government have relevant settings and requirements for the project, third-party platform, project initiator, and crowdfunding investment participants? Equity crowdfunding Questions such as whether the project can be subject to designated financial audits, and how to ensure that all raised funds are returned to investors when fundraising fails, need to be clarified. Industry insiders believe that Wuxi’s crowdfunding model is not yet mature, and it remains to be seen how to avoid risks.

So, how to ensure the quality of crowdfunding projects? Wang Bufan’s answer is the funnel model. According to Wang Bufan, Yingyubao adopts a relatively strict funnel model for project screening. For example, there are 100 project applications today. Yingyubao will first screen and select the projects they are optimistic about. This is the first step; Second, cooperate with a professional third-party company, and the largest big data film and television evaluation company in China will provide a neutral assessment. Only after passing the assessment will these projects be announced; the third screening is the self-screening of investors, and investment People also have their own investment preferences.

?Any investment has risks, but we have reduced the investment risks a lot through this funnel screening. ?Wang Bufan reminded investors that the market has risks and investment needs to be cautious.

The story of a post-80s master who sold rice online and sold over 100 million yuan in sales

In the business building in Binjiang District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, there are companies of all sizes. Hangzhou Gulu Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. The company is one of them.

In this entrepreneurial story, we are going to introduce the story of Wang Anping, the founder of Gulv Agricultural Products, who sold rice online and achieved sales of over 100 million.

Wang Anping, founder of Hangzhou Gulu Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., born in the 1980s, graduated from the Department of Business Administration of Zhejiang University City College in 2007 and received a master's degree from the Department of Economics of Zhejiang University. The company's current main business is: high-end organic grain products, including Agricultural products, nuts, scented tea, etc.

The initial downhill road is inevitable

Entrepreneurship is a trek between two hills

When Gulu was founded, there were only three people in the company, because one sentence: "We sell rice" As a joke, Wang Anping hit it off with two buddies from the university and became a Chinese partner. The beginning of the story is full of twists and turns. The college students who have just graduated are still too young and too naive.

Wang Anping used naive to describe himself when he was starting a business. Because they had just started, they knew nothing about agriculture. They had no idea what kind of rice was delicious in the market or how much it weighed per kilogram. So they went to the farmer’s market and asked the aunts, and the answer they heard most often was "Wuchang". "Okay, let's sell Wuchang rice." Wang Anping was amused by himself as he said that their road to selling rice had started so "sloppily".

The next step was to find suppliers, but where were the suppliers in the huge crowd? So Wang Anping and others went to Wuchang, Heilongjiang, and asked from door to door. ?We were just starting out at that time. Asking others for 1 ton was just a small fight. Who cares about you? Recalling those days, Wang Anping waved his hand and said frankly that the past was too painful to look back on. Fortunately, he finally stayed in Wuchang for 3 days, and he used his tenacity to capture the "elite people" who support college students' entrepreneurship. But having suppliers is not enough. It is more difficult to open up sales channels. I thought that after getting the goods, I could just communicate with the people in the supermarket and sell them there. In the end, we were kicked out. Or was it too naive? The admission fee was 200,000, and there were various barcode fees, etc., so Wang Anping and the others hit a wall again.

About three months later, Wang Anping’s two friends gave up, feeling that the prospects were not good and the road was confusing. The real-life Chinese partners broke up before the song was over. Although Wang Anping felt disappointed, he still gritted his teeth and persevered. Thanks to the teacher in Chengyuan, he met Jiang Zhang, who graduated from the same school. From then on, the two of them joined hands to make Gulu flourish. Especially embarking on the road of agricultural e-commerce can be called a desperate counterattack after being rejected by physical stores.

? Entrepreneurship is a trek between two hills. Standing on this hilltop, you can see the beautiful but misty scenery of the opposite hilltop. However, the road in between is full of ups and downs. The initial downhill road is naturally inevitable, so Don’t be too ambitious, first be down-to-earth and unswerving? This is how Wang Anping compared the process of entrepreneurship.

Gulu is getting better and better

Propose?Project team?Reform management

Although Gulu has a say in today's agricultural products industry, there were also bottleneck period. In 2012, the second year after Gulu started, the company was slowly growing, but Wang Anping felt that development had become slow and employees were not as passionate as before. Therefore, some innovation is needed in management to inject new vitality into the company, because people directly affect products.

In the end, Wang Anping proposed the concept of "project team". Everyone can propose new products to be made, and participants, funds, etc. can also decide by themselves. For example, Gulu's baking team consists of three people. They are only responsible for baking work. In the end, in addition to the basic salary, they can also receive 70% of the income from the project every month. The better they do, the higher the income. And as long as you have the ability, some even one person can undertake a project, and the benefits are also considerable. Inspired by these "rules of the game", every employee can fully mobilize their creativity, gain cohesion in the project, and bring greater benefits to the company. It can be described as a win-win situation.

However, this concept was initially opposed by employees because the work pressure was indeed very high, but Wang Anping said, "When you enter Gulu, you are not here to take a boat. It will be smooth sailing on the Gulv Express. Are you going to be a sailor and travel and explore on your own?

However, Wang Anping still tried his best to provide everyone with a free and relaxed environment. There is no employee handbook in Gulu, and there are not many rules and regulations. At most, when you are late, you will be fined and put into the "Happy Fund". ?I’ll be fined if I’m late, and the Happy Fund will buy snacks for everyone. ?Wang Anping joked.

Taobao's turnover of 35 billion has attracted the attention of countless people on Weibo. Gulv Agricultural Products has also left a series of indelible data changes in its three years of development. Team line: 3 people? More than 10 people? More than 100 people; Product lines: 1 model? 28 models? More than 300 models; Company area: 60 square meters? 130 square meters? Nearly 400 square meters; Online sales: 10-20 million? 70-80 million? 130 million? In the first half of 2014, the sales volume of the previous year was completed.

There are also a lot of data that also reveal the company's rapid development. It can easily conquer the first place in Tmall's grain and oil sales, and it has a great momentum of seeing all the mountains and the small. In this regard, Wang Anping explained the mystery, "Nowadays, the homogeneity of online products is becoming increasingly serious. If you want to stand out, quality is the key, and changes in packaging and other aspects are just a clever trick." ?

So how to ensure the quality of Gulu’s products? This must be traced back to the source of the product. Take rice as an example. Maybe many people don’t know what “organic rice” is. It actually refers to rice grown in soil that has not touched chemical pesticides for three years, using natural farming methods and using organic fertilizers, eliminating possible heavy metals or Pesticide residues. Moreover, Wang Anping’s rice-growing base was chosen in Wuchang, Heilongjiang, the hometown of special rice. There are more than 60,000 acres of land there belonging to Gulu, and the entire process from seed selection to harvesting is monitored.

However, Wang Anping believes that ensuring quality at the source is not enough. Because the organic market is a mixed bag, many organic certifications are needed to give consumers visible peace of mind. For example, you can use the traceability code affixed to Gulu products to check the authenticity on the National Certification Commission website, as well as which company and base the food comes from, and you can even go to the site for an on-site inspection. What's even more thoughtful is that Wang Anping also conducted a taste test on his own rice, and scored 86 out of 100. Because the exam is difficult, there are not many rice with scores above 80. This is already considered a "student" in the rice field.

Under Wang Anping’s quality control, Gulu’s products are actually gold that shines everywhere, so sales have become popular both online and offline. ?Physical sales account for 40%, and online sales account for 60%. Last year's online sales exceeded 100 million, and in the first half of 2014, it exceeded last year's sales. I hope that online can help offline promotion, and offline can help online improve consumers' trust. The two complement each other? Wang Anping believes that this is still the general direction of Gulu's future development.

I would rather not be a general for ten years

I would rather not be a general for a day

Wang Anping has always emphasized that he is really lucky, and even ridiculed,? Nowadays, agricultural e-commerce has really caught up with the good times. As the saying goes, at the right time, if you stand in the wind, pigs can fly?

But we have to work hard to catch up with the good times. There is a saying: It is better not to be a general for ten years than to not be a soldier for a day? Wang Anping agreed very much. The experience he shared with everyone is to have small goals at the moment and work hard every day. Flashy plans are of little use in his eyes. Wang Anping said that in the College Student Entrepreneurship Alliance, he heard many college students talk about wanting to be listed companies, and the blueprint for the future was very moving. When others asked whether Gulu would go public, Wang Anping did not answer directly. Starting a business is completed step by step. No matter how beautiful the scenery on the hilltop is, it is ethereal. The most important thing is to complete the current work first. ?

In 2014, Wang Anping was hired as a college entrepreneurship instructor to guide college students in entrepreneurship at his alma mater. He sincerely suggested to his juniors that when starting a business, what you do in the future is not as important as what you do now.

You can start even if you don’t know what to do. As long as you have a concrete idea, don’t you think Gulu just started with the sentence: “Go sell rice?” But once you start, you have to keep working hard, West Lake Art Walk? no! Drinking petty bourgeoisie coffee at Starbucks? no! Hanging out with friends? no! Even your girlfriend doesn’t have time to talk! In short, your time is spent on starting a business. Wang Anping vividly calls this "black hole entrepreneurship".

From selling rice to selling agricultural products, Wang Anping revealed that the next step he is taking is to develop an independent platform, integrate the supply chain of agricultural products, and cooperate with the government to promote local unique label agriculture.

?Gu Lu has just begun!? Wang Anping raised the corners of his mouth.

Post-80s veterans started a shrimp farming business in a remote mountain village with an annual income of 5 million

On July 11, the weather was extremely hot and muggy in Shajin Village, Taihe Town, Hechuan District, Chongqing. Together with the workers, 27-year-old Zhang Zhengquan is busy pulling nets filled with fresh shrimps from the shrimp ponds and loading them onto the truck. ?It’s so muggy. I hope it doesn’t rain. Otherwise, these shrimps won’t be able to be shipped out. If it rains heavily and it happens again like last time, it will be miserable. ?Zhang Zhengquan looked at the sky with some worry, big beads of sweat dripping down his face.

The nearby villagers were very surprised, why did this young man born in the 1980s put aside his good life in the city to come here to suffer such hardships.

Military life

Changed Mr. Zhang’s appearance

Zhang Zheng’s family lives in Shapingba. In the eyes of friends around him, he is the second generation of rich parents. Having been in the seafood business for more than 30 years, Zhang Zhengquan's superior living conditions have enabled Zhang Zhengquan to live comfortably even if he does not work. Friends often jokingly call him "Mr. Zhang".

In 2003, his father Zhang Zuoming sent Zhang Zhengquan, who graduated from high school, into the army. Shortly after his retirement, Zhang Zhengquan suddenly told his father that he wanted to set up a shrimp farm in Chongqing. Although Zhang Zuoming was both surprised and pleased by his son's thoughts, he was not reassured: "He has never suffered, and I'm worried that he won't do well." ?

After months of fighting, Zhang Zhengquan finally convinced his parents to make a special trip to Fujian to study and learn the technology of freshwater shrimp farming. In 2011, his parents helped him invest nearly 10 million yuan to establish Chongqing Aohai Aquaculture Co., Ltd. in Shajin Village, Taihe Town, Hechuan District.

Zhang Zhengquan transferred 260 acres of land and built more than 20 shrimp ponds after leveling it. Jiwei shrimp seedlings and seawater are transported by air from the coast, and then gradually desalinated and raised on site. Currently, there are only two companies in Chongqing that use this technology to raise shrimp. Zhang Zhengquan took a fancy to the market prospects of this industry.

Zhang Zhengquan said that it was three years of military life that changed him: "I can't afford to be old all my life. I have to work hard with my own hands for my future." ?

Not afraid of hardship

Just afraid of rain

In this way, Zhang Zhengquan came to the remote Shajin Village alone, rented a private house, and started A completely different life than before. Every day, he and the hired migrant workers worked on the construction site in severe cold and heat, and sometimes could only rest for two or three hours a day. Over the past two years, Zhang Zhengquan's fair skin has turned dark and he has lost a lot of weight.

When he first arrived in Taihe, Zhang Zhengquan was not used to it. There was no bustling city life and no comfortable home. For him, what was even more difficult to endure was loneliness. ?I used to go out drinking and singing with friends at night, but now here, I can only lie in bed alone at night and stare at the ceiling. Fortunately, I'm getting used to it now. ?Zhang Zhengquan said that he was not afraid of hardship, but he was afraid of rain all the time.

The shrimp farm is located on the edge of the Fujiang River. Zhang Zhengquan originally chose this place because of the high-quality water source of the Fujiang River. However, it was this Fujiang River that caused him to suffer huge losses for two consecutive years.

The heavy rains in July last year and not long ago caused the water level of the Fujiang River to rise and flood into the shrimp ponds. A lot of shrimps and hairy crabs escaped:? Each time the loss was more than 200,000 yuan. ?Zhang Zhengquan said that he plans to pull up the net or raise and strengthen the shrimp pond dam, otherwise he will suffer losses every year.

For Zhang Zhengquan, rain will cause another problem.

?The shrimp farm is not far from Taihechang Town, but there is a steep dirt road about 1 kilometer long. When it rains, the shrimp truck cannot get out at all. ?What makes him gratified is that the local government is currently considering hardening this section of road.

What he learned

was not just how to start a business

Zhang Zhengquan invited more than a dozen local migrant workers, and when the shrimp farm was idle, he introduced them to Helping out at his father's restaurant in the Sanya Bay Seafood Market in Yubei.

Mr. Zhang is a kind and easy-going person, and his salary of 80 to 100 yuan a day is never in arrears. Moreover, we only work 8 hours a day. If you exceed the time limit, you will be charged overtime pay. ?Zhou Chunyou, a nearby farmer, said that after the shrimp farm was built, he and several villagers no longer went out to work and came here to earn money.

At present, Zhang Zhengquan’s shrimp farm can produce two seasons a year. Each season of shrimp is raised for about 3 months before being put on the market. The annual output is more than 60 tons and the annual income is 5 million yuan.

? Sales are not a concern, and the price is also good, at more than 35 yuan per catty. However, these shrimp ponds are always idle for about half a year. ?Zhang Zhengquan said that if you build a greenhouse and install a boiler for heating, you can also raise shrimps in winter, and you can achieve three seasons a year. But this requires more funds. Zhang Zhengquan was embarrassed to reach out to his parents again: "When he makes money, he can expand the scale and improve the facilities." I still have to pay back the capital provided by my parents. ?