He thought starting a business would be easy, so he dropped out of college after only two years. Three years have passed and a new semester is about to begin. Should I continue to start a business or continue my studies?
I have tasted the benefits of being the general agent of NetEase in Zhejiang Province, caught up with the fashion of starting online communities, and almost received tens of millions of venture capital for the underground garage media project. Now I am in a clothing company on Wangjiang Road, partnering with others to start it An online women's clothing brand. After five years of starting a business, he changed four projects and took three years off from school. What will Shi Jie do next?
Starting a business for the first time is too hasty
Recalling his first entrepreneurial start-up, Shi Jie smiled and shook his head. Not long after he entered the university, he worked brilliantly in the Student Union Liaison Department and the Basketball Association. After meeting many businesses at various events, he came up with the idea of starting his own business.
However, starting a business for the first time is far from easy as imagined. In 2004, Shi Jie discovered on the Internet that a website was recruiting general agents in Zhejiang Province and engaged in publishing classified information. "The idea was relatively simple at the time. I felt that there were abundant online resources, and the charge for publishing classified information was low, which gave me a price advantage. So I pooled some money with my classmates, bought a plane ticket, and flew to Beijing to negotiate for an agent."
After going to Beijing to talk with the other party, he decided to be the general agent of the website in Zhejiang Province. However, two months later, this seemingly too hasty decision made him experience the failure of his first entrepreneurial venture. “Many of the conditions mentioned in the investment promotion were not realized, and even the backend was not prepared, let alone what he had imagined. Advertising revenue.”
Earned hundreds of thousands in two months
The first project cost almost all of his family's savings, but Shi Jie did not give up. In March 2005, he contacted NetEase and remembered the general agent of Zhejiang Province who was NetEase's classified information.
"The capacity of the Internet is huge. At that time, I felt that the market for classified information and classified ads should be huge. I estimate that I could make a lot of money in a year." He borrowed money from relatives and found two good friends. Together they became the general agent of NetEase in Zhejiang Province.
This time, Shi Jie tasted the sweetness. “Not only did he pay off all the agency fees in the first two months, but he also made seven to eight million yuan.” In this year, because starting a business cost too much energy, he chose Take a break from school.
However, when he chose to take a break from school, his business began to decline. "At that time, many bosses did not have access to the Internet. Because they could not see the direct effect, they stopped placing advertising information." After persisting for about a year, not only did not make more money, but instead, the hundreds of thousands of yuan that had been earned at the beginning were used up. Money was also "burned in."
Thousands of venture capitalists saw it
In 2006, after ending NetEase's general agent project in Zhejiang Province, Shi Jie did not choose to return to school. Because he saw Web2.0 beginning to rise in the country. As a sports lover, he developed an online community called "UU Sports Community" after receiving an investment of 500,000 yuan from a friend. However, things didn't go well after that, and he chose to end the project.
Although several attempts to start a business came to nothing, Shi Jie strengthened his confidence in starting his own business. In 2008, he almost succeeded. "I discovered a gap in the advertising market, which was the advertising business in underground garages." Shi Jie quickly found two partners, jointly invested 2 million yuan to establish the company, and quickly seized the market.
"We have basically won the advertising positions in the more important underground garages in Hangzhou, and many customers have come to us and asked for advertisements." Shi Jie told reporters that at that time, a venture capital manager from Temasek was also prepared to invest after many inspections. Ten million yuan of venture capital.
Unexpectedly, the financial crisis came unexpectedly. "Many clients have canceled their advertising plans, and Temasek has also reduced its investment and ultimately did not invest in venture capital."
Build an online women's clothing brand
"There are so many different industries. After so many years of entrepreneurship, I now realize that my biggest advantage is still in the Internet." Shi Jie told reporters that in May this year, the owner of a clothing company specializing in the production of women's clothing approached him and hoped that he could help manage the company. , when developing e-commerce, he agreed without much hesitation.
"Now I am thinking about the company's management, work process, and brand promotion every day, and the company has developed more than 200 dealers." Shi Jie told reporters that he values online retail more.
To this end, he rebuilt the company's original website, developed the current "elady women's clothing wholesale website", and cooperated with Taobao to open his own brand of online mall to prepare for the company's own B2C business in the future.
Comments:
Arthur Xu, Hangzhou college student entrepreneurship instructor and investment director of Intune Capital
The company Shi Jie founded when he started his business was called Jieshi Network, which had a very strong personal touch. Classified information was a hot topic on the Internet at that time. Shi Jie did not give up when he failed for the first time. The second agency operation finally achieved a small success, which was also the result of his personal persistence.
While working in the sports community, he discovered the campus outdoor advertising market and then transitioned into the field of garage advertising. At that time, Ma Liang Media in this field had received tens of millions of dollars in investment. In fact, Ma Liang's positioning as a second-tier city is not a bad idea. He has also discussed mergers and acquisitions and exits with relevant institutions.
The situation suddenly changed in the second half of last year, casting a shadow over the entire advertising industry. On the one hand, it is a factor of luck; on the other hand, entrepreneurs should have more judgment on industry cycles when choosing projects.
Now that he has reorganized his team to enter the field of clothing e-commerce, it should be said that he has better conditions than before in terms of timing and team. We appreciate his persistence.