IN an age when goods in any shop are expected to be a mouse click away and more people are going online to buy goods and services, many young people have been bitten by the bug to start up Internet businesses.

Case in point is Han Xiaotian, 26, who now runs a small e-commerce information technology (IT) consulting company called GrahamSys with his partner Wang Yaofeng, 33, in Fudan Technology Park on Handan Road.

The company provides one-stop technology-based solutions in the business-to-customer e-commerce segment. Its services span online shop design and construction, online marketing and sales management, logistics control, and integration of inventory and accounting systems.

GrahamSys has been receiving orders at a fast pace, profiting from the rapidly expanding sector. The company doubled both its revenue and staff last year. It now earns about 500,000 yuan (US$76,000) a year in revenue and employs 10 people. "We worked together in a caf茅 all day, using free Wi-Fi connections..."

While still in his sophomore year as a biology major at Fudan University and having a few drinks with two friends at a party, he found out about a business-to-consumer e-commerce competition hosted by eBay on campus.

"A brand-new world was opening up in front of me," said Han. "I intuitively felt it would be a promising field. We had an idea and presented it in improvised form to the judges. We actually won first prize!"

Eager to proceed, Han started to fill up his spare time with e-commerce-related courses. In the next year, he and his two friends decided to start their own IT business online.

One partner Wang Yaofeng, who worked for IBM in Shanghai after earning his master's degree in computer sciences from Fudan; the other was Mao Gongyuan, a computer geek and old friend of Han's dating back to high school days.

Their decision to become entrepreneurs came about the time when China's business-to-consumer e-commerce industry was just beginning to take off. Han and his friends easily found freelance jobs online, such as setting up retail sites or installing PayPal.

"We worked together in a caf茅 all day, using free Wi-Fi connections while ordering cheap snacks," Han said, recalling those days with a laugh.

"We were always afraid of being kicked out there."

With an initial investment no bigger than pocket money, the young entrepreneurs started making a profit as soon as they completed their first 2,500 yuan project.

After two more projects about the same size, they decided to ditch the caf茅 and rent their own office in 2008, the year Han graduated with a bachelor's degree. "Our baby came out just at the right time"

In early 2009, taking advantage of a government policy that allowed college graduates to register a company with no capital and provide the amounts they pledged to raise within two years of the registration, the three young men formally started GrahamSys.

Han gave up his application for an overseas master's program in biology. Wang resigned from his job at IBM. Mao, who eventually left the company in a dispute over business strategy, gave up his internship at China International Capital Corp.

"The prospect of being self-employed was so intriguing," Han recalled. "We were dream chasers, in pursuit of our own career and freedom."

Starting from scratch wasn't easy, but Han was determined to succeed. Like so many start-ups in the IT field, success depended more on knowledge than initial investment. Han said this advantage could not be found in his originally chosen field biology and was part of the reason he decided to reroute his career path.

"You are free to try out your business idea in this digital age, and it is free," Han said.

But he attributed most of its success to good timing.

"Our baby came out just at the right time," he said.

The trio named their company after the so-called "Graham's number," the largest number ever used in a mathematical proof. The name was meant to portend the astronomical growth hopes of the three entrepreneurs.

GrahamSys has sailed through the online boom era that has been marked by a drop-off in traditional businesses pinched by rising fixed costs and changing consumer habits.

"As people became extremely cost-conscious, high rents forced many shops to close," Han said. "Business has shifted from bricks-and-mortar to mouse-and-click." Free doesn't always mean freedom

But Han and Wang have discovered that free doesn't always mean freedom. Their business has cost them holiday times and imposed the usual stresses and strains that all businesspeople face in struggling to make a profit.

GrahamSys earns most of its money from small business clients who are often parsimonious in their spending.

"It is hard to take the business to the next level without any big and highly profitable contracts," Han said. "But my personal network is not extensive enough for me to reach out and tap some big funding source."

Doing business in a country the size of China is, above all, a game of resources. Han said he went to Guangzhou in the south of the country last month to meet a potential big client, only to be told that he would have to wait for a decision. As time ticks away, he said he feels the chances of a deal fading.

In late 2009, Mao quit the fledgling company in a dispute over strategic planning. Han said the disagreement arose because he and Wang were more profit and customer oriented, while Mao was more narrowly focused on technology.

In the end, Han said, the break helped the company.

"We needed to expand beyond our technology roots, evolving to better address developments in the marketplace," he explained.

GrahamSys now prides itself on a reputation for reliable service and creative adaptation of solutions to clients' needs.

"Customers are now fed up with the monotonous brand experience on the business-to-consumer platform," Han said. "They are seeking more personality in their online identities. The one-size-fits-all model doesn't work well anymore. Businessmen are getting savvy about leveraging websites or online stores to do branding."

Still, Han is up against harsh reality. Media reports say that more than 60 percent of online start-ups in Shanghai end in failure. Han said he feels the pressure.

"It's my dream to expand, but I will stay cautious until the current team can work seamlessly," he said. "Every change in GrahamSys needs to be given a great deal of thought."