Starting new business can be fun and games
May 19, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
EDITOR'S Note:
Shanghai's strong economic growth should be attributed to not only the robust performance of state-owned enterprises but also the emerging power of the private sector. Private businesses now account for 72 percent of businesses in the city, according to the local statistics bureau. Shanghai Daily has launched a biweekly column about small business people in Shanghai and how they cope with the challenges of entrepreneurship.No one ever claimed starting a small business is all fun and games, but that may not be quite true for two young Shanghai entrepreneurs.
Wei Wenjie, in his early 30s, and Alex Chu, 28, don't know one another, but both have embarked on their own businesses providing sites for people to come together and play board games.
Board game bars like theirs have become all the rage in Shanghai in the past two years since they started spring up around campuses. They provide a place for people to socialize, meet new friends, have a few drinks and maybe find romance as they test their skills in a variety of games such as the popular Sanguo Sha (or killers of the three kingdoms), or the more traditional Monopoly.
An estimated 550 board game bars are now operating in Shanghai. Owners like Wei and Chu admit it's a hard business to turn a profit because customer interest in games can be fickle and rents can be high.
Most of the bars are registered as toy businesses with the Industrial and Commercial Bureau because bureaucratic regulations haven't caught up yet with the fad. The bars typically charge 20-40 yuan (US$2.93-US$5.86) per head and a small amount of money for soft drinks. Like the game Monopoly, Chu and Wei hope their roll of the dice will land them on Park Place.
Shanghai's strong economic growth should be attributed to not only the robust performance of state-owned enterprises but also the emerging power of the private sector. Private businesses now account for 72 percent of businesses in the city, according to the local statistics bureau. Shanghai Daily has launched a biweekly column about small business people in Shanghai and how they cope with the challenges of entrepreneurship.No one ever claimed starting a small business is all fun and games, but that may not be quite true for two young Shanghai entrepreneurs.
Wei Wenjie, in his early 30s, and Alex Chu, 28, don't know one another, but both have embarked on their own businesses providing sites for people to come together and play board games.
Board game bars like theirs have become all the rage in Shanghai in the past two years since they started spring up around campuses. They provide a place for people to socialize, meet new friends, have a few drinks and maybe find romance as they test their skills in a variety of games such as the popular Sanguo Sha (or killers of the three kingdoms), or the more traditional Monopoly.
An estimated 550 board game bars are now operating in Shanghai. Owners like Wei and Chu admit it's a hard business to turn a profit because customer interest in games can be fickle and rents can be high.
Most of the bars are registered as toy businesses with the Industrial and Commercial Bureau because bureaucratic regulations haven't caught up yet with the fad. The bars typically charge 20-40 yuan (US$2.93-US$5.86) per head and a small amount of money for soft drinks. Like the game Monopoly, Chu and Wei hope their roll of the dice will land them on Park Place.
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