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Now it's okay to run your office at home
By Pan Zheng |
November 23, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
NEW college-graduate entrepreneurs in Hangzhou can now register their dormitories or apartments as their legal place of business when applying for a business license.
The new home-office regulation for such entrepreneurs was recently approved by the Hangzhou Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau.
Zhejiang Province is known for its entrepreneurs and in Hangzhou alone more than 5 percent of 1 million college graduates started their own business this year.
Since good jobs are difficult to find in the economic downturn, more and more graduates have decided to become entrepreneurs.
It's tough work.
Let's meet Mao'er, who can benefit from the new policy that applies to those who graduated in the past five years or who are still undergraduates.
He graduated from the China Academy of Art in 2008 and opened a wedding and commercial photo studio in a residential apartment in Binjiang District. But because he operated out of a residence he couldn't be a registered business and give invoices to customers.
"Many times when the job was done, clients asked me for an invoice (so they could be reimbursed), but I couldn't provide one, so I had to reduce my price in compensation," says Mao'er. "Because of this I have already lost some big clients."
Before the new regulation, residential apartments could not be legal business sites, but commercial space was too expensive for college graduates to rent.
However, there are restrictions.
Only pollution-free, service-type businesses can operate as legal businesses out of dormitories or apartments. Online shops, advertising and many other companies can now benefit.
The regulation stipulates that these residential business sites shall not adversely affect the daily lives of neighbors. Those using college dorms need written permission from their college or the building owner. Those using apartments need written approval from the building's residence committee or the neighborhood committee.
"The new regulation supports the innovative undertaking of college graduates, on the premise that their business will not affect residents' life," says Chen Liping, an official of the Hangzhou Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau.
"If we receive any complaint from the residents, we will investigate and take measures, including forcing the company to move out."
Most of the entrepreneurs work in the field of e-commerce, so they don't create a disturbance.
According to the local administration, the entire income of e-commerce in Hangzhou from January to August was more than 3.2 billion yuan (US$469 million), an increase of 36 percent over the same period last year.
On Taobao.com, one of the biggest online-trade platforms in China, 200,000 new sellers register each month, mostly college graduates and students. "E-commerce has always been in my investment plan," says Li Jun, who is the manager of an e-commerce company. She graduated four years ago and used to be a university teacher in Shanghai, but now she's running a business.
"One of the main reasons is that the Hangzhou government supports innovative undertakings of college graduates as well as e-commerce," she says.
The new home-office regulation for such entrepreneurs was recently approved by the Hangzhou Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau.
Zhejiang Province is known for its entrepreneurs and in Hangzhou alone more than 5 percent of 1 million college graduates started their own business this year.
Since good jobs are difficult to find in the economic downturn, more and more graduates have decided to become entrepreneurs.
It's tough work.
Let's meet Mao'er, who can benefit from the new policy that applies to those who graduated in the past five years or who are still undergraduates.
He graduated from the China Academy of Art in 2008 and opened a wedding and commercial photo studio in a residential apartment in Binjiang District. But because he operated out of a residence he couldn't be a registered business and give invoices to customers.
"Many times when the job was done, clients asked me for an invoice (so they could be reimbursed), but I couldn't provide one, so I had to reduce my price in compensation," says Mao'er. "Because of this I have already lost some big clients."
Before the new regulation, residential apartments could not be legal business sites, but commercial space was too expensive for college graduates to rent.
However, there are restrictions.
Only pollution-free, service-type businesses can operate as legal businesses out of dormitories or apartments. Online shops, advertising and many other companies can now benefit.
The regulation stipulates that these residential business sites shall not adversely affect the daily lives of neighbors. Those using college dorms need written permission from their college or the building owner. Those using apartments need written approval from the building's residence committee or the neighborhood committee.
"The new regulation supports the innovative undertaking of college graduates, on the premise that their business will not affect residents' life," says Chen Liping, an official of the Hangzhou Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau.
"If we receive any complaint from the residents, we will investigate and take measures, including forcing the company to move out."
Most of the entrepreneurs work in the field of e-commerce, so they don't create a disturbance.
According to the local administration, the entire income of e-commerce in Hangzhou from January to August was more than 3.2 billion yuan (US$469 million), an increase of 36 percent over the same period last year.
On Taobao.com, one of the biggest online-trade platforms in China, 200,000 new sellers register each month, mostly college graduates and students. "E-commerce has always been in my investment plan," says Li Jun, who is the manager of an e-commerce company. She graduated four years ago and used to be a university teacher in Shanghai, but now she's running a business.
"One of the main reasons is that the Hangzhou government supports innovative undertakings of college graduates as well as e-commerce," she says.
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