Entrepreneur starts on a shoestring, builds budding diversified company
May 28, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TWENTY years ago, Fang Jialiang was a coach driver transporting goods between Shanghai and the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province.
Today he is founder and chairman of Lvliang group, a Minhang-based private company that manufactures electric bicycles, among other diversified interests.
Fang, now in his 40s, is a bit of a legendary figure in the local business community because he's a classic example of entrepreneurial spirit that built a thriving business from the ground up. He started out with only 5,000 yuan (US$769).
A native of Yueqing in Zhejiang Province, Fang has never known life without hard work. At age 15, he was buying and selling scrap iron. He also cut bamboo and worked in sand casting.
He drove a transport truck for three years, and when his boss sometimes accompanied him on trips, he picked his brains for advice on how to do business. The trips to Shanghai also opened his eyes to the wider world. He knew he wanted to be part of it and seize bigger opportunities, so he decided in 1992 to leave Yueqing with his wife and move to Shanghai.
Fang first lived in the Pudong New Area because it was Shanghai's showplace of economic activity at the time and had the aura of great potential.
"I was thrilled when I arrived because it was the perfect place to pursue my dreams," he said.
Like all dreams, the path to fulfillment was strewn with difficulties to overcome.
The first was residency. The couple had no place to live. So Fang collected discarded wood, bricks and tiles and built an 11-squre-meter abode on a construction site in Pudong.
Because there were so many construction sites in Pudong during that time of unprecedented growth, Fang decided to do business in construction materials. He heeded the advice of his former boss and won the trust of suppliers with his honesty and hard work.
But building materials didn't really suit him, so in 1996 he started a small foundry, drawing on the skills he had learned as a sand caster.
"Money never comes easy and we have to do what others are not willing to do," he said of that period in his life.
The iron guardrail at People's Square and the greenery fence on Nanjing Road E. were both made by his small company, which finally was earning profit of about 1 million yuan a year.
But Fang wasn't happy about the gas, sewage and dust his factory produced and the harmful effects it had on workers and the environment.
So he switched course a third time and focused on electric-powered bicycles.
"I figured that the bicycle will always be popular and electric ones that have more speed but are still eco-friendly would be the direction of the future," he said.
He disassembled one electric bike to study its parts and structure. He visited bicycle parts markets in neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces and in the northern city of Tianjin.
When he returned from that reconnaissance, he assembled his first electric bicycle.
In May 2000, the Lvliang electric bike brand was launched. He worked around the clock at his new bicycle factory, once fainting from sheer exhaustion.
His company's motto has always remained: "Today's quality, tomorrow's market and profit in the future." His focus: innovation.
"Every step is closely linked with the city's blueprint for development," he said. "Improving the efficiency of machinery requires technical innovation, while handling payrolls requires managerial innovation."
He abandoned the base-salary payroll system and put his staff on a bonus system that rewarded them according to their efforts.
Lvliang is gradually replacing lead-acid batteries with lithium batteries to make the products more environmentally friendly.
The company has now secured the top spot in electric bicycle sales in Shanghai, and its trademark has been officially recognized as a "famous brand" of Shanghai.
It sells 300,000 of the bikes a year through more than 300 outlets. The bikes come with a lifelong warranty, and 30 repair stations stand ready to fix anything that goes wrong. Customer feedback is valued, not ignored.
Now Fang's entrepreneurial spirit is spreading further afield. He has set up a biotechnology company to research, grow, process and sell Officinal Dendrobium Stem, a relative of the orchid that was a favorite of ancient emperors and is considered an herbal boost to longevity. It's often called the "gold of herbaceous plants." His hometown in Zhejiang was a production center for the plant.
His biotech factory is located in the southwestern province of Yunnan, where Fang said he wants to help stimulate job opportunities in an economical lagging region.
"I want to make diversified investments," Fang said.
Lvliang, which also operates a hotel and a restaurant in Shanghai, now employs more than 1,000 staff.
Fang said perseverance and honesty are the keys to a successful entrepreneur.
"The process of starting up a business is full of hardship, but you can't give up when confronted by difficulties and challenges," he said.
Today he is founder and chairman of Lvliang group, a Minhang-based private company that manufactures electric bicycles, among other diversified interests.
Fang, now in his 40s, is a bit of a legendary figure in the local business community because he's a classic example of entrepreneurial spirit that built a thriving business from the ground up. He started out with only 5,000 yuan (US$769).
A native of Yueqing in Zhejiang Province, Fang has never known life without hard work. At age 15, he was buying and selling scrap iron. He also cut bamboo and worked in sand casting.
He drove a transport truck for three years, and when his boss sometimes accompanied him on trips, he picked his brains for advice on how to do business. The trips to Shanghai also opened his eyes to the wider world. He knew he wanted to be part of it and seize bigger opportunities, so he decided in 1992 to leave Yueqing with his wife and move to Shanghai.
Fang first lived in the Pudong New Area because it was Shanghai's showplace of economic activity at the time and had the aura of great potential.
"I was thrilled when I arrived because it was the perfect place to pursue my dreams," he said.
Like all dreams, the path to fulfillment was strewn with difficulties to overcome.
The first was residency. The couple had no place to live. So Fang collected discarded wood, bricks and tiles and built an 11-squre-meter abode on a construction site in Pudong.
Because there were so many construction sites in Pudong during that time of unprecedented growth, Fang decided to do business in construction materials. He heeded the advice of his former boss and won the trust of suppliers with his honesty and hard work.
But building materials didn't really suit him, so in 1996 he started a small foundry, drawing on the skills he had learned as a sand caster.
"Money never comes easy and we have to do what others are not willing to do," he said of that period in his life.
The iron guardrail at People's Square and the greenery fence on Nanjing Road E. were both made by his small company, which finally was earning profit of about 1 million yuan a year.
But Fang wasn't happy about the gas, sewage and dust his factory produced and the harmful effects it had on workers and the environment.
So he switched course a third time and focused on electric-powered bicycles.
"I figured that the bicycle will always be popular and electric ones that have more speed but are still eco-friendly would be the direction of the future," he said.
He disassembled one electric bike to study its parts and structure. He visited bicycle parts markets in neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces and in the northern city of Tianjin.
When he returned from that reconnaissance, he assembled his first electric bicycle.
In May 2000, the Lvliang electric bike brand was launched. He worked around the clock at his new bicycle factory, once fainting from sheer exhaustion.
His company's motto has always remained: "Today's quality, tomorrow's market and profit in the future." His focus: innovation.
"Every step is closely linked with the city's blueprint for development," he said. "Improving the efficiency of machinery requires technical innovation, while handling payrolls requires managerial innovation."
He abandoned the base-salary payroll system and put his staff on a bonus system that rewarded them according to their efforts.
Lvliang is gradually replacing lead-acid batteries with lithium batteries to make the products more environmentally friendly.
The company has now secured the top spot in electric bicycle sales in Shanghai, and its trademark has been officially recognized as a "famous brand" of Shanghai.
It sells 300,000 of the bikes a year through more than 300 outlets. The bikes come with a lifelong warranty, and 30 repair stations stand ready to fix anything that goes wrong. Customer feedback is valued, not ignored.
Now Fang's entrepreneurial spirit is spreading further afield. He has set up a biotechnology company to research, grow, process and sell Officinal Dendrobium Stem, a relative of the orchid that was a favorite of ancient emperors and is considered an herbal boost to longevity. It's often called the "gold of herbaceous plants." His hometown in Zhejiang was a production center for the plant.
His biotech factory is located in the southwestern province of Yunnan, where Fang said he wants to help stimulate job opportunities in an economical lagging region.
"I want to make diversified investments," Fang said.
Lvliang, which also operates a hotel and a restaurant in Shanghai, now employs more than 1,000 staff.
Fang said perseverance and honesty are the keys to a successful entrepreneur.
"The process of starting up a business is full of hardship, but you can't give up when confronted by difficulties and challenges," he said.
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