Looking in a mirror at the perfect boss
By Victoria Fei |
July 27, 2013, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
STARTING a business with not much more than a university degree in hand or a few years work experience under the belt is a daunting venture, but that doesn't stop people with talent and drive from taking the risk.
Like Yuan Zhiguo, for example. The 27-year-old entrepreneur has started his own online and mobile games business in Minhang.
The Shandong Province native graduated from Qingdao Binhai University in 2008 with a major in film animation.
"My first job was working as a designer for a small company in Shanghai," said Yuan. "Those were the gloomiest days in my life. I felt I had no future. So I quit the job and started up a studio called Clover."
At the beginning, Yuan did any design work he could find, even including students' homework. Within 10 months, he had steered the business into the niche of online and mobile games design.
"Online gaming was an emerging industry at that time," he said. "I'm glad I was able to catch a market trend and become part of it."
Crucial to his work, Yuan spends a lot of time playing online games to keep abreast of market demand and the competition. Sometimes he's in front of a screen until 3am. He studies the design of each game with a professional eye.
Currently, the company designs games for portals such as Tencent and NetEase, and also develops new games.
"Initially, I had trouble learning about the finance, management and sales side of owning a company," said Yuan. "But many people helped me along – my family, my friends, the university, Youth Business China and the district's high-tech parks."
His company's workforce has expanded from six to 50, and Yuan attributes much of his business success to the passion of his colleagues.
"Almost 50 percent of the employees are from post-1985 or post-90s," he said. "They are young, competitive and willing to share. Thanks to our company culture, we seldom lose staff. Optimism and passion are our spirit."
Yuan's ambition is to keep expanding the company and attracting creative new talent.
Another young entrepreneur is Tian Wenjun, 31. He founded Wenjun Tech, a Minhang company that specializes in what is known as search engine optimization.
Tian graduated from a university in Jiangsu Province in 2004 with a major in computer science. He worked as a software engineer in Shanghai, shuffling through several jobs, until he decided to start his own company.
Unlike Yuan, Tian had the benefit of a few years of work experience to help him through the rough initial stages. In fact, the company began making profits three months after it was established in August, 2008.
"My experience gave me a strong network among professionals in the industry," he said. "Most importantly, it enabled me to tap former colleagues as business partners."
He said the seed of the idea for starting his own business started in university, where he was president of the campus science association. The club organized competitions that allowed students to demonstrate their creative ideas in science and technology.
"My peers were all very passionate about new projects at that time," he said. "It was through that experience that I made valuable contacts. Alumni have no become either partners or clients in my business."
Wenjun Tech's first big client was Fetion, an instant messaging services developed by China Mobile.
The company's clients now include technology giants such as Sina, Sohu and Shanghai Telecom. Annual sales growth has been as high as 300 percent.
To bring his services to small and medium-sized companies, Tian invested several million yuan to build a website called Seotcs.com in 2009. The website helps smaller business save up to half of the cost of search engine optimization. More than 8,000 enterprises have registered for the service.
Today, the company employs 30 people, many of them Chinese professionals returning from overseas.
"Our core value is being realistic, enterprising, innovative, sharing and honest," Tian said.
"Our goal is to become a top brand in our sector in China within three years and to go public within five years."
Like Yuan Zhiguo, for example. The 27-year-old entrepreneur has started his own online and mobile games business in Minhang.
The Shandong Province native graduated from Qingdao Binhai University in 2008 with a major in film animation.
"My first job was working as a designer for a small company in Shanghai," said Yuan. "Those were the gloomiest days in my life. I felt I had no future. So I quit the job and started up a studio called Clover."
At the beginning, Yuan did any design work he could find, even including students' homework. Within 10 months, he had steered the business into the niche of online and mobile games design.
"Online gaming was an emerging industry at that time," he said. "I'm glad I was able to catch a market trend and become part of it."
Crucial to his work, Yuan spends a lot of time playing online games to keep abreast of market demand and the competition. Sometimes he's in front of a screen until 3am. He studies the design of each game with a professional eye.
Currently, the company designs games for portals such as Tencent and NetEase, and also develops new games.
"Initially, I had trouble learning about the finance, management and sales side of owning a company," said Yuan. "But many people helped me along – my family, my friends, the university, Youth Business China and the district's high-tech parks."
His company's workforce has expanded from six to 50, and Yuan attributes much of his business success to the passion of his colleagues.
"Almost 50 percent of the employees are from post-1985 or post-90s," he said. "They are young, competitive and willing to share. Thanks to our company culture, we seldom lose staff. Optimism and passion are our spirit."
Yuan's ambition is to keep expanding the company and attracting creative new talent.
Another young entrepreneur is Tian Wenjun, 31. He founded Wenjun Tech, a Minhang company that specializes in what is known as search engine optimization.
Tian graduated from a university in Jiangsu Province in 2004 with a major in computer science. He worked as a software engineer in Shanghai, shuffling through several jobs, until he decided to start his own company.
Unlike Yuan, Tian had the benefit of a few years of work experience to help him through the rough initial stages. In fact, the company began making profits three months after it was established in August, 2008.
"My experience gave me a strong network among professionals in the industry," he said. "Most importantly, it enabled me to tap former colleagues as business partners."
He said the seed of the idea for starting his own business started in university, where he was president of the campus science association. The club organized competitions that allowed students to demonstrate their creative ideas in science and technology.
"My peers were all very passionate about new projects at that time," he said. "It was through that experience that I made valuable contacts. Alumni have no become either partners or clients in my business."
Wenjun Tech's first big client was Fetion, an instant messaging services developed by China Mobile.
The company's clients now include technology giants such as Sina, Sohu and Shanghai Telecom. Annual sales growth has been as high as 300 percent.
To bring his services to small and medium-sized companies, Tian invested several million yuan to build a website called Seotcs.com in 2009. The website helps smaller business save up to half of the cost of search engine optimization. More than 8,000 enterprises have registered for the service.
Today, the company employs 30 people, many of them Chinese professionals returning from overseas.
"Our core value is being realistic, enterprising, innovative, sharing and honest," Tian said.
"Our goal is to become a top brand in our sector in China within three years and to go public within five years."
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